The Snegoskys

Anna’s birth story

Anna’s due date was Tuesday June 9^th, 2015.

My final prenatal appointments were showing high blood pressure and concerns about pre-eclampsia. I decided to stop working a few days before my due date in hopes to avoid an induction. I spent my free time walking the neighborhood (3-4 miles per day) and using my breast pump to see if I could get contractions started. It worked and I felt mild contractions while on the pump. At my next appointment (39 weeks) my blood pressure was better and I was dilated to 3cm and 75% effaced. The next week, I kept walking and tried the breast pump on and off to see if I could get labor going on my own. On Tuesday, June 9^th (40 weeks) I saw Doctor Miles. (Dr. Miles confirmed both of my pregnancies and sent me for my induction with Sara.) He told me my cervix was still a 3 and gave me the options to wait and see if anything happened by 41 weeks or to schedule an induction in a couple days. I was feeling defeated and decided to go with the induction.

My induction was scheduled for 7:30AM Thursday, June 11^th. Doctor Miles told me they would break my water and start Pitocin. Using Pitocin scares me and I felt a lot of anxiety over my decision. I had hoped to avoid an induction and was feeling panicked over choosing that route in the end. Thursday came and I received a call at 6:00am telling me they needed to push out my induction because L&D was really busy. I had a feeling my induction would be postponed until the following week. I went to bed and told Matt he might as well go into work that day. We fell back asleep and I received a call at 9:30am from the nurse telling me to eat breakfast and come in from the induction. It felt so great to sleep in. Matt & I slowly gathered our things and made our way to the hospital.

After we got to the hospital and settled into our room, my nurse walked in. To my absolute delight, it was April, the nurse that was there for Sara’s delivery. April had completely changed my experience with Sara’s labor from horrible to wonderful. Another nurse (Hillary) was with her and setup my IV. She got it on the first try after I warned her of my previous experiences. I still almost passed out but was thrilled to only need one stab. They started me on antibiotics and we talked about our induction options. I asked if it was possible to have my water broken and to walk the halls to see if contractions would start on their own (instead of using Pitocin). April and the doctor on call (Doctor Marra) both liked that option even though it would take longer. Dr. Marra was very good about listening to my concerns and giving me plenty of options. She had me in the driver’s seat and was there to help weigh the pros and cons of each decision.

After the second round of antibiotics, Dr. Marra broke my water. They had to push down on my belly pretty hard in order for it to break. We started walking immediately. Matt pushed my IV pole while we took several laps. The contractions slowly started to gain momentum and eventually became a little painful. Once I stopped walking and sat back down in bed, my contractions would slow down or become less intense. Dr. Marra checked me and I was dilated between a 4/5. Since I was changing on my own, the doctor let me decide to either keep walking or to start Pitocin. The benefit to Pitocin being we would most likely meet baby sooner. I decided to take another walk but only made it one lap before a very painful contraction stopped me. I would not be walking anymore. I knew I wanted an epidural and April reminded me it would take an hour for it to start working once I requested it. I worried the epidural would stall my contractions so I decided to order the epidural and then start Pitocin.

The anesthesiologist was excellent and talked me through the procedure. The numbing injection hurt the worst. After he was finished I got comfortable in bed and began to watch the monitor at the contractions that began to form a rhythm. At around 11:30pm I noticed pressure in my bottom and asked Matt to walk to the nurse’s station to let them know. The nurse and doctor returned and were very excited. The doctor checked me and said, “oh yeah, you’re fully dilated and at a +3 station. Do you want to have a baby now?” The nurse set me up and asked me to push as a practice push. After one try she told me to stop pushing and to wait for the doctor to get setup. Anna’s heartbeat remained steady and perfect throughout this entire process. Everyone was shocked at how happy she was to be going through labor and delivery. Once the doctor returned, I pushed for about 15 minutes. While Anna was being born, I looked down and saw her head. Her eyes were wide open looking back at me and I could feel her kicking me still on the inside. The nurses joked that she was helping me by trying to kick herself out. After my final push, Anna was born at exactly midnight on Friday, June 12^th. Matt cut the cord and baby Anna was placed on my chest. She cried and screamed the entire time. It was the most beautiful cry. After a few minutes of bonding the nurse took her to clean her up and evaluate her. Matt followed closely and took pictures. Anna cried and protested the entire process and didn’t stop until she was swaddled and back in my arms, where she’s been ever since.