My birth story - it's long!

My son Shia (Shy-uh) Michael was brought into this world this morning at 10:01. He weighed 7.7 lbs and measured 20.25 inches.

My water broke last night at 7:30 and my husband and I went to the hospital to confirm that it was in fact amniotic fluid - which it was. I was exactly 39 weeks pregnant.

Contractions picked up around midnight and I decided to try out the tub before resorting to stronger pain management methods. It did end up relaxing me for a bit - maybe a half hour - before I'd had enough and could no longer sit in the same position. I got out and made the decision to get an epidural. It ended up working really well, for about an hour, before I started to feel the contractions on my right side. The nurse called back the anesthesiologist, who tweaked the position of the catheter - granting me about one more hour of relief before I started feeling horrific back pain. The nurse and I couldn't decide if the pain was from contractions, or my limited position on the bed. Before long I started to feel contractions again and the anesthesiologist was again called back. I was in misery - I can't lie. Me, my husband, and the doctor discussed what the next step should be. Long story short, he added a good amount of lidocaine to the epidural line, which did nothing. Finally, he okayed a large dose of fentanyl to be given via IV. That did the trick - for about 15 minutes. By this point I was 9 cm dilated and 90% effaced. It was time to face the pain and work to get my baby out.

I really have no idea how long I pushed, but I think it's safe to say that it was under an hour.

Thankfully the numbing medicine via the epidural worked directly below my hips, so I was free from feeling the episiotomy and resulting stitches.

It's true what they say - once you see your child pop out into this world, all the hell you had to go through to get there is instantly forgotten. I couldn't be more in love and I wouldn't change a thing!