I really didn’t want to be induced, so I was hoping to go into labor on my own. My induction was scheduled for Tuesday, the 11th, at 7 pm, and by Monday, I was feeling like it was never going to happen. My husband and I planned one last date on Monday night. While we were out to dinner, I started getting some uncomfortable contractions. I decided I would start timing them. As the night progressed, the contractions got more powerful and painful.
We decided to try and get some sleep around 8:30 pm. I slept for an hour maybe, but kept getting contractions. By 11 pm, they were getting closer together and more painful. We tried to ride it out at home as long as possible. We also thought, yeah, this is probably false labor. But when 2 am rolled around and they were not letting up, we decided to call the doctor. The doctor is supposed to call you back and when we still hadn't heard anything by 3 am, my husband said screw that, we are going to the hospital now.
We got there at 3:30 am, and checked in. The nurse told me that they wouldn't send me home even if I wasn't in labor because I was scheduled to be induced later that night. But when they checked, I was dilated to 4 cm which was a huge upgrade from my 1 cm that my doctor had told me at my last appointment. So, it was official, I was in labor and it happened on its own!
I got my epidural around 5 am, and it was the best thing EVER! It didn’t hurt really at all like I thought it would. It was sweet relief. My OB came in after that and checked my progress, and I was already 6 cm! She broke my water at that point as well. From then on out, it was pretty much a waiting game. My husband and I discussed our favorite life moments together, and our favorite memories and reminisced over the past. And by 2(ish) pm, I was dilated to a 10 and ready to push. I pushed for about 1 hour and 15(ish) minutes and at 3:16 pm, Harper was born!!
They put her on my chest and she was perfect (and purple). But, then they noticed that she had some fluid in her lungs, and that she wasn’t able to keep her oxygen levels where they should be. So they took her away to transition (which is in NICU, but the baby hasn't been admitted to NICU). I got probably 30 seconds with her before she was gone.
My husband spent time with her because I couldn’t. I was having problems as well. I fainted 2 times after my epidural wore off, and was forced to stay in recovery without being able to see Harper. That was probably the hardest part. I wanted to do skin to skin with her and breastfeed her but none of that was able to happen because she was on oxygen and I was stuck in my hospital bed. I could only see her through pictures and videos that my husband was sending me. Harper was finally able to come stay with us the next day, and we were thrilled. It was a pretty crazy long day, but we were so grateful for our healthy baby girl!! I can't believe that she is a year old! What an amazing, hard, and rewarding journey it has been!
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