Short version: My labor was quick, only 6 hours total, but the delivery itself was long, hard, and somewhat traumatic!
Long version: My due date with Clara was Saturday May 12th. My doctor who had been gone the entire week leading up to my due date, had suggested that we schedule an induction for Monday the 14th, so that I didn't end up with a baby that was too big (ha ha). However, having never been induced before, I was hopeful that I would go into labor on my own before Monday morning. On Saturday, we spent the majority of our time in baby-prep mode, (getting the house picked up and cleaned, running last minute errands). I had been having lots of contractions, but nothing regular or painful. Saturday evening, we decided to take the kids to The Amazing Pizza Machine for dinner and games/rides. After we got home, we went on an hour long walk in hopes of helping to get my labor started. After putting the kids in bed, and getting a few last minute things done, I headed to bed without any signs of labor.
At 4:30am on Sunday morning, I woke up with some really painful contractions. I started timing them, but wasn't expecting anything to come of it, because with my other two labors, I always had a night of false labor before going into real labor the next night. Well, my contractions just kept getting more painful, and closer together. At about 6am, only an hour and a half after first waking up, they were coming every 3 to 5 minutes, and were extremely painful. I called my mom to tell her we needed to go to the hospital, and could she come be with the kids. By the time my mom arrived at about 6:45, we were packed and ready to go. I was grateful the hospital is only a few minutes from my house. We quickly got checked in and headed to our room. After some initial questions, the nurse checked me (a little after 7:00), and I was at 8 cm! She started rushing around a little bit after that, and called in another nurse to help get things going. I had tested positive for strep B, so they got an IV and an antibiotic going right away. I asked about my doctor, telling the nurse that he said if I delivered on Sunday, he would be back, but she said that he hadn't yet called to 'check-in', and that they couldn't contact him. She asked if I wanted an epidural, and since my labor was going so quickly, I almost didn't, but decided to go ahead and get one (definitely the RIGHT decision because of what came later).
Somewhere between getting my IV, and getting my epidural, my nurse said that my doctor called, and that he was on his way. My doctor arrived while I was getting my epidural, and checked to see that I was at a 10, so he went ahead and broke my water.
(Side Note: my epidural was fabulous. My legs felt a little weird, but I could move them easily, which is what I wanted. I hate having no feeling in my legs. This epidural took away the pain of the contractions, but allowed me to be able to feel and move my legs...perfect!) My doctor then wanted me to 'labor down' for awhile before we began pushing. After about 1/2 hr, of waiting, we started pushing. After the first few pushes, the doctor realized that the baby was faced the wrong way. Her head was down, but she was face up instead of face down. He decided to have me 'labor down' for a little while longer in some different positions (i.e. hands and knees, and on my side) to see if Clara would flip. When I started pushing again, I tried pushing in these different positions, while the doctor tried to manually turn Clara. After pushing for over an hour, (with no success in turning Clara) I was starting to get a little discouraged. I felt like since she was my 3rd baby, the delivery should be easier! Unfortunately that was not the case. It seemed that we were making little progress pushing, and I heard the doctor mention potentially using forceps to turn the baby. We pushed for another 15 minutes or so, and then the doctor started prepping to use forceps. By this time, my epidural seemed to be starting to wear off. My contractions were starting to feel more painful, and I could feel a lot of pressure. After a quick prep, the doctor said that on the next contraction he was going to flip the baby with the forceps. I purposely didn't look at the forceps, but I definitely felt them!! They were really painful. So during my next contraction, while I was pushing the doctor used the forceps to flip Clara. He quickly removed them, and then repositioned them again to use during my next contraction to deliver Clara. Again it was quite painful, but she was out!! YAY!!
My doctor thought that Clara would be around the same size as my other two babies (8.8 and 8.10) but as soon as she came out, he guessed that she was 9 lbs 13 ozs. We were all shocked to see that she weighed 10 lbs 4 ozs, and was 21 3/4 inches long!! I really couldn't believe that she was so big! With her being so big, and being face-up instead of face-down, it was no wonder I couldn't just push her out. The nurse afterwards told me that my doctor (a male) was the best at using forceps. She said that often other doctors will call him to deliver a baby using forceps rather than having their patients have a c-section. I was SO grateful that my doctor was able to deliver Clara, because I really think that had he not been there, I would've ended up with a c-section.
Final thoughts: My labor was definitely a LOT quicker with baby #3 than it had been with my other 2, but the actual delivery was the most traumatic (for me at least). I am so grateful for having such a skilled doctor to deliver Clara, and I am especially grateful that Clara is here, and is 100% healthy!
