On December 11th (Monday) I was 40weeks 5days pregnant and I was totally uncomfortable. I tried home remedies for natural induction like sex and lots of walking. I had my husband take me for a walk every single day after he got back from work because I was scared to walk by myself, after all I could go into labor at any moment. I was so uncomfortable and was anxious for my next doctor’s appointment because I didn’t really want to be induced by Pitocin.
Anyways it was late on Monday and my husband was already sleeping and I couldn’t sleep and I had to go to the bathroom for like 100th time that day. On the way back to bed I thought ‘oh what the hell’ and I did 10 squats. They were cheated squats because I was holding on to my kitchen counter, as I was afraid I could fall backwards doing them. 😀
When I woke up again at around 3am (now December 12th) to go to the bathroom I noticed blood. I wasn’t alarmed at all plus I had my doctor check up in the afternoon and I was hoping it’s my mucus plug coming out in pieces. So I went back to bed and went about my morning normally except I kept getting contractions every 10 minutes or so. They were not painful yet.
I live in Queens and that day my doctor was at his Greenpoint (Brooklyn) office, which meant for me to take the subway. Luckily my appointment was at 1 so I didn’t have to travel with the morning crowd. I used to hate the subway towards the end of my pregnancy because it was way too crowded in the am.
At my appointment the doctor checked my stress test and then examined me and told me that I am having slight contractions plus I am 75% effaced and 1cm dilated so he is writing me a referral and that I should head to the hospital. Naturally I called my husband right away and told him that I will take the cab to the hospital now and he should wait for me to get to the hospital and see if I will stay there before he leaves work. I also texted my parents before I ordered Uber.
I left the office and crossed the street because I saw that my Uber driver is coming from the other directions so I wanted to be there when he got there. While I was watching where the car is I saw that he actually CANCELED the ride and my phone started to act up because I had low battery and bad service. What did I do? Out of anger I threw my iPhone right onto concrete sidewalk and broke it completely. The screen was shattered and there was nothing I could do with the phone. GO ME!
Luckily there was a Duane Reade right there and so I went in there and asked the lady at the counter to get me a prepaid phone and everything that goes with it. I was so upset at myself and my contractions started to be more painful and started happening more often. The lady at the counter realized that I am going into labor and was SO helpful. After what seemed like eternity (10 minutes) I got the phone to work and I called my husband and told him about the phone and told him that I am going to pick him up from work (on the way anyways) and we will take an uber to the hospital from there.
I texted my immediate family (mom, dad, brother, grandma) my new phone number and told them everything is good.
We got to the hospital around 4pm, I was admitted pretty quickly and we settled in the delivery room. They plugged me in and took all the vitals and I was waiting, by this time the contractions were getting worse. At around 5ish a midwife came in to examine me, OMFG was her fingers very insensitive. She was trying to stretch me out, which my OB did the weekend before as well but he did it way smoother. At that point I was like 2cm dilated. I knew this will be a long process and thought they will send me home but it seemed that Emilia’s pulse wasn’t doing so well and they decided I should stay.
7pm I was 3cm dilated but the contractions were coming in like fire every 2-3 minutes. I got a new nurse, Irena, she was Polish like me and very caring, she told me that the pain will probably get worse and so I said let’s do the Epidural. Before I went into labor I wanted to do it without Epidural if possible, but it was definitely not possible. I would suffer and I would have my husband suffer with me all night long so I decided it’s best to just do the Epidural.
The not so sensitive midwife came to examine me again at around 8pm and said my bowels were too full for an epidural and that we will do an enema. I will not describe that awful and disgusting experience, ladies that had it done know exactly what I went through.
A little after 10 P.M. the anesthesiologist came in to do an Epidural. By the way I did not know that everything is done literally behind your back. You never see the needle; so if you were like me afraid of the long needle, don’t be afraid, it’s all done incognito while you stare ahead at the wall or whatever is in front of you. It’s also only you, your nurse and the anesthesiologist in the room so that you don’t get distracted.
Epidural kicked in very very quickly because the next time that awful midwife came in I felt nothing! Yay! I don’t remember the exact moment my water broke but it was almost immediately after I got the Epidural, probably around midnight. I was only about 4cm so they called my doctor and he ordered Pitocin.
At this point I already knew I will have my baby girl on the 13th, my lucky number, I was born on the 13th as well but in November. My husband took a nice long nap while I rested as well.
My doctor came to check on me at 4am, before he went into surgery. He examined me, I was around 8cm but he was worried about Emilia’s heart rate and asked for the nurses to take me off the Pitocin, he thought that was causing the issue. Before he left he told me that if the baby’s heart rate doesn’t regulate it will be a C-section. I was a little upset about this news but I didn’t let it stress me, I don’t think I even told my husband about it (he slept through that examination)
At 7 am my doctor came back and looked down and said ‘oh I see the head we are ready for pushing.’ 🙂 He was genuinely excited about it and so was I but I was also nervous because you see, it’s hard to know when to push if you don’t feel the contractions.
I think we started pushing at around 7:20. I say we because my husband was such a good sport that I was at total ease. Before I went into labor I thought he might not take it so well. He is very sensitive to my pain and couldn’t even look at the nurses putting a needle into my arm. Meanwhile during labor his adrenaline totally kicked in and he was my best cheerleader while I pushed. At 7:54 am Emilia was born weighing 7lb 9oz and she was 20 ½ inches long! ❤ Oh the joy I felt when she was born was incredible. I don’t think there is an adequate amount of vocabulary to describe what I felt. Naturally I loved my daughter while I was pregnant but the love I felt when the doctor put her on my chest immediately after birth is eternal. Hands down the most beautiful day of my life. I definitely want to do it again! ❤
Normal Life as Per Me 