This is Annabelle’s birth story and it is descriptive but so many of you have asked how my labor went I figured I would just share on here. I wrote this from my heart so excuse any grammar errors hehe.

 

9/13/17 6:48pm 8lb 12oz 20.5 inches Head 38cm

 

My originally due date was 9/17 but my doctor (Dr. Connor) at my 37 week appt encouraged me to be induced at 39 weeks. This was against my birth plan of doing all natural and hypno-birthing but I was worried her head would get stuck and I would have to have a C-Section which was not a possibility. Ryan unfortantely fractured his shoulder blade 4 days before our induction which meant he was in just as much pain as I was physically and mentally!

We were scheduled to go in on 9/11 at 10pm and the plan was to labor through the night, have my water broken in the AM and deliver by late afternoon so she would be a 9/12 baby and not a chance to be born on 9/11.

We received a call while in the pool (very hot every day in sept!) that the induction was going to be rescheduled for the next day at noon! WHAT? We were both pissed! Ryan moreso than me, I was definitely frustrated because I had been nervous all day and now I had to wait even longer!

After calling the hospital and doctor they could not change it back so on the plus side I had an extra night in my own bed.

At 11am the next day (9/12) we packed the car and headed to the hospital. I stopped at Juice it Up on the way to get a smoothie because I could not stomach anything else to eat. We arrived and they immediately put us into a room, and started the IV with Pitocin ekkkkk. Jaclyn was there to capture it all and Olivia arrived around 1pm. No huge contractions were coming but I definitely felt some pain esp in my back, Olivia trying to distract me read us “missed connections” on craigslist and that was extremely entertaining. I listened to my hypnobirthing script and tried to sleep. Ryan left in the late evening to grab some food and go to the gym, I wasn’t allowed to eat anything except popsicles and jello all of which were cherry YUCK!

Dr. Connor came in to say Hi around 6pm and no progress had been made so she said that Dr. Moore was going to have a delivery later that night into the morning and if it was okay she could break my water for me and of course I said YES! I kept asking if that girl had her baby yet but no luck haha. I labored through the evening and tried to be distracted by watching Jeff Dunham and trying to sleep but the contractions were painful and I was very uncomfortable so it was not even to sleep or relax.The nurse was very sweet and since I was her only patient she stayed with me most of the night to chat. I sent Olivia and Jaclyn (to a hotel) home since nothing was going to happen and that way they could get some sleep.

I was finally able to sort of get some sleep when Dr. Moore came in at 445am whipped on the lights and said lets get this show on the road… whoa! Not the best way to wake up lol. She broke both my water bags (yes I guess there are two) and boy did the contractions start right away! They were close together and intense. I called Olivia and she hurried back, I told Jaclyn to hang out over night and if anything I would text her later in the day once I got closer to having to push.

Olivia (best friend of 28 years and doula) did an amazing job, every contraction for the first 30-45mins or so meant more water coming out. I leaned on her shoulders and swayed with each contraction as she did a great job reminding me that the baby was coming TODAY! I labored naturally as long as I could. At 7am they had a shift change and the one nurse mentioned she was sunny side up based on my contractions (URG no wonder it felt like someone was snapping my spine in half!) my contractions were 75 seconds long, 15-30 sec break then another contraction then a break for a min. It was in sets of two and it was hard for me to catch my breath.

I tried to labor naturally a little longer and couldn’t do it, I told myself if I was 6cm or more I would just grin and bare it. The nurse checked me and I was only 4cm she said it would probably take another 5-6 hours and I knew I could not handle that pain for that long and still have the energy to push her out (we all knew she was big and had a big head hehe)

At 9am I had an epidural which was a crazy experience in itself. I was having gnarly back labor which I was so nervous I would not be able to sit still for the procedure. They give you 5 numbing shots and right after she did that I had a contraction but luckily those numbing shots helped alleviate some pain. She told me to tell her where I felt the needle or whatever and it could feel her trying to find the right spot, it was like right side, right side, the left then in the center. I definitely felt that needle going in and man did it hurt, the shots only really numb your skin not the inside ekkk. I was very concerned I would get a headache and she told me I wouldn’t have one at all because no spinal fluid came into the tube woo hoo!

The epidural works on gravity which also freaked me out because I didn’t want my chest to get numb or anything. They laid me down flat right away for 30 mins then I was able to be propped back up, poor ryan was trying to hold my hand or my leg when she gave me the epidural but the nurse kept getting in the way boo that was his biggest complaint of the whole experience was the nurses getting in his way. I rotated from one side to the other with the peanut ball between my legs every hour, it was weird when I had to switch sides because one leg was super numb (gravity) and the other wasn’t. Finally at 330pm the nurse said I can start laboring down which basically meant it was almost time to start pushing, she said if I felt like I had to poop to let her know because that meant it was time to push. Around 5pm I told her I felt tons of pressure and sure enough it was time to push. We tried the squat position where I hung on a bar but that was too hard for me because I do not have upper body strength at all. I pushed in the normal position while Olivia held one leg and Ryan held the other. The nurse asked if I wanted to see and positioned a mirror next to her so everytime I pushed I could see her head and at one point she had me reach down so I could feel it hehe. I felt like my eyes were gonna pop out of their head everytime I pushed and I had to do it in sets of three for 10 seconds (longest 10 seconds ever).

Dr. Connor came in and I got soooo excited because I knew the doctor only came in when it was close and the baby was crowning or was about too. I remember her saying that I wasn’t quite there yet but it seemed like I was because her head was so big hehe. I kept pushing and everyone was cheering me on. The only reason I would have to stop pushing or give up was because it was hurting my head so much, I am shocked I didn’t get a headache from that and lack of food (probably from all the fluids they have you on though)

I pushed and pushed and AB was crowning and her head was coming out helllooooo ring of fire! They do not tell you that the epidural really doesn’t help with that situation haha. Dr. Connor looked up at me and said were gonna have to cut you, which I obviously was worried about and I gave her the okay, the next push she came out and it was the craziest feeling ever! (6:48pm) They immediately laid her on my chest and cleaned her off while they delivered my placentia (which I never felt, I even had to ask) and sewed me up, I could see and feel the tugging ekkk. I only pushed for an hour and a half roughly which is sooo good considering how big she was. The cord was wrapped around her neck and she needed a little extra help getting pulled out because of her head so I had to stop pushing for one contraction which was the weirdest feeling (like holding in a poop haha) Ryan cut the cord and I breastfed her for the first time with a perfect latch! They did some skin on skin with Ryan. They cleaned me up and we went into the post partum room. I sent Ryan home because his shoulder was a wreck and I tried to get some sleep while AB went to the nursery. My mom and Art and Carol came the next day to meet her and Aunt Cherle and Auntie Courtney came later in the day. They tested her hearing and her blood sugar levels and everything was perfect! We went home as a family that day (9/14) at 8pm! She slept like a perfect angel in her crib only me having to wake her up to eat!