Four months later, I’m here to talk the details of Alexis Nicole’s birth. For anyone wondering, no, we’re not getting graphic. In fact, I don’t even have any more than a couple of photos before baby girl even arrived. I’ll be sharing my timeline and high level details because every birth story can be vastly different.
Disclaimer: I am not a licensed healthcare provider, any medical explanations you see in this article are simply a regurgitation of what my provider explained to me. Always seek a professional with questions on your care. Now, let’s dive in!
Scheduling My Induction
With gestational diabetes, babies very commonly arrive early on their own. Having been diagnosed myself, I was ready by week 34 with a hospital go bag and a plan. It changed a few times in the weeks thereafter, but at least I had something if I’d needed it. As my birth story would turn out, it never came up.
At my week 38 appointment I was 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced which was excellent news (10 cm and 100% is time to push!). Baby was en route to entering the world naturally. However, if she didn’t come in the next week on her own, the doctor’s recommendation was to induce. So, before we left that day, we scheduled my induction for April 4 at 7:00 am, bright and early! My NP playfully said with how far along I was there’s a good chance I have a baby by dinner that day.
The Morning of My Induction
We made it to week 39 and 1 day a.k.a. induction day. Baby girl had no intention of coming early despite the odds, so we were going to have to give her a little assist.
Everything was set the night before, bags ready to go and we even dropped Bickell off at my mom’s after dinner since we had to be at the hospital so early the next day.
However, I woke up to a voicemail from the hospital at 5:42 a.m.
Of course I still have the voicemail! I’ll probably play it for Alexis one day when I’m explaining how excited we were to meet her and woke up to find out we had to wait a bit longer.
Thankfully, right as I was picking up the phone at 10:03 a.m. it started ringing and it was the hospital. They had a room and told us to come at 11:30 a.m. Woohoo!
We stopped for one last lunch, a cheat meal for me, the first “real pizza” I’ve had since January 6 when I found out about my gestational diabetes, and then headed to the hospital.
The Final Countdown to Baby Girl
We were at the hospital a little before 11:30 a.m. (what else did we have to do that day??) and we’re promptly checked in. If you’ve never been induced, the actual process didn’t start for almost another three full hours. There’s a lot of paperwork, the nurses want to go over your birth plan if you have one (more on that next) and they walk you through generally what happens throughout the process.
My Birth Plan
There’s a LOT out there on birth plans. I’m certainly not qualified to walk you through it all, but here’s the general idea. You fill out a bunch of preferences and wishes for your ideal birth in advance. Things like pain management preferences, if you’d like to have food/water if possible, who will cut the umbilical cord and when, and the list goes on. This way, your providers have this information and don’t have to ask when you’re busy delivering a baby.
I used Mommy Labor Nurse’s birth plan template and highly recommend ALL her materials. If you’re an expecting mom, give her a follow on social and/or sign up for her newsletters. You won’t regret it!
13 Hours, 30 Minutes Before Baby
At 2:15 p.m. they started the Pitocin, the natural hormone that causes the uterus to contract and induce labor. I have to say, for the next six hours, there’s really no update; I didn’t feel the contractions for a while and when I did, they were honestly so tiny, I was genuinely confused at first! To keep busy, I rotated between standing, taking short in-room walks and sitting or bouncing on an exercise ball. The hospital typically provides those, but check in advance in case you want to bring one!
7 Hours, 30 Minutes Before Baby
My contractions started to get stronger but were still manageable. Several nurses and the doctor all advised me to request the epidural before really needing it; I held that advice close. It can take 60-90 minutes if the anesthesiologist is busy, so that was something to keep in mind also.
At around 8:15 p.m. I felt like they were getting strong enough that I should request it so as to not be caught on the wrong side of things, so I let the nurse know.
7 Hours, 15 Minutes Before Baby
Side story: Remember how they initially told me they had no rooms because of a huge influx of delivering moms? Well, that theme carried all through my hospital stay. My doctor had seven deliveries before me that day and was VERY busy my whole stay in labor & delivery.
That being said, when she came in to break my waters, it was kind of now or never. Who knew when I’d be able to get on her schedule again (my thought process, anyway). I’d ordered it, but hadn’t gotten the epidural yet, and had no idea what I just signed up for.
Contractions After a Broken Water Without an Epidural
Lean in and listen closely, because when I tell you this was the WORST 60 minutes of my entire birth story, I MEAN IT.
I cannot describe with words the pain of having post-water breaking contractions without an epidural. It was AWFUL. I was in TEARS. I was standing, sitting on an exercise ball, having Kevin apply counter pressure, simply trying EVERYTHING in the book to get them to be less painful. The fluids (your ‘waters’) act as a barrier to absorb and ease the pain of the contractions. Once your waters are broken, it’s just you and the contractions, babe.
To the moms who do this au naturel by choice, bravo. It couldn’t be me.
6 Hours, 15 Minutes Before Baby
At 9:30 p.m. the heavens opened up and an angel (anesthesiologist, same difference) came to my room and relieved the pain. Within minutes of having the epidural placed you truly become a different person. At 9:45 p.m. my nurse went to get Kevin and literally said “your wife’s back” – can’t even blame her, some loud, crazy, psycho gal was here just before epidural-me.
2 Hours, 25 Minutes Before Baby
Between 9:45 p.m. and 1:20 a.m. there wasn’t much going on. With the epidural placed I was able to get some rest. Maybe an hour or two at most, but still, some rest. Kevin was of course passed out cold on the convertible couch (rough day for him, I guess?).
My doctor came in and checked on me at 1:20 a.m. and I was 7 cm dilated and 70% effaced.
“Wait, wasn’t I 80% effaced last week at the checkup?” Yes, but apparently that estimate is just that, an estimate. It really doesn’t matter what that number is until it’s 100%, so each provider may give a different estimate based on their exam.
Lesson: do not live or die by the effacement number! Just keep doing the best for you and baby and you’ll get there. In the end, it’s not really a big detail of your birth story at all.
1 Hour, 15 Minutes Before Baby
Introducing, the peanut ball!
Also known as “Mr. Peanut” this is an exercise ball shaped like, you guessed it, a peanut. I swear by this technique after using it myself and you’ll read more about why in a second.
Once you’re bedridden, a great way to help progress your labor is to place the peanut ball between your legs. It helps open your pelvis for baby’s imminent arrival. There’s a bunch of studies on how beneficial this easy, natural technique is, so I encourage you to read up on it via reliable sources if you’re curious!
The hospital will likely also have these, but be sure to check in advance and if not, this peanut ball is the Amazon’s Choice for under $25.
20 Minutes Before Baby – Ready to Push!
At 3:24 a.m. my doctor comes in full of energy asking who’s ready to push — me, I guess?? For real though, she is the BEST! My doctor is an integral part of my positive birth story and experience. It’s so important to trust and genuinely like your healthcare providers and I couldn’t be more lucky to be in the care of mine. She was fresh as a daisy in the middle of the night, her first day of work since her weeklong vacation too, ready to deliver our baby girl.
First, let’s talk about the timeline and progress from the last update.
I attribute going from 7 cm to 10 cm in 55 minutes to using the peanut ball. There’s no other explanation in my mind as to how I made 1/3 of the dilation progress in that short time, 10/10 will be using it again!
Alexis Nicole is Here!
After 20 short minutes of pushing, at 3:44 a.m. on April 5, 2022 Alexis Nicole was born.
She was a perfect baby with very healthy measurements and biometrics, and we couldn’t have been more thankful.
Not to discredit the work that comes with birthing a baby, but I was pleasantly shocked with the pushing experience. Maybe it’s because her birth story only includes 20 minutes of pushing, but it really did not hurt or look like the movies portray it. It truly wasn’t that bad.
My Postpartum Stay
We were moved to our postpartum room at about 5:30 a.m. and Kevin’s favorite anecdote to share is how I was asking for my sandals because I needed them to walk to the new room. He said, “Ash, it’s fine, pretty sure you’re getting wheeled there.” (insert the shrugging emoji here) What can I say, I’m not one to assume people to do stuff for me, I was up on both feet already so I was good to go, ha!
Like the labor and delivery rooms, the postpartum rooms are all private rooms at our hospital, which made our stay incredibly comfortable. We settled in and attempted to get a little sleep right away after all the excitement of the last few hours.
Much like leading up to the delivery though, I wasn’t able to sleep that much. Every little noise Alexis made had me up – as is the way with a lot of new parents – but at least the bed was pretty comfortable by hospital standards. Not something I hear in a birth story a lot so I felt very grateful.
Our total hospital stay was a little over 48 hours and we were off to the comfort of our own home. They say there’s two types of people postpartum, those who are itching to get home and those who want to stay, I was definitely the former. I knew we had prepared really well for Alexis’ arrival so I was eager to get to the comfort of our own home.
Our birth story doesn’t stop at the hospital. We were welcomed home with an adorable sign on our lawn and reunited with our best boy Bickell. We felt complete again! Watch my Alexis’ arrival day vlog here to see Bicky meet his new baby sister!
What is Thank with Google?
I’m excited to be one of Google’s paid early testers for their Thank with Google pilot program. Thank with Google is an experimental feature that allows you to send a virtual sticker and directly show your appreciation for my blog’s content.
As a loyal supporter, you now have the ability to express yourself and share what work of mine is the most beneficial to you. There are a variety of stickers to select from and every time you send a paid sticker, you can add a personal message which I love to receive!
For me, these virtual stickers translate into direct revenue to support the work that goes into the content that you’re enjoying on my blog. You can find the Thank with Google feature in multiple places on my site. If you try it out, let me know what you think in the comments! Thanks as always for your support.
More Family and Baby
- Pink and White Minimalist Nursery
- Better Newborn Sleep Tips
- Our First Two Months as New Parents
- In-Home Maternity Photoshoot Ideas
