Colette Elaine: Birth Story

I was 39 weeks pregnant and the serious prodromal labor started. I say serious because I have had real contractions since about 21 weeks pregnant and was diagnosed with irritable uterus. The contractions never got more intense until 39 weeks and they were not causing changes to my cervix.  Every night I would go to bed saying, if they wake me up, I'll call the midwife. On Wednesday I told Zach I had a feeling I would go into labor on Thursday (my due date was on Saturday). Thursday came and I was having contractions but nothing unmanageable. I made cookies after Lilah went down and we went to bed around 10 pm. 11:30, I woke up with contractions (STILL THURSDAY!) I took a bath to see if I was having false labor and they slowed down a bit. As soon as I got out of the tub, the intensity picked up. By 1am, I was on the phone with the midwife because the contractions had gotten so intense. She told us to come in. We arrived around 3a and we were admitted! I was 4 cm. Lilah had to come with us to the hospital because we couldn't get a hold of anyone to stay with her at the house. Our friend came and got her from the hospital around 4a. We let Zach's mother know that I was in labor and she came up to stay with Lilah while we were in the hospital. I took a shower to try and relieve some of the pain, but nothing really helped. I was nauseous and vomiting and my body wouldn't stop shaking. Around 7a I was still at 4cm. We decided to get an epidural. Around 8:30a, I had the best anesthesiologist insert the epidural! I could still feel everything but the intense pain and nausea went away. I was able to move my feet and legs still. I had to breathe through every contraction. I still felt in control. It was the perfect combo. Letti was rotated along my right side, which put her at a high risk for being born posterior, so we tried some different positions and got her to flip so her back was on my left side. Around 8cm my contractions spaced out a lot, causing some concern. The midwife suggested we break my bag of water to see if we could get the process moving again. we decided to go ahead and break my water since Letti was in a good position and I didn't want to have other interventions. This happened around 11am. It was like the flood gates opened. The midwife left the room to chart and seconds later I was pushing. She ran back in the room, and Letti was born at 11:34a. While I was pushing, Letti was in distress and I had to wear oxygen. She had the cord wrapped around her neck and was blue for a little while after she was born. She was immediately placed on my chest. I said right then and there, Let's do this again! Everything was perfect. I would not have changed a single thing about it.

Colette Elaine Fiscus
Friday, August 14, 2015
11:34a

6lbs 10oz, 20 inches long