This post is part of an editorial series, “The Stork Stories,” brought to you by the Fort Worth Moms Blog and Texas Health. We hope these pieces provide you with helpful information, encouragement, and answers as you prepare for baby’s arrival.
I consider myself to be a Type A- personality. I like things planned and orderly. I know what I’m going wear tomorrow, but I’m probably going to iron it minutes before I actually put it on. When it came to my pregnancy, I was ready to schedule my delivery at about week 10. My doctor kindly informed me that things don’t work quite that way on a first, healthy pregnancy. What?! I thought that was the big trend back in 2011—having your baby’s birthday blocked off in Outlook. This lack of control over when my baby would make his appearance was way outside my comfort zone (the first of many, many things about pregnancy that push the limits of a woman’s comfort zone).
Over the course of the next months of being pregnant, I ultimately accepted that this was part of my calling as a mom, and it was the absolute thrill of our lives when I went into labor in the most natural way. I made the big call to my husband: “It’s time!” and off we went that evening to the hospital. I wouldn’t change a thing about it in retrospect and am thankful we had that experience.
And then I got pregnant with baby number two. Since my first delivery had been relatively uneventful, I had great expectations for the same a second time. Bags were packed, ready for those contractions to become consistently less than five minutes apart, and yet, I stayed pregnant. And continued to stay pregnant. In one of those late once-a-week visits, well past my doctor’s particular milestone marking weeks in my pregnancy for inducing, she said the words, “I called the hospital earlier today and went ahead and scheduled you for February 28. You’ll check in at 6:30 a.m. to start induction if you don’t have a baby before then.”
A week before she was born, there it was in my Outlook calendar, her birthday: February 28.
(Side note: I had medical reasons for induction.)
My friends, who had inductions before me, all set me up with the exact same scenario:
- Grab a bite to eat on the way to the hospital because you probably won’t get lunch. (Whataburger taquito, check!)
- You’ll check in early that morning, and fill out all your paperwork. (Check!)
- Gown up, and they’ll start your IV and pitocin. (Check!)
- If it starts to get uncomfortable, you’ll ring for your epidural. (Check!)
- Around lunchtime you’ll start to push, and shortly after lunch, you’ll have your baby in your arms! (Nope and nope!)
My experience was vastly different on that last item. Lunchtime and afternoon came and went. My baby was in a weird position and would not drop. My progress was stalling. And stalled until about 10:00 p.m. that night, even as they positioned and repositioned me throughout the day. My awesome doctor, who fed her family supper after her office hours, and then came back up to the hospital to deliver my kiddo, was still there. She tried one more positioning technique and left me to myself to rest. I’m not exactly sure what happened after she left the room (tired, hungry, ice chips not cutting it) but finally, progress! At 10:45 p.m. after six pushes, our youngest was born.
I write this because not one birth story I heard regarding induction before I had my baby was like my experience. They were all relatively “routine” or short, so it sounded. Obviously every birth is different, like each one of us is different, but I wish I had known so I could have managed my expectations a little more. If you are preparing for induction, know that no two experiences are the same. Maybe it will be quick or maybe it will be long, but ultimately you’ll end up with your new sweet baby in your arms!
Stork Stories photo credit: www.freepik.com.
