Hospital Birth Story | Forest Lake Photographer

A 32 Hour birth story

I have replayed this birth in my head over and over again in the last 6 years, it’s time to tell it

As a first time Mom, I read all of the blogs, watched all of the natural birthing vlogs, and asked my midwife so many questions how I can have a neutral birth I’m sure she was about to drop me as a patient. I worked out during my entire pregnancy and was a dog walker, so I thought with the shape I was in, I would have an easy, steady paced labor + delivery…

One Week Old

April 10th 2:00 AM
(39 weeks)

As normal pregnant women does, I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, but this time my underwear was wet?! My brain immediately was OMG, this is it!! I tried to go back to bed, but my brain was too wired; about 30 minutes later, I had felt my first contraction.

I went downstairs and turned on Titanic (because it’s a long movie and thought it would help distract me), I don’t think I watched 10 minutes of it. About every 10 minutes I was up, swaying my hips back and forth, getting through a contraction. Even from the beginning, I wasn’t able to talk through any of my contractions. I then did something no one EVER warned me about; no one mentioned it in any of the blogs, vlogs, or midwives I consulted… my body cleared itself!! I went to the bathroom probably 4 times in 30 minutes and there was NOTHING left!

April 10th 5:30 AM

My contractions were picking up, so I decided to go take a bath. Jimmy woke up for work, he comes to the tub as I’m curled into a fetal position and asks if he should go into work or call in… DUDE!!!! Yes it is baby time!

April 10th 7:30 AM

By 7:30 my contractions were 3 minutes apart lasting 45-60 seconds. The nurse line said we could come in. I called my doula, Adriane, to meet us at the hospital.

The drive to the hospital was AWFUL!!! Omgosh the contractions were tenfold while driving

April 10th 10:00 AM

We got settled in and the midwife on was going to check me. I was actually really excited to get checked to see how far I was and how much closer I was to meeting our little lady! I labored for close to 8 hours at that point and contractions were only 3 minutes apart, so I was for sure already at a 6, right?!

WRONG-OH AMY!! I was at a 2!! A flipping 2!!!

April 10th 6:00 PM

Those 8 hours of contractions were a blur. My body is exhausted and my mind is exhausted. My doula, Jimmy and I worked really hard with squats, yoga ball, in and out of the bath so many times. By 6:00 PM I was at a 5. My contractions were still 3-2 minutes apart lasting 1 minute.

Based on my second labor with my son, I can say that my contractions with Callie were not typical. After a large contraction surge, typically you have a break, but during Callie’s labor there was a continuous hold on me; never really having a time to fully relax or breath and prepare for the next contraction.

But something amazing happened at this time… my Mom came! This was never in the plan for her to come, but Jimmy knew I needed her. He needed her and my doula needed her; they were both working their butts off too. It was probably so hard to watch me in so much pain and tired, but she held my hand and stayed with me until delivering. Thank you Mom, you have no idea how much I needed you at that time

April 10th 8:30 PM
(18 hours of labor)

Did I mention, I was exhausted?

The midwife on call checked me and I was at a 6… haaaaa. She began to talk about pitocin to help my contractions along. I agreed to give it one more go on my own and see where I was around 10:00. As I huffed on nitrous oxide (didn’t do anything for me), my birth team and I gave it our best shot! For about 90 minutes, I squatted and lunged with everything I had. I remember in between contractions, my knees would buckle because I was falling asleep while holding onto the bed or someone.

As I knew I was creeping up on 10:00, my mindset and determination was shot, gone out the door!

April 10th 10:00 PM

My midwife checked me and I was still at a 6! Almost 18 hours of labor and I was only at a 6

I was done, I was exhausted, I was ready for the spinal tap

My doula, tripled checked to make sure that is what I wanted. But with starting pitocin, I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle contractions without one. So we started my IV bag and ordered the epidural. NOTE: I did not know before this that if you want an epidural, you have to go through an IV bag, so keep that in mind that you just can’t get an epidural as fast as you think! It took my body an hour to complete an entire IV bag

Let me tell you though, that IV bag made me feel so much better, I was drinking and eating throughout my entire labor, but still very much dehydrated.

April 11th 1:00 am

My epidural was finally in and everything in my world, calmed down
(NOTE: if you are nervous of an epidural, I think I wanted an unmedicated labor because I was more scared of the epidural needle than anything… I didn’t feel it at all go in!)

My team and I were settling in. Them on the hospital couches and chairs and me with a peanut ball in between my legs

For the next 6ish hours, the nurses came in every 30 minutes and rotated me like a roasted chicken, so there was some sleep but not much

April 11th 7:00 AM
(29 hours of labor)

I was starting to feel my contractions again on my right side. I pushed that button like 3 times to give me more of that holy juice, but it did not do anything. My body was revving up for the next big thing!

I was lucky that I was able to move around with my epidural. I was still on the bed, I was able to be up on my hands and knees, be in other positions that were comfortable

I breathed and worked through more contractions until about 9:30 when I was ready to start pushing… I was finally at a 10!!!!!

April 11th 10:22 AM

She was here. On my chest

She was everything and nothing like I expected her to be. She was perfect!

I pushed for little more than an hour, but it did not feel like an hour. Everything was calm and controlled

Since my epidural was not fully worn off, I did not feel the ring of fire; the pressure was strong but not painful

As hard as labor and deliver is for myself and body, I would do it over and over again. I will say it time and time again, there is nothing like bringing that baby to your chest and meeting them earth side for the first time.

To my Callie Ray, there is no one like you! No one can take away the spark you bring to this world. You are so beautifully crafted to be one of a kind; the way you see the world is magical and full of good. I will forever fight for you, to protect you, and shield you from dark shadows