My Labour & Delivery Story

Hey! It's been a while.

I guess it's about time I shared about the birth of Mabel! It almost took a full 24 hours to meet my baby so I don't fully remember everything.

So, Mabel was born on November 28th, 2017 at 4:33 am. She weighed 8lbs 6oz and was 21.25 inches long.

Honestly, it's been hard to adjust to this new normal of ours.

I went in the hospital to be induced on Monday November 27th 2017, and they started me on the IV around 10-10:30 am. After about an hour, I started getting some mild cramping but nothing intense or painful.

Then, the contractions started increasing. It was getting so painful! I wanted an epidural. Getting the epidural was super uncomfortable, but I instantly felt relief. The anesthesiologist also gave 2 "top-ups" with my epidural to use if I needed an extra boost of pain relief if I needed it. I was able to get some rest, and after a few hours (yes, it took a long time to become fully dilated) my midwives wanted me to try pushing.

After pushing for a while, nothing was really moving. When one of the midwives checked me, they found that part of my cervix wasn't allowing Mabel's head to come through. My baby was sitting right there in the birth canal, kind of... stuck.

After pushing a bit more, I was so tired! I refused to push and wanted a break (and more pain meds). So, they gave one of the top-ups to give me some relief and to rest.

Let me tell you right now that I'm a very stubborn person, and when I get something in my head I will not listen to anyone. At this point, I was so done. I was in pain, tired, and emotionally drained. I wasn't ready to push again, or let's be honest, ever! The midwives checked me, and wanted me to push some more. So, I tried for a bit. Somewhere in that time, I heard one of the midwives say something about the vacuum. In my head, that sounded like a great idea! I wouldn't have to push anymore, they could just get the doctor on duty to come and suck the baby out. Obviously, I was very mistaken.

After that, I refused to push. I wanted the pain to stop. It hurt so badly! I'm pretty sure the epidural had worn off at that point. I kept saying that I couldn't do it, that I didn't want to do it anymore. So, I stopped. My contractions were so intense. They kept coming. I overheard the midwives saying that the inducing drugs were causing me to have contractions too often and they turned the dosage down. They let me have my 2nd (and final) top-up and rest.

After that rest I refused to push! I kept saying I wanted the vacuum, and that I couldn't do it anymore. Unfortunately for stubborn me, the midwives informed me that the doctor was in surgery with another pregnant lady performing an emergency c-section. I'm not sure if that was true or not, but that's what I was told. I kept refusing to push until they brought 2 doctors in...

After that, it got real. They pretty much forced me to push the baby out by saying if I didn't then I would be getting a c-section! LOL They also said the contractions would stop as soon as she was out, and that was definitely motivation too! So I pushed with the last bit of strength I had.

And then Mabel was born.

It was amazing.

Giving birth was the hardest, most amazing, and life changing thing I have ever done. My husband and I are truly blessed with the most beautiful little girl, and I couldn't be happier.

Our family is complete.