Emily’s Hospital Birth Story
My son was born almost 2 weeks past his due date. I had originally scheduled an induction if I went past due, but I wanted to go into spontaneous labor if possible so that I could labor at home for awhile. Alison was very supportive of this plan and gave me the courage to cancel my induction. At 41 weeks and 5 days, I woke up with contractions at 4 AM that were 20 minutes apart and I couldn’t sleep through. I was thrilled! I spent the next few hours cuddling with my dogs, standing in the shower, and watching my favorite movies. Alison joined us around 9 AM. Alison was supportive of us staying home as long as we wanted, but by 11 AM I was having 2-6 minute contractions with 2-3 minutes in between, so we headed to the hospital. I labored in the hospital tub for awhile. My husband put on a swimsuit so he could join me, and Alison and my sister sat at the side and sprayed my belly with the shower head. This was one of my favorite moments of labor. At this point contractions were now around 10 minutes long with only 2-3 minutes of rest between, and I was starting to feel pretty depleted. I talked with Alison and my husband about my options, and ended up trying gas, IV pain meds, TENS, and birthing positions before ultimately opting for an epidural. At first, it was PERFECT, I felt the pressure of contractions but no pain. We watched movies and called our families to give them an update. I was zen as can be. After a few restful hours, the pain suddenly returned. Over the next 10 hours, my epidural failed multiple times, my labor stalled, and every time the epidural failed I had nearly nonstop contractions (10-25 minutes with 30-60 seconds between). By morning I was not doing well. I was shaking, sobbing, and begging for relief. Alison and my husband held my hands and talked me through the contractions, and Alison operated the TENS device. By 8 AM, the anesthesiologist was not sure how to proceed because the epidural dose was maxed out but I was still experiencing pain and could move freely. He ended up removing the epidural and placing a new one. This was a turning point for my labor. The midwife started pitocin, since labor was still stalled. Alison held the button to re-up the epidural and pressed it every time it became available so I could rest. By late morning I was fully dilated but baby was still at -2 station. The midwife told me I could start pushing, but I was worried about making progress with baby still so high. Alison helped me move around into positions so that baby could descend. I asked her for only positions where I could also nap, and she stacked pillows for me so I could rest. At 1 PM, baby had made it to 0, and the epidural was dulling the pain but not contractions. With Alison’s coaching, I pushed for a little over an hour. I had originally told Alison that I didn’t care about photos/video of birth, but unbeknownst to me at the time, she ended up capturing the moment of his birth on video on my phone, and I treasure it so much. Even though I struggled through the night and early morning hours of labor, what I remember most is the extremely positive start to labor and even better conclusion. Alison empowered me to advocate for the labor and birth I wanted, and she helped my husband and me navigate all of the hiccups along the way. Our son is the brightest light in our lives now!
