Our Inducement Birth Story

A quick disclaimer before I start this post. This is our story, but every birth story is so different. I am not giving any medical or professional advice in this blog post--simply sharing what our personal experience was. If you're expecting your own little one soon, go into it with an open mind and flexibility. You'll save yourself a lot of stress if you do! And please listen to your body and the medical professionals you are trusting with your own experience!


Also, this is a judgement free zone. All that really matters is a healthy baby and a healthy momma. Let all the rest unfold as it will. ☺️


With that disclaimer out of the way, here is our birth story for little miss Beckley Danielle...



Friday, January 29, 2021


Our official due date was January 29, 2021. I had my appointment where we had a sonogram, they checked her heart rate and my blood pressure, and all was totally normal. At an appointment earlier that week I'd been told Beckley had rotated to the posterior position (not ideal for birth), and so I had spent a LOT of time after that appointment on my hands and knees (like, for 4 hours while watching Bridgerton on Netflix, lol) and doing exercises (SO many lunges) to get her back into the preferred position (anterior). Thankfully they were able to confirm that she had switched back into anterior positioning, which was reassuring!


At the appointment we were told everything was looking great, and that baby girl could come any day. This was very exciting! On the down-side (ironically) I felt wayyy to comfortable. I was going for long walks on trails at our local State Park, and I was having Braxton Hicks but nothing regular enough to think was labor.


At this point we officially started trying allll the methods to help baby girl arrive on her own. We went out that night for some eggplant parm, I spent lots of time doing exercises and bouncing on our exercise ball, we went for walks, and we made a trip for some spicy tacos the next day as well.

Tuesday, February 2, 2021


We spent the next several days waiting impatiently for little lady to arrive. The following Tuesday came around and I went in for another appointment. We had another sonogram, monitored Beckley's heart rate, checked my blood pressure, and again everything was looking great.


At this point we started the conversation around inducement and what mine and Jackson's options were. We were told there were no reasons to feel concerned, but if we wanted to induce once we were one week post due date (that upcoming Friday) then that would be an option. We were also recommended to not go further than two weeks post due date, which I was hoping we wouldn't get to anyways. Emotionally we were VERY ready for her to arrive!


Ultimately Jackson and I decided that we would wait until our next appointment on Thursday for her to come naturally, and if nothing was happening at that point then we would schedule an inducement to get the ball rolling.


Cue alllll the spicy foods, lots of exercises, 😉, walks, and waiting for baby girl to arrive.


Because it was so cold and icy outside we made a trip to our local ice arena and did some laps at their walkway surrounding the rink. We also got some Taco Bell and KFC for dinner hoping that would kickstart labor but, alas, it did not. It DID however cause me to sleep on the bathroom floor that night for a couple hours. 🤢 10/10 would NOT recommend that combination.

Thursday, February 4, 2021


The appointment

Thursday came around and I remember looking outside, seeing the blue skies, and thinking "today would be a beautiful day to have a baby". I physically felt no closer to having a baby than before, so Jackson and I decided that if I hadn't progressed naturally at all then we would request to have an inducement scheduled.


Jackson had taken the day off of work so he could drive me to my appointment, we packed the car with our hospital bags (just in case), dropped Sully off at our parents, and drove to the appointment. Sure enough I hadn't progressed any, so we then discussed our inducement options. I ended up opting for the pill version (can't remember the name) where you took a pill every 4 hours to help kickstart labor.


Our inducement was scheduled for 7pm that evening, so Jackson and I went home, made sure the house was in order, took a nap, ate some dinner, prayed, and then headed to the hospital.


The inducement

Checking into the hospital was extremely smooth and easy. Jackson and I say over and over again how impressed we were with the hospital and all of the medical staff there! They took SUCH great care of all of us.


Once we were checked in and given a room, I got changed into a robe and they did my first cervical exam to see if I had progressed naturally at all. I was at about 1cm dilated, and 10% effaced. They also did some initial bloodwork and it came back that my platelets were low, which was slightly concerning. I was told there was a chance I wouldn't have an epidural because of this (which I tried my best not to panic about), but that they'd consult our anesthesiologist and see what they said. I was then given my first pill, which was SUPER TINY I might add, and then went to sleep.

Friday, February 5, 2021


progression

I took the pill every 4 hours, and a couple doses in (around 4am) I requested some pain medication. Thankfully my body was progressing, but that also meant the contractions were kicking in and I was having a difficult time getting any rest. Once the pain meds kicked in I was then able to get a couple of hours of sleep which was HUGE.


By 8am I was at 6cm dilated and in active labor. At this point the contractions were getting very strong and I was having a difficult time coping with them. At around 9am I was given an epidural (which thankfully I was allowed to have) and LET👏🏽ME👏🏽 TELL👏🏽 YOU👏🏽 epidurals are an amazing thing! Thankfully they numb you up before hand so you don't feel anything aside some pressure when they're giving you the epidural which is AMAZING, buttttt the difficult thing is you have to stay completely still while they're getting it situated. I had a few contractions hit while they were doing mine and OH MAN was that a test. But once the epidural kicked in (took about 20 minutes to fully kick in) I was able to get a couple more hours of sleep. 🙌🏽


Funny side-note, we actually knew our anesthesiologist personally and I had be praying my entire pregnancy that he would be the one on-call when I went into labor. I swear I heard angels singing "Hallelujah!" when I saw him walk into the room!


pushing

I was checked again a little before Noon and I was fully dilated! They told me to let my body keep doing its thing, and when I started feeling like I could no longer resist the urge to push, to then let them know. About 15 minutes after that I was really struggling to resist the urge to push, and so we called in the nurses to get started.


Our doctor and two nurses were FANTASTIC. I worked with the nurses for the entirety of pushing and they honestly were the BEST coaches. I pushed for around 50 minutes and at 1pm Beckley Danielle was born. 💕


A little too easy?

Birth definitely wasn't "easy", but it went extremely smoothly and right after I finished pushing I remember having the thought "I did it! That wasn't too terrible!" But then I noticed my Doctor spending a lot of time "down there" and speaking with the nurses in very vague terms which I could clearly tell were meant to not freak Jackson or I out. I quickly put together that I was losing a lot of blood and she was working to stitch me up to stop the loss.


I ended up being wheeled into the operation room where they could work on me more effectively. I will say, our Doctor and the nurses did a fantastic job at keeping Jackson and I calm. Jackson actually had no idea how serious the situation was until after the fact! But when there were 7-9 people at any given time monitoring me in the O.R. and only 3 had been needed for the actual birth, I knew something was up.


I don't know for sure how long I was in the O.R. but my guess would be close to an hour. I ended up needing 48 internal stitches. I also remember them counting how many rags of blood I had lost, and I'd lost 17 rags worth of blood, however much that translates to. With a combination of my platelets being low and having a lot of internal tearing, I ended up losing a lot of blood.


But again, everyone we dealt with at the hospital was AMAZING and they took such great care of me! Our Doctor was fantastic and kept me calm the entire time. We just chatted while she stitched me up, haha. I seriously couldn't be more thankful for the people who cared for us! I now know that I came dangerously close to an emergency hysterectomy. Thankfully this wasn't necessary, but sobering nonetheless.

Conclusion


All in all, our birth experience was wonderful! It's truly amazing what the female body can do, and you feel like an absolute superhuman after giving birth. The amount of pride I have in my body now is crazy! But that being said, this is just our story, and everyone's story is different. All that really matters is a healthy baby and a healthy momma. Let all the rest unfold as it will. ☺️


Katie xx

Questions I Get A Lot:

what do contractions feel like?

Like a serious tightening and pressure in your lower back and stomach. & also kind of like a wave. They start subtle, then get really strong, and then fade away....and thennnn repeat in a few minutes, lol.

what does pushing feel like?

Like you're taking a giant 💩out of your V while running a marathon. Seriously. #sorry

was birth easier or harder than you expected?

Easier, but I think that's because I have a SERIOUS imagination and worked birth up to be something truly horrific in my mind. It hurts, oh heck yes, but not as bad as I imagined it would.

did the epidural hurt?

Not at all! They numb you up before, so all I felt was some pressure and cold.

would you do it again?

If I had to, yes. Do I want to? No.

Do you have any tips for expectant moms?

Surround yourself with professionals you trust and LISTEN TO THEM. Go into labor and birth with an open mind and a willingness to be flexible. Breathe. Drink lots of water. Rest and sleep where you can.

What is recovery like?

It's a lot, but also not terrible. I might make a blog post on this, keep an eye out.