Birth story - Niharika and baby boy

💣Possible Triggers: First Degree Tear, use of word contractions, postpartum urinary retention

I am a FTM and I still cannot believe I am a mom now. I am in awe of my little human who was born on 31st July, 2020 at 12.19 pm weighing 7 lb 6 oz (3.4 kg) and 20.5 inches long.

So, here goes the long birth story:

The contractions:
I was due on 28th July, 2020 as per my doctor’s calculations and the baby didn’t arrive on his due date. He was cozily enjoying himself in my belly, poking and nudging me from the inside. Two days later, on 30th July, 2020 which was a Thursday, I had a long day at work as I worked from 9am to 6.30pm. I took a nice shower after that and ate my favorite Indian snack (bhel) while I watched “shameless” on Netflix. At around 9 pm, I felt tightening in my stomach which I thought was just another Brackston Hick contraction and I ignored it. My doctor had scheduled an induction for 41 weeks (following Tuesday) so I was pretty chilled out and didn’t think it was a real contraction. 25 mins later, I felt another contraction come in and pass by. My mom suggested, in case this was real, I should have my dinner and get some sleep while I could. I agreed and had my dinner around 9.30 pm. We went down to take a nice walk as per our daily routine and the contractions kept coming at 7-10 mins apart by that time. I kept walking, breathing and smiling through them because my hopes of seeing my baby went up and up as they came more frequently. I barely could walk after 15 mins and I came upstairs to get some rest. As I lay in bed at 10.15 pm, the contractions became even more stronger and lasted about 45-50 seconds. Things got real super fast as now my contractions were getting closer and closer in frequency and were only 3-4 mins apart. Before I knew, I went from 10 mins apart to 3 mins apart in a matter of an hour. I still continued hypnobirthing and kept breathing through them for an hour before I decided to call the labor unit. My husband dialed in and asked if we should come in. They asked us to come and get checked before they could get us admitted. We had our bags packed so we changed clothes and rushed to the hospital at around 12.30 am which was at this point 31st July.

The hospital:
While in the car for 25 mins - I almost had a feeling that baby is going to pop out right there as my contractions kept coming at 3 mins apart. I breathed a sigh of relief when we finally got around the hospital parking lot. The hospital staff let us in through the main doors and as they checked our temperature, I had to sit down on the floor twice to get through my contractions. I was having contractions hard and fast as I was rushed to the labor and delivery ward for my checkup. They hooked me up with a fetal monitor and started measuring my contractions. A nurse came in to check my dilation and told me I was about 4 cms dilated at that point. The contractions kept coming and I kept breathing through them. They set up my IV port and told me I had an option to use their hot water jacuzzi if I needed to. One of the nurses had set up the jacuzzi and also added a lavender essential oil to get me relaxed. I went in the hot water tub and felt so calm and could manage my pain so much better. I stayed there for an hour and came out because I had become too sweaty. Then they took me to my room at around 2-2.30 am and let me relax for a while. I wanted to go back to the jacuzzi again, but the nurses told me my baby’s heart rate had been high due to hot water and they recommended I stay in the room. I breathed through the contractions which were still at 3 mins apart and kept mooing as they got stronger. They did a few blood tests at around 3.30 am and also did my Covid-19 test. After a while, I started shaking and my body + hormones were taking over the control. At this point, I requested for an epidural because I couldn’t breathe through contractions anymore. They were intense and I was on all fours on the ground. The anesthesiologist arrived in an hour and hooked me up to the epidural at around 6 am. The process of getting an epidural was quite painless. In about 15 mins, the pain wore off and all I could feel was pressure. I called my family members at around 7 am to let them know the progress and at around 10 am ish, I took a quick nap. I started feeling pressure in my uterus an hour after that and my doctor did a quick cervical check and confirmed I was 10 cm dilated. Within a few minutes, she set everything up and I began pushing. I pushed for 55 minutes and the baby was out at 12.19 pm. I was overjoyed with emotions and began crying as soon as I saw him for the first time😢 that was the most beautiful feeling that I ever felt. I had my baby boy in my arms and I was so happy.

Postpartum:
They let me hold my bub for good 10-15 mins while my husband cut the chord. They cleaned him up and gave me some skin to skin time before they took him for his measurements. He weighed a good 7 lb 6 oz and was 20.5 inches long. The placenta delivery took about 3 minutes and was fairly easy compared to pushing the baby out. I had a first degree tear and got 3 stitches. The stitches were a little sore after the epidural wore off but didn’t hurt as bad as I thought they would.

Postpartum Urinary retention:
My epidural was taken out at around 3.15 pm and the catheter came out at 6 pm. I couldn’t pee after that so they inserted a Foley catheter again so I could empty my bladder. Next morning at 7 am, they took the catheter out, but I still couldn’t pee and hence they decided to re-insert the Foley catheter again at 12 pm. I was so disappointed in myself for not being able to empty my bladder. I got depressed and I absolutely hated the fact that I had to carry the catheter everywhere. They discharged me from the hospital on Sunday at 4 pm and left the catheter in me till Tuesday. On Tuesday evening, I got the catheter out but still couldn’t pee. Again, I was so disappointed and cried my heart out in front of my doctor and her nurse. They taught me how to self catheterize myself and asked me to go home. Since then, I have been self catheterizing myself each day till date. It went from 6 times a day to 3 times a day and my bladder has slowly started responding and now I can urinate without straining. I still cannot empty my bladder completely but I hope that it keeps getting better from here and I heal from this quickly.

My birth was perfect, just what I hoped for and I had a very positive birth experience. Hypnobirthing has definitely helped and I could manage my contractions for good 9 hours before getting an epidural. The hospital staff were kind and gentle with us and took great care of all of us. All in all, being a mom feels great and it has been a tough yet beautiful journey so far.

I wish all the future mamas a very good luck and I promise you all, you got this!💙