Theo’s Birth Story

If you are being induced, this might be helpful for you to read!

Theo came via a fairly uneventful labor induction due to suspected cholostasis of pregnancy. When I was in the hospital, I had the idea to take notes in my iphone of the whole process. It’s fun to look back on now. I was honestly so scared of labor and delivery, but it was harder to be “third trimester” pregnant than it was for me to go through labor and delivery.

Side note: we did not take many pictures in the hospital, and I would re do this if I could.

On 10/22, I went to my routine 39w appointment (I was 38w6d). At this point, every week I cried because I did not want to be pregnant anymore. It was so widly uncomfortable. I am 5’3″ on a good day, so there wasn’t a significant amount of room in my torso to grow another human. I reported itchiness of my palms and feet at this appointment, and the doctor suspected cholostasis (a pregnancy induced condition in which your bile levels are elevated and this can be very dangerous for the baby). The doctor recommended that I go home, pack my bags, and come back to the hospital to be induced THAT NIGHT. I promptly rushed home and sobbed for a while because I had no idea what we had gotten ourselves into.

Annnnyway, we left around 5 pm for the hospital and stopped at Wendy’s on the way, so that I could get a jr. bacon cheeseburger and a large chocolate frosty. I was admitted and the lovely nurse said that I could eat my frosty (or anything I wanted) until they started giving me pitocin. That was great news, since I had not finished my frosty yet.

At 6:30 pm, I was 1 cm dilated, and the first dose of cytotec was administered. Heavy menstrual-like cramps started at this point.

At 1:030 Pm, I was 1.5 cm dilated and the second dose of cytotec was administered. I also got some ambien, but I did not sleep through that. My contractions getting stronger and more regular at this point but still manageable.

10/23 (Theo’s birthday!)

At 2:30 am, I was still awake and still 1.5 cm dilated. I literally have these as my notes: “moved to birthing ball because hospital bed is uncomfortable AF. Getting Italian ice from the nurse. I’m bored.” Little did I know, I would never utter the words “I’m bored” ever again.

At 4:15 am, they started me on the lowest dose of pitocin, and increased the dose appx every 30 mins or so. I was FINALLY able to take a nap for about an hour and a half.

At 6:30 am, they checked me and I was dilated 2 cm. I was able to nap again for about an hour. They woke me up at 8:15 am and the midwife had a stick in her hands and asked if she could break my water. I said “umm… sure?” Little did I know, after your water breaks, that is when contractions get extremely painful. Apparently, you can ask for an epidural before they break your water. The more you know. Just ask for the epidural before they break your water. I asked for IV pain meds because they could give those to me quickly, and they did not work in the slightest so they began running IV fluids in preparation for my epidural.

10:00 am and my epidural was administered. SWEET RELIEF. Women go through a WHOLE lot to have a baby, and I believe the epidural is our gift from modern medicine. Another check at 11 am said that I was 4.5 cm dialated and I proceeded to take another nap (I love naps).

At 1:00 pm, I had another check and was 8 cm dilated. For anyone who says that epidurals slow down labor, that is fake news!

The 2:45 pm check showed that I was fully ready and began pushing around 3:00 pm. I pushed for about an hour, and then we met Theo!!

Theodore James was born at 4:04 pm. 7 lbs 11 oz and 21 inches long, exactly one week before his due date. Thankfully there were no major complications or issues other than an 8 and 9 apgar score due to purple-ish coloring when born. He came out crying, pooped on the midwife’s shoe, and really made a great first impression. We were overjoyed, scared, excited, and just full of emotion.