Mason's Birth Story

Mason’s Birth Story

On Friday, October 27, 2012 around 10:15pm I started having slight contractions that felt different than anything I had felt before. I waited until I could tell if they were getting stronger or if they were happening consistently. Around 11:00pm I was so tired and told Josh that I thought I was having contractions and I was ready for bed. I noticed the contractions getting stronger and stronger but tried to rest in spite of growing more and more uncomfortable.  Around 12:30am on October 28, 2012 I began timing the contractions. They were anywhere from 3 to 6 minutes apart and were getting stronger still. Josh asked every thirty minutes if we should go to the hospital yet, but I kept trying to hold off as long as I could.

At 2:00am Josh woke up and asked me once again if I was ready. I told him at that time that I thought we should probably head to the hospital. We grabbed the car seat and hospital bag, packed the last minute things we would need and drove the 10 minutes to Banner Ironwood. We got there with only having two contractions on the way.

Since it was so late, we entered through the Emergency Room.  We walked in and I told the front desk, “I’m pretty sure I’m having my baby!”

I was put in a wheelchair and taken to a triage room. My contractions were still less than 5 minutes apart. The nurse checked me and I was dilated to 2cm and still only 50% effaced.  Baby and I were both monitored and I was given graham crackers and apple juice to keep Mason moving so he would move down during contractions and continue to dilate me.

At 4:45 the nurse came in to check me again and told us there had been no change. I was being sent home with instructions to “eat something and try to get some sleep.” Sure, right.  I was in so much pain, that neither one of those things were going to happen.

I told Josh to try to get some sleep as I laid on the bed on my right side and writhed in pain every two or three minutes.  By 6:45am I was in so much pain that I was about ready to tell Josh that we had to go back to the hospital and tell them they had to do something.  I was trying to tough out the pain, but I could tell it was getting even stronger still.  At 7:00am I was lying on our bed and all of a sudden felt a surge of pressure.  I immediately knew my water was going to break.  I shot up and ran to the bathroom and instantly thought, “We can go back to the hospital and they can’t send me home again!”

We made it back to the hospital where the contractions continued to get stronger still.  I knew the pain was worse than when I had been there a few hours earlier, but I had no idea how far along I would be.

They took me again to a triage room and checked me. I was 100% effaced and dilated to 6cm.  They couldn’t believe how fast I progressed and tried to start the IV.  Josh told them I wanted an epidural as well.  The first nurse blew the vein on my left hand so it took twice as long to get the IV in as I was having contractions thirty seconds or so. The nurses said I had to have a whole bag of liquid before I could have the epidural, but they called the anesthesiologist before even wheeling me across the hall to a delivery room.

The anesthesiologist was walking in at the same time I was being wheeled through the door. 

The nurses checked me again and told me I was dilated to 10cm. They pushed the IV liquid through as fast as they could while the anesthesiologist got ready to do the epidural.  I sat on the edge of the bed and about four minutes later the anesthesiologist said he was done placing the epidural.  Just as he was done and I was still sitting on the edge of the bed, I felt a whole new feeling of pressure and had to lift my body off the bed as I felt a head pushing down.

The nurses continued to push the liquid through my IV as the anesthesiologist administered an emergency dose of epidural medication.  After another five minutes of contractions, my legs finally began to get numb. Up until this time I had felt everything.

As the epidural took effect, I was told we were going to do some pushes to get Mason’s head under my pubic bone.  After about an hour of pushes with the labor and delivery nurse the doctor came in and I began to push again.  Thirty minutes later, at 10:31am, Mason was born!  7lbs 6oz.  21in. long