Brianna's Birth Story

It was my first pregnancy and like most other moms-to-be I was nervous about the end. I had morning sickness for the first 5 months but other than that, all was going well with my pregnancy. My poor husband, and family and friends, had to deal with some pretty bad mood swings though, he told me after this after I was recovered from delivery.

I got a cold around 30 weeks and, after taking a nap, I felt worse. I called my doctor who told me to go to the hospital. I found out while there, that I was in the very beginning of labor and having contractions. I didn't feel a thing. I just had an overall yucky feeling. He gave me Brethine for that night to stop the contractions. Once I hit 35 weeks, the doctor told me if I went into labor again at that point he would allow me to deliver since I had already been in labor once. I was so tired of being pregnant and had a feeling that I was further than they told me I was, so after I went home, my husband and I went for walks and I did squats and tried all safe methods to get things going. It worked and I was at the hospital again a day or two before I hit 36 weeks. My doctor once again stopped my labor with Brethine and told me that it was too soon to deliver. So I reminded him of what he told me, and he said he wouldn't have said something so stupid. Now mind you, this doctor became very rude and impatient toward the end of my pregnancy. He also never wrote down anything he told me or anything that happened at my hospital visits. So he stopped my labor again and told me to stay on the Brethine until he said it was time to deliver. I later find out he likes having control over when his patients deliver. I ended up taking myself off the Brethine because he wouldn't listen when I told him I was having practically, if not every, side effect of the darn medication. Bad headaches, constant shakes, depression, nausea, not hungry, etc.

I ended up going into labor again at 38 weeks, nearly 39, and when I got to the hospital I was so nervous I made my blood pressure be slightly elevated. The nurse propped a rolled blanket under my right hip and wouldn't allow me to move from that position. My blood pressure was completely normal the entire time after that and she still would not allow me to move. When I moved, she'd come back in and make me lay that way again. I finally couldn't feel the pain of contractions anymore due to such bad pain in my hips (unfortunately passed down through the family, I was cursed with bad hips) that I asked for pain relief. They gave me a shot of something through my IV, I don't even believe she said what it was called. It knocked me out immediately and when I woke my contractions were getting lighter and lighter until they were gone. The doctor then told me he would not give me anything to speed them up or then bring them back because of my 2nd due date. This was the FIRST time I had heard of this. He said that my 2nd due date wasn't until Nov. 5 (original Oct 28) and said that then put me before 37 weeks. During one of my walks around the hall I added things up and I still would have been at 37 weeks. So now I'm completely afraid of this doctor delivering my baby because he can't even add! He sent me home and told me to schedule an appointment for the next day at his office. So after nearly 24 hours of labor and walking and all that I went through, I went home without having my baby. I went in the next day for the appointment, and this was on a Friday now, and he said "Well how about we set you up for an induction for next Wednesday?" I was so angry. Not even one week later and just 1 day before my due date yet he couldn't help me the night before.

So I agreed and we waited for the day to come. It was a long couple of days and neither of us could sleep the night before. I had to call the hospital around 4:30 AM to be sure there was room for me, I had to be there at 6AM. They did the paperwork to admit me, and then around 7-7:30AM they inserted a small pill that sat right on the upper side of my cervix to help soften and dilate before starting the Pitocin. They didn't get to start my Pitocin until just after 10AM because another lady delivered her baby. By 10:15 my Pitocin drip was started and I was having back-to-back contractions by 10:20AM. The doctor also broke my water at the time he started the Pitocin to help speed things along.

There was a little bit of meconium in the amniotic fluid, which the doctor actually told me was fine. I was so scared for my baby! I was 1-2 cm dilated when they started my drip and was at 4-5 cm by noon when I asked for my not wanted epidural. When I asked for pain relief this was the only thing the nurse offered. The anesthesiologist got there around 12:30PM. The nurse did not hold me while they administered the epidural either. They had me sitting on the edge of the bed (which felt so good since I wasn't allowed to do anything but lay in bed since they broke my water) and the nurse was to hold my shoulders so I couldn't move while the guy inserted the epidural. Well that nurse held my finger tips and allowed me to move when I had a contraction. They didn't get to place it well enough to give me the full epidural. I only got a test dose. He was done by 1PM and I still had pressure and pain, but not the real intense pain anymore. That didn't last long. Within minutes I was feeling more and more with every contraction. By 1:30PM I told my nurse I was having pain, strong pressure, and really wanted to push. She checked me and in just 25 minutes I dilated from 4-5cm to a full 10cm and 100% effaced, and I can't remember if it was +1 or +2 station. She went to call the doctor and I was buzzing her again telling her the baby wasn't going to wait. She told me to pant because I was not allowed to push until my doctor got there. Panting was NOT helping. My baby wanted to be born! The doctor got there in about 5 minutes and checked me and immediately put me in the stirrups and told me to push when I wanted to. Since I had complete feeling back by this point, I started pushing right away and it felt so much better. I pushed for 19 minutes; through all the pain, burning, and slight tearing. And then I felt my daughter slip out into the world! That was the most amazing feeling I have ever experienced! I couldn't see my daughter, Brianna, at first because he was holding her below my bottom but my husband said "It's a girl!" and I asked him if he was sure. He said he was, and I said I couldn't see her so the doctor actually lifted her some so I could see her. As soon as I laid my eyes on her I said, "We have a girl!" and started to cry. I felt such an intense feeling of love I didn't know could be that strong. We wanted a girl so badly and chose not to find out the sex during pregnancy. We were absolutely elated! I didn't get to hold her right away, because they wanted to suction her passageways quickly due to the meconium, though they never told me that. I had to do research to find out those things. I got my 3 stitches, and they gave Brianna to my husband and he handed her to me.

She was born on October 27, 2004, at 1:49PM, weighing 6lbs 15oz, and 20 inches long. She scored great on her APGAR tests. After about an hour I asked if I could breastfeed, and they said "Oh sure you could have already". I'm a first time mother and didn't know these things. And they didn't want to tell me a thing. My labor and delivery, from beginning to end, was only 3 hours 34 minutes. They couldn't believe how fast I went especially being a first time mother! They believed that another woman was going to deliver in an hour (from when I actually delivered) and they didn't expect me to deliver until at least one more hour after her. We showed them! I would absolutely not go to that doctor, allow to be induced, or use the epidural again for another baby. But our end result our beautiful, baby girl, who smiled as soon as she saw her daddy was worth everything!