Shiphrah's Birth Story

A False Alarm

About two weeks before my third trimester began, Braxton-Hicks contractions had already started. Early Monday morning I began having different contractions. And because everyone (I felt that everyone) was nagging me about the possibility of having this child on the side of the road because of my previous rapid births, I decided that it would be better to be safe than sorry and head to the hospital. Jeramy and I spent about 4 hours in the hospital with no progression toward real labor. My cervix was very posterior and only about 2-3 cm dilated. We decided to go home instead of forcing labor with pitocin. After I got home and put my feet up, everything came to a halt and I slept fine that night with no interruptions.

Tuesday morning I decided to carry on with life as usual and get a few things done, like laundry and vacuuming. Once I finished with the vacuum, I didn't feel well at all. There was a dull pain in my low back and I just felt worn out. When I got into the recliner, I felt cold and started shaking with chills. Around lunchtime I had no appetite and noticed that I was having regular contractions about 3 min apart. I just felt really bad and considered that I would rather be at the hospital. I could barely get up out of the chair.

The Real Deal

When we arrived at 1 p.m., they confirmed that I had a fever and the baby's heart rate was spiking and decided to admit me. They began the antibiotics for my Group B Strep and gave me Tylenol to bring my fever down. Afterwards, the OB Dr ordered pitocin (3:30) since I was so close to the due date and I was already admitted. There was no change from the day before concerning my cervix. Even after 3 hours of pitocin, there was no change in my cervix, just more painful contractions, closer together. I considered that if labor was going to be long, I didn't want to endure this pain for 20-30 hours, especially if the baby is not any closer to coming out! Around this time (about 5 0r 6 p.m.) my OB came by and tried to convince me to get an epidural. He said something about the possibility of having a C-section. After that I more strongly considered that if it came to that, I would rather be awake for the birth than asleep under general anesthesia. Plus the anesthesiologist on-call at that time was highly recommended by my labor nurses.

The Drugs

After consenting to the epidural, I was first given a drug to help me relax, which also made me really looney. I remember having a crazy conversation with the anesthesiologist, after which he must have thought I missed the rocker by a mile. Having the epidural put in (7 p.m. or so) wasn't painful really and much less stressful than I thought it would be. All of my anxiety about getting an epidural really didn't amount to anything. Eventually the craziness of the first numbing drug wore off and my lower body was relaxed and I easily dozed in and out of sleep. Now I know why women get the epidural! It takes the Fall right out of childbirth! At 8:30 p.m. my water broke on it's own and when the nurse checked me I was already 4 cm with my cervix in the correct position! Each half hour my cervix progressed another cm and by 10:15 p.m. I was fully dilated and ready to push. The nurse called the doctor at about 10:30.

I could feel that I was having contractions by the pressure of the baby's head downward and tightness around my ribcage. It was definitely not painful at all, so I decided to wait for the OB Dr to arrive before pushing. Dr. Wiist came and shortly after 11 p.m. I pushed, without drama, and gave birth to a little piece of red velvet cake covered with white cream cheese frosting. Her skin was almost as red as a beet with black hair and eyebrows. She looks a lot like Moriah did when she was born, but her skin complexion is different.

Newborn Pictures: Our365 link