Hi All! I just wanted to share my complicated but positive induction story. This was my 4th baby (all inductions) and was scheduled for induction 2/1 at 39w but our little man had other plans.
It all started Friday 1/15 when I had my 36w appointment to do the GBS test and growth scan, baby boy was measuring at 8lb 10oz (give or take 1.5 lbs) and I was dilated to 1cm, 50% effaced, soft, and OB could feel baby’s head. On Saturday 1/16 we decided to celebrate our anniversary a week early and had relaxing pedicures and delicious steak dinner. On Sunday 1/17, I started having random contractions and just didn’t feel like myself so I took a long epsom salt bath, watched Virgin River, and relaxed the rest of the day. Monday 1/18 the contractions were still random, I started getting body aches and a low grade fever and thought I was getting a UTI. Tuesday 1/19 I woke up feeling great but still had contractions here and there so I decided to call the OB to move my 37w appointment to Wednesday.
On Wednesday 1/20 I woke up at 5:23 a.m. to contractions about every 10 minutes. I got the kids ready for school, dropped off the big kids off and then took the long way to daycare with the heated seats on to drop off my youngest. By the time I got to daycare, my contractions were 5 minutes apart, I headed back home to relax until my appointment. My appointment was at 10:15 and by that time I could barely talk and walk through the contractions. The doctor checked me and I was 2-3 cm dilated and 60% effaced with contractions still around 4-5 mins apart. The OB said it wasn’t quite time but when they got to be 2-3 minutes apart to call labor and delivery. I went home, put the heating pad on my back, turned on Grey’s Anatomy, and practiced some hypnobirthing techniques through the contractions. At 1:17 pm I called our friends to make arrangements to pick up the kids from school so my husband could take me up to labor and delivery to be monitored and by 2:30 we were on the way to the hospital.
Triage checked me at 3:30 pm and I was dilated to 3 cm so they said let’s walk the halls or bounce on the ball and we will check you again in a bit. At 5:30 pm they checked me again and I was dilated to 4-5 cm so they decided to admit me and start the induction process. At 7:45 pm the OB broke my water. At 10:30 pm when they checked me, I was still 5 cm dilated so they decided to start pitocin, however with each contraction after that baby’s heart rate would decel. I had every intention of avoiding the epidural because my back hurts for a few weeks afterwards but decided after 22 hours of contractions every 2-5 mins that I wanted the epidural so that I could get some rest and enjoy my final labor and delivery experience. Once the epidural was placed at 3:05 am, all hell broke loose. My BP dropped, my heart rate went sky high, they had to give me medicine to bring things back to normal as baby’s heart started to decel worse, rotating me all types of ways to help and decided at 5:30 am to turn the epidural in half to help with the decels during contractions. The nurses and OB struggled to get the monitors to track the contractions and baby’s heart rate so at 6:40 am they decided to insert an intrauterine pressure catheter and fetal scalp electrode. At 7:55 am I was finally making some progress and dilated to 8 cm and baby was at 0 station however the epidural wasn’t working at all and I was feeling everything again so they called the anesthesiologist back in to turn it back up a bit. At 8:15 am they decided to do an amino infusion to put fluid back around baby for cushion and to help with the heart rate decels and determined the cord was wrapped around baby’s neck which had been causing the decels all night and turned the pitocin drip up to 10. I called the nurse back in at 10:00 am and said I could feel the pressure of baby’s head going in and out with each contraction, she checked and I was dilated to 10 and baby was ready. They called in the OB and prepped me to push, at 10:15 am I started pushing when I felt a natural urge to push with the contractions and with 3 contractions and 5 pushes baby boy made his arrival at 37w3d on 1/21/21 at 10:17 am, no tearing, weighing 7 lbs 13 oz, and 20.5″ long!
I am proud of myself and my body. This was the first time I went into labor on my own, I labored for 22 hours without pain medication during the 29 hour labor, which was the longest labor I’ve had. I prayed through each contraction to be kept safe and that baby boy would be okay. Things got crazy and we had to pivot our plans way beyond what I would have ever imagined but everything worked out and he arrived safely.
