Birth Story: Labor and Delivery: Not as scary as it sounds

Call me a weirdo, but I love labor! I don’t enjoy being pregnant at all (and pregnancy doesn’t agree with me either. You can read about that here). But there’s something exciting about the labor experience. Whether it’s due to all the hormones or the excitement of meeting your little one, my two labor experiences have been two of the most exciting moments of my life. This is probably where I should state my disclaimer: I labored for 13 hours total between my 2 kids and pushed a total of 5 times combined. Maybe that’s why I’m such a fan of labor. Who knows!

My first pregnancy was a doozy. I was blessed with the “all day sickness” aka you throw up all day, every day. Besides that, my pregnancy was uncomplicated. I was due January 17, 2007, and we were living in Orlando at the time. We came home for Christmas and I started having weird pains on Christmas Eve. It was like the right side of my stomach was having contractions and not the left. I struggled through the pain and discomfort until I couldn’t take it anymore. After Christmas dinner, I called my docs in Orlando and asked what to do. They said ideally they wanted to evaluate me, but since I wasn’t in town, I should go to the local hospital. The Hubs and I discussed it and decided that I had been stable this long, what’s another 2 hours for us to drive to Orlando?  So we loaded up and went straight to the hospital. I was admitted because I was 4cm dilated and having what looked like contractions on the monitor. I was told we’d meet our son within 24 hours. Well when the doctors changed coverage at 7 a.m. the next morning, the doc took one look at me, said I wasn’t in labor (which I knew) and sent me home stating I’d probably be back by the next day. This is when it got interesting…3 weeks later, and a few trips to the hospital for false alarms, I was still pregnant, still 4cm, and scheduled for an induction on January 12th.

We got to the hospital at 11 a.m. as scheduled and got up to a room around 12. My IV got started and Pitocin was running. I felt absolutely no contractions whatsoever. I even questioned my nurse if I was even in labor. A few hours later, they broke my water and that’s when I started feeling them. Contractions were so strong and so fast. I ended up asking for a dose of IV pain meds (the only medication I had…no epidural for this girl!) which took off the edge for a minute. At that moment I thought I had to go to the bathroom (TMI, I know) and finally found a comfortable position. I was off the monitors for 20 minutes when the nurse came in and told me I was, in fact, about ready to deliver my baby. Yep, I almost had my baby in the toilet! The Hubs loves to tell that story, so why not share it with you! I quickly got in bed, a second nurse came in, and I told them I was pushing, doctor or not. They quickly pulled him out of another delivery. When he showed up, he asked me if he had time to put on gloves, which he did. He put on gloves and barely got his gown on before I pushed 2 times and my little man had arrived! We were blessed with an 8 lb, 1 oz baby boy who instantly stole our hearts.

My labor was one for the books. 1 dose of pain meds, 2 pushes, and only 3 hours of feeling the contractions. It was amazing. There’s an adrenaline rush that comes along with knowing you’re about to bring your child into this world. I went in thinking it would be a scary experience but I came out with the most empowering experience I’ve ever had. I brought my child into the world. It took everything I had, every ounce of my being, but I did it. There’s no better feeling than that.