I finally have time to share my birth story! So surreal my Daisy girl is ONE month already!
A disclaimer first, I know there are so many opinions on all things pregnancy / mom life. I want to share my experience to help those in similar situations or to raise awareness for all the changes that can happen towards the end of pregnancy or just in general! It is hard being a first time mom and not knowing what is “normal” or how your body will make babies etc. My whole pregnancy my goal was to trust myself, my OB / medical team and the circle of professionals I had included throughout my pregnancy. Otherwise opinions get really big and overwhelming, so a reminder to stick to your circle of people you trust:)
PREGNANCY
A little back story!! Most of my pregnancy Daisy was measuring “on track” with ultrasounds we did and how my belly was measuring. At my 36 week apt, my belly was measuring 35 weeks which I thought was a little odd but didn’t think much of it and I knew we were going to have a growth scan ultrasound / BPP at our 37 week apt so I figured I would find out more info then.
Our 37 week apt showed Daisy was measuring smaller, like 2ish weeks behind, and was in the 9th percentile. This was a little shock to us since the whole pregnancy she was “on track”. After our BPP scan we weren’t really sure what to think / felt a little nervous as to why she was measuring small etc. — BUT in hindsight, before this apt, I did notice my belly not growing tons after 35 weeks, which I feel like is opposite of what is supposed to happen haha… So it kinda makes sense that she was measuring small! Maybe this isn’t correlated either but I did notice the growth slowing down!
We met with our OB after the BPP and first were told not to worry about anything since I have had such a healthy pregnancy:) But, we found out any baby under the 10th percentile gets extra testing to make sure baby is okay etc. So, week 37 and 38 we did 2 tests a week, the nonstress test (NST) and biophysical profile ultrasound (BPP) to make sure she wasn’t stressed out etc. – you can look these up to know more if you are curious–
We were also told we would be getting induced so I wouldn’t go over 39 weeks. We were told they like to induce smaller babies, those under the 10th percentile, by 39 weeks because at that point it is safer for them to be growing on the outside due to the possibility of something causing the fetal growth restriction. Issue with placenta, cord etc. –this is summed up in my words / how I understood it haha– Sooo that apt changed everything very quickly, from feeling a little worried about our baby girl with needing to have the extra testing to picking out the day we come in, it all felt hectic haha. BUT I had faith in my OB and Daisy that everything would go as it should. AND I realized how common the extra testing is!! So mamas, do not get super worked up if you are told you need extra testing. Of course everyone’s situations are different and some give more things to worry about than others, BUT I wish I would have known how common extra testing was for babies, small or big!! And just because a baby is measuring “small” or “big” does not always mean something is necessarily wrong. In our experience anyways!
SOOOO we then picked our day to come in which was just wild and I did have a little sense of sadness that I wouldn’t experience spontaneous labor but the planner in me also didn’t mind knowing a date and time to go in with living an hour away;) I was also very thankful I had a very open mindset throughout my whole pregnancy because I knew at the end of the day I could plan for everything I wanted and I knew there was always a chance it wouldn’t happen so my birth plan was simply just keeping me safe and as comfortable as possible and getting Daisy here safely!
I highly recommend new mamas to keep an open mind. It truly will help your mentality after whatever birth experience you have. My OB told me, before we knew our situation, to expect something to go wrong or be challenging during labor / delivery and then we will be okay! She said it is those that are super “strict” with their birth plan that are easily traumatized when things don’t go according to the “plan”. She said first time babies are simply just tough for a lot of women! I was very thankful for her honesty and advice. I do think there is a fine line between being an advocate for yourself in your wishes and going with the flow / trusting your medical team’s opinions. –again, sharing my opinions and experiences. Agree to disagree;)
INDUCTION DAY!
Having a medical induction is such a weird feeling knowing you are going in at a certain time! We had it planned for Sunday June 23rd, our check in time was 6:45pm! My OB wanted to start the process overnight since I was hardly dilated to a 1 at my 38 week apt.
Our goal was to have a pretty relaxing “last” weekend before MOM and DAD duties… but plans of course don’t always go as planned haha – our basement flooded late Friday night with the flood so we were up all night trying to control it as much as we could since we have a finished basement. Well Saturday morning came and water was still coming in so we decided to rip out all the carpet sadly haha. What was a nice finished basement was gutted the day before BABY DAY LOL. What better timing?! We thankfully had tons of help to get it done so we could have Sunday to regroup and reorganize the mess. We mainly just had a good laugh about it because it was all out of our control! AND made for a great memory for Daisy’s arrival;)
I had the house all tidy then we had one last date night before check in! Such a surreal feeling!!
7:30pm
We got settled into the room and my nurse started an IV so it would be ready, took some blood samples, blood pressure check and put the 2 monitors on my belly to start monitoring baby girl right away!
The OB on call then came in to check my cervix to see how we were going to start the induction / soften my cervix. I was dilated to a 1 and 50% effaced. Baby girl was very low and engaged so we were starting at a great spot and I felt super hopeful!
8:15pm
We started with Cytotec which is a little pill that gets inserted and can be inserted every 4 hours to keep things going. After it was inserted I had to sit for 30 mins but then I could have free movement!
9:30pm
I was still feeling pretty good but had a little pressure and contractions started feeling a little stronger so we went to walk around the hospital. I was also starting to get a little headache too. After walking around I sat on the birthing ball for a bit then was mainly trying to rest while I could! – no rest happened haha – side note: my body was being forced to labor when it was not ready. Crappy thing about inductions. Some can have great experiences that are quicker / body responds well OR very slow experiences!
11pm
Contractions started getting more intense, but felt more like period cramps and still was having some pressure! Lower back aches started too.
12:15am
4 hours was up of the first dose of Cytotec so my cervix was checked again to see what our next steps were. I was still dilated to a 1 and 50%… felt a little discouraged but knew this could be a longer process. We then decided to start Cervidil, which is like a little shoe lace that gets inserted and can stay in for 12 hrs to help soften cervix. My nurse also gave me some Benadryl to try and sleep since that hadn’t happened yet. I was definitely getting more uncomfy, contractions were more getting more frequent and felt like bad period cramps, but still tolerable!
3am
I was only able to sleep from maybe 2-3am, benadryl did not help much sadly. I was honestly just getting very uncomfortable and could not relax enough to sleep. Headache was pretty bad at this point and my back labor was really picking up and man that is a whole different ball game haha..the contractions are one thing. But back labor ooooofta!! I took some tylenol for my headache and ate some crackers too.
4:25am
I was feeling more pressure so we decided to check my cervix again and I was hardly dilated to a 2 and effacement was a little thinner…I ended up getting in the bathtub for an hour to try and relax my back because any position in bed was not comfy. I put my headphones in with some relaxing music and tried my best to get comfy.
6:50am
Bath was not relieving any pain and was also trying different positions hanging over the bed, sitting on the ball, getting counter pressure on my hips etc but this dang back labor was so brutal haha. I was contracting every minute and could not get my body to relax. I felt soo tense even with all the slow breathing etc. SO they decided to take the Cervidil out and make another plan since that wasn’t getting me very far. My nurse also tried some spinning baby techniques on me like shaking my hips in a side lying position to help relax and it did help a little bit but not much haha.
7:50am
The new OB on call came in and discussed next steps, she decided to break my water (this was a weird feeling haha) to see if that could get things moving since I was hardly dilated a 2 at this point. I was feeling a little discouraged with all the pain I was having and knowing how low and engaged she was. BUT again, I kept trusting God’s plan for Daisy and I! – My contractions picked up even more right away and so did the back labor – OUCH haha. The contractions I could get through, it was the dang back labor. They say its from how baby’s head is positioned or something!
8:30am
I decided it was time to get the epidural because I was really struggling to relax my body and have heard in some cases you get the epidural, your body can relax then you can dilate quicker. SO I decided it was just time for it. I also started experiencing some mild labor shakes.
9am
I got the epidural and that was not bad at all IMO, the only thing that was challenging was having to relax / hold still during contractions during the placement since you can not move! The plan was to let me relax a bit, rest, and see if my body would do anything!
9:30am
Epidural kicked in and I was finally feeling good. Night and day difference, it was wild haha. I finally was able to get some rest. Although the nurses would rotate me every 20-30 mins with a peanut ball between my legs, so I wasn’t getting tons of rest but some and it felt great! I was just so happy I could relax from the back labor!
11am
Next plan was to start pitocin and see if that could get things moving more. I was still shaking a decent amount and my nurse said to just let it happen / don’t try to stop them. It was all the hormones causing the shakes. It was hard to keep resting with them. Side note – sticking your tongue out helps stop them if needed! I had to stick my tongue out when getting my blood pressure checked to stop the shakes for a good reading. Weird how that works!
12:15pm
I was dilated to a 3, but baby wasn’t super happy at this point. I won’t go into too much detail since I don’t know all the proper terms myself but basically her heart rate was dipping during contractions a little bit. They said it’s normal to see some dipping in smaller babies but she was doing it a little more than they liked
12:30pm
Decided to shut pitocin off since baby wasn’t responding super well to it. I was feeling some pressure and contractions in my belly when before I couldn’t feel anything! But it was tolerable! They started monitoring Daisy closely to see how she reacted to every contraction. They didn’t know if she was either laying on the cord or if my placenta wasn’t giving her enough oxygen. So they kept rotating me / watching the monitor to see if it helped her at all. – it was the weirdest feeling seeing the nurses move my legs but I could not feel a thing. I hated how that felt but was also grateful my back labor was gone haha. I was also having more of a “bloody show” than typical so they were watching that too! This can happen after your water breaks – you can also look this up for more info! – there ended up being nothing to worry about with it though!
2pm
The OB came in and said she wasn’t loving how Daisy was responding to contractions the last little bit. She was having more heart rate dips than she wanted to see so she decided to check me and make a plan. I was only at a 4… So she told me it was time for a c section at this point if I was okay with it and at that point I did not care what happened I just wanted Daisy out safe. Also knowing it had been 18 hours already and we tried so many things I was just wanting my baby out and safe if they had any concern at all.
We were definitely feeling all the emotions and praying Daisy would be okay and be delivered to us safely. Things moved VERY quickly after that. It was not an emergency but we were told everyone would be moving quickly. They had Matt pack all our stuff up as they were prepping me to move to the operating room.
They took me to get prepped and Matt was able to come in 20 mins later. The prepping felt very hectic with tons of people in the room getting things ready quickly. I had the shakes pretty bad so they did have to strap my arms down, which maybe is protocol I am not sure! The nurse anesthetist or anesthesiologist, I can’t remember which ones are in surgery, was so nice and asked me if it was my first kid and said he was sorry it seemed so hectic but promised me it was organized chaos. That made me feel better because honestly there were just tons of emotions too, things were happening so fast AND I did not have Matt with me at this time.
They were going to use my epidural for the surgery so I believe they gave me a little more and were going to do the pinch test at the incision site. If I could feel it they would have to sedate me which I so badly did NOT want. I didn’t want to be out when my baby came into the world and I didn’t want Matt going through all that alone… So I was SOOO thankful I could only feel pressure / no pain for the pinch test so they were able to get started!
It is maybe TMI to the reader’s mind haha but I could feel the pressure of them starting to cut and I quickly asked where Matt was because I wanted him there with me when it started and they were just bringing him in. It was crazy being able to “feel” them doing the c section. No pain but pressure of it all. Cutting through 7 layers is just wild to me! The “delivery” part was SOO fast! It honestly all felt fast from making that decision at 2pm!
2:36pm
Our sweet girl Daisy Jane was born and came out crying so loud which was truly the best sound in the world. Especially since she had us all a little worried, but I guess for no reason as she came out simply perfect! After the initial cry and our tears of joy the doctors commented on her full head of hair and of course we could not see her yet so we were truly shocked because Matt and I didn’t have really any hair at birth! I hardly had much hair at 4 years old haha so I did not know having a baby with hair was even possible lol. SO, that was a great surprise!!
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t sad about not having a vaginal delivery and getting that first skin to skin moment BUT I remind myself the control was never mine. I trusted God’s plan for us from the beginning and told myself I would be happy with whatever my birth brought and I was content with that:) It was also amazing getting to see Matt hold her first and love on her. Something about seeing your husband become a daddy for the first time…the best ever!
It did take some time to stitch me all up and at this point I was starting to feel a little nauseous with everything going on, feeling the tugging and pulling, not being able to feel my legs AT ALL, the drape being so close to my neck, my arms strapped down etc so the nurse tried helping me get my mind off it all and had me smell alcohol wipes because I did not want to puke and that helped me a lot!
3:17pm
My sweet Daisy girl was put on my chest for the first time as we were wheeled out of the delivery room. I couldn’t believe I was holding my rainbow baby. Everything I had hoped and prayed for. There is nothing better than that first feeling!
We then went to recovery for 2 hours and I will write another blog post on c section recovery;) BUT, that is our birth story of our sweet Daisy Jane. Although things did not go as I thought, things could have always been worse / more scary etc so I am truly thankful for our experience and getting to take a happy healthy baby home. I look back and question whether certain things were necessary but wowza going through everything for the first time is tough to know so it already makes me curious how my next pregnancy and birth will go haha.
Thanks for reading and following along my journey of becoming a mama, you guys are amazing:) xoxo!