Overall I was in labor for 5 full days and 12 hours. I pushed for 2 hours and 21 mins and I delivered a 7lb 9.6 oz /21 inches baby girl!
On Tuesday I had my normal 39 week appt. I was STILL 1 cm/50% effaced. My dr kept telling me I needed to be 2 cm to strip my membranes. I had looked on the internet and read that you could have your membranes stripped @ 1 cm. So I asked again and she said we can go ahead and do this but it would be better if I was 2 cm. So we stripped my membranes that day.
That night I had mild cramping. On Wednesday, late in the day, I started to lose my mucus plug along with more intense cramping with my stomach tightening but with no pain. Thursday during the ,I had lost the rest of my mucus plug and that night I had my bloody show and that continued through Friday. Throughout this time, I had NO sleep what so ever. My cramping was so bad that I couldn’t sleep or get comfortable. I would time my contractions/cramping and wouldn’t have anything timeable. We would have contractions from 6-8 mins apart but then we would have a 10 min apart contraction after 30 mins. It was a never ending. Finally on Saturday night, I was eating dinner and had 2 contractions 3 mins apart. After each contraction, I felt a gush of water. So I checked it out and I basically soaked my underwear. I smelled it and it had no smell what so ever. So I changed my underwear and it happened again. So at that time, my contractions were 3-5 mins apart for a hour with 2- 6 min apart contractions. I called my dr and she said to go to the hospital. So we arrived and we got checked out before getting admitted. I was 4 cm/100% effaced with a high leak. HOLY COW!! So I was admitted. As soon as I got to my delivery room, I had my epidural. The epidural wasnt bad at all. They checked me right after my epidural and I was a 5 cm @ 11pm. We estimated that I would deliver by 4 am. P.S. Beware... your husband might pass out from watching the epidural. My husband got all lightheaded watching it and turned green. It was funny. At my hospital they only check you every 2 hours. So I was checked 2 hours later and I was still a 5cm at 1:30. So they decided to break my water. So they broke my water and 2 hours later I was a 6-7cm around 3:30am. I stayed a 6-7cm for 3 hours and finally progress to 8cm at 5:30am. I was then checked again at 7:30 and was still an 8cm. At 8:30 I was a 9 cm and by 9:30, I was a 10cm. I didnt start pushing until 10:15am. They gave me a little bit of pitocin to help with my contractions. If I remember right, they were like 4-5 mins and they wanted them to be 2-3 mins apart. I had a hard time pushing her past my pubic bone. I also had a hard time knowing if I was having a contraction. So my Dr. turned off my epidural for awhile. I pushed for 2 hours and 21 mins. We tried all kinds of pushing techniques and I still was having trouble getting past the pubic bone. To be honest, the only way I progressed was to get pissed off . I didn’t scream, just a lot of GRRRR’s. Once I got her to past my pubic bone, I progressed a lot faster. The Dr. had to cut me to help get the head out. It was only a minor 2nd degree cut. Finally at 12:36 p.m. Isabella was born! I cried as soon as I saw her. She is amazing and was worth it in the end.
