We arrived at the hospital, checked in, and began induction. The nurse started me with Cervidil to help me dilate-- I went into the hospital at about 1cm and 70%effaced. It was hard to sleep that night-- probably because of nervousness, excitement, and the fact that I was hooked up to several monitors and IVs. I began feeling mild contractions, which just felt like strong menstrual cramps & continued to feel this all through the night and early morning. Around 4 am, the nurse came into to check my progress to see if they needed to give me more Cervidil or to move me over to Labor and Delivery. Surely enough, I had progressed to 4cm so they sent me to L&D to begin the next steps in my induction. My doctor came in around 5 am & said she was going to be breaking my water. I had no idea she was going to do this, she just had all of the things needed to do so & quickly broke my water.
Slowly over the morning, my contractions kept getting stronger and stronger-- as the water had broken. The doctor also gave me Pitocin shortly after breaking my water, so everything felt pretty intense (I've heard Pitocin makes labor worse). At this point everything was more intense-- stronger and longer lasting, as well as closer together. I felt as if I was handling things pretty well-- using my deep breathing, meditating on scriptures, and using lavender to calm & peppermint for pain. With how close together and intense my contractions felt, I HAD to be progressing.....but nope. My doctor came in around noon & checked my progress-- still 4cm, but almost completely effaced. She let me know that she felt I probably wasn't going to have this baby until the late evening . She kept saying that typically 1st time pregnancies do not dilate another cm for about 1-2 hours-- this meant that I could be looking at another 6-12 hours. After enduring mild contractions for about 9-10 hours, and then the really intense contractions for about 7-8 hours, I felt defeated. I wanted SO badly to do this naturally. The nurse and Matt sat me down and begged me to get the epidural. I cried and fought their request. I waited about another hour or so & finally gave in. The nurse just kept saying, it could be a long while before you have this baby & epidural or not, you still get the same prize at the end. Matt was having a tough time watching me in so much pain & just felt like I need some "rest" before time to push later that evening. I finally had the nurse call the anesthesiologist for the epidural. I am so thankful now that I did, because I was able to relax a little bit & took a short nap to revive myself from being up for over a day already (been up since Monday morning-- it was now Tuesday afternoon). After I got my epidural, the right side of the epidural began to stop working-- so I was having the weirdest sensations. My right side felt all contractions, while my left side felt like a tons of bricks and was absolutely numb. It was hard feeling contractions still, but I could not move or get up to make myself more comfortable.
By around 4pm, the doctor came into check me & he said I was at around 6cm (we had a new doc at this point). He mentioned that he felt things were progressing much better now & that we were looking at probably having our boy around 8pm. This was great news! My family and Matt's family were both driving down to try to make it for the birth (not in the room for the experience, but there to meet/greet baby & such) so since they were driving down that day, due to the ice storm, they weren't going to arrive until late evening, "just in time for baby." My family arrived that evening, after having been examined each hour & being stuck at 6cm-- they all just joined us in the room to keep the mood light & relieve Matt from entertaining me, so he could go eat. The nurses kept increasing my Pitocin doses that evening, in hopes of me dilating faster. By my 8pm check-up I was finally at 8cm. Dr. Moore said he felt that around 10-11pm that we could begin pushing if I had made it to 10cm. From 8pm-until 1am (note that I didn't ever make it to the 10-11pm "push time") I was stuck at 8cm. The Dr. seemed concerned that I was not going to progress past 8cm before we needed intervention-- since my water was broken at 5 am, we were approaching 24 hours past the water breaking & we needed to get Micah out safely. He gave me the most devastating news.....he said, "I think we are going to have to do a c-section." I immediately burst into tears. My worst fears had all come true. The complete opposite of my "birth plan" was unfolding before my eyes. I was completely and utterly exhausted, devastated, and defeated. He had another c-section to perform, so he made me wait from 1-2am-- just to see if I would progress anymore & if not, we were definitely heading to the OR. That last hour of waiting for progress or c-section was the worst. I was emotional-- scared, exhausted, hopeful for progress, angry, and in pain. My epidural had worn off at this point & I wasn't able to have any more meds due to the fact I might need the c-section, so I was feeling lots of contractions. I kept telling Matt, "I can't do this anymore, I'm so tired-- I'm so thirsty and so exhausted." At this point I hadn't had anything to drink since 5pm Monday night & it was 2am on Wednesday. I was SO thirsty-- despite the 10 Popsicles I had eaten and dozens of cups of ice chips I had consumed. Dr. Moore came back to check my progress at 2am & I was still 8cm. It sunk in-- we were definitely meeting our little guy, via c-section. They rolled me back to the OR, while Matt went to change into scrubs and take our stuff from L&D to the waiting area of the OR.
Once I was back in the OR, I remember the cold table & bright lights and feeling so scared, but eager at the same time-- I was ready to meet my baby boy! They began anesthesia & I remember feeling SO cold & I couldn't stop shaking. Matt came in finally & they began the c-section procedure. I remember hearing them talking and Matt asked me if I could feel anything-- I really just felt a little bit of pressure when they were getting Micah out. I remember they said, "He's here-- he's so cute & a little conehead!" I immediately began crying & also laughed (but secretly felt nervous) about them calling him a "conehead." Our little Micah Ryan was born on February 18th, at 2:23am--weighing 6 lbs 5 oz & 20 1/4 inches long.
They quickly cleaned him up & we soon heard his first cry-- it was the sweetest sound I had ever heard! Maybe it was because he was OUR baby, but we felt he had the most soothing sounding cry in the world. It wasn't too shrill or too loud-- just right & perfect. They wrapped him up and brought him over for us to meet him for the first time. Matt and I looked into his big, bright eyes & immediately fell madly, deeply, intensely IN LOVE! He was PERFECT! They handed him to Matt & we just stared at him-- taking in his precious appearance. He was so bright-eyed, even through the epidural & other meds I had received (many say babies of epidurals aren't very alert at birth). I can remember these moments so vividly. He kept looking up at us & blinking his big bright eyes so slowly-- over and over again.
Once we had time to bond with Micah for a while, they rolled us all into a waiting area, before going to our room. We had to go there so they could monitor me for a couple of hours post surgery. I remember feeling so so so nauseous, but couldn't throw up since I hadn't eaten or drank anything in almost two days. I've heard that after c-sections it is normal to feel this way. I felt extremely exhausted and could barely hold my eyes open. I vaguely remember nurses coming in to FINALLY bring me water & poke and prod at my incision sight-- OUCH! They then said it was okay for family to come back & meet baby Micah. Only one person at a time was allowed back to the OR waiting room we were in. I remember my mom came back first to meet him & after that I passed out from all of the meds. I didn't get to see Micah meet everyone else, but Matt was able to care for Micah and greet our family members those next couple of hours.
Once I was released from the OR waiting area, we headed off to our room & I was able to bond some with Micah-- we tried breastfeeding and skin-to-skin. These were some of the sweetest experiences ever!
At this point it was about 5am or so, and we were emotionally & physically exhausted. We tried to rest for a couple of hours, but of course I just wanted to stare at my newborn baby boy all morning. Throughout that morning nurses and doctors came into check on all of us-- giving Micah a quick bath, checking his vitals, and giving him a vaccine. I was advised that I couldn't get up out of bed until at least noon that day-- so I was stuck in the bed all morning when our family came back to visit. I just remember feeling extremely dirty from not showering since Monday morning & having gone through labor & a c-section. I kept asking the nurse, when can I shower, she said I had to get up and walk around and use the bathroom at least three times before she would allow me to do so. I remember they brought breakfast into the room and lunch, but I could barely eat. My stomach felt so funny after not eating for so long & being on the IV and meds. After visitors came & I was allowed to walk again, we were able to choose a "celebration dinner" for Matt and I. They had a nice selection of meals and brought a bottle of sparkling grape juice for us to celebrate the birth of our baby boy!
We ended up staying at the hospital until that Saturday, so we were there from Monday night until Saturday afternoon. It was a long stay, but they wanted to be sure I recovered nicely & that Micah didn't lose much more weight after his circumcision. I was able to keep him at a particular weight & was able to utilize the lactation consultants to help us get the hang of breastfeeding-- we seemed to be doing really well, even though he lost over 10% of his body weight in the hospital. The last day or so he maintained, so they were happy about that. We were released that Saturday & made our journey home with our new, sweet baby boy-- Micah Ryan Nicely.
Micah's birth story is nothing like I had imagined or hoped for. All of my greatest fears came true & MY plans crumbled apart as the hours went on. Through this entire experience I am reminded of how God is SO good! Despite the fact that my plans didn't go accordingly, he kept me safe and Micah safe. Micah arrived exactly how and when he was supposed to & in the midst of his arrival, I was tested beyond my limits-- God proved to me that even in the middle of my worst fears that He is always there & that He is always good. He got me through those long, painful, disappointing moments and in the end He brought me the most beautiful and perfect blessing I could have imagined. I'm forever grateful for this experience and for this sweet baby boy.
Thank you for allowing me to share our birth story with you! It was a very emotional and exhausting experience, but overall the best time of our lives-- the time we got to meet our first baby boy.
