Linda’s Birth Story – The Day That Changed My Life {Guest Post}

I was 40 weeks and 3 days when my doctor decided that I should be induced because of oligohydraminos (low amniotic fluid level). My husband and I went to the hospital on the evening of January 13, 2011. We waited to be called and after about 2 hours we were sent to a room. I was initially given cervidil to help ripen the cervix because it was only about 1cm open. The cervidil was left in overnight and by morning, when they came in and checked, I was about 3cm so Pitocin was started. I was not having much pain because the contractions were light and irregular. That’s when the pain intensified and by 4 cm dilated or so I asked for the epidural. The epidural experience was not as bad as I thought it would be. It made my pelvis and legs feel big and heavy but it worked, well initially anyway.  I remember going from 4cm to 7cm pretty quickly. The nurses and doctor were confident that I would soon be pushing out my baby girl. By mid-afternoon they broke my water. I quickly progressed to 8, 9 and then 10cm but the baby’s head was still very high in my pelvis and was not showing any signs of descending. So the anesthetic in the epidural was decreased in the hopes that feeling the contractions would help speed things along. Well, it didn’t. In fact only the pain worsened and after several attempts at pushing, the doctor told me to stop because my cervix was swollen and that vaginal delivery would not be possible. And so it was decided: I would have a C-Section for arrest of descent.

It was about 10:30PM now on January 14. A whole 24 hours after arriving to the hospital. It was then that they placed me in a stretcher and started to wheel me down the hallway. That ride felt like a dream. My pain was so bad by then that I just wanted to see my baby girl and it didn’t matter how. I was quickly placed on the operating room table and prepared for surgery. The medication in the epidural was finally increased and I felt so relief. I didn’t feel the initial incision on my belly but getting her out seemed a little difficult. It was really painful for me because I felt pressure and pulling on my chest. Finally after was seemed like an eternity, I heard those first beautiful cries. She had such a strong and loud cry. It was one of the most beautiful sounds I had ever heard. They quickly showed her to me and placed her on the pediatric warmer. I sent my husband over to her and asked, “how does she look? Is she ok?” He was speechless and after a few seconds, he said she was beautiful and perfect.

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