This is my birth story, a story I searched for before going into labor myself. I was induced with pitocin at nearly 42 weeks and after many internet searches I could only find horror stories about labors that were so intense that a natural labor was near impossible with contractions over contractions and pain that was unbearable. The stories left me scared out of my mind on our way to the hospital. After having JoJo, I can now say it doesn't have to be that way. I had a successful natural labor with pitocin and left the hospital feeling like it went perfectly. Her is my story of JoJo's arrival.
The 40 week appointment. It's the one that you hope you never have to attend because by that point your huge, uncomfortable and ready to get the show on the road. You've also been receiving calls and text messages daily with those close to you predicting, "this is it, today's the day." Well... I made it to that appointment and my 41 week appointment and was then induced just before 42 weeks. I tried some weird natural things to induce labor but the truth was, JoJo was not ready to come out. No matter how much walking, bouncing on a ball, pineapple eating, or chocolate "labor" cake consuming I did she did not budge. If you google "how to induce labor", which doesn't everyone at that point, you will get some crazy old wives tales. They lie.
Let's fast forward to November 6th.
At 7:30pm we checked into the hospital to start the induction. I was giving JoJo's arrival.
This is my birth story, a story I searched for before going into labor myself. I was induced with pitocin at nearly 42 weeks and after many internet searches I could only find horror stories about labors that were so intense that a natural labor was near impossible with contracts over contracts and pain that was unbearable. The stories left me scared out of my mind on our way to the hospital. I can now say it doesn't have to be that way, I had a successful natural labor with pitocin and left the hospital feeling like it went perfectly.
The 40 week appointment. It's the one that you hope you never have to attend because by that point your huge, uncomfortable and ready to get the show on the road. Well I made it to that appointment and my 41 week appointment and was then induced just before 42 weeks. I tried some weird natural things to induce labor but the truth was, JoJo was not ready to come out. No matter how much walking, bouncing on a ball, pineapple eating, or chocolate cake consuming I did she did not budge. If you google "how to induce labor", which doesn't everyone at that point, you will get some crazy old wives tales. They lie.
Let's fast forward to November 6th.
At 7:30pm we checked into the hospital to start the induction. I was given cervadil to ripen my "unfavorable" cervix. Upon checking in I was only 2 cm dilated and about 50% effaced. The cervidil was used instead of a ripening gel because my twin sister had a bad reaction to the gel with her delivery and my doctor didn't want to risk that. That night I hardly slept, not because of contractions or the beginning of labor, nope none of that even got started. Just the uncomfortable hospital setting and constant monitoring kept me up. The next morning when the Cervidil was removed and they checked my progress I was disappointed to find out I had made none. Nothing. I immediately went to my unhappy place and managed to convince myself in a matter of minutes that my body was not capable of going into labor on its own. I had read stories about women who were unsuccessful with the induction process and found themselves in the OR for a c-section. This was my biggest fear. I wanted to have my baby as naturally as possible and having a c-section was the last option in my mind.
Between removing the cervidil and starting the pitocin I was given an hour break to walk around before getting hooked up to the pitocin drip, the next step in my induction. I will not lie, I cried at that moment. I knew this induction was coming but it suddenly became very real, I could officially no longer avoid the induction and I was running out of time before it was going to start. I begged the nurse to allow us to take a walk outside before getting my IV in. I needed the fresh air to calm my nerves and the last few minutes alone with my husband. We walked around the block of the hospital, best decision of my life. It allowed me to clear my head and regain some confidence.
They started my pitocin at 11am on November 7th at a "2". At 11:30 they increased it to "4" and I was beginning to have consistent contractions. They began the way I expected them to, cramps at first then becoming more distinguishable waves every 4 minutes or so. When the nurse came back at noon to up my pitocin again I asked to sit in the jacuzzi first as the contractions were becoming more painful and moving towards my back. Once getting sumereged into the tub my body instantly relaxed, contractions came and went but I was able to tolerate them better. At 12:30pm our doula arrived and met us just as I was getting out of the tub and going back to my room for monitoring. Once I was out of the water the labor pains hit suddenly, contractions were much stronger and were now completely in my back. On my walk back to my room I had to stop twice to brace myself for a contractions. This was the turning point when things started to pick up.
Once back in my room I was able to labor on the ball and avoid another hike in my pitocin, my body was responding well and I was progressing on my own. After about a an hour of laboring on the ball I received another check and was already at 6cm! This was such motivating news, by that point contractions were challenging and only bearable with lots of counter pressure from our doula.
Transition was the most challenging part of my labor, I experienced the most pain during those hours. JoJo needed to be shifted a bit to make it down the birth canal and our doula did this with a sheet under my belly while I labored on the ball. This shifting was the hardest part of the whole labor but once it was done it really sped things up. At around 5 I was checked again and I remember the nurses telling me "you're ready". I responded with a, "what does that mean?", my husband said "were having a baby!"
The next hour of pushing was a blur, laying on my back at that point was such a relief. The actual pushing was easier to me then the laboring. My contractions became more spaced out and I was able to take a break in between pushes. I pushed for an hour before JoJo was born, her body finally came out in one push and suddenly she was on my chest. It all happened so quickly. I had spent the whole day preparing my body for this moment and just like that it happened. All the pain and discomfort I had gone through was gone instantly. JoJo was here and she was perfect.
My husband cut the cord and we did skin to skin for almost an hour before the nurses preformed their test, got her weight and wrapped her up before family was allowed to come in to meet her.
If you are facing an induction and want to do it naturally here are my tips.
- If you can afford it, hire a doula! This was the best money we spent. Our doula turned my husband into the best labor coach!
- Don't read the horror stories! Stick with positive birth stories to boost your confidence.
- Avoid laboring on your back! All fours and the labor ball were my best friend.
- Use the jacuzzi tub, it's not for everyone but it might help you along and stall another pitocin increase.
- Look into counter pressure, it will help take the edge off a contraction. My doula did most of the counter pressure during my labor and it was a full time job.
- An induction is not the end all to your birth plan, stay flexible and make the most of it and make it yours.
My labor was exactly what I thought it would be even though it didn't start the way I was hoping. It truly pushed my body to the very edge but not more then I could handle. It was not easy but looking back it was perfect and I would do it again.
Meet my JoJo -
