A lot of birth stories tell you all of the things that could go wrong. Births that end with placental abruptions or an emergency C-section are some of the horror stories i listened to when i was pregnant. For whatever reason, hospital births are also starting to be demonized. That is why i wanted to share my positive hospital birth story with you all. Hopefully, if you are about to give birth, you feel encouraged that not all births are scary, and you can have a positive birth experience in the hospital.
FTC Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase through my links. I only recommend products I genuinely love and use. Thank you for supporting my blog!
Watch My Birth Story
The lead-up
I was 38 weeks and 6 days and completely over being pregnant, i was barely sleeping, and my child was kicking my ribs consistently. Worst of all, i was still going to work, dont you just love America? This particular day was a Friday and i was in a rather piss poor mood, because again i was at work 9 months pregnant. I went to the bathroom (TMI WARNING) and i saw a slimy, mucusy substance in my underwear. My mucus plug had finally come out, and i was far past excited.
The next day i woke up and i just had a feeling, “today would be the day.” My mom came down to help me get any last-minute tasks completed, and as we were working, i began to have contractions. At this point, they were pretty mild, but they were consistently coming, and my mom started to get worried. I, on the other hand, was excited and hopeful that this would finally be the day.
We had a few errands to run, and as we were shopping, my contractions began to get a bit more intense. Again my mother was freaking out, but i was cool as cucumber and ready to get this baby out of me. My mom eventually convinced me that we should cut our errands short and go home to get my house cleaned.
As we are cleaning, my contractions were coming on pretty consistently, and i have to stop to breathe through them. At this point, i decided to get out a contraction timer just to see how far apart they are. At 5 minutes apart, the app was telling me to go to the hospital. Advice i ignored because i wanted to labor at home for as long as possible. I did, however, decide to tell now husband what was going on so he could give work a heads up. Meanwhile, my mom was yelling at me to sit down and let her take care of the rest of the house. But i didnt want to sit down because for weeks i would have contractions, sit down, and then they would stall out.
Eventually, the contractions were a little too intense, nothing that made me feel like the baby was coming, but enough that i decided to finally listen and rest. I took a quick shower around 7:30 PM and sat on the couch until i went to bed around 9. I decided to insert an evening primrose capsule to see if i could help my cervix along
IT’S HAPPENING!
At 12:59 on July 28th, 2024, i woke up thinking, “Huh, did i just pee myself?” When i got out of bed to check, a gush of water came out, and i knew that my water had broken. I put on a postpartum diaper and went to the guest bedroom to let my mom know my water had broken. She asked me if i had told my husband, who was a bartender at the time, and was not yet home. It dawned on me i needed to tell him. Luckily, he was down the street at this point.
Once he got home, he took a quick shower, packed a bag, and we hit the road. We had one stop before the hospital, McDonald’s, because i know the hospital likes to starve you once you arrive.
Once we arrived, they got me triaged and tested to make sure my water had broken. I was sure my water had broken because i was leaking the whole ride there, which is something i was not expecting. If you are a pregnant momma, go ahead and buy the diapers. I used the Always brand and didnt leak any amniotic fluids in the car. I was also able to use them postpartum. They were very comfortable and not too bulky.
Once they confirmed that my water did indeed break, that baby boy’s head was still down. The doctor, who didnt have the best bedside manner, told me the plan of action. At this point, it was about 2 AM and i was only 1cm dilated. She told me that we would start with Cytotec and then Pitocin. I told her that i didnt want Pitocin, and she said i was sure i was going to need it. In my head, i was like “ yeah, I’m not getting pitocin” but i kept quiet for the time being.
The Pain Kicks In
They wheeled me up to the room, the nurse gave me 2 Cytotec, and i went to sleep. This is where the timeline gets a little blurred, but i woke up maybe around 3 or 4 am in excruciating pain. The contractions are painful, y’all! I went into labor thinking i wouldn’t need an epidural, but at this point, i was only at a 5, and felt like i was dying. The nurse said it would be an hour before the anesthesiologist would be able to come and give me the epidural, and that sounded like an eternity. I started doing the breathing techniques that i learned through watching YouTube videos, which took the edge off, but there was still pain.
Even if you think you are getting an epidural, the anesthesiologist may be in surgery, and you might have to wait, so just prepare yourself for pain management during that waiting time.
An hour later, the anesthesiologist came and gave me the epidural, and you will never guess, it didnt work. Unfortunately for me, there was a mom who had to have an emergency C-section. Those breathing techniques were a godsend while the nurses tried tirelessly to get the epidural to work. Finally, after another hour, they got the darn thing to work, and i got some relief.
Time To Push
I was able to get some rest and woke up at shift change. My new nurse was a dream. She was a young woman with excellent bedside manner, and she made my delivery wonderful. She checked on me around 8 AM. I was dilated to a 10, but my baby was not at the correct station. She had me labor down, and 30 minutes later later it was time to push.
I was pushing, and she was like, “You’re pretty good at moving that baby,” and decided to call my doctor. I was a great pusher, but my baby’s heart rate kept dropping, so they moved me to my side, and that seemed to help is heart rate a bit. That was the only scary moment for me, but luckily it was very short-lived.
All of a sudden, my doctor was in the room, i pushed maybe 5 more times, and at 9:26 AM, on July 28th, 2024, my beautiful baby boy was born. He had a head full of hair, and he screamed the moment he came out.
Do you want to know the first thing i said was, “Is he still a boy?” Next came, “Any tearing?” I did have a first-degree internal tear, but it wasn’t too bad. Oh, and yes, he was in fact still a boy.
Final Thoughts
I was pregnant for 9 months, my labor was 8 hours and 27 minutes, and i pushed him out in about 40 minutes. Although it was my dream job, it was still positive in my eyes. My baby was born healthy, i was healthy. All that to say, i wouldn’t have a birth plan per se. I would rather birth vibes because when you are in the situation, things can move fast, which could leave you with feelings of regret or what might have been. Go into your labor with the mindset that anything could happen, and as long as my baby and I are healthy at the end of it, then the little details do not matter.
