Hello!

I thought I would share a birth story that did not go as planned.  After being 10 days past my due date our little man finally arrived.

Dominic Gray

8 lbs and 1 oz on November 3, 2015

I was well past my due date and we were following the recommended steps for getting labor underway. We walked a lot. As we had discussed with Rhonda a few days prior to his birthdate, we declined the first opportunity to be induced following a positive biophysical. It paid off.

Labor was complicated. I went into labor at 10:30 pm on Sunday on my own, 41 +3 of gestation. I laboured until my contractions were 3 minutes apart and we went to the hospital at 10:30 am Monday only to find out I was 0.5-1.0 cm dilated. I was so dejected. I got stretched to 2 cm and swept and was sent home with morphine and Gravol.

I went back to the hospital at around 8:30 pm the same day (Monday) with the same intense contractions. I hadn’t progressed at all. The doctor said I managed contractions really well as they were 3 minutes apart and I was having many before her eyes. She offered me an epidural because I had now been in natural labor for 24 hours and I was TIRED. I hesitated but realized I was not going to have the energy to push if I didn’t get some rest. The epidural was the key to my success. The doctor then broke my waters and started oxytocin. The doctor was wanting to induce this day anyway due to how late I was.

At 3 am I had only dilated to 3 cm but I was 100% effaced, which was the positive silver lining, so we waited another 2 hours and I finally dilated to 7 cm. At that point things were looking up. By 9:45 am I was ready to push. I pushed for about 45 minutes. Despite the epidural, my pushing was controlled and very effective. The doctors were impressed with how I pushed and was able to breathe through despite not really feeling what I was doing.

With the stalled dilation and such close contractions for over 24 hrs I was exhausted. I was actually very happy I proceeded with an epidural. I would not have had the energy to do any pushing. There is also the possibility that the epidural caused me to relax sufficiently to dilate.

I have to say, this didn’t go altogether according to plan but we were so happy to have all the knowledge Healthy Birth Choices imparted upon us. You prepared us with the knowledge we needed for each step. We asked great questions to our caregivers. Overall we found our caregivers remarkably supportive of our desires for the birth and we never felt bullied or stupid along the way. Thank you for all your love and support. We really feel like we went to the Harvard of birthing courses and have recommended you to many of our friends.

Regards,

Lauren