I'm just finally getting to his birth story...it's been two weeks!!!
On Tuesday morning (Aug. 24th) I went for my regular weekly check-up. I was 2 days over due. My cervix had not changed (still 1 cm) and was thick. Doc said my cervix was unfavourable. So while checking me, he stripped my membranes. He also did an NST and that came back fine. He pretty much put the ball in my court and said he could send me that day to get induced or I could wait it out. DH and I chose to wait it out. After I got home and went through everything in my head: swelling had gotten worse in the last week, blood pressure had gone up in the last week. These are just things I had noticed about myself in the last week and thought let's just do it. So I called Doc back and said I wanted to be induced the next day. They had me come back in at 3:30 to put a Foley Catheter in. As the midwife was putting it in, she said "WOW you're already close to 3cm." She proceded with putting the foley in. Once I got home, I went to the bathroom and out popped the foley and my mucus plug. I then was spotting the rest of the day. That night, I had made arrangements for the in-laws to come over at 7am to stay with DS and DD for us to be at the hosp at 8:00. Well, at midnight I started cramping. I thought if it's the real thing I won't be able to go to sleep. I woke up 4:30 with back cramping and it seemed to come and go. So I started timing it and they were 6 min apart. I thought, "there is no way I'm in labor, I'm getting induced in 4 hours." Sure enough I kept timing for an hour and they were every 5-6 minutes apart. So I took a shower, got DH up and told him just to get things together. So, at 6:00am the contractions were 3-4 minutes apart and I knew we had to go. I couldn't wait the hour until in-laws got here. So I called my mom who lives 5 minutes away and told her I needed her here that I was in labor. On the way to the hosp. they were 3 minutes apart. I was having to breathe through them. We parked in the parking garage and had to walk a ways to L&D and that was when I actually had to stop during a contraction and let it pass. I knew for SURE then I was in labor.
Once at the hosp...I get into the triage at 7:00 and told them I was scheduled to be induced in an hour, but thought I was in labor. They already had my room prepared for the induction so I was able to go right to the room. The contractions were starting to come about every 2 minutes and lasting about a minute in between. She checked me and I was at 6cm. She asked if I wanted an epidural and I said I was okay at the moment. About 40 minutes later I was at 8cm. The doc arrived at 9cm and broke my water. Then came the hardest part of all. I had to push for AN HOUR! After labor only lasted for 4 hours I had to push for an hour and it didn't really hurt, but I was so frustrated at this point. I just needed to get the baby out. I was doing this all natural and I was in misery. So, at 9:55am out came Baby Dylan Andrew and the rest is history. I have to say the emotions are overwhelming when you give birth naturally. It was so different than having an epidural. To feel EVERYTHING and that unforgettable urge to push out your baby just takes my breath away every time I think about it. However, during that last hour, I would have paid ANYBODY to knock me out it was so hard. But in an instant, all the pain became true joy. What a miracle. Praise the Lord!!!
On Tuesday morning (Aug. 24th) I went for my regular weekly check-up. I was 2 days over due. My cervix had not changed (still 1 cm) and was thick. Doc said my cervix was unfavourable. So while checking me, he stripped my membranes. He also did an NST and that came back fine. He pretty much put the ball in my court and said he could send me that day to get induced or I could wait it out. DH and I chose to wait it out. After I got home and went through everything in my head: swelling had gotten worse in the last week, blood pressure had gone up in the last week. These are just things I had noticed about myself in the last week and thought let's just do it. So I called Doc back and said I wanted to be induced the next day. They had me come back in at 3:30 to put a Foley Catheter in. As the midwife was putting it in, she said "WOW you're already close to 3cm." She proceded with putting the foley in. Once I got home, I went to the bathroom and out popped the foley and my mucus plug. I then was spotting the rest of the day. That night, I had made arrangements for the in-laws to come over at 7am to stay with DS and DD for us to be at the hosp at 8:00. Well, at midnight I started cramping. I thought if it's the real thing I won't be able to go to sleep. I woke up 4:30 with back cramping and it seemed to come and go. So I started timing it and they were 6 min apart. I thought, "there is no way I'm in labor, I'm getting induced in 4 hours." Sure enough I kept timing for an hour and they were every 5-6 minutes apart. So I took a shower, got DH up and told him just to get things together. So, at 6:00am the contractions were 3-4 minutes apart and I knew we had to go. I couldn't wait the hour until in-laws got here. So I called my mom who lives 5 minutes away and told her I needed her here that I was in labor. On the way to the hosp. they were 3 minutes apart. I was having to breathe through them. We parked in the parking garage and had to walk a ways to L&D and that was when I actually had to stop during a contraction and let it pass. I knew for SURE then I was in labor.
Once at the hosp...I get into the triage at 7:00 and told them I was scheduled to be induced in an hour, but thought I was in labor. They already had my room prepared for the induction so I was able to go right to the room. The contractions were starting to come about every 2 minutes and lasting about a minute in between. She checked me and I was at 6cm. She asked if I wanted an epidural and I said I was okay at the moment. About 40 minutes later I was at 8cm. The doc arrived at 9cm and broke my water. Then came the hardest part of all. I had to push for AN HOUR! After labor only lasted for 4 hours I had to push for an hour and it didn't really hurt, but I was so frustrated at this point. I just needed to get the baby out. I was doing this all natural and I was in misery. So, at 9:55am out came Baby Dylan Andrew and the rest is history. I have to say the emotions are overwhelming when you give birth naturally. It was so different than having an epidural. To feel EVERYTHING and that unforgettable urge to push out your baby just takes my breath away every time I think about it. However, during that last hour, I would have paid ANYBODY to knock me out it was so hard. But in an instant, all the pain became true joy. What a miracle. Praise the Lord!!!
