Gavin Paul Meinert
I was at my 39 week appointment when they told me if I didn't go into labor on my own by my due date (Tuesday, March 23rd) to be at the hospital Tuesday night at 7 to start my induction. That was on Wednesday the 17th. I was 80% effaced and only 1cm dilated.. no contractions what-so-ever. On Thursday the 18th it was an absolutely gorgeous day.. 67 and sunny! I thought I'd run around outside and play with Lylah and lay out a blanket and try to catch a little sun! Around 1pm I got a phone call from my Dr. asking if I could go to the hospital for an ultrasound and NST so we could confirm my induction for Tuesday - be there in an hour, she said. The ultrasound went well, she said my fluids were low, but if they were planning on inducing me Tuesday, she wouldn't worry about it. I went upstairs to L&D for the NST and that went well, he moved about every 2 seconds for an hour. The nurse came in and said, "your NST results are perfect, he's very active but your fluid levels are a 4.2 and a 6 is considered low.. they want to induce you tonight." HOLY HELL!!!! I started to cry, this isn't how it was supposed to go! I'm here by myself, my car is out in the parking lot, it's beautiful out, my dog doesn't know I won't be coming back home, I wanted to go into labor on my own.... my mind was racing. I called Jamie and my mom.. I was admitted at 3pm, my mom showed up at 3:30 and Jamie was there by 5. They put in the cervidil at 5:00pm and told me to watch a movie, read a book... and to sleep well because tomorrow was going to be a long day. Around 5:30pm I started feeling crampy which the nurse said was normal.. the cramps got worse and worse and all I could think was, "if this hurts this bad.. and it's only cramps, I'm going to need an epidural STAT!" Shift change was at 7pm and before my nurse left, my mom asked her what the odds were that I'd go into labor from the cervidil... she said VERY VERY slim. She'd only seen it happen to women who have had previous children and their bodies remember what they're supposed to do when the cervidil is inserted. She was VERY confident I wouldn't have the baby until the next evening.
By this time I was pacing my room, sitting on a birthing ball, leaning against Jamie "dancing" to relieve some of the pain and pressure. My new nurse came in and I told her I thought maybe I was having contractions.. she strapped on the monitor and sure enough.. 10 minutes apart 1 minute long. By 10pm I was demanding the nubain - boy did that feel amazing.. the 4 margaritas I'd been craving for the past 9 months!! After that, I ate and tried to get some sleep. That wore off around 1pm and at 2 I was asking for more. At 4am my mom and brother came back up to the hospital and I was very sick from all the medicine they gave me.. threw up my dinner and was high as a kite (talking crazy... about germlins in the bathroom and being in alice in wonderland! haha!). At 5:30am my water broke and I was in more pain than I've ever experienced in my life! By 6am I was demanding the epidural (can you believe I made it this far without it?!) but there was an emergency c-section happening next door and they said I'd have to wait. There was no waiting.. By 7 my new nurse (who is a friend) came in and I was literally begging for an epidural.. still no luck. She checked my cervix and I was still at a 3. At 7:45 I was dialted to a 9 and screaming that his head was coming out! The drs. were still in the emergency c-section so the nurses were preparing to deliver my baby... people were running around everywhere.. he was coming out and he was coming out NOW! I kept saying his head was coming out, I needed someone to deliver him!! After only 10 minutes and few pushes.....
Gavin Paul was born. It was 8:04am on Friday, March 19th. He weighed 6lbs 5oz and was 19in long. Full head of hair! I have never been more in love in all of my life and I can't believe I did it all without an epidural!! I am so proud of myself, especially because I was SO SURE I was going to need that medicine! I never made it to the induction, never needed the pitocin. I believe I would have gone into labor on my own sometime that night or the next day regardless. Our birthing experience was amazing... crazy, but amazing! Jamie was so great and without my mom - I don't know how I would have made it through!
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Grayson Michael Meinert
After my 38 week appointment where the doctor told me I was 3cm dilated, 80% effaced, and Grayson's head was so low he could feel it and that he HIGHLY doubted he would see me a week later for my next appointment - I had my hopes up. I had been having contractions pretty regularly and he sounded so confident that I truly believed that I would go into labor on my own and there would be no need to be induced. Well, that never happened and at my 39 week appointment, he scheduled me to be induced that Sunday. It was a Thursday and I really wanted to experience the whole "going into labor at home" thing.. so we tried it all that weekend with no avail. Sunday morning came and off to the hospital we went.
From here, the story doesn't get very exciting. Not nearly as exciting as Gavin's birth story. It's also not a very long story. It was so fast, easy, and relaxing.
I was admitted at 8am. I put on the hospital gown, met my nurse, had IV's put in, and Jamie and I just sat around and chit-chatted. At 9:30am my mom showed up. About that same time, they started my antibiotics and a very very low dose of pitocin. I started having small contractions, but nothing real crazy. Every half hour my dose was upped, but the contractions remained irregular and never got to the uncomfortable stage. At noon the doctor came in and broke my water. I called Kim and told her what was going on, she wanted to be there for the birth.. my exact words were, "broke my water, contractions aren't painful" and 2 minutes later I wrote her back, "nevermind, they're coming strong! OW-EWWWW!" I literally had 3 contractions after that before I was demanding an epidural. I waited too long to ask for one with Gavin and by the time I wanted it, they couldn't get it to me, for several reasons - hence my natural birth. My plan this time was to go natural again, but I wasn't going to go through misery.. if I wanted the meds, I was getting the meds. BOYYYY, did I want the pain to stop! My mom stayed with me while they gave me the epidural and when Kim and Jamie came back to the room, it was pretty much baby time!
1 contraction and 4 pushes later, out came our beautiful baby boy. Grayson Michael was born at 1:41pm. 1 hour and 30 minutes of labor. He weighed 7lbs 3oz and 19 1/2 inches long. It was seriously amazing. So relaxed and calm. I saw the whole thing and there was no rushing around, no panic, no worry. He cried right away and after Jamie cut the cord, they placed him right on my bare chest. We had 1 full hour of skin to skin before anyone else got to hold him. It was the most amazing feeling. The best bonding experience ever. I'm not disappointed I didn't go natural this time, because it was the greatest experience. I'm glad that I can say that I have done it both ways (and I don't understand why anyone wouldn't want an epidural - haha!). It was a beautiful experience and I couldn't have asked for it to go any other way.
To see more photos from Grayson's birth (very RAW images), see my original post HERE.
