Isabella's Birth Story

I went into labor on Thursday night. Amber and I went for a walk and during the walk I started to have strong contractions 2-3 mins. apart. We walked for about an hour and a half when I finally decided this was labor. I called Frank, who was just leaving his office and told him it was go time. We went to the hospital about 9:00 pm. When we got to the hospital I was dilated to a 5 so they admitted me.

I walked the halls some more and kept walking until they wanted to monitor me. I was having strong contractions when I was walking and as soon as I would lie in the bed they would all but stop. At 11:30 the doula, MJ, came. We walked until 1:00 when I was only dilated to a 5/6. We decided to start me on pitocin to get labor to really start going. It definitely got things really going. By 5:00 I was still only dilated to a 5/6. They decided to break my waters to see if that would help. That REALLY made the contractions strong. For two more hours I had really intense contractions but only dilated to 6/7.

MJ had to leave at 8:00 to go to work at the clinic. I had to make a decision to labor with just Frank and I or get an epidural. I was so worried that I would go another 12 hours, or at the very least, another 3 or 4 and still not do anything. I didn't think I could hang in there that long. I was so tired (I'd been awake 26 hrs. at this point and hadn't eaten since 2:00 on Thursday)! So after lots of stressing about it and begging and trying to decide what to do, I finally decided the epidural was the way I needed to go.

I was really disappointed and had a lot of guilt and bad feelings about not being able to have a completely natural birth that I wanted. Isabella was "sunny side up" so I was having LOTS of back labor. After getting the epidural, within 30 mins. I was in heaven! In two hours I went from an 8 to a 10 and 100% effaced without even realizing it!

At 10:00 I started pushing. I pushed for about an hour before the doctor came into catch the baby. After her head came out, it got very scary. My friend Amber was video taping it, and the dr. said "turn off the camera! I need help in here!" Immediately, 5 nurses came swarming in. One jumped on top of me and two grabbed my legs and pulled them in positions I didn't think I could move. I had no idea what was going on. I had to push for 4 mins. straight without stopping. The cord was around her neck and her shoulders were stuck in my pelvis. The nurses and doctor were amazing. As soon as the pulled her out we knew what she was so stuck. Immediately the doctor exclaimed, "She huge! 10 lbs. at least!" 2 of the nurses whisked her off and immediately started oxygen and bagging her. She wasn't doing so well. It took them about 30 mins. to get her stabilized enough that I could see her, I got to hold her for about 2 mins. and then they whisked her to the nursery. She was there for about 3 hours and then finally I got to hold my baby.

The dr. that delivered her, MJ, and my OB all said they couldn't believe she even made it down the birth canal because she is so big!

Her face is VERY bruised from the cord being around her neck. When I held her, I kept thinking, if I didn't know this is who just came out of me, I wouldn't think she was my baby, because her skin was so dark! At first she couldn't move her right arm because of stretched nerve in her neck from her shoulders being stuck, but that movement is coming back and it should be fine. She's starting to get normal coloring now too.

She is doing really well now. She's breastfeeding well and is a good baby. Everyone that walks into our room exclaims, "Wow, that is a big baby!"