Birth, for most that word is beyond the most terrifying word in the English language, at least for me it was. It's true when they say you can't scare a pregnant woman because delivering a child into this world ain't got nothing on what you could do or say to her. This was me, being truly excited about being pregnant once I saw the positive sign on that stick and then the range of emotions kicked in and I needed guidance and some sort of advice to help me feel better. Well, if you've even been pregnant woman are compelled to tell you their horrible labor stories. "I was in labor for 36 hours and ended up having a C-section" "The epidural only numbed part of my body and I could feel everything else" "I pooped all over the doctor while pushing" blah blah blah. Ladies, you know what I'm talking about! We have all been there, researching over and over and trying to be as prepared as possible when that amazing day came when your child would finally be in your arms. Shout out to my first time moms because I know what your going through is scary and you don't know what to expect. I'm here to give a little relief and share my experience as a first time mom, enjoy :)
My last OB/GYN visit my doctor checked me (38 weeks) and I was not dilated but was 70% effaced. Effaced? what the hell does that mean? My first thought was, I'm going to be pregnant til I'm like 45 weeks pregnant!! I went home and told my husband what the doctor said and he told me that that baby will be here when she is good and ready, which didn't help because I was way over good and ready for her to be here. July 29th was any other day to me, I was 39 weeks pregnant and like any other woman at 9 months was praying for this baby to finally come. I had been experiencing heavier discharge for about a week, roughly when my doctor had checked me last but I didn't see it as a concern. The morning of the 29th I noticed the discharge was a bit heavier and was praying I would experience my "Bloody Show" but I never did. I went to work and worked a full day and as I got home I noticed my panties had been more soaked than normal. Concerned, my husband called the doctor and they advised us to just come get checked. At this point I told him that we didn't need to go, I'm fine and I don't want to waste my night getting my hopes up. I gave in and half ass packed the diaper bag and threw random stuff in the hospital bag, knowing I would be coming right back home. We drove to the hospital around 5PM where they stuck me in triage and took a vaginal sample from me and told me this would be determining if I would be staying or leaving. Let me just say that the minutes felt like hours waiting for these results, I've never been so nervous in my life!! Then the nurse pulled the curtain back and said "Are you ready to have this baby?". I was in shock, and instantly felt the emotions of happy, sad, confused, and extremely scared. All the scary stories I heard were about to come true. I was wheeled into a delivery room and they instantly started me on pitocin at 7PM. At this point I was 1 1/5 CM dilated and still 70% effaced. My husband made sure I was comfortable and had everything I needed so that he could leave and drop our dog off at my moms and bring some last minute things that I had carelessly forgot to pack. As I was laying there in the hospital bed around 9PM my water broke! And let me just tell you that it's not that bad, I heard a pop sound and then a gush of water, nothing disgusting and the nurse was so sweet when she came to help me clean it up. After my water popped they upped my pitocin and the contractions really started to come on. I called my husband and told him I needed him immediately before they got extremely intense and I didn't want to experience this on my own. 10 minutes later my husband burst through the door and was by my side with anything that I needed. Well, I'm not going to sugarcoat this part, the contractions hurt like a motherfucker! This could be because I was on a high dose of pitocin and my contractions were literally on top of eachother, I didn't even have to time to catch my breath before another one hit. By 11:00 PM my mom showed up because I was having her in the room when I delivered and by then I was in alot of pain. However, I never screamed or gave out a loud cry, It was like I knew I did this to myself and that I had to deal with the consequence. It didn't help that the lady in the room next to me was delivering and she was screaming bloody murder!! She had me and my entire family on edge. By midnight my body was shaking uncontrollably and I yelled at my husband "get me the drugs". Immediately he went out and told the nurse I was ready for that epidural. Now I remember hearing that it could take the doctor hours before he would come in and give you your epidural so I knew I would be waiting. Not even ten minutes later that beautiful man walked in and I swear I could hear angels sing, I never been more happy in my life! He had me sit down and the end of the bed, hunched over, my husband holding one hand and the nurse holding the other. This by far was the easiest part of labor, it took 2 minutes to get that bad boy and almost immediately I felt relief. They checked me again and I was 4 CM dilated. Then they put my catheter in and that was the most uncomfortable part for me, once she inserted it in I swear I could feel the pressure of the catheter and I did not like it. But I had enough relief that I was able to fall asleep. 4AM came and I had this weird feeling like I should be checked, I asked the nurse if she would check me and she said are you sure? we checked you a bit ago and you were only at a 4. I said yes please and as soon as she pulled the blankets down there was blood and I was dilated to a 10!!! She immediately went to get my doctor and he came in and said "ready to push?". Was I ready? I waited 9 months to meet her and this is it, it's finally happening. They prepared the room and I did a few practice pushes and it went great. I pushed like I was an expert. It comes so natural and it's like you know exactly what to do and how to do it. I didn't even need the nurse to tell me when to push and for how long, I could do it all by myself. I pushed and pushed and my daughter was coming out sideways so I was having a bit of trouble getting her down the canal. I heard the doctor say we need to get this baby out now and at that moment I knew I was getting what I feared most, C-Section. I pushed like a crazy maniac and told myself I can do this, I don't need a c-section. I pushed for 2 hours at this point and you could barely see her head. My epidural wore off and they stopped the medicine so that I could feel me pushing, which helped me a lot. By 6:00AM my doctor called in for another doctor and I ended up needing forceps to help me get her out. Now, this scared the shit out of me! But lo and behold they used those amazing tools and I had my daughter out after three pushes. Delivered at 7:15AM 8lbs 1oz and 21.5 inches long! No wonder why it took so long, she was huge! My poor vagina is all I thought until she landed on my chest and she was beautiful! No markings or bruises from the forceps and her head was perfectly round. They did have to cut me to help get her out but it was worth it. My experience as a first time mom did have it's scary moments but it went fast and not as painful as I had anticipated. What I'm trying to say is every delivery is different and you never know how things could end up. Even though you're scared, it is the biggest accomplishment feeling that anyone could ever feel. Every time I look at my daughter I think wow, I can't believe I did that. And you will too :)
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