After having my last two children without any induction assistance I was all ready to have a natural delivery again. I had high hopes throughout the pregnancy that it would be similar to the last two and that labor would begin without any trouble. Around 38 weeks, I began having irregular contractions, which was not surprising since this was my fifth baby. Unfortunately they did very little at that point.
My due date, April 10th, came and went, which wasn’t much of a surprise either. Thankfully, I had begun to dilate from the contractions and was 2-3 cm at my appointment that week. I was hopeful that labor would kick in. I begged and pleaded with God for labor to begin and still nothing.
On Monday, April 14th, they did an ultrasound to make sure all was well with the baby and it was. They also were guessing the weight to be 9 lbs and 12 oz! Having had a 9 lb baby before, I knew it would be wise to go ahead and induce sooner rather than later. There was also extra fluid. The combination told me from my experience that unless labor kicked in that night, I would need help going into labor to have the baby. Dr. Brown asked me if I would allow her to help me, and I said yes. She checked my cervix and I was a stretchy 4 cm, meaning I would only need pitocin and not cervadil. They arranged for me to be induced the next morning if nothing happened during the night.
I went home and began having contractions that felt promising. Again, I was extremely hopeful and I contracted well for about 2 hours. But then they began to space out. Again, I begged God to bring the contractions back and did what I could to help “stir the pot” but nothing else happened during the night.
I was up late and had to wake at 5 am to call and find out what time I could go in for the induction. 6:30 was my time, so Jim and I got up and ready to go. Thankfully, the car had been packed the night before, so we just had to pick up a couple of things on our way out the door.
Check in went quickly. My IV was started that hurt horribly. (Seriously, the WORST part of having a baby for me!) Finally, around 9 am the pitocin was started. Usually I respond well to pitocin, so I was hoping to just need a whiff of pit, but no go. The contractions did not get harder. I tried changing positions, but the baby was still too high and not putting enough pressure on my cervix. I just had to wait.
Jim and I listened to music I had put together for labor and played a couple games together on his Ipad. I was so tired I began to fall asleep. Around 11 or so I took a good nap. I have never napped during labor! But clearly I needed it.
Contractions continued with no real progress. I knew if they broke my water things would move quickly, but at that point the baby was still floating, which is an unwise time to break your water, especially when your fluid is high. I sat up again, hoping it would encourage the baby down. The contractions got a little harder, but still no real discomfort.
Finally, around 4 pm I was about 6 cm and the baby’s head was low enough the doctor felt it safe to break my water.
That’s when the hard part began.
I stood up beside the bed for awhile as the contractions increased in intensity. It took about 45 minutes for me to get really uncomfortable and need to get back in bed. At that point, I felt like I was dying. I have never had overly painful contractions, but this time I did. It was intense and I was hurting. I was so close to asking for pain meds, which is not normal for me. My mind was my enemy.
Thankfully, I was making gradual progress and so I told myself I would resist. With each contraction I was regretting the decision, but I cried out to God all the more. I had to remind myself that God was my only strength and He would get me through.
He was so gracious to give me an amazing nurse who talked me through each contraction. When my body was telling me to push before it was time, she reminded me to relax and my mind went to my Psalm. She was rooting for me to have the natural labor I desired, and it seriously made all the difference in the world!
Finally, I was given permission to push with my body. It took no time at all as my body and I pushed the precious baby out. At 5:31 pm the baby was born. Jim looked at me and said “It’s a boy!” To which I responded, “Are you sure?” (No, seriously! We all thought the baby was a girl.) But it is a precious little boy we had. Samuel Hezekiah weighed in at 9 lbs even (thankfully the ultrasound was a little off) and was 21 inches tall. Samuel means “God hears.” Hezekiah means “God is my strength.” This little boy is named to remind me that God always hears my prayers and that God will be my strength in all that He asks me to do.
I was so thankful he was here and healthy.
It is also special that his birthday is April 15th as that was my maternal grandmother’s birthday.
God is so faithful to me and I am blessed beyond belief.
