As a mom, I love hearing other mama’s birth stories.  I find each birth story to be such an incredible way to deeply connect with another mom.  It is quite literally THE most vulnerable time in our lives and is such a sacred and special experience.  

What is also so wild to me about birth stories is how DIFFERENT they can be!  After you read this one, head over to my second baby’s birth story here.  When I tell you night and day…I mean NIGHT and freakin’ DAY!  Total opposite births.

I want this birth story to be real and raw, so this is literally my journal entry from just after Jack was born. 

“On Wednesday, May 5th, I had my 38 week doctor’s appointment.  My doctor was concerned about the swelling in my legs and feet as well as my elevated blood pressure.  She sent me for labs to check for preeclampsia.  I went back to work and finished out the rest of the day.  On my way home, the doctor called and said, “Madison…can you be at the hospital at 8 tonight?  We need to induce you.”  I was SO excited and nervous all at once.  She said there was protein in my urine, my platelets were dropping, and my blood pressure and swelling were high.  I came home and told Brandon to pack his bags…we were having the baby!!

When we checked into the hospital, Dr. Linda Peterson was on call (she is AMAZING!!).  She checked my cervix and I was ½ cm dilated and partially effaced.  She tried to start with the foley bulb, but it kept coming out.  She then used a pill called Cytotec.  Around 10 pm I was given the 1st one.  At about 2 am, I was dilated to a 1.  Another Cytotec pill was inserted.  4 hours later, I was at a 2.  Once the last Cytotec was inserted.  4 hours later, I was still at a 2.  At this point, I was having some contractions, but they weren’t very strong yet.  Around this time, the doctor started Pitocin.  

At about 2 pm, my water broke, and I was at a 3.  I had been using the birthing ball to ease some of the pain.  After my water broke, the contractions were bad!  I got some pain medicine and felt way better for a while.  After a couple of hours, I was at a 4-5 and asked for an epidural.  About an hour and a half later, the anesthesiologist came in.  I was at a 6.  As he was just about to sterilize my back and insert the needle, he was paged to the OR to intubate someone.  He said “induce”, so we were so confused!  I was having awful contractions!  45 minutes later he came back and corrected himself by saying “intubate”.  I was at a 9.5.  I had 3 intense contractions as he inserted the epidural.  A few minutes later, I was a new woman!  

The epidural kicked in, and the doctor stopped the Pitocin.  She wanted the baby to drop a little lower before I pushed.  Meanwhile, next door a woman was having some complications, and Dr. Peterson had to do an emergency C-section.  I was ready to push.  She said, “45 min…I promise!  If you need to start pushing without me, you are in good hands!”

As soon as she got there, I started pushing.  At first, it wasn’t too bad…after about 20 minutes, I started to feel it more.  More and more pressure.  I pushed for about 50 minutes, then my nurse got a sheet and tied a knot at both ends.  When I would push, we would play tug of war.  This helped me push much better.  But, I was so exhausted.  The pressure against the bottom part of my pelvis was so intense.  Finally, I asked the doctor to help.  She used the vacuum for 3 contractions.  Then we realized he was “sunny side up” meaning his face was up instead of down.  This made it so that she couldn’t use the vacuum, and I just had to push.

1 hour and 50 minutes later, Baby Jack was born at 12:35 am on May 7th.  Once his head was out, his body and the placenta came right out.  The doctor was amazed because the umbilical cord was about 3 feet long.  They are usually about a foot!  Baby Jack was very active!

As soon as he came out, they placed him on my chest.  I was so relieved.  I looked over, and Brandon was overcome with emotion.  It was a moment I’ll never forget.  I cut the cord, and we admired Baby Jack for a little while.  

The whole experience was absolutely exhausting and painful, BUT it was so worth it, and I would do it again for my baby!”

What a wild ride!! If you had a rough first birth experience, it’s not always that way!  Click here to read my secondborn’s birth story!