Our Birth Story

It all began on a foggy Whidbey friday morning. I was 42 weeks pregnant, overdue big time and ready to hold my daughter. With nerves racing, Phillip and I drove to Whidbey General Hospital for a scheduled induction. It was quite surreal walking into the hospital knowing we weren’t coming back out alone. “We are going to have a baby today!” I thought. We arrived at the hospital at 5:30AM and were shown to our delivery room, number 3.  We nestled in and sat patiently as I was hooked up to mulitple monitors and the IV, which is when the Pitocin drip began.  

It was early and we weren't expecting an all-nighter on our first day of parenthood, but words of wisdom convinced us to rest. I was too excited and anxiously anticipating the labor experience that I had been waiting on for so long; entertaining myself with hallway strolls, TV, FaceTime sessions with family overseas and endless conversations with hubby, my mother and in-laws, who joined us a few hours later.  What an awesome group of people to have by my side throughout this experience. Again, we waited as the nurses increased the Pitocin drip, each hour slowly creeping by. I felt nothing more than mild menstrual cramping for hours. Did I mention my wonderful mother was giving me the best foot massages? I even have a picture to prove it but I'll spare you; my feet were the size of Shrek's.  My support team took turns keeping me company, reading, napping and chatting, and we waited. 

Frustrated, I had Phillip help me with all of the cords and tubes, and we went for a walk around the room, to the hospital floor and back to bouncing on the exercise ball to kill time.  Apparently all I needed was Pitocin with a side of gravity to get things going and by 3:30PM, the real pain had begun and I was 4cm dilated. I thought.. you've got to be kidding me, that's it? The next hour was spent sitting on the exercise ball, managing my contractions. Once they became intense and more painful, my OB came in to check my progress. I was 5 cm dilated and she broke my water to continue to move the birthing process along. 

My progress was much faster once my water broke. Within an hour, I was 8 cm dilated.  My doctor marveled at the speed at which my labor was progressing. My pain quickly intensified and by 5:30PM, I leaned over to Phillip and told him that I needed an epidural, stat. It’s hard to describe what was so bad about them, but they really did take over my whole body. I felt most of my labor low with sharp pulling sensations while my entire body tightened…Little by little, the pain would subside only to restart the cycle a few seconds later. Finally, the anesthesiologist arrived and by 7PM, I began to feel relief. 

Around 9PM the nurses checked and informed me that it was 
go-time.. The nurses encouraged me to listen to my body and it wasn't until a few contractions in that I started to feel the urge to push. What started as a little urge became an uncontrollable instinct to bear down at each contraction. My OB said she could see the head. Phillip on my right side and my mom on the left, both holding my legs, were able to take a peek. I thought I was getting close and remember asking "what color is her hair?" (We had a ongoing bet about our girl being a ginger). "Dark" She responded.  I heard them turn on the baby warmer, gather necessary equipment and start getting ready for Lillian's arrival.  This was it, I thought. I was shaking, itching, pushing, throwing up, resting in-between each contraction, yearning for every ice chip Phillip fed me and appreciating the cold wash cloth my mother had placed on my neck. Everyone told me I was an excellent pusher and to just keep doing what I was doing.

I kept pushing and watching the clock as the hours passed. Lillian's position wasn't progressing and her heart rate was beginning to dip.  Meanwhile, i was exhausted and I remember thinking that her heart rate decelerations combined with the length that I had been pushing had me going in the direction of a c-section but there was no mention of the possibility yet. My OB and nurses suggested different positions for a little while longer but there was no change. After three hours of what seemed like an eternity, Lillian's heart rate was at risk and the best option was to prepare for a c-section. From this point on, the next few hours are a bit of a blur. All in all, we had no major complications and our beautiful healthy baby girl was born at 2:12am on the 11th of May, weighing in at 7lbs 5oz and 20 1/2" long.