On Tuesday May 27th Dr Henrich schedules Abby for induction because her blood pressure was elevated in the office. Daddy confirms that the reading was accurate once they get home, by checking it again.   Abby finds out through asking follow up questions that she’s not a candidate for medication or extra monitoring, because the baby is full term the safest choice is delivery.  Mom and Dad feel at peace with the decision and start preparing for the induction scheduled the next evening. Mom is hopeful that her choice to have her membranes swept in the office will encourage labor to start on its own!   The next day she’s wondering if things are headed in the right direction because she is having more discomfort in her pelvis, an increase in discharge and some spotting.  By 1:35 Wednesday afternoon she is thinking she lost her mucous plug and has loose stools soon after.  Mom and Dad go to the hospital around 7pm on the 28th but end up waiting in the lobby for a room until 9:47! Finally at 11:35 she texts saying  they are settled and she is started on her first dose of  Cytotec.  She was 1 cm dilated and 70% effaced upon admission. She finds sleep hard to come by when she informs me at 1:33 in the morning that her cramping is “pretty bad” but luckily her blood pressure has finally come down which eases her mind.  We continue to talk via text about all the things- expectations throughout the process, sneaking food and  fetal monitoring options.  Mom’s excitement and discomfort are keeping her from the sleep she knows she needs to pursue.  I suggest some birth affirmation playlists for her to calm her mind when her progress is checked at 3:08 am and they report her cervix has not changed yet.  A second dose is given and soon after she is having more intense cramping that seems to come and go in more of a pattern.  Abby finally is able to sleep until about  6:44 in the morning of the 29th!   Her third and final dose of Cytotec is given just before shift change and they talk about starting Pitocin if no changes are made in a few hours.  By 9:30 Mom is up and active on the birth ball and less than 45 minutes later she notices contractions on the monitor! We are anticipating the results of her next cervical check when the doctor plans to see her at 10:45.  Mom and Dad decide to go for a walk while waiting.  At 11:11 Dad takes over Mom’s phone and is texting me now, he says that Abby is having more contractions that seem intense.  Before I have time to ask clarifying questions about how she’s coping he says at 11:16 her water broke!  By 11:20 I start making preparations to head to meet them at the hospital.  I pack my car and get childcare organized but at 11:23 Dad says her contractions are 2 minutes apart and last 30 seconds already, so I move quicker. He confirms the last piece of pertinent information at 11:29, that Mom ‘goes into herself’ during contractions but recovers in between, now I’m in my car!  Dr Henrich is pleasantly surprised with Mom’s sudden change in demeanor and confirms things are headed in the right direction.  After just laying eyes on her she decides to hold off on starting Pitocin and the cervical check because Abby is clearly in active labor.  Yay!   

At 12:46 in the afternoon I’m making my way down the hall to room 09360 suite 3 and am immediately stopped in my tracks as I recognize the sounds of transition! Then I realize it’s Abby!  As soon as I open the door to her room, her nurse promptly redirects me to wait in the hallway as she is  mid-epidural.  Before exiting the room I look over at Abby who is on her knees, on top of the bed, trying her hardest to be still while working through the most intense contractions. Her CRNA is very patient, accommodating her creative position without batting an eye.  Back in the hallway I can still hear sounds of labor with each wave as she waits for the relief to take over.  At 1:01 I’m permitted back in  the room and find Abby lying in bed, on her side, still reeling from the escalation of the past few hours.  She is processing how things intensified out of nowhere from mild cramping to strong surges that strengthened once on the toilet where her water broke.  She says things amplified from there but it is a blur.  One minute she was comfortable on the birthing ball and leaning over the bed, focused on staying active with movement, then all of a sudden she’s climbing up on the bed on all fours and begging Michael for relief.  Her only comfort was found in Daddy applying counter pressure and doing hip squeezes like a boss. She’s still rocking and moaning through contractions,  though it appears the epidural has at least taken the edge off.  She is able to focus on her breath now, being intentional with every inhale and exhale.  She takes every contraction captive by breathing it out strong and forcefully.  She keeps her face tense and grips the bedrail but then softens and smiles when it’s passed.  We celebrate, in awe of her body, as she remembers that she was already 7cm when they checked her before the epidural.  We are all so shocked and thankful how easily and quickly her body took to the induction process.  She is excited that she didn’t have to get pitocin.  Dr Henrich comes in to check on Mom at  2:23 and reports back that Abby is already dilated 10 cm and that baby’s station is +1!  Mom wants to labor down and is switching from left to right  side then sitting up high in bed with her legs butterflied lower than hips.  

By 3:16 the doctor says she’s ready to push, nurse Kelly is there for encouragement and we try all different arrangements and positions while Abby tries to find her groove.  The nurse holds her legs, Michael and myself try to take hold, then Mom tries herself but nothing feels effective to her.  She takes the time to practice her breathing pattern instead of focusing on positioning.  She’s watching all our faces intently for a sign of progress as she tries to hone in on what feels best.   She has wonderful movement and feeling in her legs so is not limited in any way.  An hour in and myself and Kelly can see she’s making progress but there’s a disconnect because Mom isn’t experiencing that herself yet, but she keeps trusting the process and giving it her all.  By 5:16 we start seeing the baby’s head which gives Mom an extra dose of adrenaline and power behind those pushes!  She is intentional in between, resting, as she intuitively knows she needs her strength.  Dad sneaks her electrolytes when Kelly leaves the room and she continues to drink freely and moisturize her lips, asking for Billy Joel songs.  Nurse Abbie takes over and starts to manage Mom’s pushes in a way that’s contradictory to the flow Abby worked so hard to get to.  Mom is only mildly distracted by the new prompts and instructions but Dad advocates for her to go back to what she was doing before.  Abby does her best keeping HER rhythm and listening to her body.  We chat more in between pushes as her contractions start to space out.  Dad plays d.j and ques up everything from an Irish band to Fall Out Boy radio and a few random stops along the way.  Ultimately they settle on a birth playlist called “Push It” which has the whole room laughing at each song choice.  Abby starts to get concerned with timing, as we’re watching the hours tick by we are expecting her doctor to cut her off.  Dr Henrich recognizes this and reassures Mom that she is not on a timeline. Relief washes over Abby as the doctor further explains that both Mom and baby are tolerating everything perfectly so there is no need to prevent her from continuing to push!   They decide to start pitocin at 5:22 pm because the contractions are becoming infrequent and they want Mom to have that extra power from the uterus helping her get her baby further down and out.  Mom starts to get overwhelmed and discouraged  as each staff member has varying encouragement styles and suggestions.  Abby struggles keeping her focus and momentum, trying to do everything she’s told though it’s opposite what she knows is most efficient.  Nurse Kelly implements tug of war for a while and Mom really brings her baby down further than before.  This helps her keep her power for the next round of pushes.  Finally when the baby’s head stays visible in between pushes we bring in the mirror and Abby keeps herself motivated watching how far she can get his head out with every contraction.  Now that the pitocin is strengthening her contractions we can see the baby moves further down even before Mom initiates pushes.  A few more rounds of these and Baby George was born around 7:20 pm, he was perfectly positioned with his head down, just taking his sweet time.  He never scared us or showed signs of even a moment’s distress on the monitor.  All the while his Momma never gave up either, though she had moments of tears and feelings like she wasn’t doing it right. Her relief was instant, she shed tears of joy through her exhaustion and didn’t pause in bringing him right to her face for introductions.  She reached for him instantaneously and along with Dad they shared immediate love and wonder.  Exclaiming that he was beautiful, from his very first second he was settled and loved.