LMK's (Long Overdue) Birth Story: Part One

It's been 28 months since Logan made her way into the world and I am just now ready to share her birth story.  It was that bad.  Okay, okay, I am half kidding.  Anything with an end result of a healthy baby and a healthy (albeit incoherent and highly doped up) mother is really not that bad at all.

The reason I have not shared her birth story thus far is because at the time, I felt like it didn't matter.  She was here. We were moving on.  And I had other things to worry about.  Like nursing.  Which is another post novel entirely.  Dwelling on what could have / should have / would have been was pointless.

Pointless until we decided to do it again and are faced with yet another looming birth story just a few short weeks ahead.  Baby boy's pending birth has had me reliving my experience with Logan more and more frequently.  I thought it was time to share our full experience (rather than the pretty package in which I wrapped it up the first time) if for no other reason than to let it go and focus on what is to come the second time around.

If you are not bored already, then stick around.  It's going to be a long one seeing as how I was in labor for 43 hours...

Back story:  I had planned on having a natural birth using techniques and theories from the Bradley Method.  Chris and I had read just about every book on the subject as well as completed a class focused on natural childbirth.  We had "hired" a Doula to attend our birth to assist with my delivery - and had met with her several times prior - but ultimately decided to deliver at the hospital (rather than a birthing center or at home which I was never comfortable with) and chose to stick with my regular OB throughout the process (whom I love).  It's worth nothing that Chris was totally on board through this process and wanted a natural birth just as much as I did and prepared himself to be the best "coach" possible.  My reasons for wanting a natural birth were:

A) Simply wanting to see if I could do it.  A test to myself, if you will, much like a completing a marathon or another great feat.  Admittedly, probably a silly reason.

B) Wanting to bring our daughter into this world in the most natural, non-stressful, peaceful way as women's bodies are intended to do.

C) I knew that nursing was going to be a challenge for me due to a prior surgery and that I would most likely have to supplement with unnatural means (i.e. formula) so I wanted the birth experience to make up for any misgivings I felt about that.

My official due date was Friday, August 13th, 2010.  Like most women beyond 36 weeks with their first child, I was beyond ready.  The bags were packed, the nursery was set and I had exhausted myself with enough literature on birth, newborns, nursing, sleep schedules, etc. to last a lifetime.  You may even recall me drafting (and accidentally sending) a certain text message - oh the embarrassment, ha.  In my mind, it was time to meet this little girl.  Every weekly doctor's visit brought more of the same: "You look good.  Baby has not moved down.  You are not dilated or effaced in the slightest.  Signs of an impending birth are no where near."  Let's just say that patience takes on a whole new meaning when you are waiting to meet your baby.

Given how uneventful the past several visits had been, I thought nothing of the fact that my regular OB, Sue, was going to be out of town from my 38th week - 40th week.  Surely, nothing was happening before then and if it did, I liked the other doctor's in the practice enough to feel comfortable delivering with them.

I went in for my 39th week visit secretly hoping for some change that would show that Logan was on her way in the next couple of days.

As they say...Be careful what you wish for.

I was told by the doctor on rotation (remember, mine was still out of town) that the fluid around the baby was looking "a little low".  In all of the research I had done, low amniotic fluid was something that I had never heard about and to be honest, didn't know at all what that meant.  Dr. Mahoney explained that when the fluid sacks get low around the baby, the placenta can go into distress and baby can start to miss out on vital nutrients.

She recommended induction that day.

Unlike low amniotic fluid, induction was a term that I was familiar with - and when hoping for a natural birth is pretty much like the Devil himself entering the room saying "Good luck with that"...

I explained to her my hopes for a natural delivery and she said that it would still be possible but that getting the baby here was her number one concern.  She told me to call Chris and our families, go home, eat lunch, grab our bags and return back to the hospital by 2:00pm to start the induction and that she would see me later that evening.  The whole thing was very nonchalant and nothing like I imagined "going into labor" to be like.

This is where I wish I would have told her that we needed some time to think about it.  I wished I would have left the office, called Chris, went home to think about it, did some more research on low amniotic fluid and what exactly that meant.  I wish I would have listened just a little bit more to my gut. But I didn't.

Because let's face it.  As much as I was questioning what was about to happen and whether or not it was necessary, I was also excited.  Induction meant that we would probably get to meet Logan sometime in the next 24 hours!  It meant that I didn't have to be pregnant anymore and that we could start our lives as a family of three.  It meant that I would finally get a chance to put into practice all of the things I had been "training" for the past several months.  It meant I didn't have to go back to work the next day and that we would get to tell our families something exciting rather than the usual.  It meant that it. was. time.