I have always enjoyed reading other peoples birth stories and experiences, and at the end of the day, every experience is SO different. Every birth story has its own twists and turns. I wanted to take the opportunity to share our birth story with you. This post is one of the longest and most intense/personal posts that I have written thus far. These moments I share are moments that I want to have written down to share with Hudson one day. I share with those of you who are interested and kindly ask that those who are not, just skip this post, your negativity is not welcome. Enjoy!
It all started on Monday, March 26th. I was 2 days past my due date and my doctor requested that I go to the hospital for a stress test. During that morning I was feeling intense, regular contractions and felt like labor may have begun. Sure enough, the stress test told us that I was in fact in labor and after my exam with the nurse she told us that we would be back sometime that evening to have our son. The anticipation was intense and we spent the day getting ready and running last minute errands. I spent much of the day walking the neighborhood and mentally preparing myself for birth. The night approached and I noticed that my contractions were getting sporadic and not as intense at times. We went to bed that evening… and sure enough, labor had stopped. Yup, stopped. Tuesday morning we woke up and went to our OBGYN to meet with out doctor and talk about options. After explaining to her what had happened, she performed an exam and reported that I was not dilated any further. We had decisions to make. From recent ultrasounds we knew that Hudson was over the 90th percentile in weight and every day past our due date he was just going to continue to get bigger. Our options at that point were to wait a week and see if my body went into labor, but risk him being over 10 lb. baby, or to be induced that week. We went home to talk about our options and later that afternoon we called our doctor to schedule inducement. Wednesday, March 28th we woke up that morning and this time really packed the truck to head to the hospital and have our son! We checked into our room at the hospital at 10am. Unpacked our bags while the nurses came in to introduce themselves and start taking my vitals and medical information they needed. The mid-wife who was on duty at the time-shared with me that this process could take 3-5 days, and I couldn’t help but feel defeated before we even began. Around noon, a nurse came in to set up my IV and start my Pitocin. Our doctor had instructed them to start me on the lowest dose of Pitocin because I still was not dilated and it was going to be a long haul. As the Pitocin drip started I made myself comfortable and started watching Friends on Netflix. At this point they were not checking on me too often, so I had time to just try to relax and snack lightly. 5 o’clock rolled around and it was shift change. My water still had not broken yet, but I was about 4 cm dilated which was a good sign that things were moving in the right direction. I would say around dinnertime, because I specifically remember telling Timmy to eat dinner, but I was going to pass because the pain was intensifying, the contractions were starting to get pretty painful. At about 9 pm I asked Timmy to come over to my bedside and help me lower the headrest and when he went to go push the button on the bed I nearly jumped a mile. A loud “pop” occurred and sure enough, my water had broken! Once my water broke I knew things would continue to heat up quickly. At this point the pain was at a 7 or 8, (on a 1-10 scale), and the nurse had asked me to let her know when I felt as if I couldn’t handle the contractions another hour because at that time she would start to get the anesthesiologist in order to come in and administer the epidural. Tim and I had talked about our pain mediation options long before arriving to the hospital and I had written in my birth plan that if necessary I would receive one. The night turned into morning and my contractions were becoming very intense. Speaking to so many women about their birth experiences prior to this moment I had received so much feedback about how hard it is to describe what a contraction feels like, and now I totally get it. In the beginning of labor they felt like really bad menstrual cramps, but by the time we were talking about a pain level of 9, they really became indescribable. At about 2 am the anesthesiologist arrived and it was time to receive the epidural. The doctor made it very clear how important it was to stay still and work through the contractions while he administered the medicine in order to avoid a “wet tap” in which case, my legs would have lost feeling. My anesthesiologist was a rock star and my epidural didn’t cause my legs to loose feeling or create a headache. It helped mitigate the pain of the contractions, but I could still feel the pressure. 2 am was approaching and my doctor came in to check and see how I was doing. She suggested that Hudson was having a hard time making it around my bowel and dropping into my pelvis. She suggested that if I could get into child’s pose, for even just 30 minutes, it would really help progress things along. With some help from the nurse I got into child’s pose on my hospital bed and instantly all modesty went OUT THE DOOR and I laid their face down, ass up. Thirty minutes passed and the nurse came in to check on us, she was thrilled with the progress we made in such a short time that she asked if I could tolerate child’s pose any longer. I told her that I was willing to do whatever it would take to get our son out quickly and safely. So child’s pose was where I remained for the next two hours. 4:30 am had arrived and that same nurse came in and this time checked to see how far I was dilated. Over the entire 17-hour labor process they only checked to see how far I was dilated twice, maybe three times, because once your water breaks the risk of infection increases. She stated that I was 9 cm dilated and she was going to go grab my doctor and let her know. My doctor came in and suggested that I flip back over to my back and give it a push to see how close things were. At this point my body was completely numb from being on my hands and knees for 3 hours that I needed a bit of assistance to get myself to flip over onto my back. With my doctor’s cues, I gave it a push. I believe my doctor was under the impression that we would have another 2 hours of pushing ahead. But, much to her surprise, I pushed and the next thing I know, our doctor yells, “grab a catcher, and tell the mid-wife, this baby is on his way!” I pushed for 25 minutes. 7 sets, 3 pushes every time. (Apparently that is unheard of; a typical woman pushes for 2-3 hours) The first push I felt like I could conquer the world, the second push I was still feeling strong but could feel how hard my body was working, and the third would take absolutely all the air from my body. I remember how important the environment we created for ourselves in our room really helped me during this extremely exhausting time. The lights were dim, our aromatherapy was diffusing lavender throughout our room and we had a playlist that we created months ago playing softly in the background. For 25 minutes I had my doctor, who I really grew to love and trust over my pregnancy, ready to catch out son. I had my husband holding one of my legs to help me bear down and another one of our trusted nurses holding my other. I feel so grateful for the support network I had around me to help push through the most intense moments of my life. March 29th, 2018, at 5:07 am, our new life began with such a beautiful, peaceful little boy, Hudson Alden Dow. So many of my mama readers continued to share with me that I just wouldn’t even understand the love a parent has for a child until you are one… and I totally get it! Hudson entered this world and was immediately placed on my chest, umbilical cord attached and all, and we got to enjoy over an hour of skin to skin. I will never forget the rush of emotions that overcame me that moment they placed him on my chest. I was uncontrollably crying, tears of joy and just pure happiness. Our little boy was finally here and most importantly, he was safe. It’s amazing how what seemed like such an impossible thing, in a single moment, instantly melted away when I saw his sweet little face. Even after 17 hours of labor, I would do it all over again a thousand times, to bring our boy into this world. HUGE shout out to Timmy… I thought I loved him as much as one person could, until that day. The entire experience brought us closer than I ever thought was possible. Timmy was my rock, my supporter and I could not have hung in there and done it without him by my side. He was right there and ready to help any way he could throughout that entire process. Now, THAT is a keeper. We had an amazing experience at Cape Cod Hospital. Our expectations were far surpassed and we really had the exact birth experience that both Tim and I envisioned for our little family. To all my mamas out there- you are warriors! To all of my soon-to-be moms or hope-to-be-moms- you got this. Whether your pregnancy/delivery is easy or hard, it will all be so WORTH IT! Here are some pictures of our handsome little dude during his first week of his life.
1 Comment
Morganne Olson
4/5/2018 05:38:38 pm
Kat - you’re blog brought me to tears. This is so inspirational and as I continue to prepare myself to bring my little girl into this world in less than three months I just want to express my gratitude to you for sharing this experience with us all. You rock mama, he’s absolutely beautiful.
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