On Tuesday April 27, Nathan and I went in for a sonogram because baby was 41 weeks. Everything seemed fine except that my amnio fluids were measuring low. We went to see the OB afterwards and even though baby's heart beat was stable, they were concerned with the low levels of fluid. Even though Nathan and I thought we would have until 42 weeks to start any interventions, the doctors were quite concerned and wanted to induce the next day.
In our birth plan, we specifically requested as natural of a birth as possible. Instead of starting directly with Pitocin, we were given the choice of using Cervadil, which is a prostaglandin. This type of prostaglandin required us to check into the hospital on Wednesday evening, stay in my cervix for 12 hours, and if it didn't work...start Pitocin. To try and swing things further in our favor, my membranes were stripped that day.
We spent the night praying that labor would spontaneously start. My mom came over to spend time with me, and Nathan continued to work diligently on redecorating our place. We went to bed that night, and woke up the next morning with everything still in tact.
Without labor starting, we checked into Fair Oaks Hospital that evening at 7:30 and at around 9:30 I received the Cervadil. Nathan and I turned on some Lost and prayed that this time, labor would start.
Morning came and I was just as far along as I was on Tuesday. By this point, our doula Tracy arrived. We spoke with the doctor on call and asked if my water could be broken to see if that, coupled with the Cervadil, would jumpstart anything. An hour later, and still nothing.
Tracy suggested one last natural attempt and we got an electric pump and tried to see if that would stimulate anything. Nothing.
Our little boy was determined to stay put.
Unfortunately, while he was not ready, the doctors had decided that for everyone’s best health, he needed to be ready. It was with great hesitation that Nathan and I agreed to start Pitocin. We would start very slow, and if the contractions became consistent, the nurses agreed to take me off of the Pitocin and see if I would continue laboring on my own.
Pitocin is powerful. I instantly started to feel contractions, and they were not a fun feeling at all. I tried to use our Bradley training and moaned and breathed through them. After a few hours, the doctor checked me and I was at 6 cm. Finally, some progress! My body had started contractions, so they held up their end of the deal and stopped the Pitocin. Well, when they stopped the Pitocin, my body stopped the contractions. Not exactly what we were hoping for in this deal. I went about an hour having continuous cramps, but nothing registered as a contraction. The doctor and nurses checked me again and I was still at 6 cm. We were then told that I was going to have to be put back on Pitocin.
I cried and even though Nathan tried his best to calm me, I gave up on myself. I asked for the epidural. I don’t think I have ever been so disappointed in myself in my life, but I knew I couldn’t bear the pain that was to come. They weren’t proposing the level of Pitocin I was exposed to before, but twice the amount to get me ready for delivery in less than a couple of hours.
The “medicine guy” came into the room within the next few minutes. He was very nice and I remember he wore a New York Giants hat. I really wanted to ask him about it, but I was in a lot of pain. He administered the epidural and it kicked in instantly. Luckily, it must have been a small dose because I retained feeling in my legs completely (I even stood on the bed at one point).
The nurses pumped me up on Pitocin once again, all the way to a level 10 (I was at 6 the last time). The epidural was in, the Pitocin was on, and I was told to rest because pushing would be coming soon.
After about an hour and a half, I was at 10 cm, fully effaced and baby was at station 0. Ideally, he would have been at -3, but now I had to face not only pushing him out, but pushing him down AND out.
The doctor and nurse instructed me on how to push, and each one of them held a leg while I spent 30 seconds per contraction pushing our baby. I did this for three hours with Nathan, Tracy and the delivery team cheering me on.
After about two and a half hours, I tore and baby’s head was coming out much easier. I kept pushing and pushing and pushing. All of a sudden, I felt his head come out of me. I pushed again and I felt his shoulders and the rest of his body shoot out of me and all I could do was cry tears of pure joy.
The stress of the pushing caused baby to #2 while on his way out, so the nurses took him over to the warmer and assessed him. Nathan took watch as the newly proud and protective father. I was still in tears, and pushed out the placenta, which was a feeling of being done.
Baby received a 7 on his first APGAR and then a 9, so he was ready to be handed off to me. Nathan took him first and placed the most beautiful and precious gift on my chest. He went from crying to calm and peaceful, as if to say, “Mama, I’m here - I’m finally here.”
I was able to get him to latch pretty quickly and breastfeed right away. After a few hours, we were all moved to our recovery room. The only thing left for us was to pick a name.
Nine months in the making, Nathan and I decided to name our son,
Holden Read Sandell
Born April 30th at 3:30 AM
Weighing 9 lbs and 5 oz
Measuring 22 inches long
CONGRATULATIONS!!! Holden is SO cute and handsome and I love his name! Hope you all are doing well!
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