My labor and delivery story is unique. Labor was long, painful, wonderful, amazing and a completely different experience than I ever thought it would be...it was better; the best experience of my life!
March 24th 2014
March 24th 2014
I had posted my 40 week pregnancy update blog literally 30 minutes before my water broke and my journey into motherhood began. On March 24th I had a 9:45am OBGYN appointment for my 40th week. My parents picked me up to take me to my appointment. (My parents had been in town since the 18th patiently waiting for MadeLynn to be born.) I feel so blessed that my mom got to go to my last two OBGYN appointments with me. She had not got to be apart of my pregnancy at all so it was fun to share the last week with her and my dad.
At my 39th week appointment I had been 1cm dilated, 50% effaced and -2 station. We had spent the whole week walking and keeping me active so we were expecting to see some major progress. I ended up only being 1 1/2cm dilated, 70% effaced and -2 station, so only a little change. My doctor did another membrane sweep and we started talking about inducing labor. I was pretty bummed and hated the idea of waiting until the 31st of March to get induced so I begged my doctor to change my induction day. She said she would do what she could and that Thursday March 27th might be a possible day. We left the hospital hopeful that we might get to meet MadeLynn sooner...I had my phone in my hand the whole morning hoping to get the call that we would be induced earlier.
At my 39th week appointment I had been 1cm dilated, 50% effaced and -2 station. We had spent the whole week walking and keeping me active so we were expecting to see some major progress. I ended up only being 1 1/2cm dilated, 70% effaced and -2 station, so only a little change. My doctor did another membrane sweep and we started talking about inducing labor. I was pretty bummed and hated the idea of waiting until the 31st of March to get induced so I begged my doctor to change my induction day. She said she would do what she could and that Thursday March 27th might be a possible day. We left the hospital hopeful that we might get to meet MadeLynn sooner...I had my phone in my hand the whole morning hoping to get the call that we would be induced earlier.
Jonathan had been at work and wouldn't get off until noon so my parents and I decided to go to the mall and walk around a bit. My mom and I bought matching scarves and we sipped on tea. We decided to take pictures together while I was still pregnant. I am so thankful that we did.
Around 11:00am I started noticing that I had increased discharge but I thought it was just from the membrane sweep. I felt really tired so we left the mall. On our way back to our apartment we decided to stop at a small antique shop before we headed home. We found cute old wooden blocks in a bucket and decided to try to find all the blocks to spell out MadeLynn's name. It took us about 25 minutes of digging around to find all the letters of her name but it was so worth it; I love old wooden blocks and I thought they would look so cute in her nursery.
It was about noon and I wasn't really feeling all that great. I mainly felt tired and my feet were very swollen. We went back to our apartment to eat lunch. Around that time Jonathan made it home from work and we all sat and visited for a bit. I think everyone could tell I wasn't really feeling great so around 1:45pm my parents left and headed back to their hotel and Jonathan and I decided to take a nap.
I remember sitting down to go to the bathroom before I headed to bed and feeling a weird gush. It was 2:00pm and I didn't really think much of it until I stood up and felt it again. Jonathan was already in bed and ready to take a nap. So I walked into the room laughing and said, "I think my water may have broken." He popped up out of bed and started putting jeans on. I told him to calm down because it might not be my water and that we should just wait and see. So I laid down for about 15 minutes but when I adjusted in bed, I felt another gush. At that point, I knew that it truly was my water breaking. I called the OBGYN clinic and they told me to come in so they could do a test to check if it was my waters.
So at 3:00pm we packed up the car with my hospital bag and left our apartment for the last time as just the two of us. I even said, "Goodbye apartment" and Jon laughed at me and said, "What? Are you dying?" I said, "No, it's just the last time that it's just the two of us."
We made it to the clinic around 3:30pm and they did the test to check if it was amniotic fluid. It was! Which meant I was having a baby!
They called labor and delivery and got us a room. I remember feeling so weird that I was walking around, not feeling any contractions or anything. I felt exactly the same as I always did. We walked the halls of the hospital and I wanted to run around and tell everyone I was finally in labor.
We walked to the labor and delivery floor not really knowing what to expect. As you can see, I was very excited and so very happy that after 40 weeks and 2 days, I was finally in labor.
We walked into our room around 4:00pm. Our nurse was so cute. There was a problem with a key board so she couldn't sign into the computer system. It took about 40 minutes before I could officially be admitted. So we just laughed it off and joked around until Jonathan fixed the keyboard. So at 4:41pm on March 24th, I was admitted to labor and delivery.
Last bump shots
Because I was not contracting on my own and my water had already broken, it was decided that I would need to be put on pitocin in order to start contractions. I had originally wanted an all natural labor with no drugs or pain medications but I knew that I only had a 24 hour window that they would let me try to delivery vaginally. So around 7:00pm pitocin was started.
My parents came to the hospital around 8:00pm and came up to my room to visit. At this time I wasn't really having painful contractions so I was up for visitors. My pitocin level was at a 6. We visited for a little bit but had my parents leave so that we could get a little sleep before delivery.
Jonathan was my rock the whole time. I truly would have not made it through it all without him. He was so clear headed and calm the whole time. He was attentive to my needs and tried to keep me calm.
* Look how swollen my feet were!*
From the point my parents left and on, I do not have any recollection of time. I honestly just close my eyes and think of how painful each contraction was. Around 10:00pm I was at level 8 of pitocin. My contractions were one right on top of each other and I was in agony.
The calm in between contractions
From around 10:00pm and on, all I remember is contraction after contraction. To me, it felt like something was wrong at that things shouldn't feel like this.They were adjusting my pitocin levels between 6, 8, 10. My body was having trouble getting regular contractions. I remember asking many times, "Is MadeLynn ok?" And she was. Labor never once put any stress on her; she was steady and calm the entire time.
My nurse asked me what I wanted to do about the pain I was in. At the time, I wasn't even thinking that I could have an epidural. I thought she was asking me if I wanted to try a different position or something. Because I was on pitocin, I could not leave the monitors. I could have probably tried other positions but the contractions were powerful and I wasn't thinking clear enough to suggest anything. They only time I could really leave was when I needed to use the restroom. I cannot begin to tell you how amazing it was every time I went to the restroom. I remember sitting in there feeling so free because I wasn't hooked up to the monitor and I was all alone to deal with contractions on my own. I really wish I could have labored how I needed to. I would have been able to deal with contractions much better.
Time meant nothing to me at all. I was dealing with only 20-30 second breaks in between contractions for about two hours. During that time I remember Jonathan being so calm and so helpful. When contraction first got painful I would grip onto the sides of the bed and squeeze them until the contraction was over. When I switched to laboring on my back Jonathan and I held hands through every contraction. He kept me so calm.
March 25th, 2014
March 25th, 2014
At 1:55pm I was check and I was 2cm dilated, 70% effaced and 1 station. After all those painful contractions, I still wasn't really contracting. They upped my pitocin lever every hour and contractions only got more painful. But the nurse asked me what I wanted to do and I said I just wanted to continue to labor on my own and wait for one more check in a couple of hours before I would decide to get an epidural.
For two more hours, I contracted one right after another. Jonathan was there telling me to breathe and letting me know when I had reached the peak of each contraction. I started to lose it and was not able to deal well with the contractions. I completly relied on everything Jonathan was saying to me. I really wanted to scream out in pain but Jon kept telling me to just breathe. I hated that phrase "Just breathe." Breathing did NOT make the pain go away.
At 4:12am I was checked again and I was only 3cm dilated, 90% effaced and still 1 station. In two hours I had only progressed one centimeter. I knew at that time there was no way I could continue to labor like that and still have energy when it came time to push. So I decided to get an epidural.
I was told it would only take 15 minutes for the anesthesiologist to arrive. (It actually took 30 minutes). That was the most painful 30 minutes of my life. I was starting to lose control and there were no longer any breaks in contractions. Even after each peak I would still feel pain. At that point I blocked out everything and only listened to Jonathan tell me to breathe and tell me when a contraction was ending.
The anesthesiologist arrived around 4:40am. She was awful...when she entered the needle, it sent the most agonizing pain up and down my spine and for the first time in labor, I actually screamed out in pain. The moved the needle up and down and she had a hard time placing it. She finally did place it and I started to feel the epidural work and was happy to feel some relief. I didn't know what to expect from the epidural but once it was in, I could relax. I still felt a little bit on my right side, but nothing like I had. Once everyone left, Jonathan and I finally tried to get some sleep.
After about 30 minutes of sleep I woke up feeling nauseous. In fact, I would get very nauseous at the peak of every contraction. They were still one right on top of each other. Jon called the nurse for me because the nausea was starting to get worse and I was slowly starting to feel contractions on my right side.
The nurse checked me again around 6:00am and I was 4.5cm dilated! So finally some promising progress. But unfortunately, the epidural had completely worn off and I could now feel all of my contractions again. Jonathan was there holding my hand. I cried and breathed though each contraction. It's really hard to deal with pain when you thought you wouldn't feel anything for the remainder of the process. I was in the worst pain of my life and I was not handling it well at all. For two hours, I called out in pain and begged for a c-section. I knew that if an epidural wouldn't work for me then there was no way I could go on. I begged several times to just have a c-section.
At 7:58am I was checked again and I was 6cm dilated, 90% effaced and 0 station. Progress was good but not were they wanted me to be. We then discussed getting another epidural and I agreed instantly. Waiting for that epidural was torture. I didn't believe it would even work so I sat there dealing with each contraction thinking that I will only ever feel pain and would never have any relief. At 9:36 am, I received my second epidural. As soon as it was in, I fell into a deep coma like state. I could still hear every one talking but I was paralyzed to the bed. I didn't want to move or talk. I was finally feeling relief. I heard Jon and the nurse do a little cheer because they knew it finally worked. Jonathan and I both slept until around noon. It was a much needed sleep.
I woke up and felt so much better. For some reason I wanted to brush my teeth and hair and put on make up. I knew that delivery would come soon and I wanted to look my best.
I texted my parents and told them they could come visit me. They had arrived at the hospital in the early morning and waited in the waiting room for me to deliver. They came in around 12:35pm and made fun of me for putting on make up.
At 12:55pm my doctor checked me and I was 10cm dilated, 100% effaced and at 0 station. I was all ready to go. Jonathan had stepped out at that time to get lunch. I texted him that I was at a 10 and he rushed back up to me.
My parents and Jon were in the room when I started to feel very uncomfortable. I wasn't feeling the urge to poop, which is what everyone kept asking me if I was feeling that. But to me it was more of a pressure feeling and I was feeling contractions again and feeling like I wanted the catheter and fetal monitor out. In fact, I kept asking the nurse to take it out because I thought it would bring some sort of relief.
My parents left the room then...it was finally time to deliver.
At 1:25pm I started to push.
I started pushing with the nurse and with only a few pushes, I was already making major progress so she paged the doctor. I remember hearing that and realizing that this was really happening.
My epidural wasn't helping at all at this point. I could feel everything again so Jon was again at my side letting me squeeze his hand.
At 2:07pm the doctor arrived and the room transformed into a delivery space. All I wanted to do was push. But I had to wait for peaks of contractions before I could. I am so glad Jon and my nurse were so calm. I tried to listen to everything that they were saying because I was in a lot of pain and I knew that they were just trying to help.
I tried to relax after each push but it was so hard. I look so peaceful here but I was not at all.
I remember pushing and pushing and hearing everyone tell me I was doing so well and that I was really strong and an effective pusher. I felt weak. But I was happy to hear I was doing well. Jon held me up with each push and counted to ten for me. I push 3-4 times with each contraction and I used all my might to push. Finally, I felt the ring of fire. I knew that meant I was crowning. They had me reach down and feel the head...it was slimy and at the time it didn't intrest me at all...I just wanted to push.
I remember pushing so hard and then suddenly hearing "Stop. Now breathe slowly." I knew that meant that she was almost out. I couldn't believe it. I felt like it happened so quickly. I didn't really feel like I had been pushing that long ( I pushed for about 45 minutes).
On March 25th, 2014 at 2:11pm MadeLynn Rose Goebel was born.
She was placed right on my chest and they first thing I thought was "She's so tiny!" But I kept hearing everyone say, "Oh she's a big baby." To me though, she seemed so small on my chest.
She was placed right on my chest and they first thing I thought was "She's so tiny!" But I kept hearing everyone say, "Oh she's a big baby." To me though, she seemed so small on my chest.
For an hour and a half I got to hold my beautiful baby girl as they stitched me up. (I had a second degree tear). All I kept saying was that she looked so much like Jon! She was so beautiful and so alert. Her eyes stayed open the whole time and she starred very deeply into my eyes.
Jonathan then got to cut the cord and MadeLynn was officially her own little person.
After the almost two hours of skin to skin, they took her to measure and weigh her.
MadeLynn is the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me. The labor may have been tough but delivery seemed like a breeze to me. I cannot believe I am now a mother!
She truly is so beautiful.
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