My Labor Experience

Well here’s the post everyone’s been waiting for. I’m going to start from the very beginning:

At 41 weeks, Jacob and I started doing everything, literally EVERYTHING, to induce my labor. From eating spicy food, going on bumpy rides every single day, walking until my feet felt like they would fall off (BTW I didn’t swell during my entire pregnancy because I drank plenty of water), doing the dirty, acupressure, massages, bananas, yoga, stripping my membranes (twice!), whatever you can think of, we did it, and NOTHING WORKED. So my conclusion on inducing labor based on my personal experience is that nothing can induce labor, your baby comes whenever he/she decides to come.

I was scheduled to be induced Monday morning, and as much as I was opting not to be induced, I was going to let them because one, it would be safer for the baby not to exceed 42 weeks in utero, and two I would be more than ready at that point for Natalia to be here. Fortunately my water finally broke the Friday afternoon prior to my induction date. At first I wasn’t sure if it broke or not, so I asked my mom what it felt like. She said it feels like you’re uncontrollably peeing on yourself. Soon after that, about 15 minutes, I was confirmed of my water breaking because liquid started pouring out, lol. I didn’t call the Doctor nor did I go to the hospital. I waited until I started having contractions 5-10 apart for an hour like my doctors instructed, which didn’t happen until 18 hours later. Bad idea for me to not go in right away because of the risk of infection, but how was I supposed to know? This is my first time having a baby, and BOTH of my GYN’s told me not to come in until I started having contractions. There was no mention of my water breaking. And since I’m totally healthy, I didn’t think there was any reason for me or my baby to develop an “infection”. According to what I researched, the vaginal exams are what cause infections in the first place, which makes complete sense to me.

So the next morning around 6am I started having mild contractions, then they increased in pain and decreased in time apart, so by 8 am Jacob and I were on our way to the hospital. When we got there the nurses asked me if my water broke & I told them yes it did, yesterday afternoon. They all looked at me like I was crazy and asked why I waited so long to come in. I told them that I didn’t feel the need to come in because everything seemed fine and that my Doctor told me not to come in until I was having contractions, so I was simply following instructions. Well, when they started my IV they told me they were going to start me on antibiotics. In shock I asked “for what?” And the nurse said “the GBS that you’re positive for”. I was in total disbelief and said “excuse me, but what in the world are you talking about?” She explained to me that I was positive for Group B Strep, (the test they give you when you’re 36 weeks) and that the baby has been swimming in infected amniotic fluid for the entire time since my water broke. GBS (Group B Strep) is a bacteria that is carried by both men and women, that does not affect adults but can be very harmful for unborn babies, which is why pregnant women ate tested for it at 36 weeks. Men will never know if they have it or not because they will never be tested for it since they obviously can’t get pregnant. Well when I took the test, nothing was ever mentioned about it after that, so I assumed I was negative. I would expect a Doctor to tell you the results of your tests, ESPECIALLY if you’re positive for it, don’t you?! So yeah, I was carrying this infection and had no idea about it. I was infuriated by this new found information because now my baby is at risk. If I would’ve known about this infection, I would’ve been at the hospital the day before when my water broke.

Anyways, once your water breaks you have 24 hours to get the baby out or it can become something serious. So I had 6 hours to deliver my daughter and I was only 2 cm dilated (and have been for two weeks!). They started me on pitocin right away. 2 hours later they checked my cervix to find that I was still only 2 cm dilated, so a c-section was the final decision. At first I wanted to cry because I felt cheated out of my wanting for a natural delivery since I was never informed about this infection that could be potentially fatal to my unborn daughter. I also was not so phsyched about having such a dramatic surgery, especially since I’ve never had surgery of any kind. I asked the nurses if they had c-sections and even asked if I could see their scars because I also wasn’t very excited about having such a large scar on my belly. One of the young nurses showed me not her scar because it was so low, but pulled her shirt up just to show me that the scar was below her panty line. I couldn’t even see it! And she was so skinny you wouldn’t even be able to tell that she had a baby, and she had 2! So that made me feel A LOT better about it. So on we went with the procedure.

They had me fill out all kinds of forms and explained to Jacob and I what would be happening. He had to change into scrubs so he could be there with me while the doctors carried me into the operation room so they could numb me from the waist down. They gave me a spinal anesthetic that literally took 5 seconds to kick in. I felt a rush of a numbing sensation that actually felt really good, lol! I felt very shaky though shortly afterwards which I didn’t like too much. Also, the shot they gave me was a MUCH smaller needle than that of the epidural, which I was very happy about because that was the very reason I had decided I wasn’t going to have an epidural if this would’ve happened naturally.

They cut me open and tugged, pushed and pulled (which I could feel a lot of although it didn’t hurt, it was just a lot of pressure) and then out came the baby, 7lbs. and 14oz. of her. About a minute later I heard her first cry and was in tears at the amazing sound that I had waited 9 long months to hear. Jacob cried with me and we were both very happy. However, because she was infected, they took her from us right away. I got to see her and kiss her cheek before she left and dad asked to see her hair because she was wearing a cap. When they took it off, we were amazed to see a head full of dark hair, just like I dreamed about!

So they took me to the recovery room while we waited to hear from the doctor’s what was going on with Natalia. Now there are a lot of details to what was happening between the surgery and the end, so I’m just going to make the long story short: The doctors were concerned about her breathing patterns. They ran blood tests and white blood cell tests which came back triple the amount of what was normal, meaning that her body was already building white blood cells to fight off whatever infection she had. They were also concerned about some “seizure-like episodes” that she was supposedly having which made the nurses decide to transfer her to Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville because they were a small town hospital that did not have all the tools needed to run the tests they wanted her to have. They weren’t sure what she was doing because she’s a  newborn, hence their wanting to run tests just to make sure she was acting normal. I was completely devastated because the doctors made it seem like she was having all these problems, they even mentioned a possibility of meningitis. I cried so hard and asked “what are they going to do to my baby?!” Jacob tried his hardest to keep his composure because I was so upset about everything and then he broke down and started crying with me.

Natalia went through so much in the first days of her life in the outside world. She IV’s since she was born, she had all kinds of tests run on her, she had MRI’s she had her spine tapped, all kinds of bullshit. I know that they were just trying to be on the safe side, but what new mom wants to see her first baby go through all this trauma?! Anyways, in the end Natalia was completely fine. They ran all these tests just to find nothing wrong with her. She just had an infection and the antibiotics they started me on before the surgery killed it just in time. So we went through all this heartache for nothing. It was very crazy. We ended up being in the hospital for 5 days before finally bringing her home.I was in the hospital for 3 days recovering from the surgery. They transferred Natalia on my second day of recovery so I couldn’t even go to the hospital to be with my baby until the next day. Jacob had to drive from Lake City to Jacksonville, back to Lake City to pick me up, back to Jacksonville so we could be at the hospital every day and then finally back to Lake City so we could come home, and then he had to drive back so he could go home, lol! Lots and lots of driving.

At the end of the day, there were a lot of lessons learned from this entire experience. Although it was scary, it was very worth it and I am happy to say that I am a new mom to a very happy and healthy baby girl. According to her pediatrician she eats better than the average baby for her size and is growing at a great rate. She is such a good baby, hardly ever cries unless she needs something. She is always very content and has such a well-developed personality already. She’s definitely mommy and daddy’s little diva girl!

I also would like to mention that my perspective about c-sections have dramatically changed since I underwent the surgery. I actually prefer to have the c-section because I didn’t have to feel any pain WHATSOEVER, everything went by so quick it was unbelievable. The entire procedure took a total of 55 minutes. No contractions, no pain, GREAT pain meds during and afterwards lol, and my little girls head did not get squished and my vagina didn’t rip! The scar is barely noticeable, looks like a pen line just below my bikini line and nobody will ever be able to see it unless I show them, which means I can still wear my bikini this summer! Best of all, this entire event brought me and Jacob closer together and he loves me more now than ever before since having to be there with me and watching me go through all of this craziness. I definitely want to share my story because I think it’s well worth mentioning to people. Always prepare for the worst because you never know what’s going to happen, and always be optimistic about negative things that you have no control over because they are not always as bad as they seem.

Today my baby girl is 2 weeks and 3 days old and she is making the cutest “ooh” and “ahh” sounds, she picks her head up all by herself to look around because she wants to see everything, she will NOT fall asleep without being held, so she’s already spoiled, lol! (Thanks Jacob!)

One more thing I want to add before I conclude my super long birth story; because Natalia was taken from me right from the beginning, we didn’t get to experience the first bonding of mother and baby to establish breastfeeding, which is essential! And I am completely against giving my baby formula for several reasons. One because I’m pro-natural, two because I don’t feel that formula gives babies everything they need like breast milk does, three because of all the side effects that come from formula fed babies that I’ve researched, such as being more prone to obesity and becoming sick with diseases, and four because although the formula feeds the baby for longer periods of time (formula fed babies eat 6-10 times a day vs. breastfed babies eat 8-12 times a day) which means the formula “sits” in their stomachs and that just reminds me of McDonald’s food which is totally gross in my opinion. I already decided I wanted to breastfeed exclusively. Well since I didn’t get to breastfeed for the first week, I didn’t establish a good milk supply, so I couldn’t produce enough milk to feed my baby. Not only that but the doctors shoved bottles and pacifiers in my newborn baby’s mouth which pissed me the **** off! If they needed to syringe feed her then okay, but I was not about the pacifiers or bottles because of nipple confusion. So Natalia had a difficult time latching on for the first week and a half of our being together. It was making me sore and I was to the point where I was about to just give up all together. But then I decided “screw that!” I’m not going to give up because I WANT this for my baby, so I’m going to MAKE SURE it happens, no matter what it takes. If I have to breastfeed her every half hour then so be it. I consulted with a lactation specialist who was so inspired by my determination and told me that that’s what it takes, you have to really want to breastfeed for it to work out, which is what I truly want, exclusively. I only will use formula if I have to supplement, but otherwise I want to strictly breastfeed my baby mostly because it’s the healthiest for her, but also because it does establish a bonding relationship with you and your baby that just feels like pure love, and I want that with me and Natalia. So I have a $700 hospital grade breast pump that I’m using FOR FREE for a week-2 weeks just because my lactation specialist wants to help me because she sees how bad I want this. Unfortunately Natalia and I had a rough start, but now that things are back to normal we are going to work this out to both of our benefits. My advice to anybody else out there with this problem is to never give up on the things that you truly want. I am proud to say that Natalia has gotten MUCH better about latching on (although she still needs some improvement) and I am finally being able to produce enough milk to catch up with her needs. (:

Bringing Natalia Home ❤

Natalia & I Now (:

Pregnancy Post #22 – 41 Weeks

*41 Weeks & 2 Days Pregnant Today
*150 lbs. – 40 lbs. Gained Since Pre-Pregnancy

Well, still no baby. I’m getting so impatient! But I’m trying to keep calm and not think about it so much because I know she will be here very soon. As a matter of fact she won’t be here no later than Monday because yesterday my Doctor told me that if she hasn’t come yet, they will have to induce me. Jacob and I went to my doctor appointment yesterday because I was 41 weeks yesterday and Ms. Marlene wanted to do a fetal stress test (NST – No Stress Test) to make sure that the baby wasn’t stressed out which would be the reason she hasn’t come yet. I don’t know exactly if the results were good or bad, but I was sent to the hospital right after. She sent me to the hospital to do a labor test because as I got my pelvic exam done before the NST, Ms. Marlene sweeped my cervix and stripped the membranes. When she was done I started leaking blood. Because of the blood, she wanted me sent to the hospital to make sure that it wasn’t something to do with the placenta and just her irritating my cervix, because if I was bleeding internally, they would have to induce me right away to keep from infection.

When we got to the hospital, they did something similar to a pap smear and sent my results to the lab. 30 minutes later they came back and told me everything was fine and that my water had not broken yet. At that point they sent me home. I got a little taste of what it’s going to be like when I’m actually in the hospital giving birth. The nurses there were very nice and asked me all kinds of health questions. When they asked me about the vaccinations (offering them to me and asking if they were up to date) I politely refused and told them no they were not up to date and I didn’t plan on getting any because I’m against them. The doctor’s did not seem to care, which I was grateful for because I expected them to push them on me since that’s what most doctors do. I then overheard a conversation the nurses had with each other saying that vaccinations were no longer going to be protocol and the nurse made a comment saying “good, they don’t need to be”. This reassures me that I’m obviously not the only one who is against vaccines which I am very happy to hear because the last thing I want to do immediately after giving birth is have to fight for my right not to vaccinate my baby with a doctor. I don’t think I will have to do that at this hospital. (:

After leaving the hospital Jacob and I went on a very long and bumpy ride, took a long walk, got something spicy to eat, he gave me a massage, we tried to do every natural way to induce me because I read forums from other women who had their membranes ruptured by the doctor and they all said that they went into labor within 49 hours, some on the same day. So we were expecting that to happen. But no, it’s the next day and Jacob already left Lake City to go to work in Jacksonville since he missed work yesterday to be with me at my appointment. I, as well as everybody else, believe that the full moon tomorrow night will help bring the baby into the world. I’m really hoping so because I would hate for them to induce me. I’ve read all kinds of things about being induced with Pitocin and I’m not very excited about what I read and what will be having to look forward to if that’s the route I’m going to be asked to take by my doctors. But I’m not too worried about it because somehow I have a feeling she will be here no later than Friday. I’m going to continue going about my day normally and doing normal activities. But if anything changes, expect a blog about it! ❤

Pregnancy Post #21 – 40 Weeks

*40 Weeks & 3 Days Pregnant Today
*150 Pounds – 40 Gained Since Pre-Pregnancy (stayed the same, thank God!)

Well I’m 40 weeks and 3 days pregnant today and STILL NO BABY! Lol, but it’s okay. I’m totally fine with letting her come on her own time when she’s ready, although that could be any day now because I’m really looking forward to being able to sleep on my stomach again, and turning over in bed without struggle, and bending over, and less frequent bathroom breaks…

I feel like she will be here at any moment because the pain in my ribs that I felt last week, which turned out to be from the positioning of the baby being so far up in me, has subsided tremendously, which makes me assume that she has dropped some more. I am having a lot more discharge these days which is confusing me because I have no idea if I lost my mucus plug already or not. I had to ask my mom “how do you know when your water breaks?” and she replied that I will feel very wet, like I peed myself, but I feel really wet all the time! So I’m confused.

Monday was her due date, and it was also baby daddy’s birthday. He came all the way to Lake City from Jacksonville just to see me for his birthday (and to induce labor, lol) even though he had to wake up at 5:30 the next morning to go back to Jacksonville for work. I surprised him with an amazing beer cake that I made for him over the weekend, as well as a beautiful handmade card!

I had a doctor appointment this morning that went great. The doctor checked me to see how far dilated I was and the results are *drum roll please* : I’m 2 cm. dilated! Looks like we have some progress! My doctor thinks she will be here within the week, but she scheduled me to come in on Monday instead of the usual Wednesday because I will be officially 41 weeks on Monday. She wants to do a fetal stress test to make sure the baby is not stressed out which could be the reason for her post due date. At that time we are going to discuss what I want to do about being induced, if that is even the route I want to take.
Jacob is going to come with me to my next appointment since it will be early Monday morning, so he’s going to come spend the weekend with me. (:

I’m overdue in my pregnancy and still get countless compliments on how great I look, which gives me the best feeling in the world. I love that people can see my happiness through the way I present myself and that my body didn’t turn into a big lump of fat in the process! I really CANNOT wait for her to be here. My impatience will be the death of me, lol.

Expecting Baby Girl Nails ♥

Are you expecting a baby girl? I am! Since her due date is coming up, I thought that the perfect nail design to do this week would be some kind of “baby girl design” to celebrate this special occasion. I combined ideas from 2 different nail art designs that I saw on Pinterest. One of them my Aunt actually posted to my Facebook, and I just thought it was the cutest thing.

I used Ruby Kisses French White and Nicole by OPI’s Selena. I started by painted my ring and index fingers white and the rest peach. I did 2 coats of the white and 3 coats of the peach because it was so light. But I painted very thin coats because if your nail polish is too thick, it will take HOURS to dry all the way and it could form bubbles. I then used my large dotting tool to draw dots on all the peach nails. I used the same sized dotting tool to draw the base of a footprint with the peach color on my ring fingers. I then used my smallest dotting tool to draw 5 smaller dots across the top to make little toes. Then I used my peach nail polish to pain just the corner of ring fingers, the large dotting tool to draw 2 dots creating bear ears, the same size dotter to draw a white dot to make the base of the bear nose, a smaller sized dotting tool to make 2 black dots for the eyes and then one on the white dot to make the nose. Last I used a toothpick dipped in white polish to add centers of the eyes to give it a more realistic look, finishing them off with a clear coat painting the side with the black eyes last so the polish would not get on the rest of my nails. When you apply a clear coat, ALWAYS wait about 5 or ten minutes for your nails to dry before painting the clear coat because when using white nail polish with other dark colors, if you paint with the clear polish too soon, or if you go over it more than once, it will mix your polishes and mess you nails all up. Trust me I learned this the hard way quite a few times. Just a tip to save you trouble, time and frustration. (: