Bridgers Birth Story

Labor was the most intense thing of my life. It started at 11pm on 12-13-19. I waited for a bit to see how apart contractions were. When I charted a few that were 8 minutes apart I called my mom to come to our house knowing it would take her about an hour. Around 1:30 we checked in to the l&d floor where they hooked me up to monitors and checked me. I was 2cm dilated. They waited an hour and checked again, I was still at a 2 and my contractions were still about 8-10 minutes apart. I was sent home. I lied down to try and sleep but within an hour my contractions were getting stronger and closer. At 6am I knew it was the real deal so we went back to the l&d floor where I was between a 3-4 and contractions were close enough for me to be admitted. 


The nurse hooked me up and went to call my OB to let him know. I was so bummed when she came back to tell me he was unavailable and I’d be delivered by the back up doctor. I love my OB! He has been so great through our the whole pregnancy, but what can you do when they take a day off?! 


Within 2 hours I was contracting hard to the point I was nauseous and puking with each one. I decided on an epidural at that point. I didn’t want my only labor to be an awful experience because of my pain threshold. The epidural kicked in and I was a much happier woman! I steadily dilated through out the whole day and my contractions were consistent but never hit closer than 6 minutes. 


The baby’s heart rate kept dropping and then spiking through the whole day so they warned me he may have a cord wrapped. I couldn’t lay on my back at all because every time I would he’d drop low again. I spent hours laying on my side so his rate would steady out. Around 3 PM the doctor came in to tell me our game plan. They were going to start pitocin to help my contractions speed up. He checked me and confirmed I was a 9.5. Pitocin jump started contractions and when he came back in he confirmed I was fully dilated and baby’s head was right there. 


He wanted me to start pushing because baby was under stress and we needed to get him here. My contractions were still no where close enough but he decided to push through the ones I was having. I pushed about 8 times before he decided to try the vacuum to help baby out. We tried that twice and then the whole mood in the room shifted. The dr called out “call them. Tell them to get ready!” I was being rushed to OR for and emergency csection. The room became so fast paced. The anesthesiologist rushed in and put something in my iv, nurses were calm but frantic, and Nate was getting instructed on how to gown up. They rolled me in, transferred me to the operating table and immediately started prepping me. I remember the nurses were having trouble finding a cord they needed and the dr yelling out “ we don’t have time. We have to get this baby out now” 


They started the procedure and I felt pressure and tugging. The noises were awful! Popping and squishing noises that I never want to hear again! Within 5 minutes I heard the most beautiful noise I’ve ever heard! Our baby boy was crying strong and I couldn’t hold back my emotions. We had been through so much for him. They told Nate to stand up and look at his son, so he did. I’ll never forget him saying “ ok that’s all I can see” while falling back down in his chair. I guess me laying with my insides open is not his forte! 


Bridger was perfect from birth. He was nice and pink toned, strong cry, and apgars were great. The confirmed he was sunny side up which was causing stress on him. He was just not happy in the womb anymore! The on call doctor was awesome and every single nurse was amazing. It wasn’t what I expected but the whole experience has been so fulfilling. The nurses were all crying because they knew my history from my chart. They said it’s a labor they’ll never forget and they were honored to be apart of it. Bridger has been the star of the maternity ward since birth 😀