My birth story is super long and begins the day before baby Bells was born. I had a doctors appointment that day and I was already 40weeks + 3 days I was getting so impatient and couldnt wait for the baby to make her appearance. My OB checked me and my cervix was still closed, but she said it was softer than the week before, so I had made a tiny bit of progress. She reminded me that if the baby didnt show up soon on her own she wanted to induce me some where betwwen week 41 and week 42. But it all depended on how the baby looked so she sent me over to the hospital near her office for a quick ultrasound.

The ultrasound tech was a trainee and was awful, she kept making ignorant comments like “ I cant believe you’re 3 days past due, you need to get that baby out, what is your doctor waiting for” I disliked her immediately and everything went downhill from there. she quickly mentioned in a very rude way that the baby needed to come out today due to certain things she saw on the ultrasound. I just ignored her and didnt respond to any of her statements and she went out to get her supervisor. The supervisor took over the doppler and was quiet for a while and then told me she would be calling my doctor and my doctor would talk to me, so I should head to the labor and delivery ward. I was worried because I thought I would be heading home after the ultrasound

Before my doctor got the chance to get to me, a nurse came and put me in a room and told me my doctor wanted me to stay in the hospital til she got there because based on my ultrasound the fluid around the baby was extremely low, there was basically no fluid at all. I was so devastated. The nurse tried to get me in a gown but I really just wanted to talk to my doctor first. My OB eventually came and explained to me in more detail about the low fluid and said she didnt feel comfortable sending me home. She knew I didnt want a c-section but said that was her recommended first option, but because she knew I wanted to try an avoid a c-section, she said we could try an induction. Again I was devasted. I told my husband I just wanted to go home and think things through, the baby’s heartbeat and vitals all seemed fine, I didnt want to believe that an induction or c-section were my only options for having a healthy delivery. My doctor was very kind, she held my hand and said it was all my decision, but whatever I wanted to do, she wanted me to at least stay in the hospital and stay on the fetal monitor that way if the baby was in distress they would be able to act in time. Once I was hooked up to the monitors they could tell that I was having contractions but for some reason I didnt feel them at all

After thinking it through I decided to go ahead and give the induction a try. They started me out with cervidil to soften the cervix and that was put in that night at about 8pm. The next morning my doctor came to check on me and took the cervidil out. My cervix was still closed! I was really discouraged at this point, but she said we could still give the pitocin a try and see if that would get things going. Due to how extremely low the fluid was, they didnt want to give me too much pitocin, so they started it very low and only increased if very slightly throughout the day. The pitocin made my contractions pick up a bit more, they started getting more painful, but never became unbearable. By the end of the day, the contractions had actually slowed down and my OB decided to call it a failed induction. The baby’s heartbeat started to slow down a bit and my OB came to talk to me again. She told me again that the c-section was her recommendation but because I was so strongly against it, she was willing to take me off the pitocin and if the baby’s heartbeat stabilized we would wait a few hours and put another cervidil in and restart the whole induction again the next day. I was just so extremely sad about everything, I was in tears and couldnt even think straight. My husband and I talked it over and eventually decided to go ahead with the C-section.

Everything was a blur from there, so many people were coming in and talking to me all at once; nurses, doctors, anesthesia techs, they were preping me for sugery but it was all happening so fast. I was terrified, worried, sad and disappointed all at the same time. I was separated from my husband briefly, they took me to the operating room first and gave me the spinal before letting him in. I dont know why. I felt horrible after the spinal, I felt extreme nausea, dry mouth, hot and cold, dizzy, anf just generally confused, the oxygen also made me feel light headed. But then after a few minutes they gave me something and I felt more calm but still very scared. My husband came in and the surgery began, In about 10 minutes it felt like an army was stomping on my chest and belly, they told me they were pushing the baby out and then she came out with a loud yell. Hearing her crying was so amazing since I couldnt see her. The doctor told me she came out with her eyes wide open and she pooped on my belly as soon as she came out.

The c-section really confused me, a lot of people tell me they chose to have a c-section because its easier than a vaginal birth but to me it just seemed so hard! I hated not being able to hold her right after the birth, but the worst part of it was the catheter, compression boots , and the severe itchy reaction I had to the spinal. All these lasted about 24 hours after the surgery. I also couldnt walk around until 24 hours after and even then I could barely stand up straight and needed assistance to take more than a few steps. Because of this the 1st 2 days after the baby arrived werent too great I could barely focus on the baby since I was in some much pain and discomfort. Overall I am overjoyed that baby bells is here safe and sound, and I am hoping that for the next baby I can avoid a c-section and go with my original birth plan. Fingers crossed!