So this may come as a surprise because I have been AWOL for a while now. actually for a little over 9 months. well the reason is because I had a baby. A beautiful baby girl as you can tell by the photos above. So My pregnancy was a weird one as I didn't really feel like myself. despite the nausea and fatigue and constant need to pee, I was not me.My body was being taken over by a hyper yet amazing tiny human. But thats another story. This story is about my experience and the birth of the one person who would change my life forever.
It all began on march 16th. I was just going about my day, heading to a centering appointment. If you don't know what centering is, its a group of woman who are pregnant around the same time due around the same time. We gather together to talk about pregnancy related topics and get health checkups on our little ones. After checking my blood pressure and seeing that it was higher than normal. So I decided to wait it out until the end of our appointment to re check my blood pressure again. To my surprise it was still high, which would explain why I felt like I had ran a couple miles.
One of our doctors instantly told me to head to Labor and Delivery triage to do a Stress test, where they took a urine sample, blood sample, and checked my blood pressure a couple times within an hour. After checking my BP 3 times and waiting for my urine sample to come to see if there was protein in my urine, I was anxiously waiting to go home and eat. The nurse comes back in and says " Don't panic but... you should call your husband, you're most likely being induced today. I was very shocked and confused, feeling like I was dreaming of what I low key wanted to hear but not at 37 weeks and 4 days. So I called my husband and repeated the same words. He at the time was getting a new tire on my car. I had to constantly remind my overly confused husband not to panic and get to me safely. In the back of mind I knew he would break a ton of laws to get to me. my chest was heavy and I was nervous yet excited, nervous being the operative word.
So Lets skip all the talk about whats going to happen, me signing a waiver, my husband breathing all heavy, and me wanting to cry. Lets just get to the part where I am in a room and shits about to get real. So the best thing about the centering I was apart of is that they explain every little thing about pregnancy and labor. without centering I would not have known any of the instruments used to kick start my labor. While my husband was home getting our bags and returning my car to pick up his (which is a lot larger and more prepared for a baby),I decided to get things going.So first things first they inserted a foley bulb into my cervix. May I say one of the most uncomfortable things of my life, obviously not as bad as contractions but we'll get to that part soon. back to The foley bulb, which is a balloon like instrument where saline is inserted into the tube to have his blow up like a balloon. This helps your cervix dilate to at least 4-5 centimeters. At the time I was only 1 cm dilated. Once your dilated it either comes out on its own or get pulled out by a nurse or doctor. Either way its gonna hurt...a lot. I was advised it could take up to 12 hours, which it did. Throughout the night I dealt with some minor but painful period like cramps. In my head I was doing great and I had a feeling I could deliver this baby naturally. So I thought.
Around 2am the nurse comes in and says lets see if this comes out. I was going to ask is this going to hurt, but before I could finish my sentence it was already being yanked out, and I was already planning her death. just kidding... no seriously! it hurt.I was told that I was 4 cm dilated. woo hoo! finally they allowed me to eat a very amazing turkey sandwich before getting Pitocin (medicine to kick start labor) started. Shall I say how deli to eat a deli sandwich after being told you can't eat deli for 9 months straight. So believe me when I say it was pretty amazing. Once the pitocin was started not even 30 minutes into the contractions, I was in tears. I went from lying in bed to walk around, to trying to use my husband as a rail, to being on all floors, to gripping a chair. Nothing was easing the pain. To top it off, I took a bathroom break, where I noticed I was spotting...more like clotting (TMI...who cares)I was spotting pink, red blood. So my husband ran to get the nurse. The nurse responds to our panic and says it perfectly normal and fine. It was honestly hard for me to pay attention or relax with the constant contractions taking over my entire body. She then asks the very question that puts my mind at ease. " do you want epidural? umm...damn right I want epidural. though it was so relieving to hear that questions I began to question my own decisions since I had really tried to put my mind in a lets go natural mindset. I pushed hat thought so far back into my head I said " F " the idea of natural. I need the drugs to ease the pain. After receiving the epidural I went straight to sleep, for hours. I woke up my legs were still extremely numb. I felt like I was 1,000 pounds. Instantly I knocked out. Not too long after waking up to a doctor sitting in front of me. They were ready to check my cervix.
At that moment I was very relieved to here "oh your water broke!...yes! not only was I excited and nervous but I knew I would dilating fast. before this story becomes a book. hours past of me going in and out of sleep. the epidural started to ware off and I was in loads of pain. it took all of my nurses and my husband to calm me down. I literally felt like my insides were twisted. they called the anesthesiologist to come and check my epidural where she noticed there was none left so I got a new one...yay! not too long after waiting for the epidural to be put in. the doctors come in to check my cervix where they noticed the baby was still floating, not in the birth canal, and my contractions were coupling(contractions that last longer than usual with little to no time in between) I was miserable. So the doctor then explained that I should consider opting for a C section due to the fact that my water had been broken for a while. after discussing the decision with my husband and shedding some tears of defeat, I gave in to my own fears and opted for a C Section. not even 15 minutes later I was getting prepped and being wheeled off into the operating room. super anxious and nervous the only person I wanted was my husband. For some odd reason everything in the room made me annoyed. All I wanted to hear was my little girls cry. My husband finally arrived and not to long after we hear this small, soft cry that instantly made my body shake. my whole face filled with tears the moment I heard that cry. Then my husband brought over to me and I was able to do skin to skin while breastfeeding my beautiful girl. Throughout my stay in the hosptial all I kept thinking was, on that beautiful day March 17, 2017 at 5:27 pm my good luck charm Sienna Noelle Sneed was born weighing 6 pounds and 9.5 ounces she has made our crazy family whole.
