Evangeline’s Birth Story- Part 2

Thanks for your patience in waiting for part 2 of Evangeline’s birth story. You can read part 1 HERE if you haven’t already!

So this is where we left off, I went into the hospital Friday night December 27th….

I checked in, got sent back to a room around 5:30pm. The nurse on duty came to chat with me. She explained since my cervix was not favorable earlier in the day, that they would start by giving me a cervix ripening pill called misoprostol. I immediately felt dread. Having a miserable head cold and not having my husband there made me want to go running home….not stay up all night in labor! I basically told her I didn’t want to be induced at that time and that I was hoping to have one more night to fight the terrible cold plus of course wait for the hubs to arrive.

She wasn’t my favorite nurse (luckily she was only on duty for another hour and half!) but she said we could talk to the doctor. The Doctor on call came in shortly after, one of the nicest guys I think I’ve ever met; he said it most cases what they saw in the ultrasound most likely wasn’t meconium, but he still felt obligated to do the induction….but the good news, he was totally fine waiting until the following day and suggested the same thing as my sis-in-law, that we just monitor the baby overnight! Yay! I was so relieved.

I was then striped of my clothing, put into a gown and hooked up to the monitor where they checked baby’s heart rate all through the night. I got little sleep but I was happy that I was not in active labor! I dozed off and on and just prayed. In the middle of the night, around 3am I noticed I started having contractions, as did the nurse per the monitor. They weren’t very strong but they were exactly the way my body starts labor. I wasn’t happy about being induced in the first place so I was very pleased that my body was already contracting on it’s own…definitely a sign.

The hours passed the next morning before the new Doctor on call got a chance to visit. The new following nurses that cared for me were all amazing. The one that took over in the morning suggested we just wait to check my cervix and start the induction when my husband arrived, which was anticipated to be around noon, putting him to the hospital between 1:30-2pm. I had arranged for someone to pick him up and drop him off straight to the hospital, while my parents watched our other 3 kids, so at least that was all in order.

I told the nurse I didn’t mind getting started earlier as I was certain I wouldn’t pop out a baby in 3 hours so she said she’d have the doctor come check me first to see if we needed the cervix ripening meds. She checked me around 11:30 am and said “we might want to wait for your husband afterall” as she I was already 60% effaced and 2 cm dilated! I made enough progress overnight on my own that I no longer needed the cervix ripening meds. Yay! She said we’d just start with a very low rate of pitocin as well as the antibiotics I needed since I am Group B Step+. They like you to be on antibiotics for 4 hours prior to having the baby so I was glad to get that started. In the middle of all of this I got a call from the hubs that he had arrived at the Seattle airportand was on his way!! He had traveled over 2 days, 18+ hours of flying and he was here just in time for our baby’s birth! I wasn’t sure what I would do when he walked into the room, all I knew was I needed him there. I couldn’t imagine going through any more without him.

1:45 pm I hear the sound of a bag being rolled into the room and I look up at the guy I haven’t seen in over 4 months, my sweet husband. I literally had to look away because I knew bawling like a baby would make my congestion so much worse, lol. We embraced, it felt amazing. I was ready to have this baby!

Over the next few hours they monitored baby as I started having mild contractions. They had to re-do my IV 3 times. Basically the first one wasn’t dripping properly, the screw came undone in the second one so I started bleeding all over the place. It was lovely. The third attempt was when we finally got the pitocin going at a steady rate, this was around 2:30/3pm.

The room had a nice couch so I ordered the hubs to take a nap after he ate a bite to eat. Over the course of the next 4 hours while he racked out this is what happened: I started contracting more regular, but compared to my last unmedicated birth they were pretty easy. Since I was exhausted from the previous nights sleep, being sick and stressed out due to the whole situation, I told the nurse I’d be interested in getting an epidural as things progressed. I just felt this time around I had been through enough already that the last thing I needed, and my jet-lagged coach, was going through unmedicated labor.

I got the epidural fairly early in terms of pain, since the anthesiologist just happened to be on the floor giving someones else one at about 4:30pm. After I got it, the nurse checked me and I was at 4 cm dilated. This is when I made my delivery prediction- 8:30pm.

After about 2 hours later, around 6:40pm, the Doctor came and broke my water and we found what we had been wondering all along- there was no sign of meconium as the fluid was totally clear! The floating object in the ultrasound was vernix after all. She checked me again and I was still at 4 cm and my cervix was still fairly thick.

After my water broke, my contractions started to intensify and I could feel tons of pressure in my lower front abdomen area.  Over the next hour the contractions got stronger and stronger. I was shocked that I could feel them! It was actually quite painful considering I had already gotten the epidural, but it still wasn’t as bad as the last delivery. The nurse checked me about an hour later (at 7:45pm) and I was 5 1/2 cm dilated. My hopes of a 8:30pm delivery went out the window at that point. I thought we might actually be closer to midnight.

Within about 15 minutes, the nurse kept coming and and said the baby’s heart rate was dipping and she kept repositioning me in hopes that would resolve the issue. In the meantime I felt nauseous.  She brought me a bag in case I was to get sick. The contractions were super strong and I felt tons of pressure in my lower abdominal area. Over the next 15-20 minutes baby’s heart rate kept dipping so the nurse called the Doctor in. They said they might need to put monitors on the baby’s head to get a better reading. The doctor said she would check me and was hoping I’d be around 8 cm so that she could place the monitors on the baby and hopes that things would proceed quickly.

She checked me and said well “no wonder, you’re fully dilated at 10 cm, it’s time to have this baby”. The time was 8:36pm and she suggested I do a little test push. The nurse helped me sit up a little and I barely let out a tiny push when the Doctor yelled “stop! the baby is coming” and we all kind of laughed in excitement as she quickly got suited up. Gloves- check, gown-check, face mask on. Cart being wheeled in with all the gear she might need, cleaning supplies for the baby, etc. It was just after 8:30pm, my predicted time and I was about to have this baby! How did it all happen so fast!?

The next part, short and sweet: I pushed twice and my sweet baby was born. I was in heaven. I’ve never had to push very long with my other babies, no more than 25 minutes, but two pushes? TWO! It was a dream. Our baby girl entered the world at 8:44pm. The doctor held her up for us and exclaimed “it’s a girl” in which case I was completely smitten, elated, relieved, etc. On cloud NINE! I had the most beautiful baby girl in my arms.

So here is the quick timeline:

5:30pm Friday December 27th checked into the hospital for induction- ended up monitoring the baby overnight- no meds given

Saturday, December 28th

11:30am cervix checked- 60% effaced, 2cm dilated so no need for the cervix ripening meds; started first IV with pitocin and antibiotic

1:00pm started having a few contractions. Meds weren’t dripping properly though so new IV started

1:45pm Hubby arrives to hospital, after traveling 2+ days to get home

2:30pm busted IV, bled all over, had to change gown, sheets, etc. Started new IV after that

2:30pm started having regular contractions

4:30pm Got the epidural

6:40pm 4cm dilated, Doctor broke my water

7:45pm nurse checked me, 5 1/2 cm dilated

8:00pm baby’s heart rate dropping, me feeling nauseous, painful contractions with a LOT of pressure lower abdomen area

8:36pm checked by Doctor, 10 cm dilated! Did a test push- baby ready to be born!

8:44pm Baby Evangeline was born after 2 pushes

It’s still crazy to me that I went from 4cm to 10 cm with the baby born in 2 hours! I’d say the whole labor was about 6 hours long since it took a while to get the IV pitocin flowing. When I look back at the way things happened, the timing of it all randomly falling into place with the day we chose for my husband to return home, it amazes me! I am also truly thankful that I was labeled “high risk” even though I wasn’t or else my husband would have never been allowed to come home for the birth.

And the rest, as they say, is history. We stayed two nights in the hospital before eagerly returning home to the rest of our family. Thanks to my parents for holding down the fort with the other 3 as we were able to focus all of our attention on baby Evangeline.

As a new mom, you will likely be seeing a lot more pictures of baby than food, but I probably won’t post a ton here. If you like seeing baby grow, make sure to follow Nutritious Eats on instagram, my favorite place to post photos! Here is my account! I’ll eventually get back to the food, but for now I am just savoring these fleeting moments with a newborn.

Thanks for reading my birth story. The upcoming months will no doubt be one of the most challenging times of my life, but we are beyond blessed.

Hope to be back soon!

XOXO