Because some of you asked… I copied and pasted Kinley’s birth story from my two IG posts I wrote it in. Did I have an emergency c-section? No. Was I fine after? Mostly, yes- I ended with a grade 2 tear which is of course common for first time moms. But- I had horrible anxiety for months and really didn’t feel like myself again until the first year was over.. a dramatic difference to what I’m feeling now. I’m talking like- I heard my cat jump down from the bed in the middle of the night and I thought Kinley fell out of the bassinet and sprinted up immediately.. lots of worry constantly, and inability to tolerate her crying for longer than a few seconds without feeling crazy, an inability to leave her for long without feeling separation anxiety, etc. For me, it was traumatic, and I know it was for my husband as well as he watched me with an inability to help. Anywho.. I hope people know that you CAN have different births and it’s okay to feel a certain way about each birth. I’m the first to admit going through pregnancy and this type of labor was definitely part of the reason I contemplated wanting another child. I didn’t want to risk it again.. but of course I did (and we’re all good now)- but it’s still scary and I still can vividly replay both births in my head like I’m sure most women can! Okay, enough rambling… 🙂

Part of the birth story: the scary part
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“28 seconds! 42 seconds! 55 seconds!” Was all I heard as I fought through my last few pushes gripping tightly to Scott’s hand while gasping for air with my fancy non-rebreather mask on. .
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Shoulder dystocia occurs in around 1% of births (if you or someone you know has a child who experienced a birth injury, check out the birth injury justice center for further resources). Some risks include a larger baby and a smaller stature person (ding ding) in addition to age>35, beyond 42 weeks gestation, gestational diabetes, and obesity in the mother. The baby’s head is delivered but one shoulder gets stuck behind in the pelvis potentially causing neuro complications, fractures, or even death. Even though I was completely with it (obviously very fatigued), it’s all still a blur and it happened so quickly. It was an insane few seconds (?) of what felt like CPR to my uterus and people jumping on top of me grabbing my legs while I screamed in even more pain. I’m beyond thankful for the quick working staff in the room that helped to safely deliver Kinley after being stuck for 55 seconds. Like I said, it’s a blur already and not something I want to relive ever again.
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Kinley was head down but decided to face my left hip instead of facing my back or front-likely part of the reason she got caught, in addition to being a larger baby for my tiny pelvis (she also had a cone head which is pretty much gone now😂). I also think maybe with me pushing on my back (because I was so exhausted after laboring through without pain meds for 17 hours.. with Pitocin 😞), it didn’t allow for my pelvis to open as well. Luckily, Kinley has shown to be healthy and strong on both sides of her body, and even luckier for her, she has a physical therapist for a mom to continually assess her developmentally 🤪😎
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I was terrified of the medical care I may or may not receive during delivery, given my pretty horrible prenatal care, but once again I am so appreciative of the staff that we had – the nurses were amazing and the OB that delivered her was so great too. I could go on and on, but really I’m just incredibly thankful that our stubborn little warrior (Kinley means warrior) arrived safely ❤️ We love her so much.
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Birth story continued ✨ Due to a rare genetic disorder that I have which places me at a higher risk for preeclampsia, the docs didn’t want me to be pregnant past 40 weeks. I elected to be induced on the last day they’d let me (39w6d) in hopes she’d come naturally. Obviously, I didn’t want to be induced and I just had a feeling that this was going to be a big baby and she’d come early. Clearly no matter what I tried, she wanted to stay put!
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I had my membranes swept at 8am by my midwife in a last minute effort to get the party started, but it only helped me dilate a little more before we were admitted to the hospital. I got cytotec and the foley balloon (gonna rank the foley balloon as one of my least favorites 😆) to get everything started. Then they started the lovely Pitocin once I hit 6 cm (my natural contractions had slowed down because I honestly mostly slept during all of early labor). I wasn’t sure if I should sleep or get up and move around to progress things but honestly I’m so thankful I slept when I did!
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Trust me, once active labor progressed, there were many times I thought to myself that I wouldn’t make it and that I’d ask for pain meds soon. I found it really helpful to say affirmations to myself and just realize the contractions were just telling me how strong my own uterus really was. I focused a ton on breathing and changing positions when I could. My nurse through the night was incredible – she encouraged me throughout and didn’t once ask if I wanted pain meds (we discussed this before and she was so onboard with my whole birth plan which was great since I’d read about some nurses harassing patients re pain meds, etc). Of course Scott was amazing too, but there’s something different and encouraging about being around someone who has been through this process a ton of times. She kept reminding me that as the contractions strengthened, each one was making a difference. For the last few hours of her shift, she didn’t leave my bedside because she knew the baby would be coming soon. ☺️ see prev post
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Overall, even though I didn’t want to be induced, it was clearly what was meant to happen and I’m happy I could still stick with my plan🤗

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