Being told I would have to be induced did not scare me so much but did make me nervous. I was so sure that I would go into labor naturally that I did not take the time to research all the methods of being induced. When creating your birth plan, you seemingly hope and pray that things will go as you would like. I quickly was reminded that I was not in control of the process and had to give up that expectation.
Since I had a fibroid next to my cervix and a low-lying placenta my doctor did not want me to go over 40 weeks. I did everything I possibly could to induce labor naturally but when my due date arrived, I went to my appointment, and I had only dilated to 1cm. My doctor then called me two days later, randomly and was like “Listen, I will be working a 24-hour shift and if you want me to for sure be there, let’s get you in TONIGHT to be induced”. Im literally in the middle of a zoom meeting and BOOM! Ughhh, the feeling that my body failed me or that I failed at the one thing my body is literally made to do was heavy. My partner was my #1 supporter of helping me to realize it was nothing more I could do and that we will be okay, and my body will carry me through. At this point I’m sending out all the emails I needed to send and was like, I’m out – See ya suckas!!
IF NO ONE WILL BE HONEST WITH YOU ABOUT THIS PROCESS I WILL – EVERY SINGLE DETAIL!!!
Phase 1:
We get to the hospital with all of our things and get buzzed to go up to Labor & Delivery. One thing I LOVED most was having to speak with Labor & Delivery before I was able to come up on the elevator. It makes it so much more secure. Once up to Labor & Delivery they go me checked in and sent me to my room to change into the hideous gown and grippy socks. I had the sweetest nurses my entire stay, but my night nurse came up to start my IV and start the paperwork I needed to fill out. One thing I did not know is your partner has to leave the room and a questionnaire is given to you about your safety and if you feel safe with your partner. I think that is such an awesome thing for women afraid to speak up, because if I would’ve given the slightest look of fear or of being hurt – He would have been escorted out. Now we have all of the paperwork done and my IV inserted my actual doctor came in to make sure we were settled in, and she checked me both vaginally and stomach ultrasound – Just to be sure he hadn’t gone breech and to confirm how far I’d dilated. Unfortunately, I was still 1CM dilated as I was the week before and she let me know my options for induction. The Foley bulb method was most affective and quickest, so I figured we could jump right in with that.
Phase 2:
My doctor came back with the Foley Bulb for insertion and let me just say – That thing is scary. You may think that its less painful because it’s so small but
the part they pre warn you for is the fact – It has to be pushed through your Cervix and into your Uterus. IT HURTS!!! You can Click here to learn in more detail about the Foley Bulb and how it works. Once they got the Foley Bulb entered and filled with Saline, you instantly start to feel heavy pressure in your vaginal area, and it is extremely uncomfortable. Within about 30 minutes I started to feel contractions. My contractions were actually moving really fast – The baby hated that thing, lol. The balloon was inserted around 8PM and at about 11:45PM my nurse came in to check if the balloon was starting to fall out, at all. She told us it had come out about 1/3 of the way – so she decided to pull it out and check how far dilated I was. She told me I was 4 1/2CM dilated and that things would start to move from there, but little did I know she made the biggest mistake. My doctor came in and was completely shocked at how fast I dilated and wanted to check for herself. I WAS ONLY 2CM DILATED!! My nurse called it, completely wrong. You guessed it, I had to have it re-inserted. This time my doctor decided to add more saline to the balloon for more pressure and to make sure it didn’t fall out. The second go was extremely painful. I cried for a few seconds, but it was over that fast. By 12:30AM I was settled and prepared for the long journey.
Phase 3:
Now we’re in the thick of it. Increasing the fluid in the balloon did the trick. My contractions were consistently happening every 20-30 minutes and were pretty intense.
Something I learned was that when you are induced the pain is much more intense then naturally going into labor.
I tried everything at this point to get comfortable, but it was almost impossible. I tried walking and got stuck in the middle of a contraction, I tried sitting up and the pressure started going into my back, I laid on my back, and that made everything way worse. Laying on my side became the best position. Around 3AM my doctor came in to check me and BINGO we were actually 5CM dilated. Once removed, she told me to try and get some sleep because from her prediction I will probably go into labor that afternoon. Trying to sleep while going through that pain was insane. I was up and my partner was trying his hardest to make me comfortable, but it became unbearable. Keep in mind. I had not slept since the night before, so we were well past being awake 12 hours. Around 6:30AM my contractions were pretty strong but manageable, but I was so weak from not eating and no sleep. I decided to go ahead and get the epidural at that time.
That thing saved my life, lol. I was so happy for the pain to be gone. I started to get about an hour of sleep, and I had 10 nurses literally running into the room – scared us half to death. They said that my levels were dropping, which they normally expect after the epidural, and they had to hook up some medicine to my IV before I passed out. I was confused because, I felt normal but thank God they were paying attention. Once that was settled we were pretty much coasting along. I started getting the shakes from the epidural around 12PM, so I could no longer sleep and was up with my partner, my best friend, my mom, and my partners mom.
Phase 4:
It’s now 1:45PM and my contractions slowed as well as dilation, which was at 7CM. They started to move me into different positions to try and rattle the baby and get him going. The one thing that worked best was the peanut ball. When they put that between my legs, I don’t know what it was, but the contractions started back and we were back on the move. THANK GOD I couldn’t feel them because they were literally every 1-2 minutes and very intense. At least that’s what they explained to us from the monitor. Time is ticking and it’s about 2:30PM and my epidural decided to stop working on my left side. WOW! That was a shocker because I hadn’t been feeling a thing for hours. I had to use those breathing techniques TikTok taught me, lol!! My nurse was working on getting me a refill for my epidural and once done it still wouldn’t work. OMG, I was so furious. They decided to check me just to make sure I wasn’t going to have to push soon and was still at 7CM, so they kept moving me around and trying to get the epidural to work.
The unthinkable happened. About 20 minutes after my nurse last checked me and I was still at 7CM, she wanted to go get the anesthesiologist to try and get my epidural working. I felt a very warm gush and almost instantly it felt like my butt was going to explode. I’m freaking out, almost in tears, telling my partner and best friends to please look and see what that was. Now I know my water broke, lol! They were scared because I was scared, and we got nowhere. Thankfully the nurse came in and I immediately told her – “Hey, I felt a warm gush and my butt feels like it’s going to explode, I’m scared, what is happening?” PANIC MODE!!!! She ran out the room and yelled down the hall – Some code – and nurses were running in and telling me to please not push, that it was time. They called my doctor and as she was on the way down, they were setting up for my little prince to make his entrance.
My doctor came in and was like OMG he is down. I pushed for about 20 minutes and my little guy was in the world. My doctor was so proud of me and how fast we got him delivered. I will say the one thing that helped and motivated me was the birthing mirror, so I could see him coming out. It allowed me to see when I was pushing correctly and when I wasn’t. Overall, I would say my experience was pretty good and fast.
Always remember – Every experience is different when it comes to giving birth. It isn’t a right or wrong answer here and you should never feel upset that your experience compared to others may not have been the best.
Thank you for taking the time to read my experience. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions or leave a comment 🙂
WTF MOM 