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He's here! An Induction Story
My baby boy, Lincoln, was born June 8 at 10:03 p.m., weighing 9 lbs 7 oz., 22 inches long, at 38 weeks gestation. He is absolutely amazing and I can't even tell you the amount of love I feel when I look at his sweet face. I have loved reading labor stories on this app, so I am glad I finally get to tell all of you mine. I will warn you that my birth story involves some unexpected circumstances, and also some intimidating details about being induced.
Okay, where to begin. I had an original induction date set for June 15th at 39 weeks due to the size of my baby boy. Obviously, since he was 9 and a half pounds two weeks early, those sizing ultrasounds were pretty spot on for us! Well, I woke up on Friday, June 5th with a small gush of weirdly wet-looking discharge. Initially, I thought my water broke, especially because I was feeling crampy with several contractions, as well as a general feeling of "oddness". The water breaking theory was quickly ruled out, however, because after that little gush, there was no continuing flow (even after laying down to test it out). And when I say "gush", I mean approximately 2 tablespoons in my underwear of some very wet looking and weird smelling stuff. Well, since it didn't continue (and I mean AT ALL) I figured it was just extra discharge because I was clearly in the early stages of labor. This thought was confirmed when, an hour later, a very large chunk of my mucus plug was dispelled in my underwear, and it was indeed a little bloody. This plugin was accompanied with more watery discharge, but this time it was significantly less at one time than that initial gush. Again, I concluded that this was because my mucus plug came out and so I was clearly in the early stages of labor! As the day wore on, though, my contractions and crampiness receeded until they were less than minimal. Still, I had an "odd" feeling about me that I couldn't out my finger on. I solaced myself by thinking I would likely go into labor that night or within the next 48 hours.
On Saturday morning, I woke up to the exact same thing as Friday, only I had less contractions than the previous day and was just a little crampy...enough to be minimally uncomfortable. So, on Sunday I woke up to yet another small gush. Again, it did not continue. The only continuing symptoms I had was minimal crampiness, emotional frustration, mucusy discharge, and some smaller pieces of mucus plug continuing to dispell. So, these were all that I really had to go off of for three days. I could have sworn that labor would happen soon, but it just never did. My husband had a very uneasy feeling during each of these days, and was adament that I should message the doctor on the online advice line just to get some feedback. Finally, Sunday morning, I agreed (although I was sure it was nothing).
On Monday, I had more discharge gush, but probably a little more than I did any days prior. I also awoke to a response from my doctor saying everything sounded normal for leading up to labor but to come get checked anyway. An hour later, I was in the doc's office. They did a swab test for amniotic fluid, but it came back negative. However, my doctor must have had an odd feeling too because she noticed that although the swab was negative, my vaginal area was very wet with a lot of mucusy discharge. Upon doing an ultrasound, she discovered that my amniotic fluid levels were relatively non-existent except for a couple of small pockets. So, to labor and delivery we went to be induced!!
We got into a room, got settled in, and got started on a low dose of Pitocin. Started at 2 ml/hour to increase every 15-30 minutes depending on my response to the medication. At first, nothing happened. After about an hour and a half, I started to feel contractions that were pretty uncomfortable (enough that I needed to breath through it) but not super painful. From this point on, things started moving fast. Within an hour of those beginning contractions, my contractions really took off. I began having contractions 30-45 seconds apart that had me screaming and writhing in pain. The nurses turned the pitocin off completely because once my body had finally gotten on board, the pitocin was causing them to be way too strong and way too close together. By this time, I was begging for an epidural and with every contraction, felt myself begin to black out. By the time I got the epidural, I was only 5 cm dilated. However, within an hour of getting the epidural, my body relaxed so much with relief that I shot straight to 10 cms. At that point, I almost passed out again bc my body went into shock, and I have as administered oxygen and laid on my side just trying to keep myself awake. Very quickly I felt like I needed to push, and my son was born within 20 minutes of that first push.
I will say that my labor and deliverystory is extremely unusual. but, I want all of you to know to trust your instincts. If you feel like something isn't right, don't delay! I also want you to know that IF you need Pitocin, things can take off very quickly once they start, and you should mentally prepare. Probably the most important thing I learned was with the epidural. If you are a mom who knows she wants it, ask for it BEFORE you are in that much pain. I didn't know that they had to first administer a minimal amount of fluids that take approximately an hour to get into your system Before you can get the epidural. By the time I asked for one, I was in so much pain that I was on the verge of passing out and felt like I was being tortured. So, by the time I got it, it was so late that my body just couldn't take it anymore.
For anyone wondering, all of the pain disappeared when I saw my son for the first time. I immediately couldn't even remember the details of how bad it actually was. He is more than worth anything I experienced and he is just absolutely my heart outside of my body.
Sorry this is so incredibly long, I just wanted to be extremely detailed for all of you. Good luck ladies!
Okay, where to begin. I had an original induction date set for June 15th at 39 weeks due to the size of my baby boy. Obviously, since he was 9 and a half pounds two weeks early, those sizing ultrasounds were pretty spot on for us! Well, I woke up on Friday, June 5th with a small gush of weirdly wet-looking discharge. Initially, I thought my water broke, especially because I was feeling crampy with several contractions, as well as a general feeling of "oddness". The water breaking theory was quickly ruled out, however, because after that little gush, there was no continuing flow (even after laying down to test it out). And when I say "gush", I mean approximately 2 tablespoons in my underwear of some very wet looking and weird smelling stuff. Well, since it didn't continue (and I mean AT ALL) I figured it was just extra discharge because I was clearly in the early stages of labor. This thought was confirmed when, an hour later, a very large chunk of my mucus plug was dispelled in my underwear, and it was indeed a little bloody. This plugin was accompanied with more watery discharge, but this time it was significantly less at one time than that initial gush. Again, I concluded that this was because my mucus plug came out and so I was clearly in the early stages of labor! As the day wore on, though, my contractions and crampiness receeded until they were less than minimal. Still, I had an "odd" feeling about me that I couldn't out my finger on. I solaced myself by thinking I would likely go into labor that night or within the next 48 hours.
On Saturday morning, I woke up to the exact same thing as Friday, only I had less contractions than the previous day and was just a little crampy...enough to be minimally uncomfortable. So, on Sunday I woke up to yet another small gush. Again, it did not continue. The only continuing symptoms I had was minimal crampiness, emotional frustration, mucusy discharge, and some smaller pieces of mucus plug continuing to dispell. So, these were all that I really had to go off of for three days. I could have sworn that labor would happen soon, but it just never did. My husband had a very uneasy feeling during each of these days, and was adament that I should message the doctor on the online advice line just to get some feedback. Finally, Sunday morning, I agreed (although I was sure it was nothing).
On Monday, I had more discharge gush, but probably a little more than I did any days prior. I also awoke to a response from my doctor saying everything sounded normal for leading up to labor but to come get checked anyway. An hour later, I was in the doc's office. They did a swab test for amniotic fluid, but it came back negative. However, my doctor must have had an odd feeling too because she noticed that although the swab was negative, my vaginal area was very wet with a lot of mucusy discharge. Upon doing an ultrasound, she discovered that my amniotic fluid levels were relatively non-existent except for a couple of small pockets. So, to labor and delivery we went to be induced!!
We got into a room, got settled in, and got started on a low dose of Pitocin. Started at 2 ml/hour to increase every 15-30 minutes depending on my response to the medication. At first, nothing happened. After about an hour and a half, I started to feel contractions that were pretty uncomfortable (enough that I needed to breath through it) but not super painful. From this point on, things started moving fast. Within an hour of those beginning contractions, my contractions really took off. I began having contractions 30-45 seconds apart that had me screaming and writhing in pain. The nurses turned the pitocin off completely because once my body had finally gotten on board, the pitocin was causing them to be way too strong and way too close together. By this time, I was begging for an epidural and with every contraction, felt myself begin to black out. By the time I got the epidural, I was only 5 cm dilated. However, within an hour of getting the epidural, my body relaxed so much with relief that I shot straight to 10 cms. At that point, I almost passed out again bc my body went into shock, and I have as administered oxygen and laid on my side just trying to keep myself awake. Very quickly I felt like I needed to push, and my son was born within 20 minutes of that first push.
I will say that my labor and deliverystory is extremely unusual. but, I want all of you to know to trust your instincts. If you feel like something isn't right, don't delay! I also want you to know that IF you need Pitocin, things can take off very quickly once they start, and you should mentally prepare. Probably the most important thing I learned was with the epidural. If you are a mom who knows she wants it, ask for it BEFORE you are in that much pain. I didn't know that they had to first administer a minimal amount of fluids that take approximately an hour to get into your system Before you can get the epidural. By the time I asked for one, I was in so much pain that I was on the verge of passing out and felt like I was being tortured. So, by the time I got it, it was so late that my body just couldn't take it anymore.
For anyone wondering, all of the pain disappeared when I saw my son for the first time. I immediately couldn't even remember the details of how bad it actually was. He is more than worth anything I experienced and he is just absolutely my heart outside of my body.
Sorry this is so incredibly long, I just wanted to be extremely detailed for all of you. Good luck ladies!
Congrats on your growing family!
Thank you so much for sharing. Really appreciate your taking the time to write this as detailed as you could. Many blessings to you and your bundle of joy!
Nice story thanks for sharing xx
Aw :)
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