Pandemic and Pregnancy: Birth Story

The day of my induction I cleaned the house like crazy for most of the day. My parents came to my home to be with my oldest, and my husband and I packed up the car and headed to the hospital around 7pm.

When we got to the hospital, the nurses set me up with a portable fetal monitor and an IV for Pitocin and then the doctor on call came in to insert the Foley bulb and told me to try to get some sleep. So naturally Stefan and I started to watch Psych.

After about one episode, Stefan decided to get some rest and after about three episodes I started to feel contractions and get a little uncomfortable. I decided to get up and start walking around. When that got boring I sat on the yoga ball and rolled it around.

While labor was progressing I found that the most comfort position was me sprawled on the floor. See this image from the Mile’s Circuit for reference. (yes, I was totally face to the cold hard hospital laminate. I regret nothing)

I also had a bunch of poses I saved from my rabbit whole research journey and was switching between the during contractions. While trying to attempt one of the more convoluted poses around 6am, my water broke.

The nurses came in to remove the Foley and labor went from a 4 to a 4,000 in about 20 minutes. Over the next two hours, I spent most of the time kneeling on the hospital bed and leaning up against the back of that bed. Two nurses took turns pressing on my hips when contractions happened and the pain got progressively worse.

My husband was right by my side, and gently encouraging me the whole time. The pain got progressively worse and at about 8 a nurse got right up in my panicking face and got me to focus on her instead of the pain for a half a second. She asked me what I wanted and I begged her for an epidural. When they told me the anesthesiologist was coming, I felt a light at the end of the tunnel. As soon as the medication kicked in, the nurse did an exam and the baby was crowning. They quickly called my OB and told her to rush in ASAP.

While we waited for the OB to get to the hospital, my mom was allowed to come into the room (they made her wait downstairs until after the epidural was placed). looking back, I’m actually appalled that they made a woman who was crowning wait for a half an hour so her OB could get there instead of just calling the on-call doctor and getting that baby out. Thank goodness for epidurals. Once the OB came in, the room filled with nurses and doctors just in case my baby was really too large and they would have to bring him out more forcefully than planned. As we all prepped for pushing, the nurse asked me if I wanted a mirror, I told her no, and she said, “You’re going to want to see this” and positioned a mirror so I could watch as I pushed. I didn’t think I wanted that kind of intimate view of my birthing body, but it was actually very motivating as I watched my son get closer and closer, until he was finally in my arms. My mother was the one to cut the umbilical cord and it was such a blessing to have her there.

When it was apparent that my baby was perfectly healthy and fine, the extra doctors and nurses dissipated and left me with my husband, mom, and beautiful baby boy. Pandemic or not, we did it. I gave birth to a healthy baby boy without the need for medical intervention. My body was not too small for my baby. My pregnancy and delivery were nowhere near high risk. Me and my baby were able to work together to bring him into the world safely, despite the doctors who told me it wouldn’t happen.

#mother #labor #Pandemic #Pregnancy #COVID19 #delivery #healing