My Positive Birth Experience

Birth is a crazy thing that not everyone will get to (or wants to) experience. For me, it was intense and magical and I felt so powerful at the end, but also exhausted lol. Here's a short recap of my positive birth experience.

My Birth Story

I decided to schedule an induction for the day I turned 40 weeks. I was ready to not be pregnant anymore and to stop worrying about when I'd go into labor. We were told I could go in early Monday morning 8/1 at around 6am instead of the previous night because my cervix was favorable for induction. I had already effaced a good bit and had started dilating. The night shift charge nurse told us that they were packed and we wouldn't be seen quickly anyways and for us to just plan on coming in the morning. We slept as well as we could, which was admittedly not very much, and then got the dogs situated before heading to the hospital with our bags, pillows and the carseat. I was NERVOUS, dude.

We checked in and sat in the waiting room for nearly an hour before being taken back to our room. My sister in law was to be my nurse so I was really happy to see a friendly face while I was sorta freaking out. I changed into my gown and around 7:30a they hooked up my IV and got the pitocin started. Contractions started pretty soon after the pitocin but they weren't bad at all. I bounced on a birth ball and walked around the room with my IV pole and talked to mom and Derek for a while. Every 10-15 min Angie (SIL) would come back in and up the pitocin some more.

The Labor

After a few hours of that I moved to the bed. My OB was called to come break my water but it broke on its own about 3 min before she got in the room to do it. Talk about a weird feeling!! I started having more intense contractions after that and was measuring nearly 5cm dilated. I was laboring on my knees, leaned over a blow up U shaped contraption that was actually pretty comfy while Mom rubbed my back and I tried to focus on breathing.

Angie told me to let her know when I didn't think I could make it 30 more min before getting my epidural so I let her know when I was ready. The anesthesiologist came in and I tried to hold very still through my contractions while he placed it. It didn't hurt AT ALL, and then I was pain free lol. I laid on my side for a while with my leg up on a peanut ball, letting Mav work his way down.

The Birth

Eventually I felt a lot of pressure in my butt so Angie checked me and I was ready to push! We scrambled to get the doc in and 20 min later Maverick was born! Tiny little 6 and a half pound lump of love. They say you forget what happens during birth. Here I am 9 months postpartum and I remember pretty much all of it. I'm sure there are parts I've missed, or details that aren't just quite right, but I remember how I felt. Truly one of those once in a lifetime experiences that some women are lucky enough to experience multiple times! As for birth experiences go, it wasn't drama filled or traumatic like others I've heard. It wasn't a zen tranquil water birth, either. But, it was definitely a positive birth experience and most importantly- it's my story. And for me, it was perfect. <3

^@lifeastice