Victoria's Birth Story

I'm finally getting the chance to share the story of the day Victoria came into this world...and I better do it quick before it's time for her next feeding :) 

On Saturday, June 30, I woke up early in the morning, around 2 a.m., and thought my water might have broken, but I wasn't sure. It certainly wasn't the huge breaking of water I'd expected. I'd had many false labor contractions (Braxton Hicks, as they call them) prior to this day and every time it had turned out to be exactly that: false. So I figured it was another false alarm and I'd wait it out. Let me also preface by saying that I was already almost 4 cm dilated and 80% effaced at this point and was getting really anxious about her arrival!

Not much was happening by late morning, but Trey and I decided I should call the doctor around noon to let her know and to get her opinion. So we had a nice relaxing morning where Trey watched t.v. and I worked on my scrapbook. We ate hotdogs for lunch and casually lingered about the house. At 1:30 I called Dr. M (my OB who had given me her cell in case I thought I was ever going into labor) and told her what was going on. She agreed - she, too, wasn't sure, but said it was better to be safe than sorry. If your water does break and you don't go into labor within a certain amount of time, infection can set in and things can take a turn for the worse. 

So we put Dean in his doggy pen with a treat, loaded the car with my labor bags and pillows, grabbed the baby seat, and headed for the hospital. I made calls to family along the way letting them know we were going in to have a few tests done to see if my water had broken, but told them it was probably nothing. 

It was much less dramatic than I had imagined, as we casually parked the car and walked into the front of the hospital together. We headed for the labor & delivery area that we'd been shown during our "Confident Childbirth" class weeks earlier.  They were expecting me and got me set up in a room to do the tests. There were two tests - one of them being a little more detailed in case the first one came out negative. And the first one did come out negative so I thought for sure we were headed home. The second one, as you may have guessed it, was positive, and I recall the nurse saying, "Looks like you're here to stay!".  The next emotions I felt were unexpected. I had been so confident and laid back about it all, and suddenly I felt nervous and anxious about how I would get through it. I couldn't believe it was time and deep down I was scared, but I smiled anyway. 

This was our "we're having a baby!" picture -  taken right after I was admitted

I was officially admitted to the hospital at 2:45 p.m. and because we thought my water had broken in the night and labor had not started on its own, I was put on Pitocin (a drug to induce contractions). They had to put an iv in my arm, which, if you know me and my fear of needles, was not pleasant. The nurse was thoughtful enough to wrap gauze around it so I would get over it faster (I couldn't even look at my left arm without feeling queasy- hah!) and it actually helped! I know - pathetic, huh? 

Every hour the nurse would increase my dosage of Pitocin, and although my contractions were becoming stronger and lasting longer, my pain was not increasing. I was still smiling and chatting happily and the nurses were a bit confused. At 6:00 p.m. Dr. M (my OB) came in and told me she thought perhaps part of my water bag was not completely broken, which would explain why I wasn't feeling an increase in pain. So she had to use her handy dandy water breaking tool and break my water again - this time I felt it for sure because I could feel this huge gush of HOT water leave my body. Almost immediately after it broke, I started feeling the contractions in a way I had NEVER felt them before. My contractions now felt the way I had expected them to feel - which was incredibly intense and overwhelming and certainly the most pain I had ever felt in my life. I remember Dr. M standing back and watching my face scrunch up in pain and she said, "Now that is what you should have been feeling." The part of the water bag that had not broken was still providing comfort...but that was no longer! 

So this is where it got the most intense and how you would picture it on t.v. with people all around the pregnant lady, trying to get her comfortable, the husband saying calming things and squeezing her hand, and the pregnant lady grunting and screaming and yelling. Within five minutes after Dr. M had broken my water for the second time, I had gone from almost 4 cm to 6 cm and the baby dropped from where she had been at -2 station to 0 station (those of you familiar with labor know what in the world I'm talking about). Basically she was dropping and making her way down. Oh - and I had been 100% effaced since around the time they put me on Pitocen. So basically...a few more centimeters and it would be go time! 

But back to my dramatic, painful moment, which I really don't remember the fine details of (probably because my eyes were closed and I was trying to remember how to breathe!). All I know is that the contractions were really bad (transition stage) and I knew right then that it was time for the epidural. It was actually past the time that I would have asked for it but because I hadn't been feeling the pain, I didn't know it. I was proud of myself for getting to actually feel what it feels like without an epidural (something I hadn't intended on!). Like with needles, I don't handle pain well, and I knew from the start that in no way, shape, or form, would I be having a baby without an epidural (if I could help it). I certainly had no intentions to prove to the world that I could do it without it....because I don't think I could! Kudos to those who do it naturally, because my 10 minutes of "natural" labor during the transition stage was about all I could take. 

So my nurse went out to ask for the epidural, which they tell you usually takes 30-45 minutes to get because you have to wait on the anesthesiologist to get there. A little angel must have been watching over me and knew I couldn't make it that long because within 5 minutes the head anesthesiologist of the hospital came in my room (the nurses had told him it was extremely urgent and he listened!) and got me set up. That was another thing I had been really scared about (epidural = HUGE NEEDLE! IN MY BACK!) but I was so distracted by my natural pain that all I could think about was the relief I would soon feel. I honestly didn't even see his face because they had me on my side, my eyes were closed for the most part, and I had my nurse, Dr. M, and Trey reminding me how to breathe, holding my hand, rubbing my legs, and who knows what else. I had an awesome support team! It took him what felt like a couple minutes to give me the epidural and a couple more minutes for the relief to set in. Here is what I looked like after the epidural:

I was feeling gooood...and loving the popsicles!

That was honestly the most eventful part of my labor experience (other than baby's actual arrival) because after that, the rest was a breeze. By 6:45 I was comfortable and hanging out. My contractions now just felt like a lot of pressure down below, but nothing painful. At 8:30 Dr. M checked on me again to see if I was ready to push. I was 9.5 cm and at 1 station - almost time! She said she'd be back in an hour and that it would probably be time. I tried to fall asleep until then but was really excited, so I just rested quietly. 

At 9:30 p.m. my nurse came in and started setting up. It was time to push. Dr. M wasn't there at first - I guess she let's the process get started and then comes once the baby is getting close to crowning. So I had my nurse holding one leg and Trey holding the other and the three of us pushed for a while...but it wasn't painful. With an epidural you really don't feel much, so I just did what the nurse told me and would push as hard as I could, holding my breath for 10 seconds, 3 times in a row. Then we would take a minute to get my strength back up and we'd do it again. At some point Dr. M came in and set up down below. The next thing I knew Trey was saying he could see her head. I was like, "What?! Does she have hair? What color is it?" and he responded, "Umm...it looks kind of gray." - LOL - which I guess was due to the goo that the baby is covered in until they get wiped off. Funny moments in the delivery room!

So I pushed and pushed and pushed some more, and within the hour, baby Victoria was born! It was amazing - and I can't believe I actually did it. What a surreal experience. I will say I am so glad I had such a positive labor with her. I had expected it to be absolutely terrible after the stories I had heard - but somehow, mine seemed to go much better than I could have ever planned. Even my 10 minutes of intense pain didn't seem so awful once they were over. 

Victoria was born at 10:24 p.m. with her eyes wide open, taking in the world around her. She is more precious than I could have ever imagined and the love I feel for her grows every day. 

Taken a few minutes after her birth, the first moment I held her

Tomorrow V will be 1 month old! How time flies...trying to hold on to each and every dear moment!

xoxo,