- Read Leslie’s Birth Story here!
- Read Amanda’s Birth Story here!
Why I am here and who I am:
Hey mama, I am Trish— AKA Labor Nurse Mama. I am a labor and delivery nurse with over 15 years of high-risk OB experience. I am also a mama to 7 kids and have given birth to 6. This means I am quite familiar with the postpartum period and how to navigate it. I am the online birth class educator for Calm Labor Confident Birth and The VBAC Lab birth classes and the mama expert inside our Calm Mama Society a pregnancy & postpartum membership community! I am passionate about your birth and motherhood journey! You can find me over on IG teaching over 230k mamas daily. I am passionate about your birth and motherhood journey!
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My first labor and delivery experience were extremely traumatizing.
After my 38-week appointment, my water started to trickle, and I had to be admitted.
I was so afraid of labor and had zero knowledge about it, I ended up asking for an epidural right away… even though I wasn’t having any pain. My oldest did not make his appearance until 15 hours later, and I pushed for almost 3 hours.
I did not want to have to go through that with my second baby! My Pregnancy with Jaxson was Anything but Easy I was considered high risk with little Jaxson; he had a two-vessel umbilical cord. With that, there was a risk of stillbirth and kidney abnormalities.
Read this: 10 Pregnancy Hacks for First Time Moms: For Each Trimester
We were monitored closely with growth scans, non-stress tests, and ultrasounds to check blood flow. He also measured 4 weeks behind, if he stopped growing at 38 weeks, they would’ve had me go in for an emergency c-section.
He continued to grow, very slowly, and I was able to be induced at 39-weeks by my midwife at the Naval Hospital.
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My High Risk Birth Story begins
My Induction Began February 22nd, 2017 We woke up at 6 am that morning, kissed our oldest goodbye and started our new adventure. They administered the Pitocin for induction around 7 am that morning, and I was 3 cm dilated and 75% effaced.
Related Post: How to Survive Getting Induced!
Drip, drip, drip the Pitocin went…
However, I didn’t feel any of the contractions. I could see my stomach contract, but I was not feeling any of it!
A little afternoon my midwife came in to check on me, and we found that I wasn’t progressing at all. I had high levels of Pitocin and I was still not progressing and couldn’t feel the contractions at all.
We decided to have her break my water with an amnihook to see if it helped things along. My midwife had warned me that breaking the water probably wouldn’t progress my labor any faster, but we decided to anyway.
Are you wanting to induce your own labor: Here’s the Secret German Midwife’s Cocktail Recipe to Naturally Go Into Labor
The midwife wasn’t out of the room for maybe 5 minutes, and I started to feel the contractions. I’m not sure if it was because of my high levels of Pitocin but boy I was feeling the contractions something fierce.
Bam, bam, bam my contractions went.
I grabbed my poor husband’s crippled hand and did my best to breathe through it all.
Oh My God, She’s Crowning
By 30 – 45 minutes of extremely intense contractions, I asked for the anesthesiologist.
My contractions were about 1 to 2 minutes apart and very excruciating.
The anesthesiologist entered the room another 30 – 45 minutes, seemed more like an eternity with the intense pain, to put in the epidural. After paperwork and going over the risks with the anesthesiologist, we began the process.
I felt the flush of coolness go down my spine and felt relief, however when the next contraction came—which were now 30 secs to 1 minute apart—I knew something was wrong.
We realized that I felt everything on my right side and couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t getting the full effect of the epidural. He quickly tried another location to get it to numb the other side, but again nothing.
I laid on my side and began feeling a lot of pressure below, something I’ve never felt before due to having a fully medicated birth the first time.
My midwife came in to check to see how I was progressing… “OH MY GOD SHE’S CROWNING, SHE’S FULLY DILATED…”
She quickly got the corpsmen (Navy personnel) to help, grabbed the light, and I began to push.
After Four Pushes He Was Out I pushed one, two, three… and had to pause. The umbilical cord was wrapped around his shoulder. One last push and he was out.
We decided on a delayed cord clamping for Jaxson because of the benefits it holds. After about a couple minutes the staff wanted to take him back because they feared he had inhaled fluid. After the used a bulb to suction out the fluid and cleaned him off, he was back in my arms.
I couldn’t believe how quick my labor was, how little I tore, and the recovery was awesome this time around! I wish I had done more research and had doctors who cared the first go around… I wouldn’t have had a terrible experience with labor!
I was able to walk like I didn’t just deliver a baby; my best friend was shocked at how nonchalantly I was walking.
I hope you guys enjoyed reading Jennifer’s high risk birth story. You should head over to her blog and check out her awesome content.
Looking for a baby name check these out:
20 Extremely Uncommon Baby Boy Names For Unique Parents
25 Feminine Baby Girl First and Middle Names That will Make Your Heart Skip
