My Unexpected Hospital Birth Story With Baby #4

I LOVE hearing other people’s stories, and birth stories are no different! Here is my birth story for baby number 4, who arrived on May 23rd of this year.

Make sure you check out all of my Motherhood Resource Page. I have all my tips for pregnancy, labor, the newborn stage, and more! I wanted to document everything I’ve learned these last 6 years after becoming a Mama.

My Other Birth Stories

My first birth story with our oldest son was the most difficult birth by far. Partially due to my lack of knowledge about things that could help during labor. I was induced 1 week past my due date for, “high blood pressure,” although I had no signs of pre-eclampsia. It ended up being a 22 hour induction where both my husband and I were totally exhausted by the end. Contractions with Pitocin are NO JOKE. I opted not to have an epidural due to benefits for both me and baby. People usually get an epidural with pitocin on board because it causes contractions to be so painful. (It also blocks your body’s natural endorphins that help with pain control during birth). This ended up being my toughest recovery post-partum.

Baby #2 ended up being a C-section due to my daughter’s positioning. We talked about doing a version but were worried about scar tissue if I needed an emergency C-section. (I had a bowel resection in high school due to Crohn’s disease and a complete bowel obstruction). She ended up being a scheduled C-section at 39 weeks.

Baby #3 was my easiest and quickest labor. I unknowingly had some amniotic fluid leaking for several days before she was born, which was discovered at my OB appointment. My OB gave me 6 hours to labor at home before coming into the hospital. I started labor shortly after my appointment and had baby girl within 6 hours of labor starting! I had a smooth, unmedicated hospital birth that time around.

Baby #4’s Birth Story

Ok, let’s get to baby #4’s birth story!

I had been anxiously awaiting labor to begin this pregnancy once we hit the 37-week mark because this pregnancy had NOT been an easy one for me. My other 3 pregnancies were very smooth. I typically just had mild nausea for 2 weeks in the first trimester and then started to have more fatigue in the last month of pregnancy. Otherwise, I usually felt great for the rest of each pregnancy! This time around, the nausea came back halfway through the second trimester, I had Braxton Hicks throughout my 2nd and 3rd trimesters which was uncomfortable, round ligament pain, back pain, and significant fatigue throughout pregnancy. Most people asked me if it was because I had three other kiddos to take care of, but it truly felt like it was just the nature of this pregnancy.

How Things Started

There were 2 things I didn’t want as far as my birth story went: I didn’t want to go into labor on a day I was working and I didn’t want to start labor at night because I knew that likely meant losing a night of sleep. Wouldn’t you know that both of those things happened? Ha! So much for planning!

I was working my last scheduled day as a physical therapist in the hospital. Work had gone pretty smoothly and I remember joking with a co-worker that I felt like this baby was never going to come out. I went down to the therapy department to chart the rest of my notes for the day and noticed my Braxton Hicks contractions seemed to be more consistent and rhythmic than they had been previously. I also had sharp shooting pain into my groin a few times when I was walking, prompting two of my co-workers to ask me if I was ok. Apparently, they had a “Mama sense” that I was in labor, but I had experienced so many random feelings and discomfort during the pregnancy that I wasn’t sure.

“My Water Just Broke”

I took a shower when I got home and was doing my Spinning Babies Daily Stretching Routine when I started leaking amniotic fluid (And I was planning on lying down and sleeping right after that, too!) I only knew that’s what it was because I had experienced it with baby #3. Because I was GBS+ early on in my pregnancy and the recommendation was that I get antibiotics within 4 hrs of baby’s birth to prevent complications, I knew I would have to head to the hospital that night. Because as my OB said at my last appointment, “This labor might be really fast.” Little did we know this would be my LONGEST labor!

Heading To The Hospital

I totally dragged my feet a bit in heading to the hospital because I was bummed that I wouldn’t get to labor at home for as long as I would’ve liked. I knew that meant it could be a longer labor, and I was NOT looking forward to that! They checked me in triage and I was indeed leaking amniotic fluid, 3 cm dilated, and 75% effaced. We got to our room and tried to do some walking and movement to see if labor would ramp up quickly, but realized after a while that the best thing we could do was try to get some sleep. I probably only pieced together somewhere between 1.5-2hrs of sleep that night.

Are Sleep Meds During Labor Normal??

My nurse offered to give me Ambien to help me sleep through my contractions, and all I could think about was my patients who get Ambien at night and sleep all day the next day! How would I have an unmedicated natural birth if I was totally zonked and/or hallucinating? I laughed to myself and politely refused her offer, but knew she was trying to be helpful. Is this a thing? Do y’all know anything about sleep medication during labor for unmedicated births? Let me know in the comments if you do!

This same nurse also told me I could saline lock (disconnect) my IV and turn off the IV pump once my antibiotic was done running and I also thought that was very unconventional, considering we aren’t even supposed to do that as physical therapists when we are working with patients in the hospital. So those two encounters made me laugh/have a bit less faith in my night-time nursing staff. I was thankful when the morning rolled around and I could start fresh to keep labor going.

A Long Day Of Labor

Turns out this was not going to be the short birth story that I wanted. My dayshift nurses were AMAZING. So supportive and encouraging. One of them had actually delivered our third baby and was in the room for our first son’s birth! She had played such a big role in me having a successful VBAC with my 3rd baby, and I was relieved that she was there to hopefully deliver baby #4.

I did ALL THE THINGS in my labor playbook as far as movement went to try to ramp up my contractions and get to the next phase of labor. Walking, lunging, lateral lunging, inversions, pelvic tilts, side-lying with the peanut ball, you name it. There was one point the only thing that would keep my contractions was walking, so I paced back and forth in my room for 2 hours listening to worship music to try to get things to progress. But they didn’t…

Nurse Jennifer To The Rescue

It was about 3 pm when the nurses asked if I wanted them to check me again. I was at 5 cm dilated and 95% effaced at this point, but I was totally exhausted from lack of sleep and moving all day. Emotions were overflowing at this point and I just laid in the bed and cried. The nurse we were familiar with was leaving at 5 pm, and I was sad that she wouldn’t be there to help bring Nathan into the world. She introduced us to Jennifer, an experienced labor and delivery nurse, who had multiple VBACs herself. Jennifer ended up being an important part of my birth story.

Jennifer was my saving grace at this point. (This is a reminder for all you healthcare workers. You DO make a difference!) She reeled me in mentally and asked, “What can you do to reset right now?” She gave me several options, and I decided to take her up on getting in the shower for a bit. Not only did this help with the pain from contractions, but it felt GREAT to shower after being in the hospital this long. It was just what I needed to keep going during labor.

The Tough Decision To Start Pitocin

Jonny and I discussed it and we decided to try some pitocin to help labor move along. I really didn’t want pitocin to be part of this birth story because it had made labor SO tough with our oldest kiddo’s birth. The thing was, I didn’t think I had the stamina to make it a whole other night through labor without having a baby arrive, so we decided this would be a good option. My doctor was on-call and allowed me to decide what dose to start the pitocin at and how quickly to increase it. Some doctors just pump the pitocin at a high dose and increase it every 30 minutes, but my doctor knew with my goal to have a birth without an epidural that wouldn’t be the best approach for my desired labor.

I was so thankful to have a supportive medical team! They never pressured me at any point to be more aggressive with labor interventions, even after labor had progressed past the 24hr mark. I know this isn’t everyone’s birth story. Physicians can get antsy to get baby out after labor goes so long, so I was so appreciative! Another reminder that having a supportive medical team makes ALL the difference when it comes to labor.

Here Comes Baby!

I learned from the VBAC Link the recommended dosing of pitocin for VBAC, so we went with their recommendations and increased it every hour when contractions slowed down. We were still walking in the room at this point (I wish I had a watch that would have tracked how far I walked during labor!) and I started to feel more pressure. We told my nurse, but she didn’t seem super concerned.

I got to the point where I ran out of gas and just had to lie down for a physical break. I laid down on my left side with a peanut ball and contractions picked up even more. From experience, I knew I was in the transition phase of labor and baby would be here soon because the pressure was also increasing. I told Jonny to have my nurse come in and check me. I was 9 cm and definitely close to being ready to push! My nurse said there was a small bag of fluid that the doctor could possibly break to help baby come all the way down, so he came and broke the last small bag of fluid.

“Where Is Everyone?!”

Unfortunately, the doctor didn’t stop to assess how my body would respond to that and left the room! My nurse even walked out. At this point, I could feel baby’s head was engaged and felt a strong urge to push. I was panicking on the inside that this baby was going to come and no one would be there to catch him! I told Jonny to get my nurse and insisted I needed her and the doctor to be in the room because baby was coming. Jonny said later that because I was so relaxed that they didn’t realize I was about to have a baby (ha!). I also know labors without an epidural are uncommon in the hospital, which may have contributed as well.

We used warm compresses in between contractions and it made a HUGE difference in pain control. I also think it helped baby come out easier. Once everyone was in place, I pushed 3 times on my side with the peanut ball between my knees and one time on my back because baby’s shoulder was stuck and they needed to reposition me to get him out. That was my easiest experience with pushing by far out of all my labors! They stuck baby on my chest and the first thing I said was, “He’s so big!”

Baby boy ended up being 9 lbs 9 oz and 23 inches long, our heaviest and longest baby by far! No wonder this pregnancy had been so uncomfortable for me! Part of this birth story that made us laugh was everyone commenting on how “big” little man was. And I had none of the risk factors for having a bigger baby!

“I Think I Might Pass Out”

Here’s where I’m thankful that I have a husband in the medical field who also has experience working in the hospital setting. I kept feeling like I just needed to shut my eyes and sleep after labor. I’m not sure if it was lack of sleep, exhaustion, or blood loss, but I didn’t feel right at all. My nurse help me get to a wheelchair which I had no problem doing, but after I sat for a minute, I started getting spots in my vision.

My nurse encouraged me to sit for a few more minutes, but Jonny said, “You’re losing all the color from your face and lips. We need to get you back to bed.” He helped me back to bed himself and prevented me from passing out in the wheelchair. I think I would have been on the floor if it wasn’t for him, so praise God for a well-equipped and knowledgeable husband!

I tried to get in the wheelchair a second time and was able to sit for a few more minutes. The nurse was about to hand me Nathan when I started feeling like I was going to pass out and started losing my hearing, so back to bed I went with Jonny’s help. They decided to take me down on a stretcher, which I was relieved about! I’ve never passed out in my life, but it is NOT a fun feeling.

The Post-Partum Floor

Thankfully, our stay on the post-partum floor was MUCH less eventful than our time on the labor and delivery unit! We had wonderful nurses, Nathan was eating well and easily consoled, and I was up and moving better than after any of my other births. That was something that I had been praying for and was so thankful!

Whew, if you read through until the end, thank you for being here! Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments or hear about your own birth stories. Thankful for you!