My Birth Story
An elaborate recounting that is way longer than I thought it would be.
A Change in Plans
I had a relatively uncomplicated pregnancy. I definitely didn’t love the changes my body went through (at all), but other than the fatigue, aggressive bacne (back acne), and some heartburn, things were pretty smooth sailing for me! It wasn’t until I about 34 weeks that things changed for me. I noticed a pretty crazy, sudden onset of swelling in my feet, hands, and face. I could barely recognize myself when I looked in the mirror, and the swelling was so uncomfortable. I knew the signs for pre-eclampsia, so I made sure to check my blood pressure right away. At the time it was normal, so I assumed I was just experiencing normal 3rd trimester swelling that was exacerbated by the summer heat. But a couple weeks later, at my 36 week check-up, I learned that I did in fact have high blood pressure. My provider checked a few times, and since my readings were all consistently 150/100 or higher, they sent me right to the hospital for monitoring. After 7 long hours in the hospital (It took that long to get my blood pressure under control with medication), the OB came into the room to chat with my husband and I. He explained that while I didn’t have pre-eclampsia (yet), I did have Gestational Hypertension (or pregnancy induced high blood pressure). He explained that this meant my placenta was “expiring”, and highly recommended we get induced at 37 weeks. That was in 5 freaking days. My husband and I are never ones to question science and medicine, and he very clearly explained the risks versus benefits of induction. So we agreed to move forward with it, and subsequently went home in a mild state of shock. We were having a baby in 5 days, where we originally thought we had a month. WTF.
Getting Ready for Our Lives to Change
The next few days were a blur. We had felt pretty prepared up to the point of finding out about the induction, but of course in an absolute panic we ordered 100 things on Amazon, prepped some meals, and since we’re both overachieving content creators, did what we could to prep some content to keep our pages afloat while we figured out the first couple of weeks postpartum! As an aside, at 6 weeks postpartum I can say we bought a lot of things we didn’t need, so I put together this list our Top Pregnancy, Labour, and Postpartum Finds (that we ACTUALLY used and loved).
The Big Day
August 4th, 2024 was induction day. We woke up after a somewhat restless, excitement filled sleep to a phone call from the Labour & Delivery Unit saying to come in for our induction for 8:30am. We grabbed our hospital bag and headed out the door at 7:30am, making sure to stop for one last pre-baby brunch, just the two of us.
I was SO excited/nervous to get going. I assumed we would get started with the induction process right away and that I would start early labour soon after, but I was so wrong. It took a couple hours before we actually saw an OB, at which point they check my cervix and noted that I was already 2cm dilated. They wanted to get me to at least 3cm before starting the synthetic oxytocin drip (which they use to get labour going), and after discussing our options we opted for the Foley Bulb (AKA cervical balloon) to help me get there. They basically insert a balloon into the uterus (past the cervical opening) and then inflate it to 3cm. The balloon puts pressure on the cervix to encourage ‘ripening’ and would fall out on its own when I reached 3cm. So we went ahead with it (it wasn’t the worst pain I experienced, but it was NOT a comfortable experience) and then we were sent home to wait for it to fall out. I ended up taking a 2 hour nap, and when I woke up to pee, it fell out!
So we went back to the hospital, again with all the nerves, excitement, and anticipation. This part was even worse than the first stretch, because when we got there they told us some urgent cases had come in and now they didn’t have a room for us. They anticipated not having one until around midnight (it was around 3pm at the time), and told us we should probably go home to wait it out. This course made this hormonal, overtired mama cry. We were heading out the door, trying to hide the tears in my eyes from the lovely nurses, when they decided it would probably be a good idea to check my blood pressure again. Huge surprise, it was super high! So they kept me on the monitor again, gave me some more drugs to lower it, and there we waited for another 7. damn. hours. They eventually got us set up in HUGE private room, a tiny bit earlier than expected at around 10pm, where we patiently waited for the fun part to begin.
The Fun Part
It was finally time. My OB had come in to check my cervix (I was about 3.5cm dilated at this point) and chat with us about what to expect going forward. Since my water hadn’t broken yet, they said they would start by manually breaking my water, and then they would get me started on the oxytocin drip to kickstart labour. Having my water broken was not a super fun experience. I first had a resident attempt to do it, but they were unfortunately unsuccessful after digging around in there for about 10 minutes. They eventually got the OB (who was seriously the BEST), and he got ‘er done in about 3 seconds. A crazy amount of fluid followed (it was wild) and then I was ready for the drip!
They got me hooked up to the IV, told me what to expect, and that was that. From there, they mentioned they would monitor baby’s heart rate and my contractions and continue to increase the dose as needed until my body took over and active labour continued on it’s own. At this point it was about midnight and we were exhausted. I could feel the contractions now and noticed them getting more and more consistent, but there wasn’t really any pain. Going in to the induction, my plan was to try without an epidural at first, but I was never opposed to it if needed. When I discussed this with my medical team, they explained to me that while it was my decision in the end, they highly recommended I get the epidural because of my blood pressure. They explained that labour can cause blood pressure to spike, and the epidural lowers it, so it made sense to get it for both mine and baby’s safety! I did really want to see what it felt like without one though, so I was told we could hold off for as long as my blood pressure was in the normal range. Let’s just say I didn’t last long. 1 hour to be exact. It was 1am by this point, I was exhausted and just needed to sleep. The contractions weren’t super painful or anything, but I was experiencing full body shakes and just felt uncomfortable. The anesthesiologist arrived within the next 20 minutes and the process was quick, but HOLY SHIT did I hate it. I didn’t love the idea of a needle going into my spinal cord, but I didn't expect the full blown panic attack that ensued. as soon as that needle started going in I lost all control and started crying and shaking uncontrollably. Thankfully I had my amazing husband and nurse there to keep me steady and help me through it! As soon as we finished, the numbing set in almost immediately and I felt awesome. Yay drugs. Highly recommend. I was able to fall asleep for a solid 5 hours and it was marvellous.
Game Time
“I legit felt like I needed to poop out a bowling ball.”
When I woke up, they told me I was having very consistent contractions all night, so I assumed I had progressed nicely and that I would be pushing in no time. So you can imagine my shock when they checked my cervix and said I was only 4 cm dilated! I’ve never been a super patient person. I have ADHD and really struggle with waiting for things, especially things I really want. And I could not wait to see my baby girl! I was also weirdly looking forward to experiencing active labour and to start pushing. Why? WHO KNOWS (I’m a weirdo). But the fact that 5 hours had just gone by and I had only progressed 0.5 cm was super frustrating for me. My nurse suggested I change my positioning in bed to help speed things up. She placed a peanut ball between my legs (which I thought was super weird) and explained that this was a trick they often used to get things going. It was about 6:45am at this point, and with my peanut ball in place, I had to say bye to my wonderful medical team as the next shift took over.
Little did anyone know, we were only a couple hours away from meeting baby Josie at that point! After the reposition and the addition of the weird peanut ball, things started to happen. Even with the epidural, the pain went from zero to NOT ZERO. Definitely not 100 (right away), but it was NOT FUN. It got progressively worse and worse over the next couple hours. At one point I remember being in so. much. pain. that I had the nurse check my cervix again. I think this was around like… 8am? Time was a blur at this point. With the intense pressure and pain I was experiencing, I was SURE she needed to come out, but I was only 6 cm! I was shocked at the amount of pain I was experiencing for only being 6 cm dilated, with an epidural. Like - what the HECK does it feel like without one? My nurse offered a top up on the epidural and I gladly agreed, because that shit SUCKED. But as we waited the 10, maybe 20 minutes for the anesthesiologist to come by, the pain RAMPED up. I legit felt like I needed to poop out a bowling ball. Every contraction was a full blown 10/10 pain and I knew it was time. I told them to check me again because I felt like I was holding her in. They checked, and even though they didn’t think I would be near 10 cm since I so recently measured 6cm, and I was at 9.5cm. IT WAS GAME TIME. I was so ready to push that baby out, it was taking everything in me to hold her in. It was the holding back from pushing that was causing most of the pain! I quickly went from 9.5 to 10cm, but they wanted me to wait for the OB before I started to push. HELL NO - I needed to push, so I told them I was pushing. My husband kept saying how badass it was to see me in that moment. So sure of what I needed to do and not taking no for an answer. The whole birthing experience is so instinctual! At this point everything is a pretty massive blur filled with tears and overwhelm. When I first started to push it was just the charge nurse and my husband in the room with me, and my biggest fear was that I would poop on the table. Like for real, WHY did I care. This fear held me back from pushing as hard as possible at first, but I quickly realized I did not give a shit (lol), closed my eyes and went for it. After trying a few pushing positions, I settled on the a side lying position, holding up my right leg. I felt the strongest in this position and knew it wouldn’t be long until I saw my girl! I had my eyes closed most of the time, but remember opening them every now and then and seeing like 8 people crowded around me, with my amazing supportive husband at my side.
At 9:19am, after about 45 minutes of pushing and a small 2nd degree tear, our little vernix covered Josie joined us in all her 7lbs and 5oz of beautiful perfectness.
The Aftermath
Her heart rate had dropped a bit right before she came out, but they gave her a little rub down to get it up again, put her on my chest, and holy F did I cry. I’m actually crying writing this, just thinking about that insanely perfect beautiful moment. I can’t really remember the order of things at this point, but in my mind this is what happened: I started feeding my baby right away (feeling like an absolute pro might I add with a perfect latch on the first try), while I pushed out the placenta, then had someone stitch me up while another inserted an in-and-out catheter to empty my bladder to help control the bleeding that followed, and then I vomited. I felt it coming so Justin took the baby and they got me a bucket, but it was violent. Turns out breastfeeding makes me nauseous (still does), and with the chaos of labour, the low blood pressure from the epidural, and with nothing but some apple juice in my stomach, it was bound to happen! I’m sure this order of events is incorrect, but as I said - it was a massive crazy blur of joy mixed with discomfort and I will never forget it. At least not the good parts ;)
While I wish the story ended there, Josie ended up with a low blood sugar in the first hour postpartum, which is apparently a risk factor from the blood pressure medication I was taking. She was put on low blood sugar protocol at that point, which means she was given some dextrose followed by some formula (I think). They managed to get her sugars to normal-ish levels, and sent us both over to recover in the postpartum unit. Josie stayed on blood sugar protocol throughout the day, fluctuating between slightly low to just normal readings. Knowing very well that we would probably take Josie home the next day, I sent Justin home to get a good sleep that night. I was nervous to take care of my girl in the disastrous, exhausted state I was in, but I was reassured that we would have the support from the night nurses to keep up with Josie’s feeds and the blood sugar protocol. I won’t go into detail here, but let’s just say this was probably the hardest night of my life. I had to wake myself up every 2 hours to feed her, and let’s just say that first awesome feed we had was not the norm! She would not stay latched and couldn’t stay away to feed from the boob or the bottle, and I could not keep my eyes open. I was so tired, in so much pain, still felt nauseous, and was constantly terrified that I was going to fall asleep with her in my arms. The nurse came in to help, but I was expected to do a lot of this on my own. Since she couldn’t feed, her blood sugars dropped and Josie was eventually taken to the NICU at around 5am on August 6th. I was so relieved. I knew she needed a tube feed. She needed nourishment to get her sugars up and give her energy to feed, and I just couldn’t do that for her in that moment. When the nurse said she was taking her, I gave her a thumbs up through partially closed eyes and fell into a deep, much needed sleep.
The next morning, Justin came back with some breakfast sandwiches and Cappuccino’s and we went to visit our beautiful girl in the NICU. She had a tube feed in as expected, and the nurse said they only gave her the one feed at 5am which resulted in a normal blood sugar reading. With a bit more energy from that one feed, she was finally able to stay latched and I was able to feed her. We stayed with her that day, giving her all the skin to skin and feeds she needed, and then we were told to go home and rest. So Justin and I went home, popped a bottle of Champagne to celebrate our little angel butt’s arrival, ordered some sushi because it had been too long, and watched Love Island. We cried a lot, not because we were worried or missed her, but because we were so in love with her and so grateful that she was in the best possible hands while we took some much needed time to rest and enjoy each others company before bringing her home.
We spent the entire next day with her in the NICU. She was doing incredibly well, so they took her off the monitors, stopped testing her sugars, and gave spent the day giving us all the support we needed as new parents. They taught us how to bathe her safely, connected us with a lactation consultant, and answered all our very very many questions. We were told to go home that evening to get a final night of R&R since they assumed we would get to take her home the next morning. We did as we were told. We stopped at our favourite brewery for some beer and pizza and then went home for one last full nights sleep.
The next morning, at 10:30am on August 7th, Justin and I were able to bring our sweet baby angel home. We were in complete awe of the tiny little human we created. Strapped up in her little car seat, wearing the cutest little floral onsie and knitted toque. She was here, she was healthy, and I pushed her out of my vagina.
I hope you enjoyed this! It was really cool to write this all out and go through all the photos again. If you’re open to it, share your own birth story in the comments! And please feel free to ask me any questions!
THANK YOU for reading, I love you all.
xx Steph