On Monday, October 6th, I went in for my 39 week checkup. When they did the pelvic exam, I was 4 cm and 70% effaced, then she stripped my membranes again, and when I left I was 5cm. We started talking about setting an induction date if I didn't go into labor before the end of the week, since they didn't want me going past the 40 weeks because of the gestational diabetes. The idea of an induction gave me so much anxiety and stress, mainly because when I hear the term induction, to me it means the use of pitocin to chemically begin contractions, which tends to not only extend labor and make it more painful, but increases the likelihood of needing a c-section. This was not an option for me. That's when she mentioned that with how far along I am (when I went in with Sophia at 39 weeks, 6 days, I was only 3 cm and 50%) and having had contractions for the two weeks prior, that she would just break my water. After talking with David, we decided that with both the timing of not much going on at work, the staff we liked being on call, my sister being available to watch Sophia, etc. that it seemed like the best option, so we scheduled our "induction" for Wednesday. To extents it was kind of nice to have an actual expiration date set, so that we knew how much time we had to get what we needed done. I was even able to make some yummy homemade blueberry muffins to bring in for the Dr.'s and nurses the night before, along with the two batches of snickerdoodles I'd made.
(our last picture as a family of three)
(final belly shot - 39 weeks)
Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep, 3.5 hours maybe. We were scheduled to be at the hospital at 6:30am, so we got up at 5:45am, got the last little bit ready, and waited for my mom and sister to show up at 6am. My sister swapped spots with me in bed to stay with Sophia, and mom left with David and I to head to the hospital. The timing was awesome, because at 6:25am as we were pulling into the hospital, the beautiful bloodmoon was in full effect. Talk about neat!
I'd already pre-registered so it didn't take long for the registration process and I was up there by 5 minutes to 7am. They had me change, and hooked me up like they did for my regular NSTs. I had contractions but not really any that I felt much. Around 7:15am the Dr. came in and did a cervical check, and I was still the same 5 cm 70%, then next thing I knew, there was a small leak of fluid. I hadn't even realized she'd broken my water while she was doing it. I didn't even feel it, which apparently is impressive, or at least the nurses seemed to think so that I hadn't even flinched. After about 30 or so minutes, they told me that they wanted me to get up and start walking to hopefully jumpstart the contractions. I didn't end up really walking though, because by the time I got up and out, they already had a room for me, so we went in, and a few minutes later, contractions started happening, so I sat on the big ball for a bit and tried to relax. It was probably around 8am at this point. I think somewhere between 9am and 10am, I had David call my photographer, just to let her know that the contractions were getting closer, and that I didn't think it'd be too terribly much longer. Shortly after she arrived, the contractions got closer and closer and stronger and stronger.
I'd decided after my last pregnancy that this time I wanted to do it completely natural, with no drugs at all. With Sophia, that'd been my initial goal as well, but I ended up asking for Nubain (which is nowhere near as strong as an epidural, and goes away after 3 hours and is done through IV) and learned after the fact that in the end, I'd had her naturally because my drugs had already worn off. So knowing that, I felt a little more confident in my decision this time. Something I hadn't taken into consideration though was that I'd still had medicinal help for those three hours, so it wasn't as bad. I clearly didn't realize what I was in for, but also, a lot of women get to have short breaks in between contractions. I barely had time to get 5 words out before the next one came with a vengeance. I was almost in tears with the pain, (which made me feel weak and pathetic) and I was seconds away multiple times from begging for drugs, but add to my incredible birthing experience luck, that my photographer who was well aware of my birthing wants (I'd discussed water births with her early in the pregnancy because she birthed where I'd tried to initially) and basically turned into my doula. She kept talking me through my contractions and reminding me to calm my breathing and try to relax. If not for her, I absolutely would have given in. So, I am super grateful to her, for both the gorgeous pictures you will get to see, but also for helping me complete my mission.
My amazing midwife had come in to check up on me, and had just walked out to go downstairs when my nurse convinced me to go sit in the shower to help with pain (like had worked with Sophia). I got in, sat down, and not two minutes later, that urge to push came and I started to panic. I told the nurse to get my midwife NOW, that this baby was coming. I was completely convinced I was going to have her in the shower on that stool and got really scared. David and the nurse helped get me on the bed as my midwife came in, threw on gloves and checked me and shook her head and said "okay, push whenever you're ready." Then the next contraction came. I pushed. They could see her head. The next contraction came. I pushed harder. Her head was out. The third contraction came. I pushed sooo hard and continued to push straight through the fourth contraction and her body was out. I did tear again, but kind of expected it.
I'd asked to have delayed cord clamping this time, so they put her on my chest immediately. This time I was overwhelmed with emotion and am pretty sure I was bawling. She was so beautiful and perfect. So much hair! Within the first two minutes, she already had found my breast and began nursing. Because of that, I didn't need the pitocin to get the placenta out. I continued nursing while she stitched me up. I am so grateful to my incredible team, who through some insanely ridiculous luck ended up being my same team as Sophia. I could not be more happy with my experience. I love them all so very much! And on top of it all, I got my placenta encapsulated which is awesome. They were so supportive of every single thing that I wanted. Overall, an amazing experience, and now I have two amazing and incredibly beautiful baby girls. I am so very blessed.
P.S. The beautiful pictures were done by
ThunderClap Photography!! If you live in Central Florida, definitely check them out! So worth it!
