Birth Story: A Sunny-Side Up Delivery
A mom's second child eases into the world at his own pace
Posted by Katie_Mom365
Name: Haley 
Age at Birth: 27
Date of This Birth: 7/26/2012
Location: Greensboro,NC
Place: Hospital
Hours of Labor: 6-12
Birth Attendant: OB/GYN
Type of Birth: Vaginal, medication
Birthing Style: nada!
Overall vibe: Empowering
Story: On Tuesday, July 24 I went in for my 39-week appointment. I was 2-3 centimeters, so my doctor stripped my membranes to move things along. I had contractions and a little bit of bleeding all night Tuesday, but nothing consistent or too painful. On Wednesday, July 25 around 4 p.m., I started having contractions every four minutes. They were only lasting about 30 seconds, but some were kind of painful, so I went ahead and called the doctor, especially since we had our older son to worry about and I needed to make sure my parents were here (they live an hour away).
The doctor wanted me to come in and get checked. I went into a room at triage where they monitored me for an hour. The contractions were coming in every four minutes still, but I didn’t progress any more so they sent me home. I was a little frustrated, but in hindsight I am glad it worked out that way because I was able to go home and get some sleep. About 5:30 a.m. the next morning, I woke up to a contraction that rocked my whole body. I was like, "Oh yeah, this is what they felt like with my older son!" I was still having contractions every four minutes, but the painful ones were only coming every 10 minutes, so I wasn’t rushing to go back to the hospital. About 8:30 or so, they got closer together and I wasn’t able to talk through them. We decided to head on in.
I thought I could eat, so I had my husband go through the drive-thru for a biscuit. By the time we got through, I was in so much pain and of course couldn’t eat. We got to the hospital around 9 a.m. and I was 6 centimeters. I was begging for an epidural in triage, but of course I couldn’t get it until I got checked into a room. It took FOREVER for the anesthesiologist to get to my room. It was back labor so I was in so much pain. The nurse had me get up on all fours, which helped.
The anesthesiologist finally made it into my room. However, the epidural only took effect on my right side. The doctor came in and checked me, and I was at 9 centimeters. By the time she broke my water, I was at 10. She said the epidural wasn’t working because I was progressing so quickly. This was at noon. Even though I was at 10 centimeters, I didn’t feel the urge to push just yet so they let me relax, pumped up the epidural. It kind of started working on my left side.
Around 1 p.m., I started pushing. As low as my son was, I thought he would be out very quickly. I was wrong. I was pushing so hard and it was taking so long. I started to get frustrated. The doctor came in and offered to do the vacuum extraction. I really wanted to do it myself, but I was getting stressed. The nurse was so encouraging, though. She brought over the mirror so I could see the progress I was making. It helped so much! At 2:28 p.m., my little man made his appearance, sunny-side up! We realized that was why I pushed for so long. He was 7 pounds, 15 ounces, and 21 inches long. He was beautiful and perfect in every way, and latched right on when I tried to nurse him. I was so impressed, especially since my first son had trouble nursing at first.
Wisdom for Moms-to-be: Go with the flow and remember, yes, the birth experience is important, but the most important thing is a healthy baby!!
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