Finally getting around to writing out Abby’s birth story! I’m so glad I kept some notes on my phone about the timeline of everything, because just 3 weeks later I’m already forgetting things.

Background:
I had an easy, uneventful pregnancy. I was still feeling great at 40 weeks, and was not in a hurry for baby to come (and she wasn’t in a hurry to get here either - I hadn’t had any contractions or signs that labor was going to happen soon). At my 40 week appointment, baby was still high and I wasn’t dilated at all. Had an induction scheduled for 41w1d if nothing happened before then.

The short version:
At 40w5d, I started having contractions. After 24 hours of labor, water breaks and labor stalls. Start Pitocin, then get an epidural, but baby’s heart rate keeps dropping so we have to stop the drugs. Labor still isn’t progressing, so we decide to go with a c-section. C-section goes smoothly, and baby comes out crying. She needs a little oxygen but is otherwise healthy, and we’re able to do skin to skin while they stitch me up.

The (really) long version:
Contractions woke me up around 2am Thursday morning (1/15/15) - they were mild and short with no real pattern. DH gets up for work at 6am and I tell him “I think today is baby day!” We decide he should go to work and I’ll let him know if things start to pick up. I called my mom to come keep me company.
Continued having contractions all morning about 5-10 minutes apart, but they weren’t very strong. I cleaned the house, did laundry, and baked some cookies - feeling very “nest-y” for the first time in my pregnancy. Started losing my mucus plug around 11am.
Luckily I had a doctor’s appointment that afternoon so I could get checked out without going to the hospital. Had an NST (since I was over 40 weeks) and baby was doing well. Doctor confirmed active labor and said I was dilated 2cm, but baby was still high and not engaged. Sent us home with the warning that there was a risk of cord prolapse since baby was still high, so if my water broke was had to get to the hospital ASAP. Otherwise I was free to labor at home as long as I wanted.

I took a short nap when we got home. Contractions had slowed down while I rested, so I got up and walked around the house and bounced on my yoga ball for a while, and we ordered pizza for dinner. Around 7pm the contractions were more intense - still only about 20-30 seconds long, but coming 5 minutes apart. I didn’t have an appetite by the time the pizza arrived, and we decided it was time to head to the hospital.
Checked into hospital at 8pm on 1/15/15. I was 4cm dilated, but baby was still high (-2 station). We had an ultrasound to confirm that baby was head down - she was, but her head was sideways. Have bloody show after the cervical check, and contractions are starting to pick up in intensity/frequency.

Around midnight contractions are getting bad - they’re coming about 2 minutes apart, but are anywhere from 25 seconds to 45 seconds long. By 1 am, I’m “stuck” standing up next to the bed, contractions are wrapping around my back/butt and it hurts too bad to sit or lay down. They monitor the baby while I’m standing and she still looks good.

At 2 am I manage to lay down in bed and ask the nurse to check me. I’m at 7cm, but baby still hasn’t dropped. The nurse suggests a heplock/IV since I look like I’m not going to be able to deal with the pain much longer. I tell her I want to wait a bit - I remember saying something like “I feel like if I can make it another hour I’ll be fine”. The next couple hours are brutal - I’m having constant contractions and back labor. I keep getting the shakes, and at one point the nurse brings in warm blankets and they feel amazing. DH was doing his best to comfort me, but I basically blocked everything else out and just focused on breathing.

At 4 am the doctor stops in to do a check, and my water breaks. I was terrified that the pain going to get worse, but instead the back pain stopped immediately and contractions were easier to deal with. I’m at 6cm and baby is still -2 station.

I sleep till about 6am, then get up and spend the morning walking and bouncing on a birthing ball to try and get contractions going again. We call my mom and she joins us at the hospital.

Doctor comes in to check on us at noon on 1/16/15. Haven’t made any progress since 4 am, so we try Pitocin. Start off with a low dose and contractions seem to pick up at first, then fizzle out, so they up the dose. By 3pm I’m shaky and throwing up, and the Pitocin contractions are too painful to deal with so I ask for an epidural. The epidural kicks in right away, but baby’s heart rate keeps dropping and I’m having constant contractions. Suddenly there are a bunch of people in the room, they roll me from side to side, give me oxygen, and stop the pitocin to try and get the baby's heart rate back up. After a few terrifying minutes, baby’s heart rate finally comes up.
Once everything settles down, I realize that my right arm is numb, and I’m numb higher on my chest than they said I would be. Anesthesiologist says to stop the epidural and he’d be in to check on me as soon as he could. Once he comes in, he seems annoyed that the epidural was stopped and says that the arm/chest numbness is normal and to start the epidural again. I was not very happy with this anesthesiologist; he was rude and made me feel like I was overreacting about the numbness in my arm and chest, when he had told me earlier that wouldn't happen. He also argued with the nurses a bit and acted annoyed that they turned off the epidural even though he had told them too)

A little while later at 6pm, my doctor arrives. A check shows I still haven’t dilated further and my cervix is swollen. Without the pitocin I’m not having regular/strong contractions, and the doctor recommends a c-section. I agree, and she walks me through what will happen.
Nurses start prepping me for the surgery, and DH changes into scrubs. My mom snaps a couple pictures, and will be waiting for me in the recovery room. DH will be in the OR with me for the surgery, then will go with baby if she needs additional monitoring.

I’m getting feeling back in my left leg even though the epidural is still going. I’m worried about the epidural not working properly, and being able to feel things during the surgery.

At 7pm they take me to the OR. It’s freezing in there, and I start shaking again. Thankfully, I have a different anesthesiologist for the c-section, and he is awesome. I tell him my concerns about the epidural not working, and he promises to fix me up so I don’t feel anything, and if that doesn’t work they’ll put me completely under. He gets the epidural going again and it’s working great although my right arm is still a bit numb. I’m still shaking, and getting nauseous so he gives me something to stop the nausea.

Meanwhile, everything else is ready to go for the surgery. The doctor pokes me a bit to make sure I’m numb, and I feel a little pressure but no pain. There’s some concern about the baby’s heart rate again, and I hear them say they starting the incision. DH hasn’t been brought in yet, so I call out for someone to get him. They say he’s coming, but they need to get the baby out now. DH arrives about a minute later and sits next to my head. I’m a little out of it from whatever drugs I’m getting, and can feel lots of tugging/pulling but nothing else. I’m still nauseous, and have to focus on not throwing up.
Someone asks DH if he’d like to look, and he stands up briefly to look over the curtain.

At 8:10pm on 1/16/15 our daughter is born, and she starts crying almost immediately. The doctor says “she was trying so hard to get out!!” and explains that baby was in brow presentation and stuck on my pelvic bone- the reason why I wasn’t progressing- and that vaginal birth likely would not have been possible with her position. The doctor warns us that baby has a bump on her forehead but it will go away, and asks if we want to see her. They lower the curtain a little and I get my first look at our daughter - she is beautiful! Her face and forehead were swollen and her nose has a pretty deep gouge from her position, but it was mild compared to what it could have been. (do not google pictures of brown presentation babies!!)

Baby is taken off to the side to get checked out since her heart rate had been iffy. I can hear her crying, and see her little hands and feet kicking in the air between the nurses around her. After about 5 minutes, they bring her to me and we’re able to do skin to skin while they stitch me up. She is incredibly alert and strong, and starts rooting around/trying to nurse immediately. She latches with the help of a nurse (my right arm is still a bit numb).
Once I’m all stitched up, they wheel me to recovery (baby still on my chest). Once we get settled in, I try nursing again and baby is a champ and nurses almost the entire time. We stop so they can take her measurements: 21-3/4” and 7lbs 9oz

I’m wheeled off to my room, and the next 12 hours are a blur of trying to sleep while nurses check on me every 15 minutes. We end up staying in the hospital an extra day since baby is jaundice and needs to be under the billy lights for 24 hours.

And here are a couple photos! The first is a few hours after she was born - the scrape on her nose and red marks on her face are from being stuck. The second photo is from her newborn session at 2 weeks old (her nose was touched up a little in the photo, but it's mostly healed now at 3 weeks.)