Dalton’s birth story is also one of “be careful what you wish for,” and “the best laid plans.” In this case, I had told myself if I went into labor naturally, I would try to go unmedicated, but if I was induced, I would likely ask for the epidural at 6cm as I had done with Sonia. After trying my best to get labor started naturally, unsuccessfully, I went in for an induction at 41wks+1day. Once I came to terms with the guilt of not letting Dalton pick his own birthday, I settled in for whatever was about to come.
My body was definitely more ready this time. With a much lower dose of Pitocin than with Sonia, I went from 2-6cm in the first 3 hrs of labor. Since the pain was still quite tolerable at that point, I decided to keep going without medication. One hour later, just as the pain was starting to get bad, they checked me again at 6cm, and I asked for the epidural. From there, the pain seemed to escalate exponentially with each contraction. Turns out I had no time for the epidural, because less than 10 minutes later, at 12:03pm, Dalton was out! My OB barely made it in time, and I could barely stop pushing long enough, to cut the cord from around his neck!
Since he came out blue, he was taken for observation before going to my chest. I didn’t mind since I was in such a state of shock that things had gone so quickly, that I needed that time to clear my head. Thankfully, just a few minutes later, we were both cleaned up and he was there on my chest and nursing like a champ right away!
Once again, very little about labor went as I had planned, but I had a wonderfully uncomplicated delivery, without even needing stitches, and got to “experience” the full birth process without pain medication. I still don’t think I felt the bonding hormone and endorphin rush that many mothers describe upon the delivery of their baby, but I certainly felt more aware this time without the epidural. In the end we got our beautiful, healthy, eager eater, Dalton – and nothing is more important than that! He weighed in at 6 lb 4 oz and measured 19 3/4″ long.
