My Labor and Delivery Story

I started to feel real contractions on Tuesday, June 2 at about 4:00pm (39 weeks, 3 days). It was at about this time that I noticed that I loss my mucous plug. Papa Bear got home from work about 30 minutes later and I told him that I loss my mucous plug and had experienced other signs of labor earlier in the day. I went on to make an easy dinner (I figured we should eat if this was it and I wouldn’t be able to eat until the baby was born). After dinner, about 6:30pm the contractions were coming more often and we started timing the contractions. My contractions were mostly in my back rather than my abdomen. It was bearable at first but got progressively worse. I was experiencing back labor.

Since we live within walking distance from the hospital, I wanted to labor at home for as long as possible. I had my bag ready to go and went to gather some last few items around the house. When contractions were about 3-6 minutes apart for over an hour, we decided to head over to the hospital at around 9:00pm. I checked in and the nurse monitored my contractions and the Baby’s heart rate. My blood pressure was a little elevated and the contractions were getting more and more painful. The nurse examined me and I was 3 cm dilated. That was good; the contractions were making some progress. This was not false labor. We talked about my pain options with the nurse. I knew ahead of time that I did want an epidural at some point. We talked with the nurse about how long I could wait before it would be too late and decided that I would wait about an hour or so and see how I was doing before getting the epidural. In the mean time, they drew my blood and put in an IV in. They moved me into a labor and delivery room; the nurse did not put me in a labor/delivery and recover room because she was concern about my elevated blood pressure and wanted to keep me close to the nurses’ station.

Once I was moved into a labor and deliver room, we talked about getting an epidural again and I was in so much back pain that I gave the nurse the go ahead to contact the anesthesiologist, since it would take some time to get things ready. He was available pretty quickly; apparently the maternity ward was not very busy, so I was getting all the attention. At about 11:00pm, I got my epidural and I was 5 cm dilated. Once the epidural came in effect, I no longer felt the contractions. It was great! I was in so much back pain and the breathing was not helping. The pain was excruciating. With the pain gone, my blood pressure went back to normal. The pain and anxiety was bringing my blood pressure up and so the epidural really helped me.

The nurse had me lay on my right side since the baby’s heart rate would decrease when I would lie on my back or on my left side. The nurse also gave me oxygen to make sure that the baby was receiving enough oxygen to keep her heart rate up. The nurse thought that she might be lying on the cord when I would shift over. I remained on my right side all night.

Our parents showed up some time after I received my epidural. They came to see me for a little while before heading over to the waiting room. Papa Bear and I both tried to get some rest since we knew we still had a lot of time before show time.

At 1:00am, I had progressed to 7 cm. I was progressing nicely so we thought I would start to deliver early in the morning. It was difficult to get rest; there was no pain but I was excited and nervous to meet my baby girl.

I progressed slowly the rest of night. At 8:00am, the nurse suggested that Papa Bear get some breakfast before we started to push so that he would have energy. I was starving and I am so glad I had dinner the night before.

At about 9:00am, I had progressed enough to be ready to push. My epidural had slightly worn off and I could feel the pressure of the contraction, but not necessarily pain. I discussed with my nurse the option of getting more or pushing with some sensation and pressure. The nurse explained to me that the epidural would not totally wear off and that if I had some sensation my pushing would be more effective. So I decided not to have the anesthesiologist come back in for more. We started to push when ever I had a contraction. The nurse was amazing and really helped me through the whole process. I was fortunate to have such a great nurse with over 20 years of experience. Papa Bear was so supportive and made sure I had my ice chips and oxygen between pushing. He really took care of me and was by my side the entire time.

At one point between pushing the nurse explained to me that the baby had passed meconium (stool) in utero so that once she was delivered they would need to suction it all out and that there would be a respiratory specialist in the room just for the baby. I was pushing and pushing and the baby still hadn’t crowned. The doctor came in a few times to check on me. The nurse also mentioned the possibility of having to vacuum the baby out. It never came to that, but she was just keeping me informed of these possibilities. Finally, after 2 ½ hours of pushing, I knew we were getting really close since there were 2 NICU nurses and the respiratory specialist in the room getting everything ready. The doctor came in and the NICU nurses helped me by holding my legs when I pushed at the very end.

Jordyn finally came out and I heard her crying, the NICU nurses immediately took her and did their work to make sure all the stool was out of her lungs. She had a great set of lungs, I could hear her crying. The doctor continued his work on me. I had to have an episiotomy and he was stitching me up. My epidural had worn off enough so that I could feel him stitching me up. Ouch!! I was still somewhat numb and tingly, but I did feel the pressure.

Jordyn got high apgar scores of 8 and 9. She was born on June 3, 3009 (my parents 36th wedding anniversary) at 11:29am. She weighed in at 7lb, 6oz and measured 20 inches long. When she was all cleaned up they gave her to Papa Bear and he held her for a minute before handing her over to me. I started to breastfeed her and she latched on really well. We were exhausted but it was all worth it. We had a beautiful and amazing baby.