Then labor started like gangbusters – so fast that we didn’t even realize what was happening. Since Fern was on a liquid only diet she could only eat broth, jello and similar things (the room service menu had a whole liquid section which was nice of them but kind of depressing to select from). She ate some broth around 7am and threw it up around 8. This was transition to active labor but it was hard to believe that’s what was really happening. It seemed impossibly early. As Fern threw up into a tiny kidney shaped tray (they really could give you bigger puke buckets), I thought about a conversation we had had with h & l at a Dairy Queen by h’s mom’s house only three weeks before. H told us that she got really excited when l threw up in labor because she knew that was a sign of transition. Then I thought about how weird it is to get excited about vomit and debated with myself about whether this could be transition. I cautiously hoped it was. Then I thought about how impossible it was that we had just eaten that ice cream and talked about labor with our friends and now we were in labor and everything was about to change. And I wished that h&l were there with us.
When I got up sometime around 5:30 or 6 I made my biggest mistake of the day – I didn’t eat breakfast. I talked to Lyn a lot before induction since she had a similar home-birth-turned-induction and was a great support as we switched to the hospital. Lyn had impressed upon me the importance of eating throughout labor. So I was thinking of it, but I couldn’t manage anything much at that moment. We had been ordering a guest tray for me when we ordered Fern’s breakfast but Rose warned me not to eat food in front of Fern once she was on her liquid diet (a really kind suggestion) and even though Fern said she didn’t mind, a breakfast tray just felt a little leisurely during this labor that was starting to really progress. I did eat a protein bar and some peanut butter crackers at some point that morning, but after the adrenaline of labor and birth wore off I almost collapsed from hunger. If labor had lasted much longer, I would have been useless, I’m pretty sure.
After Fern threw up her broth the contractions started to get serious. We put Bach’s Lute Suites on the ipod and tried to make a nice mellow atmosphere but Fern was hurting and I’m sure she didn’t feel very mellow.
Sue, wonderful, amazing Sue, asked if anyone had put Fern on the telemetry (cordless) fetal monitor over the weekend and was rightfully outraged that they hadn’t. Getting on the telemetry monitor I think is a major contributing factor to Fern’s vaginal birth. That monitor and Sue saved us which sounds dramatic but I don’t think is an exaggeration.
Since Fern’s bp had been so stable and low the entire weekend, Sue allowed for periodic bp monitoring instead of constant (another majorly helpful move) and basically treated Fern (cautiously) like she did not have pre-e. While this might sound dangerous now, it really was a very forgiving and level-headed move. Sue still checked Fern’s bp regularly, but Fern now had the freedom to sit on the birthing ball, walk down the hall and sit in different positions.
Fern and I took one walk to the end of the hall, pulling the Pitocin drip along, and looked out at the beautiful views. That was the farthest Fern had ventured since we arrived and for me it was kind of surreal to leave the intensity and staleness of the room and watch cars along the highway full of people having a normal Monday, heading to work without any knowledge about what was happening up here.
One hall walk was enough for Fern. Her bp stayed low but she found walking incredibly uncomfortable. I hugged her during her contraction in the hall and she leaned on me but mostly she wanted the stability of the room, so we headed back. I was glad to be back too. Being in the hall by ourselves felt scary and I didn’t feel ready to handle what might happen (I’m not sure what exactly I thought might happen, but I liked the extra people).
Fern got through a number of contractions sitting in bed with me or Rose pressing on her back. She did some standing with one leg on a suitcase, leaning on me. Rose told me to push on her back and press her hips together to ease the contractions. Generally back pushing was what helped most for Fern. She didn’t love the exercise ball and didn’t try squatting.
Rose tried to get Fern to pull her belly up during a contraction (apparently this helps move the baby down into position) but that was very painful for her so she didn’t do too many that way. It really looked like Fern was going to kill someone during those and it’s amazing to me that she was in such intense pain and persisted. She was so strong.
Around 10am Fern was laboring seated on the edge of the bed and her water broke. It was everywhere and it was so thrilling. I think we were both having trouble realizing that labor was going to keep progressing. When you’re pumped full of all those drugs it doesn’t feel like the body is really in control. To witness Fern’s body suddenly taking over for all the pills, drips and tricks was amazing. Sometime around now Sue did another cervical check (which I thought they weren’t supposed to do after the water had broken, but Rose didn’t object so we just went ahead – if I were doing it again I would have at least asked if it was a good choice/optional). Fern was 4cm dilated – beautiful progress!
Speeding Towards the Finish Line
Even though I think that pelvic exam was unnecessary, I’m glad we knew the dilation because things were about to get crazy! Sue told us that the telemetry monitor was waterproof and that we should draw a bath for Fern. The bathroom was small and they didn’t have fancy, jetted tubs like the other hospital we looked at, but it sounded good to Fern and she went in around 11:15. This was a dream because we had been planning a home water birth and Fern was looking forward to it so much, but when the pre-e crept up we were sure that she wouldn’t be able to labor in water at all.
Fern was in the tub for about 90 minutes and, though the pain was intense, she felt a lot of relief in there. I sat next to the tub and every time a contraction came, I sprayed water on her back and belly. Rose dimmed the lights and put Bach on in the room and it was pretty peaceful. Fern was in a kind of trance-like state and didn’t say much. She rested between contractions and even fell asleep sitting in the tub. It felt long and short at the same time. Sue came in a few times to check bp, get the baby back on the monitor (the belt slipped a lot in the tub) and to make sure everything was ok, but mostly it was just me and Fern. Even Rose, who had been playing a very active role before, stayed back in the room. Unlike in the hall, it felt good to be just the two of us. We haven’t been alone together since.
Sue had told us that Fern needed to get out of the tub when she felt the urge to push. A little after 12:30 Fern started to feel like she had to poop and, though it felt way to early for that to be the urge to push, Sue hurried her out of the tub and back to the bed. Fern and I both felt like Sue was perhaps overreacting a bit. But Sue did a cervical check around 12:40 and said Fern was nine and a half. Fern was out of it and cutely asked, “nine and a half what?” I understand her confusion because her dilation happened fast but it was clear to the rest of us what was happening and all of a sudden things started moving. The doctor was paged (urgently) and Sue started transforming the bed for pushing. They have a big bar (perhaps called a labor bar?) that fits over the bed and then later the bottom half of the bed is removed all together. At some point a cart full of instruments appeared and someone yelled at me to move the suitcase Fern had been using earlier.
Sue said that there was still a tiny bit of cervix so Fern shouldn’t start pushing just yet, but Rose whispered to Fern that she could push if she needed to. Rose told Fern to make a grunting noise with each contraction and she excelled at the vocalization! Fern started secretly pushing with each contraction.
Lots of people showed up in the room and Sue and Rose helped Fern get on her side. Though she did have to push in bed, it really was the best possible version of that. Fern was on her left side and put her right foot up on the bar. She pushed off against one of the nurses, Rose or me with her lower foot.
The whole room was abuzz – a very sharp contrast to the last few days and at least those of us not in labor where getting excited. Then the doctor came in (cue foreboding music). Dr. Asshole picked up a copy of our birth plan (I made about 400 copies to have on hand) and said it was fine except that we couldn’t do both skin to skin immediately and let the cord stop pulsing before cutting, we had to pick. She had this theory that putting the baby on Fern’s chest right away would cause the baby’s blood to flow out of her body and back to the placenta. What???? I’ve never heard this theory before and I barely knew what to say. Rose politely but firmly questioned the doctor and told her that she always safely allows both the cord to pulse and immediate skin to skin and I think this challenge pissed off Dr. Asshole and she dug in even more. To me Dr. Asshole seemed insecure. She was relatively young and it felt like she was compensating by standing arbitrary ground but it was clear she wasn’t going to relent. There was an awkward moment, Dr. Asshole on one side of the bed, me and Rose on the other, at a stalemate while poor Fern labored between us. I looked over at Rose and she gave me an encouraging nod which gave me the courage to ask the doctor if there was any room to move on this. That was a big step for me because I am not great at standing up to authority figures (especially under stress) and it felt so impossible that we were having this disagreement while Fern was fully dilated and pushing.
Once I asked, Dr. Asshole agreed to go off to consult another doctor. She came back and said she and her colleague had just looked up some articles and she still didn’t feel comfortable doing it our way. She then asked Sue her opinion, basically forcing Sue to step into a very uncomfortable disagreement. There was no way Sue could really side with us because she had to work with this doctor, so she said something vague while looking incredibly uncomfortable. I was so mad that the doctor was using Sue this way. So Rose suggested we compromise and have baby be skin to skin with me until the cord stopped pulsing. The doctor agreed and they got me a gown (everyone seemed worried about my clothes). I was annoyed at the Doctor’s stubbornness and missing Dr. Groovy but was glad to have the conflict behind us.
Fern actually started pushing at 12:45 but officially started at 12:55 when the doctor gave her permission. During each push we held Fern’s feet or held them to the bar. The doctor was telling Fern to hold her knees apart (presumably so she could see better) and Rose was annoyed because she didn’t think that was a helpful position so she told Fern she should do what was comfortable.
The monitoring got more frustrating during pushing because the sensor would come off with each contraction and the nurses were instructed to re-find the heart beat each time. They had to roll Fern around a little to find the baby and that was frustrating for her.
But pushing was really productive and fast, though it felt just the opposite to Fern. Especially when it took more than one contraction to feel a change. As Fern pushed I held her hand and supported her. I said what seemed supportive but I can’t remember what words I used. I had taken off my shirt and bra when they put the gown on and was annoyed that the gown wouldn’t stay on better. I had to hold it up and fix it a lot and I was irritated that I was spending my time that way. Not that anyone noticed or cared, but I was flashing them quite a bit.
Goldie’s head started showing soon and Fern reached down and felt it (once was enough for her – she didn’t like touching it). As it was part way out they suddenly couldn’t find the heart beat. The doctor and everyone else started to panic except Rose who looked me in the eyes and told me it was fine and not a big deal. I believed her and felt for the thousandth time so grateful that she was there. They couldn’t find the heart beat because the baby’s heart was practically out of Fern’s body and was moving, but the doctor treated this as a Very Big Deal. Without really asking (or maybe she did ask, but rather quickly), Dr. Asshole starting drilling the internal monitor into the top of the baby’s head. It didn’t work and so she had to redrill it. That one also didn’t work. There were about 3 nurses trying to find the heartbeat and as she failed with the internal monitor, the doctor said she was going to have to vacuum the baby out. Fern was getting a little hopeless and she later said that she was on the verge of asking for the vacuum just to get it over with.
Then wonderful Sue had Fern roll onto her back and they found the beat instantly with the regular monitor. All this was completely unnecessary panic and I am so glad we had Rose there telling us that there was nothing wrong. I think if we had had a more experienced doctor, we wouldn’t have gone through all that. Every time the doctor drilled into the baby’s head, Fern could feel her recoil and squirm. Goldie had a scab on her head for about 8 weeks and it made us so angry each time we saw it. It wasn’t until Fern’s 6 week postpartum visit that Rose told us the doctor had been massaging the baby’s head with KY jelly the whole time (as a misdirected way to prevent tearing, we assume) and so that’s why the internal monitor didn’t go in. Amazing.
Fern was doing wonderfully but she was exhausted. She asked a couple of times when it was going to be over and felt like we were lying when we said the baby was almost here and getting closer with each push. At some point Rose said, “You’re doing this, Fern” and Fern said, “I’d better fucking do this.” To be honest, at some points I did feel like we were lying to Fern a little. I had absolutely no idea what progress was – I couldn’t measure the head’s progress from where I was standing – and I was relying heavily on Rose for cues. I had read lots of stories of stalled labors and stuck babies, so that didn’t help my confidence. Even though the labor ended up being relatively short, we didn’t know this was going to be the case and so every stage felt potentially permanent when we were in it. I was still really afraid of a c-section and with all the people standing over the bed looking for problems, it felt like someone could declare the need for one at any moment.
Born
The final push was a total shock to Fern and to me as well. She said it felt similar to the water breaking – suddenly something moved where nothing had moved before. To look down and see a baby come out was surreal and beautiful, indescribably so. I had been looking at the top of her head for so long that she seemed huge when she finally came out.
Goldie was born at 1:39pm and they quickly moved me to the base of the bed and I took off the gown. The doctor said “she’s slippery, don’t drop her” (a brief annoying moment since my patience was already low with her) as she handed Goldie to me. I held her to my chest, our baby girl only seconds old, and it was absolutely amazing. Cliche as it sounds, it really was the best moment of my life. From the pictures I looked somewhat tentative but I just remember holding her tiny body and wanting to keep her close and take in every inch of her. I sobbed with joy and maybe a little with shock. After so many days I could barely believe I was holding our daughter. After so many years I could barely believe I was holding our daughter. Rose told me to look up so she could take a picture and I have the weirdest expression on my face in those shots. I remember thinking, I have no idea what to do with my face. Smiling seemed wrong, sobbing seemed wrong. There are a bunch of pictures (I think Rose was trying to get a salvageable shot) and I look pretty dopey in most of them, but in love. At some point Goldie pooped meconium all over my pants but I didn’t notice until later.
After probably not quite long enough, the doctor cut the cord (I was going to do it before I got the skin to skin role). I thought it seemed a little quick and Rose agreed that the doctor could have let the cord pulse longer, but at least we got to let it pulse for a few minutes (I just checked my photos and Goldie’s first picture with Fern was 1:43, so it was pretty fast). I brought the baby to Fern and put Goldie on her chest. Goldie frogged up right away and we took pictures and Fern kept exclaiming something that neither of us can remember, but I think it was, baby. At that point, Fern couldn’t feel much down there and definitely didn’t feel the need to push, but she tried and the placenta came right out.
Fern had a second degree tear which the doctor started stitching up while Rose tried to get Goldie and Fern breastfeeding in the side-lying position but Goldie wasn’t ready to latch on. At some point the doctor showed me and Rose the placenta (Fern wasn’t interested in seeing it even though she later ate it in a tomato juice smoothie and a bunch of pills!). Dr. Asshole said it was fully intact and looked great. She then pointed out one part and told me that there was basically a latent time bomb in the placenta. It had a name which I blocked out. If you think you know what it’s called, please don’t tell me. We’re happy not to know. Basically if the placenta had been in a different position the baby would have died in utero. She said we where very lucky. Ugh.
Shortly after this terrifying tour of the placenta they weighed Goldie – 5 pounds, 7 ounces – and gave her back to Fern to try nursing some more. But Fern started to feel a lot of pain and was having trouble lying with the baby. Sue gave her some ibuprofen. Fern’s pain increased and she opted to have Goldie get her vitamin K shot, heal prick and temp because she was in too much pain to hold her. I went across the room with Goldie and cried while they poked at her. We found that Goldie had low glucose and since she wasn’t breastfeeding yet (and maybe even if she had been) they declared she needed supplementation. This is another time I was so glad we were at that hospital. Since Suburban Hospital is a Baby Friendly hospital, they don’t give formula but instead have a store of donated breast milk on hand. As I got set up to feed Goldie, some nurses quickly and suddenly started pushing on Fern’s uterus to get her to pass some clots.
The Scary Part
They tried to give me a bottle for the breast milk which I was about to accept when Rose (thank you, Rose) stepped in and objected so that Goldie wouldn’t have nipple confusion. I felt terrible that I hadn’t thought to ask for something else, but I really didn’t realize there would be other options. I got set up in a chair with our tiny, 5.5 pound baby, an SNS (supplemental nursing system) and a syringe full of breast milk (two entire ounces which was an insane amount for her tiny stomach – she barely takes that much in one feeding now, at 13 weeks). I was terrified feeding the baby. I didn’t know how to hold her and it was really awkward to hold the syringe, baby and feeding tube. As I sat there, trying not to choke the baby, I watched in horror as a nurse pushed incredibly hard on Fern’s uterus causing her to scream so loud (louder and more urgent sounding than in labor). Fern grabbed the nurse and tried to shove her off. It was horrible to watch. I know some people have trouble watching their partner in pain during labor, but I didn’t feel that way too much because it felt productive the whole time. Watching her in this struggle with the nurse was awful for me and as I held the tube into our daughter’s mouth, I just cried and shook. I was so alone in my corner because I was sitting pretty far back and almost everyone was rushing to Fern’s side. I was so thankful for Rose who remained calm and comforted Fern. If I couldn’t be there with her, Rose is absolutely who I wanted with Fern.
The uterus pushing nurse persisted in spite of Fern’s resistance and Fern passed a truly enormous blood clot. The room filled with people and light again and the doctor came in to make sure there were no more clots. I don’t know how big the clot was exactly, but let’s just say that they put it on the scale and weighed it like a baby. Fern lost a lot of blood and her hematocrit level went down to 25 which is the cutoff for needing a blood transfusion (her level went back up quickly enough that she didn’t need one). The good news is that Fern felt instant relief from the pain after passing the clot. The ironic part is that the treatment for the clot is four Cytotec to help shed any remaining clots, placed anally (yup). So more Cytotec for Fern. I soon finished giving Goldie her milk and was able to give her back to Fern.
We don’t know why Fern hemorrhaged, but we think the long induction could be to blame. There have been studies since the 1970s showing a link between Pitocin and postpartum hemorrhage.
The Dust Settles
Things calmed down and cleared out and except for a scare when Fern got up to go to the bathroom and almost passed out (luckily, Sue was with her), Fern felt ok, though incredibly fatigued from losing all that blood and, oh, laboring and giving birth to our baby.
Goldie had a very long sleep starting around now and we made some phone calls to announce her arrival while holding our tiny, amazing bundle.
Even though we were in the hospital for a record-setting amount of time (no nurse we talked to could remember anyone being there longer for an induction and labor), Fern’s labor was remarkably short – about 7 hours of active labor. The other remarkable thing was that she showed no signs of pre-eclampsia during active labor and so was able to skip the Magnesium. They had been planning to put her on it after birth for 24 hours as a precaution since the risk of seizures is still there. But ironically? fortuitously? the hemorrhaging incident meant that she couldn’t take the Mag because Mag causes/exacerbates bleeding and the blood loss also caused her blood pressure to go down. So, thanks, blood clot? Definitely a mix of good and bad there.
Rose left pretty quickly after things settled back down. She had been with us longer then she’d ever been with a client for labor and she was a little desperate to get home. We can’t blame her. To her credit, the first glimpse of her drive to get the hell out of there didn’t show before her exit when she practically threw her things in a bag and bolted for the door. She earned that escape.
After Goldie’s birth they were in a hurry to transfer us to the recovery wing. I was pretty overwhelmed with all that had just gone down, my incredible hunger as well as a terrible stomach ache that had started up. At one point as I was trying to find something to eat, get Fern something and pack, I just burst into tears. I couldn’t focus and I hated that I had to do anything other than look at my baby. All my nerves were raw. As hungry as I was I could barley eat the food we ordered. My stomach was in knots and I was completely overwhelmed with trying to load up our bags (it was no longer as neatly packed as it had been when we arrived). I think the intensity of the day’s events was hitting me and I was taxed. I felt pretty sorry for myself that I had to do all these housekeeping tasks. Eventually I got it together and we moved out to the recovery side (Fern and Goldie were wheeled over and, meanwhile, I had to take 3 trips with the luggage cart). We left an incredible mess behind us – blood was absolutely everywhere. I felt bad for the people who had to clean up after that labor.
Unexpected Challenges
Life on the recovery side was surprisingly difficult. We wanted nothing more than to love and hold our baby but an incredible number of people with an array of opinions (many of them contradictory) came into our room on a near constant rotation. I can’t remember who they all were and what they wanted anymore – there was the pediatrician, the charge nurse, the regular nurse, the night nurse, the supervising nurse who wanted our feedback on all the other nurses, the lactation consultants, but then so many more. They kept pricking Goldie’s heal and they took her out for hearing tests and rotated her hips and looked at her eyes. They gave advice on breastfeeding and swaddling and everything else. Fern was in a lot of pain from the tearing, the blood loss and everything else her body had been through and she and Goldie were experiencing many of the typical frustrations of learning to breast feed. There were constantly people checking Goldie’s latch, analyzing input and output (we had to keep a log), instructing Fern to pump and monitoring Goldie’s weight. On top of this we both questioned all of our actions and decisions and agonized over everything. I think this is natural for first time parents, but it was extra stressful in that environment.
By the time we started the labor induction process, we had mourned the loss of our home birth and had, more or less, come to terms with the hospital birth. We were so happy with the hospital we picked during the labor side of things, but what we didn’t prepare for (and probably couldn’t have prepared for) the postpartum stay. That is when we really felt the loss of the home birth all over again. We felt so harassed and exhausted and it just seemed impossible that they couldn’t leave us alone. We didn’t like the nurses on that side either. It felt so much harder to get to know Goldie with all those people around and sleeping apart in separate beds (well, one bed, one chair that pulled out into a “bed”). After a day I became completely desperate to leave. The experience was especially hard as a dyed-in-the wool introvert – it never felt like we were alone.
They kept us two days to monitor Fern’s recovery and Goldie’s weight and I felt like I was willing to sell my soul to get out of there by the end. When they told us we’d be able to go on the second day, we demanded an expedited release (you have to get checked out by various departments, doctors, nurses, etc. and apparently some people don’t care when or how fast that happens) and we ran out of there. In all, we were in the hospital for 5 days and then after one day home, we returned for another two because of Goldie’s jaundice – another terrible stay.
Best Laid Plans
Despite the induction circus and taking almost every induction drug available, I still think Fern gave birth naturally. But I’m not going to get into an analysis about what constitutes natural birth right now. Obviously, this was a very medically assisted labor. But given the circumstances, Fern achieved her modified goals and that’s what matters. She set out to give birth vaginally without an epidural and she achieved that. She considered asking for an epidural many times during the earlier part of labor but made it through and I’m proud of her and what she accomplished. Who knows what she would have decided if active labor had been longer, but I feel certain that she would have made the right decisions for her body and for Goldie, even if it meant a departure from the plan. Remarkably, through luck and perseverance and shift change fortune, we didn’t stray too far from the birth plan that we wrote and rewrote a million times before labor and we feel lucky that we were allowed to chip away at induction and feel comfortable with all the drug decisions. I still mourn our missed home birth and postpartum period but I am very happy with the experience we created and feel so proud of Fern and proud of me for bringing Goldie joyfully into the world.
♥ ♥ ♥
Thanks so much for sharing this. It’s especially helpful to me to hear your perspective as the non-gestational parent.
It sounds like you guys did an amazing job! Seems like you were able to go with the changes to your birth plan that this particular labor required, while also sticking up for the things that were really important to you.
thank you for writing it all down – i love the story – the ups and the downs – but it’s yours, and on the other end it brought you a beautiful, healthy baby. Well done Fern!
You did a wonderful job, in labor, as moms, and in writing and recording all of this. Well done. I think you should both be incredibly proud.
You two are such a team. What a long journey
Thanks so much for sharing! So incredible to read your story… so much to show for it, too
wow
wow
wow
beautiful story, dr asshole and postpartum intrusions aside. thank you for sharing it.
Thanks for all the wonderful details, and including so many parts about where you were in all of this. Much of the story is remarkably similar to ours with Ira.
what an amazing, exciting and beautiful story. Thank you for sharing!
Gosh, what a ride! And yes, I’d call that natural, even if there were drugs involved. I’ve got a whole bunch of notes now!
Wow, what an amazing story. You and Fern have much to be proud of, and I’m so happy for you that you were able to have a natural birth despite the many disappointments and challenges along the way! You two are some strong, awesome women. Goldie is a lucky little girl!
You two are heroes!! Well three really! Goldie is one in her own class!! Wow!!! So glad you got so much good help, I’m sorry you had dr asshole but you really stood up to her! Yes, the post partum time in hospital sucks and they are so reactionary about everything!
It sounds like an exhilarating, scary, frustrating wonderful birth! The bit about you holding Goldie skin to skin is so gorgeous! Love y’all!!!
thank you so much for sharing this amazing journey the three of you went through. It brought tears to my eyes at parts and I am so glad you all made it through alive and well!
you two are effin amazing. i’m in awe.
Wow. Thanks for letting us share that with you. What an amazing birth story – I cried. You two were wonderful partners in bringing that baby into the world.
I was also a little traumatized by the post birth experience. There was someone in our room every 5 minutes poking at us or the babies and it was incredibly frusterating for us. The staff to was not nearly as wonderful as the birth team was. We couldnt wait to get the hell out of that place to recover in peace and quiet. We couldnt wait to enjoy our kids without all the intrusion. Thankfully we were allowed to leave the day after their birth and we treated the jaundice at home with daily visits from a nurse. I was so relieved. I’d never heard anyone mention this kind of post delivery issue before and was totally caught by suprise so I’m glad you mention it here.
I’m so happy you had a such a positive birth. xo
Hooray for your birth story– I had been waiting and waiting for it!!! And I just had a chance to finish it and it is a wonderful,beautiful story of strength, persistance, love and the magic that every birth is, no matter HOW it happens. I got shivers several times and ended it with years in my eyes… After all these years of cheering each other on, supporting each other through infertility hell and here we are, reading each other’s stories of bringing our long awaited children into our lives. I loved every second of reading these birth posts and am just so happy that your little family is less little… hugs from here…
Wow. Just…wow.
What an amazing story, and I loved all of the detail! Really great to read especially as we consider doing an induction next week. Thank you!
Wow, you are quite a scribe and cheerleader! It’s so great that you got all this down. And I’ve never heard of this much Pitocen without an epidural – I’m impressed by that and much else in this story. Isn’t it funny how despite all the pain and stress the birth process actually somehow seems FUN?? xo
So amazing that Fern did it vaginally without an epi! I lost a lot of blood with HP and almost passed out when I first got up to pee- so scary! And I didn’t want to touch the head either time!
What a crazy story – the beginning of many amazing things (once you start to get some sleep!)
Thanks for sharing your amazing story. I’m so glad you had Rose their as your advocate.