I’ve been meaning to sit down and write this since Annie was born over 8 weeks ago, but life has been crazy! Finally forcing myself to write it all down before I forget the details.
My last birth story. So bittersweet! Annie is our last kiddo (better be!) and I feel so blessed we got a little girl to round out our family. We have always wanted four kids, and I feel so lucky that I get to experience life with a daughter in addition to all these crazy boys in our house. Annie will not have a shortage of brother protectors surrounding her.
Annie was born at 41 weeks and I can’t say I’m too surprised I went a week over my due date again. Charlie was 41 weeks and 1 day, and I just figured Annie would do something similar, and I was right!
I went to my 41 week appointment on a Tuesday morning, and I made sure to bring mine and Mitch’s hospital bags just in case. I had this gut feeling I may be having a baby that day because 1. I was 41 weeks and had been having contractions for the last couple days and 2. My blood pressure had been slowly creeping up over the last 4 weeks of my pregnancy and that’s not normal for me. So, I got to my appointment and went to my non stress test (to check amniotic fluid levels and make sure baby looked good) and that all went great. It was actually super relaxing and I loved laying there listening to Annie’s heartbeat and reading my book. A little mom-of-three-kids NST vacation. Next up was my regular appointment with my midwife which lasted about 3 minutes. The nurse took my vitals and my blood pressure was high. It was over 140/90, so they automatically have to send you over to L&D if that happens. Since I was already 41 weeks, it was more than likely looking like an induction at that point. I was admitted with gestational hypertension (not preeclampsia).
Mitch got there shortly after I got to my room and we were just hanging out waiting to figure out a game plan. This was probably around 4pm. The midwife decided to strip my membranes since I was about 1 cm dilated and see if that would kickstart labor. I was already having contractions but this definitely amped things up a bit. I was having contractions every 5ish minutes, but they weren’t super painful. After probably an hour of these, they slowed down, so we discussed a foley bulb (basically a balloon they insert into the cervix to help ripen and dilate the cervix). I agreed to try it, but when they went to insert it, I was already at a 3, so they decided I didn’t need it. After that, we decided to speed things up a bit with a little Pitocin.
I had a natural birth with Charlie, and my goal was to do the same for Annie, so adding Pitocin definitely scared me a little. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to handle intense Pitocin contractions without an epidural (and I was very right lol). I told the nurses I’d like to start the Pitocin as low as possible and see what happened. My contractions started to pick up and become more regular, but I was still able to walk around and talk to Mitch. They were definitely getting more intense, but I remember being happy because I knew they were doing something. I have zero concept of time at this point, but probably about 2 hours into pitocin, my contractions were getting really painful. I got into the bathtub they had in the room, thinking that may help, but it really didn’t and I told Mitch I wanted the nurses to check my progress because there was no way I could continue without an epidural if I still had a ways to go. I got out of the tub and they checked my cervix and i was at a FIVE. I was kind of in disbelief and discouraged because the contractions felt like contractions you’d have while you’re in transition at the end of labor (when I asked for an epidural with Charlie but it was way too late). I told the nurses and midwife I wanted an epidural and I was super okay with it because there was no way I could endure these contractions for another 5cm. I was thinking about how peaceful I would feel without pain and maybe we could watch a movie haha The team knew I wanted a natural birth, so they actually talked me out of it and I agreed to see if I could do it. Well, 1 contraction later and I had them back in the room telling them I needed an epidural, so they called for the anesthesiologist. Things are definitely blurry at this point, but I think I had about 2 more contractions while he was outside setting up (I was thinking there is NO way I can sit still while he administers this epidural – how do women do that?! I. will. be. paralyzed.) and I felt like I had to push. So, the nurse came back in, I told her I felt like I had to push, and she told the midwives immediately. Everyone came in and they checked me, and sure enough I was at a 10. From 5cm-10cm I think I had about 4 contractions in 15 minutes. It was wild and SO intense, and I was definitely right about those contractions feeling like the end of labor. I think I pushed about 4 times, and Annie Elizabeth was born at 1:43am – about 12 hours after I got to the hospital for my non-stress test. There is no greater feeling than the moments after having your baby 🙂 I could not believe how quickly things escalated and I was elated I didn’t have the epidural so that I could move around and do all the things after having her. Well, I kind of wish I did have the epidural for pushing and for the few stitches I needed after she was born. Those two things warrant all the drugs.
After she was born we were taken up to the recovery floor to snuggle our new baby and recover. I thought I would want to leave the hospital ASAP, but it truly felt like a vacation for us being away from our three crazy boys at home! Luckily my mom was in town and I didn’t have to worry about a thing regarding the boys, and we could just enjoy our 2 days with our brand new baby girl 🙂
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