When I left off, Jordan and I had just left for our 30 minute drive to the hospital.
I had always heard that contractions tend to slow down while in the car, but that wasn’t the case for me. I continued to time them on my app, and they were still coming 2 minutes apart, each one lasting about a minute. I don’t remember much of the drive, other than the fact that Jordan got us there a lot faster than he usually would. I felt some relief when we pulled into the parking lot — at least I knew we’d be having the baby in the hospital and not in the car!
One of the nice things about the hospital I delivered at is that it’s a small women’s hospital, and delivering babies is the main thing that they do. So, all we had to do was go up to the front desk, show my ID, and a nurse was immediately sent to bring us upstairs. The whole time that we were checking in, I was slumped over the desk breathing through contractions, so I thought for sure that we’d be admitted to labor and delivery immediately. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, and I was sent to triage first. This was my least favorite part of my birth experience.
Once in triage, I was required to lie down on the bed so that the nurse could strap me up to monitors. For me, lying down was the least comfortable position to be while laboring, so I was basically in tears at this point. I wanted nothing more than to stand up and move around. She was asking me a series of questions during this part, as well, although I couldn’t even answer them. I kept wondering why she was taking her time and why I couldn’t be moved into a delivery room. She told me that my contractions were, in fact, coming every two minutes, but she still wanted to confirm that my water had broken. I remember saying, “There was a huge gush, I know that it has already broken!,” but I still had to lie there and wait for a doctor to come in and check me. In my birth plan, I had stated that I didn’t want residents or students checking me, but at that point I couldn’t care less — she asked me if it’d be okay for a resident to check me because it’d be a while before the doctor was available, and Jordan quickly jumped in and told her to request a resident as quickly as possible.
By this point, it was almost 5:30 pm, and I had been lying in triage for at least an hour. I felt like my body was convulsing at this point, and I was convinced that I was almost in transition. However, when the resident checked me, she said that I was still only 4 centimeters dilated. I couldn’t believe that I’d made no progress since 9:30 that morning. She did confirm, just by looking, that my water had in fact broken, and because I couldn’t even talk at that point, they changed me into a gown right there on the triage bed and wheeled me over to a delivery room. Finally, I felt like we could make some progress.
Once in my labor and delivery room, I was required to lie down and be hooked up to monitors again. I was also Group B Strep positive, so I had to be hooked up to an IV so I could get a dose of antibiotics. Again, lying down was torture — I was sweating, shaking, doubting myself, and in a ton of pain. From everything I’d learned, this was what transition felt like, and I was confused as to why I wasn’t dilating.
It was at that point that Jordan and I decided to request an epidural. I was disappointed that my body wasn’t progressing more, especially since my contractions were still coming consistently at two minutes apart. I really wanted a birth free of interventions, but I was exhausted and I didn’t think I’d have the energy to wait for my body to dilate six more centimeters.
My nurse immediately requested the epidural and the anesthesiologist was in my room within just a few minutes. This is where things got interesting. As soon as I sat up so he could place the epidural, I felt some intense pressure. It was as if my contractions were pushing that baby out on their own. I kept telling the nurses, “I feel so much pressure!,” and they kept telling me that it must be the way the baby’s sitting. However, I knew that it was more than that.
The epidural kicked in within 20 minutes, and I was free of pain, but I could still feel that intense pressure. Sometime between 6:00 and 7:00, there was a shift change and my original nurse left and a new one arrived. My doctor also arrived at this point — I felt so lucky that my doctor happened to be on call that night, the same doctor who confirmed my pregnancy at only 6 1/2 weeks.
My doctor went over some things with me, and then around 7:00 — I remember this because “Wheel of Fortune” happened to be on TV — she checked me. Sure enough, there was a reason for all of that intense pressure — I was 10 centimeters dilated and the baby’s head was right there! This really didn’t surprise me, as I have a feeling that sometime between standing up to get in the labor and delivery bed, and sitting up to have my epidural placed, gravity did its thing. Either that, or the resident who checked me in triage did so incorrectly. I guess we’ll never know.
During all of this, our families were waiting to hear what was going on. Everyone was just about to leave to get dinner when we realized that things would be happening soon.
At that time, our families came in to say hi and wish me luck. This was one perk of having the epidural — since I wasn’t in pain, there was no big rush for me to push. I was able to see my family and have my mom and sisters join Jordan and I in the room before we began.
My nurse explained what I’d be doing, and then we began practice pushes. We turned off the TV, turned on the Michael Buble station on Pandora, and got going. After just a few pushes, my nurse told me to stop pushing because we needed the doctor there before we could have a baby!
Well, it was a busy night on the labor and delivery floor — the doctor was busy with another patient who had greater needs than mine. So, we waited. For a long time. This part was uncomfortable. Amelia’s head is still a little bit swollen because of how long she sat down there, so close to coming out. While I was a little bit frustrated and hungry, I was grateful that the baby and I were still doing well.
When the doctor finally entered my room, I was ready to go. I was able to feel my contractions before they could see them on the monitor, so the experience still felt like my own, something I was afraid would be taken away with an epidural. So, I pushed when I felt like pushing, and they followed my cues. Not before long, Amelia was making her appearance into the world. I was surprised at how enjoyable this part of her birth was for me. I even remember my doctor dancing along to one of the songs on Pandora!
Amelia Grace was born into this world at 9:49 pm. Jordan cut the cord and announced her name to the room, a name we’d kept to ourselves for the past nine months.
After she was born, we had skin-to-skin time, and then we hung out in our delivery room for two hours before being moved to the room we’d stay in for the next 48 hours.
I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. As nervous as I was to give birth, I would go back and do it again and again. My nurses and doctor were amazing, and I can’t even describe how special that moment was when she was placed on my chest. Everyone told me it would be special, but until you experience it yourself, you just don’t know.
This was the best day of my life so far, and I will cherish it forever.
