We welcomed our little caboose into our family on February 2, 2021 @ 12:10 PM. I have always been very intentional about the fact that I want to have positive births. I especially wanted to feel warm and connected to this one. Inductions are what work best for my health and my body so, we went in bright and early to meet our baby girl. My mom had flown in to take care of the older girls which was a huge relief to not have to worry about how much my kids were going to burn a babysitter out!

During this pregnancy, I had to go on insulin for Gestational Diabetes. In the past I was instructed to fast for an induction. By this point I had not eaten in over 12 hours and this came up in some organic small talk between my nurses and I. They said “who told you to fast?” I then realized…no one told me to fast and I had just assumed. So, they wheeled me a breakfast sandwich pretty quick and I scarfed that bad boy down and never looked back.

An hour later they started me on Pitocin. I hadn’t slept much the night before so I took a little snooze and about 40 minutes later the Doctor came in to check my dilation. I had already dilated to a 4 but, the baby was still stationed pretty high. Still pretty groggy, they went in to break my water which as you can imagine was a pretty big shock.

I started to feel some contractions which I breathed through– they kept trying to get me to sit on a yoga ball but, I felt too lazy to move. So, I compromised for the edge of the bed. I asked them when people usually get their epidural and they told me to not be a “hero” and to get it when I felt comfortable. Promptly after the Doctor tried to talk me into going natural to which I said, “Hell No.” About 20 minutes later I phoned my Nurse to get the epidural set up.

My anesthesiologist came up and took me through all the steps and I started to feel really good. It took about 15 minutes for me to go numb. All of a sudden I started feeling pressure. You have to understand– my other births I never felt pressure or contractions really. So, I was not sure what was happening at this point. The team came to check me and said I could start pushing. For an induction this was super quick! (only 4 hours!) I started pushing and this was different. I was well rested and coherent. I hadn’t had to endure all this pain and I was just ready to meet my daughter.

Pretty soon I got the hang of birthing through contractions and after a few pushes she was out! When they pulled her out I didn’t expect to get so emotional but, I felt strong and empowered and just so happy. To our surprise she was 9lbs 1 oz and 19 inches long! (although, not really that shocked because, hello I birth huge babies.)

She is such a sweet girl and we are so in love. Thank You for allowing me this precious time with my family.

Paige