Giving Birth The Day Before My Induction
I’ve been meaning to make this for a long, long time. Its taken me so long to do it because of various reasons (including the passing of Hurricane Maria and other complications), but I’ve finally got some time to sit down and write down my labor & delivery story of my daughter. This most likely will be long, so please, bare with me.
I was already 40 weeks with 5 days and I had JUST started slightly dilating the day before, but “not enough to go into labor today” according to my doctor, which was why I was scheduled for a second hospital monitoring this day. I was so happy to finally start dilating after 3 dilation chekups. The contractions were around 10ish minutes apart, and they stayed like that for a long time, but I didnt even have a full cm in dilation. My doctor was also happy about my dilation, he was sure i was going to give birth really soon, but he didnt know how soon exactly since everything was progressing slower than expected, so he scheduled an induction for the coming Monday, March 1st, just in case. Luckily, I gave birth the morning before that scary procedure.
After my bf and I left the hospital, we headed out from some brunch at the mall close to the hospital. We did some walking around when we finished eating, just to kill some time and make things happen, you know? We walked for about two hours and the decided to head back home. John (my bf) had to go to work that day, so he did that and I stayed with my dad and stepmom at home for the rest of the day just in case I magically went into labor. Which I kind of did, sort of?
The rest of the day was smooth and not a lot happened. Just did my usual cleaning and prepping before baby. Towards the evening, my dad asked me if I wanted to join him on his Adventure Time at Walmart doing groceries. Of ourse, me taking the opportunity to do some more walking, I agreed and we left to the Walmart shortly after.
Adventure Time at Walmart was nice. We walked the whole store twice or more, we did groceries, bought some house stuff, and just roamed the halls for a bit of fun for a long while. My body was thanking me for this, in a wierd way. Contractions were still around the 10minute mark, but my back was starting to really feel it. After Walmart we headed to a Wendy’s nearby for a late dinner. And that’s when the fun really began.
It was around 9pm when we got to wendys. Dad ordered the food while my step mom and her kids got the seats and I went to the bathroom for a pee break. As I lowered my panties, I looked at my panty liner and saw the smallest smudge of a brown spot. It was so small, but right then I knew that It Was Happening. My first thought was “Oh, My fucking God”. The “joy” didnt even last a minute, since right there was when my step mom barged into the bathroom with my 1y/o baby sister Mia with a very poopy outfit in her extended arms. I quickly got cleaned up, and headed out to the table. Not saying a word of The Spot, I sat quietly waiting for the food while I texted John about The Spot. The food arrived just as my stepmom had survived Mia’s poo explosion, so we chatted for a bit and ate what we could. However, thanks to my baby sister’s throw-everything-to-the-floor- tantrum, we left Wendys rather rushed and headed home.
The ride back home was pretty smooth. John wasn’t going to be back home for another few hours, so I had the rest of the night all to my self. Which was mostly spent pampering myself and getting mentally ready for giving birth. I was getting internally anxious at the thought of it. The contractions were slowly getting slightly more uncomfortable, but still around 9-10ish minutes apart. I took a warm shower before I went to bed, but i noticed that i wasnt spotting. Confused, I texted john about it, but fell sleep before he even replied. I did wake up a few times during the night to go pee, but I slept through most of the night, thankfully.
I was woken up to having sharper contractions every 8-9minutes, even though they were still very manageable. I started to spot again, and this time a bit more. My morning was just like any other day really. I woke up early, let john sleep in, had breakfast, cleaned the room and kitchen, messed around with my planner, washed my hair, shave, and the other usual stuff that I do on the day to day.
John had woken up sick, but he still had to go to work at 2pm, which was a bummer. We quickly did a tiny grocery, and double checked that we had everything set and ready. As the day went on, John and my friend that was texting me were insisting me to go to the hospital right away, but i knew that i could wait a bit longer. Besides, I didnt want to prolong my labor process by being strapped down to the bed yet. Instead, I took this day and fully enjoyed my last day being pregnant.
After John had left to work, I went with dad over to my grandmas house to spend the rest of the day, and to let her and my mom (which lives a few houses down from my grandma) that I was basically going into labor soon. Not to mention that my grandma lives in a tiny hill, so she literally has like a whole floor high set of stairs right in front of her house, and going up and down those things while being almost 41 weeks pregnant was so much “fun”. Especially when you get a contraction right on the middle of the stairs, that’s just lovely.
When we got there around 3ish pm, one of my older brother was there as well with his wife and kids, and they all were yet again surprised to see me pregnant still. They got jumping-walls excited when i then told them about the update. We got lost in conversation for a some time, and my sister in law did two french braids on me for birth. She was sure that it was going to help me forget about my hair while managing labor, and booooy was she right. Those things didnt came off until my second day post partum. When she finished them, I decided to visit mom, which meant, going down the massive stairs, more walking, and then come back up. Yay.
Luckily, yet sadly, my mom wasnt home and she didn’t answer her phone, so the time of going back up the stairs came by too fast. By then the contractions were around 7minutes apart, and pretty uncomfortable. When it was around 4:30pm, we went back home to finish getting everything ready. We agreed that my dad was going to take me to the hospital since John was working, so when i finished another warm, relaxing shower, i double checked everything, got ready and held up for as much as I can. Everything felt so overwhelming. My nevers and excitement were growing with every minute that passed, I just couldn’t believe it.
I was finished a bit before 6:30. Dad and my stepmom were still finishing getting ready, in the mean time I was just hanging out with my step sister talking about the baby and focusing maintaining my composure with every contraction wave. Not that they were killing me, they just started actually hurting now and were 6-7ish minutes apart. As I waited, I decided to have a small snack, well, just some bread actually. My step mom finished getting ready right when I was on my last bite. It wasn’t even 5 minutes after that moment until that one and only contraction, the one that made me know that It was finally time to head out to the hopstial. I was burying my face in my arms, clinging onto to the back of the kitchen chair while standing up and breathing out the contraction. The cervical pain was getting sharper, the pain harder, and the contractions tighter. And just before it was 7pm, my dad was putting the bags in the car and I was already in the car texting everyone that i was on my way to the hospital.
The ride over to the hospital was rather smooth, despite the growing excitment mixed with anxiety. I arrived at the hospital around 7:45pm, and the contractions had just started to be 5minutes apart a few minutes before arriving. We went in through the emergency, like I was told to do so the day that i filled out the registry. I headed inside with my stepmom while my dad parked the car. At first, I could still walk just as fine, and everything was amazingly smooth. It took us a bit to figure out where exactly I had to go to give in some documents, but one of the guards lead us to this small room with two nurses.
They did the regular check up and asked me a few basic questions while also looking at me as if they were asking themselves “How the fuck is she about to give birth and not freaking out like the other ones?”. When we got finished with everything, my dad had just entered the room when they brought up a wheel chair and wheeled me around all the way to the birthing floor. For some odd reason, my contractions felt more uncomfortable in that wheel chair, but it did feel nice to be wheeled around lol
They took me to the same little room that i had been to at the times that i would get monitored, only that my doctor wasnt there to attend me since he worked there Mon-Fri. The room (or should I say “rooms”) were divided in two individual rooms by a wall and had long curtains for doors. I thought of it as birthing cubicles. The room only had the bed and the monitors, and a bathroom on the entryway. The room next to mine was occupied, the lady had the lights off and she had been there for a few hours already. She was quiet through all of it, so i didn’t have to worry about people screaming next to me as I concentrated on birthing. By the time the nurses had finish getting me all set and ready to go it was nearly 8:30pm and all i could wonder was how long was I going to be there before actually giving birth. Which surprisingly wasnt all that long.
I was alone in my small room. I was really calm and collected, just breathing out the waves and keeping myself focused. The nurses would come and go every so minutes to check up. They would check my dilation every hour or so, waiting to see if it would catch up since i was still stuck at 3cm for a long while. Sometimes it would be hard to know how dilated I really was, Maybe because i was still trying to get used to the whole “push down when you have a contraction” thing, or i dont know really, but some reason it would get hard for them to know how dilated i was.
I wasn’t allowed to have anyone stay there through the whole thing but I was allowed visitors. My stepmom was the first one to visit, just to check up on me and let me know that my older sister was on her way over. Then, my sister visited for a bit as well. We went over who was going to be there with me in the birthing room. I was permitted up to two people in the room, John and either my stepmom or my sister. After a few minutes of talking, she left back to the waiting room and I went back to doing my thing.
A few hours pass by and one of the nurse come in to check once again my dilation. My contractions were less than 4 minutes apart and really sharp on the cervix. She checked once, but I flinched back from the pain. She checked again, and I flinched again. A third time was unsuccessful as well. She guided me on my breathing trying to get me to relax so that she can get the measurement, but the pain was starting to make me whine a little bit. By the fourth time, just when I opened my legs, the nurse didn’t get a chance to touch me this time when It happened. My mouth fell opened when i felt the gush of water and blood spill out underneath me. My water broke at exactly 12:09am.
As soon as the nurse cleaned me and the bed up, I texted john. He didnt have a chance to leave early, so he had to close the store, which was by 11:30pm. He was already on his way when i texted him that my water broke, but i was desperately afraid he wouldnt make it on time. Just a few minutes after my water breaking, two other nurses came in to prep me and move me to the birthing room. Now I was shitting bricks nervous. I even told the nurses “But John is still on his way”, one of the nurses gave me a smile and told me not to worry and that he will make it, and she was right. They asked me who i wanted to be in the birthing room and I said my sister’s name. She appeared in the birthing room right when I got there. they havent even put me on the birthing bed and my sister was already ready for the show. They let my stepmom come in for a bit too. Both of them were giving me so much support and keeping calm though this.
After a few minutes that felt like hours, they moved me onto the birthing bed and the doctor who was going to attend my birth came in with a warm and gently greeting. He said a few a things that I honestly didnt quite paid attention to, I was too busy trying to summon john in the room with my mind. Which strangely enough seemed to work because the second I repeated his name in my head and i asked outloud for him, my sister and stepmom said that he had just arrived to the building and was coming up. Right when the doctor was putting his gloves on, John very literally barged into the room almost panting. The nurses preped him up and he rushed to my side, grabbing my hand and giving me a big smile and a kiss on my forehead. By then it was around 12:30ish.
Everyone was engaged in conversation about how suprised I’ve lasted this long without an epidural or screaming from the pain. The doctor indirectly said that one of them had to leave, since i was only permitted two people, not three. But regardless, no one said anything rude or harsh, so everyone stayed put. My sister wanted to peek behind the small blue curtain placed just below my waist, but the doctor said that she needed to stay on my side. My sister, being my sister, talked her way around him, and even realized that the nurse who was checking up on me was actually her classmate in med school, so she was able to let my sister keep a watch during the process. John and my stepmom stayed next to me helping me with my breathing. The energy in that room was beyond comforting, it was beautiful.
I was told to wait for a contraction to arise for me to start pushing, and lay back and rest when the contraction would finish, and I did just that. As i did my first pushing practice, I felt the ever so slightly tingle of a cut downstairs. Another push, another cut, and then I couldnt feel anything. All i heard was the light conversation around me and felt John’s hand around mine. A bit before 1am, I felt a “coming down” movement. It was time.
I would wait for every contaction to push, John would help me lift my head up with my stepmom to help with the pushing. Deep breath in, Hold and push, Release. I wouldnt make a sound, all you could hear was me breathing and everyone encouraging me. The doctor would remind me of his instructions everytime I released, but it didnt bother me, I appreciated it. Every time i would push, I felt him opening me, a feeling that is truly unexplainable. On the second push, the head was almost out, but she had a bit of a tough time coming down so the doctor did a small cut once again. By the 4th push, her head had poped out, but she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck, so the doctor unwrapped it gently before allowing me to continue pushing.
All i could hear was my sister and my stepmom tearing up, almost screaming from the joy and the nurses were interwined with the excitement as well. I never even realized that my sister was taking explicit pictures of the birth, but i am so grateful that she did. John started balling his eyes out instantly when he saw her head pop out. His hands were almost shaking from his excitement everytime he would say “oh my god babe”.
All it took was two more pushes and she was born. At 1:13am, weighing 8lbs 1.5oz and measuring 21" in length, my firstborn took her first breath and screamed her first Hello to this world.
