I had my third baby about two months ago now. My third birth wasn’t as eventful as the first two. My doctor suggested an induction at 39 weeks, due to my age I think. I had an induction with my first child and had a good experience with it and knew what to expect. I was excited to finally have a date to meet my baby.
The induction date approached. They said the hospital would call to let you know what time to come in. They would either call the night before if you needed to be there first thing in the morning, otherwise they would call you on the induction date.
This waiting for a call was different from my first induction experience. With that one I had an appointment at the hospital due to low fluid levels and baby measuring small. The doctor had said there was a possibility that I would be induced that day, so we had our bags packed and in the car with us. Following the appointment they made the suggestion that I should be induced and we immediately went to the room to get it started.
I had been reading online to find out experiences of other women who had an induction in my city. All of the reports said they call between 8am and 10am so that’s what I was expecting. Many women said that their induction dates got moved to another day as well. Well, 10am came and went and I started to get discouraged. I really didnt want to have to wait for another date as I had planned my baby to arrive now.
I decided to get some lunch around 11am and just as I started eating, my phone rang. It was the hospital asking if I could be there for 12pm. I was told to eat something before I came, so I told my partner to come eat something quickly because we had to get to the hospital.
My mom had flown out a week or so before to watch the kids which was so helpful. Everyone was taken care of and my partner and I headed to the hospital, which was only 5 minutes away.
Once at the hospital I got all checked in. Like my previous pregnancy, I had tested positive for GBS. This was another big reason I was happy to accept an induction. With GBS, you need to have two doeses of medicine, given about 4 hours apart. Otherwise, you have to stay 48 hours in the hospital which I really wanted to avoid. With my last birth being only 4 hours in total, I wanted to try and give myself enough time for the medicine.
I was hooked up to an IV and the medication for GBS was started. During this time I tried to take a nap. Around 3pm they started a NST where we monitor baby’s movements. Around 4pm I was moved to a birthing room and they started the induction with pitocin.
I really thought labor would be quick this time due to how fast my last birth was. I told my partner that I thought I would have the baby around 6 or 7pm. I asked him what time he thought, and he guessed 10pm.
I started feeling some contractions for the first hour of the induction but they were not painful. After that they seemed to disappear.
My prediction time for when baby would arrive came and went which was disappointing to me. The doctor decided they should break my water to speed things up around 8pm. I opted for the epidural beforehand, even though I was still not feeling any pain. I knew that the contractions would amp up after the water breaking and I didnt want to feel any pain. The nurse told me to call them if I started to feel lots of pressure like baby was coming.
My partner was getting pretty hungry at this point. We hadn’t eaten since lunch time. I wasn’t feeling hungry, probably due to the medication I was being given. Sometime after 9pm I told him to go get something to eat since it didnt seem like baby was coming anytime soon. I told him to try to be back within 30 minutes.
Well, about 5 minutes after he left I started feeling a painful contraction. Then I had another one. After the third one I called for the nurse, as well as pushed the button to incense the epidural medicine. I told her I was feeling pressure and she confirmed I was fully dilated. She said the doctor was attending another matter and asked if I would be able to wait a few minutes. I honestly didn’t think I would be able to wait and the nurse must have seen the panic on my face haha. She went and got the doctor right away.
My next concern was that my partner wasn’t going to come back in time. Thankfully, he walked back into the room as soon as the nurse left the room to get the doctor, so basically right on time.
Once the doctor was there it was time to start pushing this baby out. Three contractions or so later, our baby girl arrived. She looked so tiny. I always forget how small newborns are. She was born around 945pm weighting just over 6 pounds. My partners prediction was right.
Even though I was able to get all the medicine I needed for GBS, they still like to keep baby at the hospital for a full 24 hours before letting you go home. Since that would be around 10pm the following day, I’m opted to stay a second night so I wouldn’t be coming home when my other kids were sleeping and wake them up with a crying baby. So in the end, I had to stay two days again. But at least this time I was prepared.
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