Noto's Birth Story
While I wrap my head around the fact that I have an (almost) one year old, I wanted to officially jot down Noto’s birth story before it completely leaves my brain.
We scheduled our induction date for October 19th and spent the day with Katie and the dogs at the beach. That evening, we packed up our bags and headed to the hospital. On the drive over, I was so nervous and overwhelmed, I broke down in tears. Chris gave me a big hug and kiss and told me it was going to be okay.
After checking in, the nurse brought us to our room, #5 - the same one we saw when we toured the hospital. The nurse told us to get comfortable and I remember we were almost giddy with nervous excitement. Then the Midwife came in to go over our birth plan. She then inserted a cervical ripener that would stay in until the next morning and told us to get some rest.
In the morning, the fun began! The Midwife put in a foley balloon which was horrible and painful and my contractions started shortly after. I think the pain of contractions are pretty inexplicable but the closest thing I can compare them to are really really bad period cramps but also some of the worst pain I’d ever experienced. They also go worse as the day progressed and as I became more dilated. At the start, I was trying to use all my tools from birthing class and therapy and Chris and I would take walks up and down the hallway. My mom and sister were also came to the hospital and tried their best to comfort me. I remember I kept wanting to go to the bathroom every time a contraction came on but I would just sit on the toilet until the pain passed.
I was also given Fentanyl to try and relieve some of the pain, and it did momentarily which was helpful. For me, it was always in my birth plan to take medication. For the mamas that have given birth unmedicated, more power to them! I just knew I wanted to be able to have some relief and felt like modern medicine was on my side.
After what felt like days, I was so miserable and tired from the pain that I could barely talk. I was begging the midwife for the epidural but she was concerned that it was too soon. I felt another contraction coming on and ran (or hobbled) to the bathroom and that was when the foley balloon fell out which meant I was at least 6 cm dilated. At that point, they wanted to do an exam but I couldn’t bare the thought of anything else being put up there. Finally, they agreed to call the anesthesiologist and it felt like 5 hours before he arrived. Thankfully, getting the epidural was not nearly as scary as I thought it would be and shortly after, I was truly pain free! It was like magic - suddenly the painful contractions just felt like pressure.
After taking a nap from an exhausting day, the Midwife, nurse, Chris, my mom, and sister came into the room and I was ready to push. I pushed about 5 times and he came out surprisingly easy. It was 1AM on October 21, 2019. It was amazing that I wasn’t in any pain and was actually able to enjoy the process (even though my legs were numb). When they finally pulled him out, I was in complete disbelief. The nurse brought him over to my chest right away and helped to get him latched to start breastfeeding. I remember in all the excitement of what was happening, I was just trying to see my baby’s face but from my angle, I couldn’t really see him. My mom and sister were both crying and Chris just looked so happy. I could hear my mom say over and over again “he’s just so perfect!”
It was such an emotional roller coaster and truly felt like a blur. The postpartum experience is a blog post for another day. I have to say it was very physically traumatic but it’s true when people say that you have labor amnesia because I would do it again. I’m super grateful I didn’t have any scares or major complications. From my pregnancy to the birth, I had a truly magical experience, and the pain and trauma was an important piece of the story.