I had an electively induced birth. Let me tell you why. 

I should preface this post by saying that they say you labor most like your sister(s). Well, my twin sister and I labored the same with our first child. With her second child, born in January, it went SUPER fast! When she told me how long it her birth was, I looked at my husband and said, “Prepare for me to have NO epidural!” He still said I would get it and I just kept mentally preparing that it won’t be an option for me.

Fast forward to Annie’s Birth. I was done being pregnant by 36 weeks. DONE. I wanted this baby out. And I was exhausted, tired, sore and all of the above. I mentioned that to my Dr. every time he asked me how I was doing.

He mentioned at 37 weeks that he would be on call June 18th, and he can induce me if I wanted.

I went home and told my husband and we said no to begin with. Lots of people said that being induced was really horrible (and went ahead and told me their horror stories). Well, the idea was still in my mind. Everyone is different. It was a really hard decision to make.

I was 39 weeks and one day (June 16th) when I had my last Dr. appointment. He mentioned again that I can be induced that Thursday, if I wished. I still was on the fence. But he gave me the paperwork anyway in case I decided to do it. My husband and I sat on the bed where we weighed all of the pros and cons. I knew my body would respond to being induced since I had such a great birth with Ella (my first child two years prior), without any intervention. I also knew it would be fast, especially since I was already dilated.

We decided to go through with the electively induced birth, and it was so nice to be able to plan!

My husband was in school for his Masters so he was able to get caught up on homework, email his professors, and let his workplace know.

I woke up Thursday morning SO nervous! So nervous that I began to throw up! I couldn’t stop.

We got to the hospital at 8:00am but there were no rooms ready for us, so we waited about an hour and a half. Finally our room was ready and we were ready to settle in!

Walking into the room, we realized that this room was the same exact one I gave birth to Ella in! We were pretty darn happy about that.

We hung around in the room, watched some TV, and chatted until about 12:40pm. My Dr. came in and put in a pill to soften my cervix. I was supposed to stay in bed for two hours and then I could get up. At 2:40pm the nurse came in and told me to go and walk around. So I get dressed in my normal clothes to take a really long walk and walk the stairs with my husband and mother-in-law who had just flown in hours before. I walked and walked and walked and drank lots of water and headed back to the room.

At 3:40pm the Dr. came in to give half of a pill this time. I needed to lay down for two hours again. By this time contractions were not regular and not that painful. At 4:40pm, contractions started coming every 3-5 minutes and I immediately put on Pandora. Sam Smith Radio to be exact. I was singing through the contractions to help distract me.

By 5:30pm, the contractions were bad and I just wanted to get out of bed. We all watched the clock and as soon as it turned 5:40pm, I jumped out of bed and went into the shower thinking that would help. The shower didn’t help much at all, so then I tried bouncing on the birthing ball. I tried bouncing on the ball, rolling my hips, sitting on a chair, laying on the bed . . . just about anything and everything. My body was in so much pain I didn’t know what to do!

I remember looking at my husband while I was hunched over the ball and looking at him saying, “I can’t do this. Really, I can’t do this.” He looked at me and would say, “You’re doing it!”

I asked Lori what time it was. 6:15pm. Like I had somewhere to be! Ha! During the next few contractions all I could do was push. It was natural instinct. I told them, “I am pushing and I can’t stop!”

At 6:30pm my Dr. came in to check me. I got up and walked to the bathroom and started losing “stuff.” I knew it was happening, like now. Then, my Dr. asked me to come to the bed so he could check me. I was in so much pain, I couldn’t lay straight on the bed. I just plopped myself down. Then he checked me while I was having a contraction.

I was at a 7 and my water broke so during the next contraction I pushed. I said, ” I am pushing and I can’t stop!”

The Dr. and nurse told me not to push because pushing could swell my cervix.

The Dr. left and the nurse said she would stay for a minute just in case. Nurse left real quick and while she was gone I pushed and screamed. This baby was seriously coming out. The nurse heard me scream from down the hall, and she came running back in. I said, ” She is coming out!!”

She ran to the phone called the nurses and said, “Get Connors to 52, get Connors to 52!!!!” Dr. Connors came running in, sat at the edge of the bed to feel while I shouted, “SHE IS COMING OUT! I NEED TO BIRTH THIS BABY!” Everyone in the room said that she wasn’t coming out. I looked at my husband in the eyes and said, “Look, she is coming out!” He looked down there and looked at me and said, “Yup, she is coming out.” Then the Dr. said, “Well, I have some good news and bad news. Good news, she is coming out. Bad news, no epidural.” Everyone laughed but me.

I was holding back from pushing as much as I could because nobody was ready. As soon as my Dr, threw his gown on, I pushed and she was out. Annie was born at 6:44pm.