I can’t believe Annie is two years old! It seems like we brought her home yesterday. The past two years with her have been wonderful and surprising and I just really feel blessed to be her mom, and Ace’s too of course. I recently shared the birth story from Ace’s birth, and in honor of Annie’s 2nd birthday I thought I’d share a little throwback with her birth story especially since it was so different from our experience with Ace.
Easy Pregnancy
Our pregnancy with Annie was great. I only had mild morning sickness for a short period of time. No cravings aside from a few days that I wanted green vegetables, and a few times when the sight, smell, thought of mushrooms sent me running for the porcelain throne. I was blessed with a relatively easy, complication-free pregnancy. It was a pregnancy that made it easy to decide to do it again.
40 Weeks Appointments
We made it to 40 weeks with all of the regular appointments. We had been 4 cm for the past few appointments, so when I went in for the Non-Stress Test (NST) and cervical check at my 40-week appointment I was really hoping for some progress, but there was nothing noteworthy about our progress. So, we decided to go forward with a membrane sweep. She actually did send us to be monitored at the hospital, since I was 4 cm dilated, but there was no progress after an hour, so they sent us home.
A couple days went by with still no signs of labor. So, when I went in for our appointment at 40 weeks and 5 days we started the scheduling process for an induction the following week. I saw a different doctor in the group at this appointment and she suggested we do another membrane sweep. Then it was back to the waiting game.
I was still comfortable enough but was definitely getting impatient. Ned and I had tried all of the old wives’ tales. The walking. The spicy food. Bouncing on the ball. And the bow chicka wow wow. For dinner we decided to do spicy food again, so we headed to Escondido’s for some spicy Mexican food.
Water Breaking
Overnight, I had some trouble sleeping, but not because of any obvious contractions. I think it was just a lot on my mind. Maybe nerves. I got up at about 4:50 am for my hourly trip to the bathroom, but I almost didn’t make it to the bathroom. There was a little trickle of a leak that I couldn’t hold it in.
At 5, Ned’s alarm clock went off. He got up and started getting ready for work. I told him he didn’t need to do that because I thought my water had broken. I wasn’t having any contractions, but we decided to call the on-call doctor to let her know and see what she thought. Since it was so early, we got the answering service. While we waited for the doctor to call back, Ned was getting the bag ready and putting himself together and I bounced on the ball in the living room. That’s when I was certain my water broke with a much bigger gush.
Once the doctor called back, a few contractions had started, and we decided to head to the hospital to get checked out. It was still pitch-black outside on the drive. Because it was so early, we had to enter the hospital through the emergency room entrance. I didn’t want to go in without Ned, but I’ll never forget that his picked a spot so far from the door. I remember waddling behind him and having to stop in the parking lot to have a huge contraction that nearly knocked me to the ground.
Checking In
Somehow, I made it inside and checked in at the front desk for the emergency room. They found a wheelchair for me and a very nice “driver” to wheel me up to the labor and delivery floor. I did another check in there, signed a few things and then got comfortable in the triage room. They hooked me up to check on the baby and measure contractions. We got an ultrasound. They also confirmed that my water did break.
Not long after we got there, I started to feel sick, so they gave me a bucket and well…I used it a couple times. I guess that’s pretty common while in active labor, but it was not something I was prepared for.
Eventually, we moved to our room and met the nurses. I knew I didn’t want an epidural, but I didn’t do a good job communicating that to the nurses. I think they thought I was kidding. They were quick to hook me up to the IV. I asked if I could move around and the nurse said, “where do you want to go?” She told me I could stand next to the bed and that she’d bring me a towel to put on the floor where I was going to stand. So, I ended up staying in the bed – exactly the place you don’t want to be if you are trying to avoid an epidural.
Getting the Epidural
The contractions were building and progressing. It didn’t take long for me to regret not preparing for an unmedicated labor better. I had no idea what was coming or how to advocate for what I wanted. I tend to be somewhat shy and opt to go with the flow simply because it’s easier. This birth taught me that in labor is not the time to be shy about anything. Lesson learned.
Looking back on it is a bit of a blur on the timing. At some point in the morning, a couple hours after getting to the hospital, I was in so much pain with the contractions and not handling it well. Every time a contraction would start I’d hold my breath, grab onto the bar of the bed so tight I was basically climbing the rail. There are no instructions in the world that recommend tensing up and holding your breath during a contraction. So we asked the nurse to call for the epidural. I wish I had instead asked the doctor to come check me. Thinking about it now, I wonder how close I was and could we have just started pushing instead.
I’ll tell you what though. The epidural was like magic. I left it on the lightest setting and never needed to add any more. I was able to sleep for a little while. My husband and I were laughing and watching TV. Suddenly I was so much more comfortable.
Time to Push
Around 1:30 PM, the doctor came in and said I was 10 cm. She asked if I was feeling the urge to push, which I was not. I wasn’t feeling anything at all. So, she let us know that she had a scheduled surgery coming up. We could start trying to push if we wanted to, or we could wait until after her scheduled surgery was over. Since I was comfortable, and I didn’t want to rush it we agreed to wait until she was done. I wish I had opted to start pushing right then, rather than wait.
When she came back, everyone assumed their positions. She taught me how to push properly and after a couple times we were in a good groove pushing with each contraction. After a while the doctor must have realized we were getting close, so she set up her tools station and put on a gown over her scrubs and coat.
Meanwhile the nurse took my temperature and realized it was 102. So, they told me that Annie would be taken immediately to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for tests and monitoring. They told me that I could hold her for a minute when she came out, but after that I’d need to be fever free for 24 hours before I could see her. I was devastated. I started crying because I was so worried about our baby.
Now I was more determined than ever to get her out so I could know she was safe. It only took a few more pushes before we heard her little cry. I was relieved. Holding her was so sweet. I looked at my husband and told him we should do it again.
Heading to the NICU
When the team was ready to take Annie to the NICU, Ned went with them to stay with her. A little while later he came back to my room to be with me and brought one picture. ONE! I had just given birth, couldn’t be with her and he brought me only one picture. Can you believe it?! So I sent him back and told him not to come back without tons more photos and videos too.
Twenty four hours passed and I was finally able to see Annie and hold her. All the tests came back negative, which was good. So we just needed to monitor her for a couple days just in case some infection were to present itself. That time in the NICU was exhausting and stressful though and we were lucky that we were just there as a precaution.
What I’d Do Different
These are the things I learned during this first pregnancy and birth experience. Assuming my future pregnancies are complication free, and with the approval of my doctor, these are a few things I plan to do differently. I was able to apply some of these to my second birth story experience.
- Fewer cervical checks at appointments leading up to labor.
- Wait at home longer so I could eat and drink, while laboring at home.
- Have Ned drop me off at the door, or better yet use Valet.
- Ask nurses to bring in the birthing ball early on.
- Ask nurses to set the port for an IV, but not turn it on.
- Start pushing when I get to 10 cm, even if I’m comfortable. No waiting.
Overall Positive Birth Experience
Overall our first birth story was fairly positive, but nothing like I had imagined it would be. Not that I really knew what to expect. I learned a lot that I used in planning for the birth of our second baby. Both experiences were so different, with positives and negatives. I’m still hoping for a couple more kids, but we’ll see.
