Rose’s Birth Story
Hello, my name is Rose - I’m a 38-year-old first time mom, and this is my birth story.
I got a sweep done (by choice) at my 38-week OB appointment, because the doctor told me that it may induce labor and at this point in my pregnancy, I was ready for my baby to come out! After the sweep I bled lightly for the next 2 days. On the 3rd day, my mucus plug came out at 8pm.
At 3am, on that same night, at exactly 39 weeks, my water broke. It was a huge gush and I knew instantly what had happened. Panic started to set in! I jumped in the shower, and thought to myself, “WOW this is it!” I called the hospital and they instructed me to come in and do an initial assessment to make sure my water had really broken. It was winter, and there was no traffic since it was the wee hours of the morning.
The hospital was quiet and I was able to be seen pretty much right away. They confirmed and gave me the option to either stay at the hospital or go home and come back in 12 hours. I wasn’t prepared to stay yet, so I opted to go home. I didn’t feel any contractions which I was surprised about, but I had the yoga ball at home and was bouncing on it to try and start labour. I had my bags packed and headed back to the hospital around 3pm that afternoon. It was busier then, and we had to wait for a room to be prepared, which took approximately an hour. I settled in the bed, and up until now I still hadn’t felt any contractions. The nurse came in and gave me an IV and explained that they were going to start me on oxytocin to induce labour. Some of my family and friends came to visit, and I’m glad they did.
After they left around 6pm my nurse started to increase the dose every 30 minutes or so to induce contractions. My nurse was lovely, and really took care of me. She gave me an approximate timeline of how long it would take to get an epidural and warned me to let her know when I wanted it. Around 10pm the contractions were increasing and I decided it was time I wanted the epidural. It was a little scary, but they numbed the area right away, and it honestly hurt less than the IV. Once I had it in, it took about 15 minutes to take effect. The contractions were much more manageable at this point and I was able to have a snack. I was getting checked for dilation (which is definitely more pleasant after the epidural) and to my dismay I wasn’t dilating very much. We decided to try and take a nap. Another nurse came in and told me to try the peanut pillow between my legs and to turn on my side to try and help me. She came to check on me and hour or so later and it worked. I was really feeling the contractions at this point. It felt like I had to poo. There was a lot of pressure on my lower back. I got my cervix checked again and good news, I was fully dilated and ready to push! I was excited this was finally happening. Once we were deciding to push I was coached by my nurse and had my partner and her help me. Each time I would feel a contraction I had to push for 3 x 10 second intervals. At one point a little poop slid out, and I asked my partner, “Did I just poo?” (Lol) He looked and said, “Yup!”, but at that point I didn’t care at all. My nurse was SO wonderful and cleaned it up in 2 seconds. This continued on for about an hour, and the pressure was getting really INTENSE. I guess the baby was moving down the canal and they could see the top of her head when I would push. It was time to call the doctor, so they told me not to push anymore! 5 or 6 people then came to my room, and watched me do the final pushes. They were all cheering me on, and at one point they told me collectively to STOP!!!! And that’s when she slid out of me. I felt instant relief! I heard her cry (just like in the movies) and it was glorious. They placed her on my chest and wiped her down. I couldn’t believe I did it! I was so proud of myself, and happy to be holding my tiny baby on the other side. Her birth time was 4:11am (so approximately 24 hours after my water broke) Afterwards, the doctor pushed down hard on my stomach and I was instructed to push a little bit to get the placenta out. Then the doctor stitched me up while I was holding my baby. Overall, it was a very straightforward delivery and a positive experience. I felt very lucky to be in such great care.