Disclaimer: This is a birth story about our baby making his entrance to the world; if you’re squeamish about childbirth and/or can’t handle the word vagina, this isn’t the blog post for you!
As most of you know, we welcomed our rainbow baby Logan Daniel on November 23, 2018 at 8:10AM weighing in at 10lbs 6oz. I know what’s going through your mind, WOAH. How did you deliver 10lbs? You must have had a C section. NOPE! I delivered my big boy vaginally (with the juice of course, I wasn’t trying to be brave). Read about our miscarriage journey here.
On Wednesday November 21, I went in for my 39 week appointment feeling exhausted, sore, and over it. I had my second membrane sweep aka stripping of the membranes which is awful. A membrane sweep/strip is when your doctor/nurse/midwife inserts 1 finger in your cervix and separates the amniotic sac from the uterus. This action releases hormones that actively work to soften the cervix and prepare the uterus to contract. Sometimes while getting them stripped it can cause your membranes to rupture (your water to break)! After my strip my husband Brian and I went home and got on with our day. You should also know that after a strip you are crampy, sore, & spotting can occur. The feeling reminds me of the first day of a period when you’re just uncomfortable.
Around midnight that night I felt like I peed myself (not an uncommon occurrence during pregnancy) & I got up to shower, change and head back to bed. Unfortunately none of those happened.. I started getting drips down my legs and came out to the living room to show Brian. It wasn’t a movie moment where it just gushed, which I found out isn’t very common. It can start as a trickle and develop to gushes! So if you’re having a trickle, call L&D!
*FYI- any modesty you ever had in your life goes right out the window during pregnancy. Your spouse literally sees things and hears noises they will probably never forget. But guess what? They love you so it’s no big deal.
I did what I was always told to do, put a pad on and if I soak through it within an hour to head to L&D (labor and delivery). I soaked through it in 15 minutes! So the mad dash ensued. I started calling my Mom repetitively while gathering my last minute essentials (should I do a hospital bag list?) I put on my comfiest jammies that I didn’t mind getting wet and we loaded up the car. And we were off, 1 AM Thanksgiving morning and headed to have our boy!
We got to the hospital and were triaged so they could evaluate my fluid and make sure it was in fact amniotic fluid since there wasn’t an apparent gush. Alas, positive and I was admitted. It’s a weird feeling knowing that you’re going to be heading home with a baby!
When I was admitted I was 4cm dilated and 50% effaced. However I wasn’t having contractions which normally start after your water breaks. This led to me being put on a Pitocin drip. Pitocin is a synthetic form of oxytocin which is used to induce labor. After that, the waiting began.
Between bouncing on the ball, multiple leg positions, the use of a peanut ball etc. I wasn’t progressing how I should and the C section discussion began. It was a very realistic outcome considering I had only dilated 1cm in 24 hours. They decided to turn off the Pitocin for 30 minutes and then restart it with the hopes that it might stimulate my body to dilate. If it didn’t within 4 hours, they would start prepping me for surgery.
Thankfully the last tactic worked and when they came into my room at 4am on November 23 I was 10cm and 100% effaced and ready to push. I did notice that I had gotten feeling back in my legs which was weird since I got an epidural and shouldn’t have any feeling. For the first hour and 45 minutes of pushing I felt everything. Thankfully they were able to get it back up by the time it really mattered but my back labor was excruciating.
After 2.5 hours of pushing, we welcomed our sweet boy into this world! Worth every minute!
We did stay in the hospital for 3 days. Our little love had some jaundice and since he was a big baby they wanted to monitor his sugars.
If you have any questions regarding our birth story, please email me at ashley@bossfidence.com
Click here to shop all of my pregnancy and newborn baby essentials
Drop a line, I would love to continue the discussion