You guuuys, I cannot believe I gave birth a MONTH ago. How does time go by so fast?
We’re tired and learning how to be parents of two is hard, but we are just so in love with our little family.
Alexa is the best big sister. While there are a few moments of jealousy, she absolutely loves Hailee and their bond is so beautiful.
Today I’m excited to share Hailee’s birth story with you guys. This was my second birth but my first time being induced.
Before I went to be induced I read a bunch of induction birth stories to prepare myself for what could happen. If you’re going to be induced I hope you find this story helpful.
Just remember that every birth is different. None of the induction stories I read were exactly what my birth ended up being like. This is my experience and yours will more than likely be different in some ways too.
My Induction Birth Story With No Epidural
This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please read my disclosure here.
The Pregnancy
This pregnancy didn’t go as smoothly as my first, but it ended with a beautiful healthy baby girl so I can’t complain.
First Trimester
During my first trimester I was extremely nauseous and exhausted all day, everyday. We didn’t leave the house much because of how terrible I was feeling.
It was rough but around 15 weeks in I started to feel better.
Second Trimester
Around the start of my second trimester the morning sickness went away and I got my energy back. I was ready and excited to start taking my daughter to playgroups and playgrounds again when the most unbelievable thing happens right?
A global pandemic.
Just when I started feeling better is when COVID-19 started in the US and we’re all told to not leave our houses. No playgroups, no playgrounds, her preschool shuts down, and we’re not allowed to go see our families.
Like I’m sure many others were, I was an emotional wreck, and the pregnancy hormones weren’t helping.
It was heartbreaking not having my husband come to the anatomy ultrasound. Not being able to have a gender reveal party with friends and family. Plus the whole pandemic environment, wearing masks and avoiding people was just so erry.
Third Trimester
If that wasn’t hard enough, in my third trimester I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and I was devastated.
I was just so physically and emotional exhausted and the thought of having to carefully monitor my diet and test my blood sugar four times a day just broke me.
But I made it and honestly it wasn’t that bad.
The Last Prenatal Appointment
When you have gestational diabetes it’s common for baby to gain extra weight so I was having ultrasounds weekly to monitor Hailee’s size.
They estimated she was 8lbs 4oz at my last ultrasound on August 24th, almost two weeks before my due date. Thats a pretty decent size baby and with two weeks left I was nervous I’d be looking at giving birth to a baby over 9lbs again.
So at my last prenatal appointment on September 2nd when the midwife asked when I’d like to be induced I said as soon as possible. She told me she’d see what she can do and left the room to make a call to the hospital.
She came back with a smile on her face and said they could take me tomorrow night. The emotions I felt at that moment were so weird because yes I wanted to be done with pregnancy, I wanted to meet my baby, but I’m also terrified of childbirth.
I felt a tidal wave of emotion come over me fueled by excitement and fear. Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep that night.
The Devastating News
The last days of your pregnancy leading up to labor are definitely nerve wracking. But scheduling an induction, knowing exactly when it was going to happen, and having time beforehand gives you way too much time to worry and be anxious.
I was trying my best to stay calm that day. I double checked I had everything in our hospital bags, did a little more nesting. I even made a last minute trip to the grocery store for God knows what, I can’t even remember.
I got back to the house at 3pm, four hours before we needed to be at the hospital. I planned to rest until it was time to leave, when I got some devastating news.
My mother called me and let me know that they just got a call and there was a possibility that my grandmother was exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
This meant there was a chance that my grandmother could have it and anyone she’d been around since then could have it too. Including my mother.
I Reached My Breaking Point
At that moment I had reached my breaking point. My mother was minutes away from driving to come see us before she got that call. She was going to stay at our house and watch Alexa for us.
I had already come to terms with the fact that my mother wouldn’t be aloud in the hospital while I was giving birth and that was hard for me. But finding out that I wouldn’t be able to see her AT ALL before I gave birth absolutely tore me to pieces.
My mother is my best friend. My rock. I draw so much strength from her. I needed her and she couldn’t be there. I was scared and distraught, not to mention worried since her and my Grandmother could possibly have a disease that is killing thousands of people across the world.
I just couldn’t handle it.
I tried my best my whole pregnancy to keep a positive attitude about COVID taking away so much from us. The isolation, the fear, the masks, the economic collapse. It completely changed our way of life for the absolute worst and took a huge toll on our mental health.
I feel like for being pregnant I handled it pretty well up until that point, but that was the last straw.
I broke down and sobbed uncontrollably while my husband held me.
Making A Decision
Thoughts were racing through my head a mile a minute. How can I change this? Who’s going to watch Alexa? Should I postpone the induction?
I had a hard decision to make and I wanted to be alone so Devin went to go get Alexa and arrange for his family to watch her instead.
I didn’t want to postpone the induction. I let myself cry for a little while longer. Then I pushed all those emotions deep deep down to be dealt with later and I pulled myself together.
I know that doesn’t sound healthy but I feel like your body can do that when it needs to. I was about to have a baby, I needed to be strong and so I was.
God Sends A Message
Devin came back to the house with Alexa and we spent some time together as a family on her last day as an only child. Then we dropped her off at her Aunts and went off on our way to the hospital when the most beautiful thing happened.
We turn the corner and up in the sky there’s a bright beautiful rainbow.
That held a lot of meaning for me because right before we got pregnant with Hailee I actually had a miscarriage.
I had a really hard time dealing with that emotionally, especially since we had been trying to get pregnant for a few months with no luck.
We were fortunate to get pregnant the next month with Hailee, our rainbow baby. (For those that don’t know, the baby you have after suffering a miscarriage is called a rainbow baby)
I know God put that rainbow in the sky for me that day and that him and the baby I never got to meet were watching over us sending their love when I needed it the most.
I thought the pain from having a miscarriage was something I’d always live with, but I found peace in that moment.
Arrived At The Hospital 7pm Thursday Night
At my last prenatal appointment I wasn’t dilated at all so the plan was to arrive at the hospital Thursday night for cervical ripening and to begin pitocin in the morning.
My midwife explained that she would use a drug called Cervidil that would help soften and dilate my cervix, but when she went to insert it she was surprised to find that I was actually 3-4cm dilated.
I went from being completely closed the day before to 3-4cm! This was very exciting because not only did I not need the Cervidil but she said she believed I wouldn’t even need Pitocin.
Instead she prescribed me oral Misoprostol. A tablet that dissolves under your tongue and is suppose to bring on contractions. She said I would take that every four hours throughout the night and wanted to break my water in the morning.
Everything I read about inductions said that they could take days but the way things were going told me it wouldn’t be much longer before we got to meet our baby girl.
The Night Was A Blur
My midwife was great and wanted to know what my birth plan was once labor started and I told her I was very anxious. I vividly remembered the pain of my first birth and my only plan was to get my epidural as soon as possible to avoid it this time.
She said that was no problem and that I could have it as soon as I wanted it. Then she offered me sleeping medication to help me sleep that night.
I was nervous, but overall I felt very confident that this birth was going to go well and be less painful than my last. I was at the hospital already so I’d be able to get that epidural before the contraction got too intense.
The sleeping medication they gave me worked pretty well and so the night was a blur. I wore a monitor most of the night to monitor baby’s heart rate and the contractions once the Misoprostol started working but I was in and out of sleep.
September 4th: 6:00am
The nurse came in at 6:00am and wanted to put the monitor on again for an hour. She asked how I was feeling and I said I felt like I was starting to have contractions. She looked and said she wasn’t seeing much.
I called her in to take the monitor off at 6:45am because I needed to use the bathroom and I told her I felt like the contractions were getting stronger. She said I might be starting early labor but she seemed skeptical.
7:00am
Everything from that point on happened so quickly that my husband and I had to piece together the timeline from texts we had sent to our family.
I text my mom at 7:00am saying just waking up and that my contractions were getting stronger. Looking back I think I was in denial because they were getting increasingly stronger with every one.
But, after I text my mom at exactly 7:00am I asked my husband to start the shower and order my breakfast like I wasn’t going to have a baby within the next hour.
7:49am
Yes you read that right. At 7:00am active labor started and little miss Hailee made her way into the world fast and furious 49 minutes later.
I tried to get up at 7:00am to take my shower when I had a contraction so strong it almost dropped me to my knees. I didn’t want to believe it but I just knew she was coming and she was coming fast.
I looked at the nurse and said I needed my epidural, but I think both of us knew there wasn’t going to be enough time. The midwife came in a few minutes later and checked me. I was 8-9cm dilated but she said her head was still high.
At that point all I wanted was my epidural. The contractions were unbearable and almost on top of each other.
I did not feel ready at all. I actually felt very nauseous and lightheaded. The nurse checked my blood sugar and it was only 55! They brought me toast and apple juice. I took one bite, drank some juice and then I felt a very intense urge to push.
All I remember was begging God to give me more time. I kept begging for the epidural and the nurse and midwife were trying to tell me I could do it without one.
We all knew I wasn’t going to finish my bag of fluids in time to get the epidural before the baby was out, but I was terrified and kept begging for it when the midwife said exactly what I needed to hear.
She said I could resist the urge to push and keep feeling these contraction over and over until I get the epidural. Then keep feeling them while it took another 15-20 minutes for the epidural to kick in.
Or I could start pushing, and all the pain would be over in a few minutes.
So that’s exactly what I did. I pushed two or three times and she was out and it was over.
Welcome To The World Beautiful Girl
My husband had watched me struggle to push our first daughter out for over three hours, so he was beyond excited to see my pain come to an end so quickly this time around.
The nurse and midwife were actually laughing because apparently he was so excited he was jumping up and down like his favorite football team had just made a touch down at the super bowl to win the game.
From his point of view he believed that things went much better this time and maybe I can agree. I could have done with things going just a tad bit slower and less intense though.
I think I’m still in disbelief that I conquered one of my worst fears, giving birth without an epidural. To be honest, now that I have given birth with and without one, for me at least I don’t think there was that much of a difference.
But however your birth goes, once you’re holding your baby in your arms, does anything really matter?
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Thank you guys for reading my birth story. It was definitely a roller coaster of emotion for me but we are so happy Hailee is here.
She actually ended up being born on my brothers birthday! 365 days in a year and I gave birth on the same day as my mother 😊
I’m happy to report that my mother and grandmother are healthy. They actually drove over five hours that day. Spent $200 to get a COVID test, tested negative and made it to our house to watch Alexa and I got to see them the next day.
I don’t think there’s anything my mother wouldn’t do to be there for me and I am beyond grateful for her. ❤️
If you guys have any questions feel free to leave a comment below!
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