P was born a little over a year ago, so I figured it was time to get her induction birth story written!
Strap in, friends. This is a long one. My writing is not known for being succinct. And I certainly wasn’t going to start summarizing when it came to my daughter’s induction birth story.
I had my last prenatal appointment the day before my due date and I was sorely disappointed to hear my OB describe my cervix as “Fort Knox.”
Since I was full term and the baby was estimated to be in the 7.5-8 lb range—and since I was D O N E with being pregnant—when my OB offered the option of an induction birth, I jumped at the chance. We scheduled it for the next day (my due date) at 8 P.M.
My mom and Zach’s parents arrived at our house that night around 6 PM so that we could have dinner together before Zach and I went to the hospital. I was perhaps overly concerned with the idea that I wouldn’t be able to eat anything until I gave birth, so I ordered Huey Magoo’s and brought chicken tenders in my purse for the parking lot, although I was too full to eat them before going inside.
Zach’s parents stayed with the dogs, and we headed off to the hospital, arriving on time for our induction birth.
Hospital check-in
“Moves Likes Jagger” was playing as I got out of the car, and I told Zach that it seemed like a good omen.
I went inside alone as I’d been told to do and answered some intake questions. Then, Zach came inside so we could handle the financial business of birthing a child, I was rapid covid tested in both nostrils (oof) and Zach was allowed to wait with me while we waited for my results.
By 9 P.M., our night nurse had walked us into our labor and delivery room. I got changed into my hospital gown. I was hooked up to my IV and heart-rate/blood pressure/contraction monitors. They took blood samples, the nurse examined me, and told me that I was dilated 2 centimeters!
I was really excited to hear that after the “Fort Knox” designation the day before and made me think that the mild period-like cramping I’d been feeling all day was actually veryyyyy early labor.
Zach got himself set up on the little cot they had for the birthing partners and around 10 P.M., our doctor came in, examined me, and concurred with the nurse that I was about 2 centimeters dilated.
First steps
She administered the first dose of Cytotec to start the induction birth.
At 11, 12:30, and 2 A.M., I felt like the biggest pain in the world as I called my nurse and had to have her unplug my monitors so I could go to the bathroom, wheeling my IV along with me. For the 2 A.M. bathroom run, I had barely had any water to drink and our nurse had turned my drip down, but she explained that as the baby got lower, my bladder held less.
I got my second dose of Cytotec at 2 A.M. as well. When I was examined, I was dilated a tiny bit more to 2.5, but my cervix was significantly softer, so progress had definitely been made, and I was told that this second dose “should do more.”
Early Labor
My contractions were beginning to get just uncomfortable enough at this point that I couldn’t get comfortable enough to sleep—I hadn’t slept at all at that point. They were about 30 seconds long and occurring roughly every 4-5 minutes.
Around 5 A.M., the contractions were somewhat painful. It was too early for an epidural, but the nurse offered me some IV meds. They didn’t numb me, but took the edge off just enough that I could sleep. Although I think they made me a little loopy since I was semi-hallucinating rows of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy heads scrolling by the insides of my eyelids.
At about 6:45 A.M., the nurse came in and gently woke me up to explain that they were going to start my Pitocin. The plan after that was for the doctor to break my water and then get me my epidural. I asked if the epidural could be before the water breaking since I had heard it was a painful thing to undergo. She basically said we could if I really wanted to wait.
Well, that pretty much became a nonissue. Our nurse left the room. Zach woke up and almost immediately after he woke up, I felt a warm gush along my legs that kept right on coming.
My eyes shot open and I told Zach, “Um… I’m pretty sure my water just broke.”
Active Labor
Things moved pretty quickly after that. They called down for my epidural. The day nurse came in, our night nurse bid us adieu, and my contractions started coming hard and fast.
For two hours, I labored in agony. I’d had the unfortunate luck of going into active labor during the anesthesiologist shift change. I expected labor to be agonizing but really thought I’d cry more than anything.
Reader, I was SCREAMING.
The day nurse sympathized and told me that they were coming very fast. “You’re really not getting much of a break.”
Our day nurse was a godsend. Rather than letting me writhe around in the bed during contractions, she asked if I wanted to try a different position.
I believe my exact words were, “I will try ANYTHING.”
So, she raised the incline of the back of the bed and had me turn around. In a kneeling position, I sort of draped over the back of the bed. When a contraction came on, she said to rock my hips from side to side and breathe through it.
To help with the back labor that I was also experiencing, she had Zach apply pressure to my hips when contractions came on while I swore and asked “Where the HELL is the anesthesiologist?!”
Epirdural
Finally, at about 8:45 A.M., the anesthesiologist showed up. The nurse coached me through the contractions that hit me while he performed the epidural so that I wouldn’t move too much. I was told that it took longer than usual for my epidural and the anesthesiologist said that was due to my scoliosis.
At last, I was blissfully numb and able to nap for a couple more hours. They positioned me with a peanut ball and I couldn’t move after the epidural so they came in periodically to flip me like a pancake.
Around noon, I told the nurse that I was feeling some pressure, so she checked me, shook her head, and laughed. “I’m going to call the doctor. You’re ready.”
The doctor was in the middle of another procedure elsewhere in the hospital, so (since I didn’t urgently need to push yet) it was about another hour before she came and we got the show on the road.
Pushing
I began pushing at about 1:10 P.M. Before the doctor came in, my contractions had been very frequent, but once she was there, there were a few minutes between them, so I couldn’t push as often.
I couldn’t feel anything thanks to the epidural, so Zach held one of my legs while my angel of a nurse had the other. And then I proceeded to push for an hour and a half. At one point a nurse called down to the NICU because they were contemplating getting the vacuum and wanted to give them a heads up. Happily, we didn’t wind up needing them.
Some of my favorite moments during the pushes:
The doctor: “Today’s my dad’s birthday.”
Zach: “Oh, what a coincidence! Today’s my daughter’s birthday.”
(He came in really strong out of the gate with his dad jokes.)
I told them all that when this all was over, I was going to have really earned the Olive Garden breadsticks that I made Zach promise to get me.
The doctor: “She’s got a lot of hair!”
Me *actively pushing*: “I had a lot of heartburn so she BETTER!”
We had a little bit of a scare towards the end: the doctor realized the cord was wrapped around Baby’s neck. Moving quickly, she performed an episiotomy (thank God, I was still numb).
P’s Arrival
And then she was here! I’ll never forget the wet warmth of her as she was tossed onto my chest.
It seemed like just as quickly, she was taken away and they worked to clear fluid from her lungs. There were a lot of people surrounding her and a lot of scary monitors beeping for a few minutes.
But finally, they cleared the fluid, her heartbeat regulated, and we had our girl! She was healthy–and just perfect.
We had some time to ourselves and we made all of the Facetime calls to friends and family to introduce her.
I ate a chicken tender that I’d smuggled in my purse, which my nurse declared “the most pregnant woman thing she’d ever heard.” Zach ordered Olive Garden, which his parents dropped off at the hospital for us.
Then, we got moved to a recovery room where we got to marvel over Little P and take in the fact that we were officially parents.
An induction birth isn’t for everyone, but I love our induction birth story and I had a very positive induction birth experience.
