But I Didn't Want An Induction....
Disclaimer: if you aren't interested in details of labor (though I promise to be very discreet) you may want to stop reading this post.
At 40 weeks, I was so tired of being pregnant and there was no progress towards labor. The practice I am currently with doesn't let an expectant Mama go past 41 weeks. So when the Dr. told me it was time to set the induction date, I was in denial that we would actually make it to that date. Even though NOTHING was going on that would indicate labor. I had two choices, a Dr. from his practice could deliver me on a Sunday OR I could induce on Friday with a Dr. I didn't know. Well, thanks to a couple of previous appointments with the Dr. in my practice, she had sufficiently ticked me off and jabbed at my weight enough that I wasn't remotely interested in her being the one to walk me through this delicate moment. So, I opted for the Dr. I didn't know to deliver me two days earlier.
I went home and started fervently praying that this baby would come on her own and that we wouldn't need to be induced. Well, that didn't happen. Thursday rolled around and it was time to check into the hospital that night to start the preliminary induction work. Emotionally I was fighting this every step of the way. This wasn't the birth I wanted, this just wasn't how it was supposed to happen. I even bucked at wanting to put on the hospital gown and just felt a bit of defeat.
Cervadil worked it's magic over night on Thursday and at 7:00am the next morning (after a shower and make up and hair were done - yes, I labored with fixed hair a make up) they started the Pitosin drip. Everything I had heard about Pitosin was that it was the evil juice that generates a lot of pain. Well, I toughed it out for 3 hrs just to see what contractions really felt like and by noon I had all the fun I could stand. When the Dr. said it was time to break my water, I told her I was going to need the epidural first. I have zero regrets that I asked for that. She came in a few minutes after it had been administered and attempted several times to break my water. She looked at me and was puzzled...asked if my water had broken and I told her I hadn't noticed that it had. She looked a the nurses and they told her there had been no fluid coming out of me all day long.
Time passed and later that afternoon the Dr. came back in with scary news. Charlotte's heart wasn't really picking up on the monitor the way they needed it to, so she was going to have to attach and internal heart rate monitor to Charlotte's scalp. When she did, she looked at me and told me my water for sure had broken because there was NO fluid at all when she put the monitor in and there was no way she could have done that without breaking the water. I started racking my brain for when the water could have happened and figured out that two days prior I thought I had wet myself and that was probably when my water actually broke. So, that put us at 48 hrs of water broken and labor never started, I never dilated and that could be bad for the baby.
A couple hours later the Dr. came back in my room and told us that after every contraction Charlotte's heart rate would drop indicating that she was in distress. I love the Dr. I had. She hinted that a c-section was looming, but that she was going to do everything she could to avoid that happening. She stopped my labor and let Charlotte rest for an hour to see if her heart rate would perk up and behave how it should. When she left the room, I looked at the nurse and asked her if it really meant a c-section was looming. She was gentle, but honest and told me if Charlotte's heart rate dipped even one more time, they'd have to take her. She walked out of the room and I burst into tears and started vomiting. I can't even explain the emotions. I knew that if it was necessary I wouldn't question for a moment going through that for the sake of Charlotte's health, but in my heart I started grieving that I might not have this baby the way I had hoped.
An hour later, we started labor again, increasing Pitosin one notch at a time. The nurses had all remarked throughout the day that I barely had any Pitosin going in me to have valid labor contractions indicating just how ready my body was, but that it wasn't doing things on it's own. An hour later...things were looking great and baby girl was toughing it out just fine and at 2:50 am, she was finally born - the way I had hoped!
I am so grateful for the Dr. I had. Looking back I see God's hand in our story mapping it out even long before I had a clue what he was doing. Had Dr. T. not ticked me off 3 months earlier and then again 3 weeks prior to induction, I would have chosen to go with her and that would have been two MORE days (hoping to still come on my own) of my water having been broken and who knows what that might have done for Charlotte. I may not have wanted to be induced, but honestly, if I hadn't who knows if my daughter wouldn't have been in a seriously risky environment. I can only say that I am so grateful for modern medicine, that God is a huge part of our story, that next time I won't buck the word "induction" so much and that our little girl is safe and healthy. I am so glad I didn't fight the Dr. and that God truly directed our steps. We have so much to be grateful for
At 40 weeks, I was so tired of being pregnant and there was no progress towards labor. The practice I am currently with doesn't let an expectant Mama go past 41 weeks. So when the Dr. told me it was time to set the induction date, I was in denial that we would actually make it to that date. Even though NOTHING was going on that would indicate labor. I had two choices, a Dr. from his practice could deliver me on a Sunday OR I could induce on Friday with a Dr. I didn't know. Well, thanks to a couple of previous appointments with the Dr. in my practice, she had sufficiently ticked me off and jabbed at my weight enough that I wasn't remotely interested in her being the one to walk me through this delicate moment. So, I opted for the Dr. I didn't know to deliver me two days earlier.
I went home and started fervently praying that this baby would come on her own and that we wouldn't need to be induced. Well, that didn't happen. Thursday rolled around and it was time to check into the hospital that night to start the preliminary induction work. Emotionally I was fighting this every step of the way. This wasn't the birth I wanted, this just wasn't how it was supposed to happen. I even bucked at wanting to put on the hospital gown and just felt a bit of defeat.
Cervadil worked it's magic over night on Thursday and at 7:00am the next morning (after a shower and make up and hair were done - yes, I labored with fixed hair a make up) they started the Pitosin drip. Everything I had heard about Pitosin was that it was the evil juice that generates a lot of pain. Well, I toughed it out for 3 hrs just to see what contractions really felt like and by noon I had all the fun I could stand. When the Dr. said it was time to break my water, I told her I was going to need the epidural first. I have zero regrets that I asked for that. She came in a few minutes after it had been administered and attempted several times to break my water. She looked at me and was puzzled...asked if my water had broken and I told her I hadn't noticed that it had. She looked a the nurses and they told her there had been no fluid coming out of me all day long.
Time passed and later that afternoon the Dr. came back in with scary news. Charlotte's heart wasn't really picking up on the monitor the way they needed it to, so she was going to have to attach and internal heart rate monitor to Charlotte's scalp. When she did, she looked at me and told me my water for sure had broken because there was NO fluid at all when she put the monitor in and there was no way she could have done that without breaking the water. I started racking my brain for when the water could have happened and figured out that two days prior I thought I had wet myself and that was probably when my water actually broke. So, that put us at 48 hrs of water broken and labor never started, I never dilated and that could be bad for the baby.
A couple hours later the Dr. came back in my room and told us that after every contraction Charlotte's heart rate would drop indicating that she was in distress. I love the Dr. I had. She hinted that a c-section was looming, but that she was going to do everything she could to avoid that happening. She stopped my labor and let Charlotte rest for an hour to see if her heart rate would perk up and behave how it should. When she left the room, I looked at the nurse and asked her if it really meant a c-section was looming. She was gentle, but honest and told me if Charlotte's heart rate dipped even one more time, they'd have to take her. She walked out of the room and I burst into tears and started vomiting. I can't even explain the emotions. I knew that if it was necessary I wouldn't question for a moment going through that for the sake of Charlotte's health, but in my heart I started grieving that I might not have this baby the way I had hoped.
An hour later, we started labor again, increasing Pitosin one notch at a time. The nurses had all remarked throughout the day that I barely had any Pitosin going in me to have valid labor contractions indicating just how ready my body was, but that it wasn't doing things on it's own. An hour later...things were looking great and baby girl was toughing it out just fine and at 2:50 am, she was finally born - the way I had hoped!
I am so grateful for the Dr. I had. Looking back I see God's hand in our story mapping it out even long before I had a clue what he was doing. Had Dr. T. not ticked me off 3 months earlier and then again 3 weeks prior to induction, I would have chosen to go with her and that would have been two MORE days (hoping to still come on my own) of my water having been broken and who knows what that might have done for Charlotte. I may not have wanted to be induced, but honestly, if I hadn't who knows if my daughter wouldn't have been in a seriously risky environment. I can only say that I am so grateful for modern medicine, that God is a huge part of our story, that next time I won't buck the word "induction" so much and that our little girl is safe and healthy. I am so glad I didn't fight the Dr. and that God truly directed our steps. We have so much to be grateful for
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