Positive Hospital + Epidural Birth Story
Since my youngest of my two boys is about to turn one, I have been reflecting on the births of both my sons and how different they are. My first birth was with an OB-GYN, in a hospital, and I got an epidural. My second was also in a hospital, but with a Certified Nurse Midwife and unmedicated that time. I’ll share the story of my second birth in a different post.
My pregnancy experience

After having a miscarriage in March 2020 (yes during the height of COVID – that is a whole nother story), I was super fortunate to have a very uneventful pregnancy. I struggled with awful morning sickness up until about 16 weeks and worked full-time at a pharmacy (on my feet most of the day) from the beginning of my third trimester until the day before I gave birth. I also had prodromal labor after every 10 hour shift I did at work for the last month of my pregnancy so I kept thinking this baby was going to come early! I really didn’t want to be induced but my OB kept offering to schedule an induction for me (even as early as 39 weeks). I finally reluctantly scheduled an induction for 5 days after my due date.
Leading up to the birth
The day before my due date, I worked a full 10-hour shift at work. I remember patients asking me when I was due and I got to tell them, “Tomorrow!”. I was super discouraged because I had been in so much pain and having so many contractions for weeks but that day, I had no pain, no contractions, and a surge of energy. One of my older coworkers told me that can often be a sign that labor is coming (and she was right!).
That night, my husband and I got Wendy’s for dinner. We parked at a parking lot at Utah State University that overlooked Cache Valley and watched the sunset. We had had a goal to finish reading The Book of Mormon by the time our baby came, and we finished the last few chapters of Moroni that night. I remember looking at the glittering lights of the valley and feeling so peaceful and ready for our baby to come!
My due date!

The morning of my due date, I woke up at 4 am with painful, regular contractions. I had never had contractions that had woken me up at night before. At 6 am, we were pretty sure this was labor and headed to the hospital. When I arrived, I was 5 cm dilated and 100% effaced. I was trying to breathe through contractions, but I wasn’t handling them super well. I hadn’t done a lot of preparation for managing contractions so I remember I mostly laid in the hospital bed and I would tense up during contractions. They let me know the anesthesiologist had a c-section scheduled, so if I wanted an epidural, it was either now or in about 2 hours. I was nervous about the wait, so I opted to get the epidural soon.
The epidural was super helpful but it was also only working on the right side side. They had me lay on my left side to see if it would transfer over. After a few hours, they readjusted the epidural and then broke my water. When they broke my water, I was 6 cm dilated and 30 minutes later, I was 9.5 cm dilated! (Funny side note: when I made that big leap, I started throwing up pretty violently but my stomach was empty. I was throwing up so loud that I had a bunch of nurses run into my room to see what was wrong).
Pushing

Around 2 pm, it was time to start pushing! My new epidural was doing a little too well, so I had to be completely directed by my nurse on what to do. Originally, they thought the baby would be there after about an hour of pushing but after 2 hours, they called my OB in. They were worried about how tired I was getting and the condition of the baby, so my OB encouraged me to consider letting him use forceps to assist the baby out. I agreed to that and after just a few pushes, he was here!
Baby boy

Our perfect baby boy was born at 4:16 pm. He was 7 lbs and 6 oz and 19 inches long. My husband cried seeing him for the first time. He had a very bad cone head from the long pushing time and also some scratches on his face from the forceps (to this day, he still has a small scar by his eye!). He had just a little bit of fine, dark hair. We named him after my husband’s grandfather.
My overall experience

I would say that my overall birth experience was very positive. Like I mentioned earlier, I definitely didn’t prepare well for managing contraction pain. I think having coping skills is valuable whether you are planning to get an epidural or go unmedicated. You never know how long you may have to wait to get an epidural or how much your epidural will actually work. I also feel like I learned a lot about the labor and delivery process that helped me to prepare for my next birth. You never know really know what it’s going to be like until you’ve actually done it! Lastly, this birth really gave me confidence in myself. I feel like I learned that I really can do hard things.
My advice for other moms
- Take a birth class with your partner! This helped my husband feel more prepared to help me during labor and know what to expect.
- Have a handful of coping mechanisms you can use to get through contractions.
- Be educated about what your options are and be prepared to make choices.
- Find a provider you can trust and who is supportive of your birth plan and preferences.
- Trust yourself and your body. You were made to do this!
For a sweet poem about babies and some inspiration for moms, click here to read my blog post about the poem “Babies don’t keep”.
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