It’s early Friday morning on August 30th, 2024. Mom and Dad arrived at Miami Valley for their scheduled NST and induction at Family Beginnings.  Baby Girl looks great, as always, on the monitor and by 8:57 a.m mom has completed her first round of pumping with steady contractions every 3-5 minutes!  They are not intense yet and she’s able to  focus on movement.  Mom and dad spend all day walking the unit and being intentional with position changes, grabbing rest when they can.  We were checking in via texts and around 3:14 they had eaten lunch and were able to lay down for a long stretch.   Mom is motivated to let things progress on their own and the staff seems on board with that same goal!  Embrissa has her first cervical check at 6:09 where the midwife decides to do a membrane sweep.  Mom is  3 centimeters dilated and her baby is at negative 1 station.  We talk about specific positioning to better help her baby engage and mom gets to work in between pumping sessions.  It’s nearly 12:17 am on   Saturday now when Embrissa notices her contractions slowing down and tapering off in intensity whenever she rests.  Nurses suggest a transfer to Labor & Delivery where they can initiate Pitocin.  Mom is open to this intervention, she already felt it was the next step.  She continues to work with the contractions the pumping is stimulating by staying up all night and being active in between constructed rest positions.  Thanks to her night shift schedule she is not feeling  incredibly tired yet!  A cervical check at 5:42 shows no changes to moms cervix or babies positioning and Pitocin was started soon after.  Mom is able to connect with her body and baby, intuitively knowing no changes were happening prior to the exam. Around 10:14 we check in on Dad to make sure he is able to take care of himself still in between caring for Embrissa. He has been able to eat and rest as her surges gained  intensity but are still manageable for her.  Mom has a positive and confident attitude about the changes to her birth plan and is thankful they are still allowing her to have solid foods since moving to the L&D unit!   Another membrane sweep at 12:32 p.m. finds a bulging water bag and her cervix is now dilated to 4 centimeters! Baby is still hanging out high so nurses get Embrissa set up on a wireless monitor so she can stay upright and moving.  By 3:35 she is maxed out on Pitocin and tolerating  more intense contractions like a warrior, catching pockets of sleeping here and there.  4:59 and she’s now 4.5 centimeters dilated, baby hanging out high but the midwife breaks her water to allow her to come down better.  Mom is motivated though the contractions are picking up speed and strength.  Her and dad walk the unit and she starts feeling nauseous, nurses give her Zofran for relief  at 7:17.  At this point she recognizes she is having to focus more and really stay in the zone to work through things. 8:36 Dad texts this time saying she is making progress and has new sensations in her legs and hips with contractions.  We make some specific position suggestions and internally celebrate (sounds like transition!).  By 8:51 she was getting the shakes (definitely transitioning!) so we head to meet them in room 2019.  We find her coping in the shower around 10 p.m. and by 10:47 she’s in the bed with the peanut ball ready for some constructed rest positions.  She is flipping from side to side, leaning over the back of the elevated bed, alternating exaggerated runners lunges, straddling the peanut ball-whatever she has to do to keep progressing and move things along.  Embrissa’s strength is quiet and dedicated, listening to her body and never becoming discouraged.  10:50 she feels like pushing and another exam shows she is now 10 centimeters! By 11:30 staff is happy with her progress so they turn off the Pitocin and allow her to be free of the iv!  An hour later she’s starting to get hot and sweaty, using her fan as she takes a brave walk to the bathroom to work on the toilet for a bit before she gets back in the shower for some relief.  12:54 am mom says “I feel like she’s rotating” with a knowing smile. During a cervical check with practice pushes at 1:33 nurse reports mom was able to bring the baby down to +2 station, we are all pumped! Mom works with her body and positions herself instinctively during a few hours of pushes without feeling the urges, she never gives up.  After trying the squat bar, tug of war, all fours, squatting next to the bed she tries to empty her bladder again before the midwife and nurse leave us to rest, turning off all the lights. Mom is not able to rest for long, when Pitocin is turned back on around 5:01 a.m.  After an unsuccessful attempt on the bedpan they decide to straight cath mom and get 1,000 ml of urine (!) She’s feeling sweet relief and her midwife says her baby’s head is “right there”!  This momentum keeps going as they up the Pitocin around 6:40 and mom keeps circulating through creative pushing positions.  Though she’s not feeling contractions so she’s still able to rest in between.  She is thankful for her hypnobirthing playlist and focuses her mind on all the positive affirmations, never once getting discouraged.  The new day shift nurse increases Pitocin again at 7:20, now mom is up out of bed using the bed, the toilet, the shower, squats, and gravity all to her advantage.  After two more adjustments to the Pitocin dose, midwife Lauren says happily “let’s get baby out” and maxes her dose out right before emptying her bladder again for another 1,000 ml of urine at 10 am! Everybody is amazed and wondering if the bladder was holding baby back all this time.  Now mom really is moving baby down, making lots of progress, as she positions herself on the bed on all fours and side lying until 11:22 am when Iris finally makes her debut! Dad is so proud, mom is so relieved and staff is sharing in the wonder of this moms determination as she persevered to birth her baby over three solid days of labor, never once losing faith, hope or reserve ❤