Aubrey's Birth Story

Warning:  I tried to keep as many gross details out of this as possible, but as it's a birth story, some TMI might have snuck in, you have been warned.

Our plan from the beginning was to have a natural, un-medicated birth.  While it didn’t end up playing out exactly like we expected, I wouldn’t have changed a thing.  We were able to avoid a C-section, which was one of my main goals, and I am very pleased with how everything has turned out.  My doctor is amazing and was so great in respecting our wishes and doing the best she could to help us achieve the birth experience that we wanted.  We are now at home and recovering and I can’t believe how great I feel and how well our baby girl is doing. 

Aubrey’s due date of May 2 came and went, and after a discussion with the doctor we determined that unless she decided to come before May 11, we would be scheduling an induction at 9pm on that Tuesday due to me being gestational diabetic.  I was only 1cm dilated as of Monday the 9^th, so induction was looking likely.  In a final Hail Mary play to avoid induction, I had my membranes stripped in the morning and went to an acupuncture appointment that afternoon.   Well, something must have worked, because around 9:30 on Monday night I began having fairly strong contractions.  They started fairly far apart and were manageable, so we laid down and tried to get a little rest.  That didn’t last long and things became fairly intense fairly quickly.  At about 1:00am we called the doctor to give her a head’s up that contractions were 7-8 minutes apart.  I got into the shower and soaked in the tub for a little bit, which spaced things out and gave me a little relief.  At about 3:00, the contractions had been 5 minutes about for about an hour, so we decided to go ahead and get into the car and make the 20 minute drive to the hospital. 

By the time we got to the hospital, contractions were 2-3 minutes apart.  They checked me and I was 3 cm.  Only 3 cm!  I at that moment seriously started contemplating some sort of assistance to help with the pain.  I was exhausted and just didn’t know how much more I could take.  I got into a room and managed to labor a few more hours before getting some Nubain to help me rest in between contractions.  That helped somewhat, so I kept going.  At around 10:00am, they checked me again and I made it to a 5cm.  Things were unfortunately not moving along as much as I would like and the pain was very intense, so I made the decision to go ahead and get an epidural.  This was against what we had gone over in the Bradley classes, but Joey and I had made the decision that an epidural might be necessary based on what my dilation was and how I was feeling.  Also, my contractions had slowed down and the doctor, after using a solution to get the baby moving again, decided that we needed some Pitocin to get contractions going again.  Since Pitocin contractions are so intense, an epidural was really the best option.  Well, it took an hour to get everything settled and the epidural put in, and at 11am, I was actually back to myself and able to rest.  I stayed at a 5cm for a few more hours and eventually the epidural started to wear off on my right side and the pain once again became difficult to breathe through.  I had been able to slightly feel my legs with the first epidural, but after they re-dosed me, I wasn’t able to feel my legs at all, which was not cool. 

Finally around 7pm, things were really starting to progress, and I was almost complete.  My epidural started wearing off again, but this time I didn’t want to be re-dosed.  The doctor had suggested letting the meds wear off so I could be more effective at pushing.  Then, right before 8:00pm, I was ready to go.  My family in the waiting room said that they knew that something was going on when they saw the doctor running to the elevator!

I ended up pushing for about 15 minutes, and at 8:12pm, Aubrey came into the world at 7lbs 4oz and 20.5 inches in length.  Apparently she had the cord around her neck rather tightly, and the doctor had to cut it off.  The doctor was calm the entire time, so we didn’t really know that anything was wrong.  Aubrey didn’t cry at first, but after a few seconds we heard her and immediately everything was right in the world.  They had to take her to the special care nursery where they hooked her up to the CPAP and an IV.  We got to see her about an hour later.  She was off the CPAP by 4am that morning and by the next morning was working on breastfeeding.  Luckily, she didn’t need any additional antibiotics or anything, and less than 48 hours later, she was in our room.  It was tough not getting to spend time with her for those first hours, but we have been making up for lost time and she is doing great.  We got to go home on Friday the 13^th, and we have gotten settled in. 

So, even though medication was involved, and there were some complications, we have no regrets about how Aubrey came into the world.  That is not to say that I would not like to try for a natural birth next time around, but we are happy with how everything turned out.  I am really enjoying being a mom so far and can’t wait to see what God has in store for our little family.