If you read my pregnancy journey blog post, then you know I was scheduled to be induced at thirty-nine weeks. It was only fitting that I had Mia the day after Christmas since Matt is such a huge fan of the holiday. Don’t get me wrong I love Christmas too, but he would keep a tree up all year round if I would let him. When I scheduled my induction I knew my doctor wouldn’t be delivering Mia. This is a huge deal for a lot of women, but I didn’t mind. My only goal was safely delivering a healthy baby, and I was confident that would be any doctor’s goal as well.
The morning of December twenty-sixth started early. Between the excitement and the nerves, I had a tough time sleeping. I couldn’t believe I would be holding my baby so soon. It was surreal, even at that point. Matt and I arrived at the hospital at six that morning. We were checked in, placed in our room, and the staff began prepping me for delivery. Not long after I laid down the machine monitoring Mia’s heart rate alarmed. My lead nurse rushed in, repositioned me on my side, and her heart rate regulated. I was told laying on my back had restricted the umbilical cord, which caused her heart rate to drop. So, for the rest of the day, I had to lay on one side or the other to avoid any more restrictions.
My nurse started my Pitocin around eight-thirty that morning. I was dilated to three centimeters, seventy-five percent effaced and having a few contractions on my own. They weren’t anything serious, and definitely not like the movies. Honestly, I had had period cramps worse than the contractions I was having. After everything was hooked up I actually started watching my monitor to see when I was having contractions because I wasn’t feeling anything at all.
The day was filled with a lot of patience and waiting. An anesthesiologist administered my epidural around ten-thirty and at that point, I had only dilated to four centimeters. My pain level up to that point had pretty much been zero. I only faintly noticed the more severe contractions, and even then I wouldn’t have considered them painful. The epidural instantly numbed my lower half and my nurse recommended a long nap to help progress quicker. A nap? Say no more. When I woke up I noticed I was feeling some discomfort on one side of my body. I had already had my epidural by this point, so I notified my nurse and she informed me that laying on my side would cause this. Around three pm contractions were getting intense, I was feeling everything on the left side of my body and I was starving.
I started feeling pressure around four-thirty. My mother-in-law notified the nurse, and she came in to do a final check. At that moment the only thing I remember her saying was, “Oh, she’s right there, don’t push.” Mentally I think the only thing going through my head was, “deep breath, okay, here we go.” While we were waiting for the delivery doctor to arrive my lead nurse asked me to attempt a trial push. She explained that sometimes women struggle with understanding how to push correctly and it takes a few times to get the hang of it. They were satisfied with my first attempt, so when the doctor entered the room we were all ready. Pushing was rough, to say the least. After the first four pushes, I felt like I was fifteen minutes in on a sixty-minute workout, and quitting wasn’t an option. If you’re familiar with CrossFit, the assault bike has nothing on this. At one point the only thing I was thinking was, “I can’t do this.” If breathing wasn’t hard enough already, Mia was extending her legs during each contraction which created pressure on my lungs and made it that much more difficult to breathe. I pushed with everything in my body, and at one point I was sure I was going to pass out. I started throwing up. Thank God my aunt was there to hold my puke bag and the only thing I had eaten the entire day was an orange popsicle. I ended up having an episiotomy. The way my doctor explained that it looked as if I was going to tear on top which is much more painful and something he likes to avoid with his patients. After that, I pushed one last time and she was out. I was still pushing with my eyes closed when they laid her on my stomach. I was overwhelmed with joy and relief. I only pushed for forty-five minutes, but it was forty-five minutes of pure work.
The feeling I got when I first held Mia was something I can’t explain. At one point all I could do was cry. I felt like I was holding my entire world in my hands. Finally, I could see her little face, and hold her in my arms. I realized the relationship I had formed with her in my womb was real. She was mine and I was hers. This little girl will forever be mine and Matt’s first greatest love, biggest accomplishment, and most precious gift.
Mia Marie Powers
Born December 26, 2019 at 5:35 pm, 7 pounds 13 ounces and 21 inches long.
