When my water broke at 10pm on February 21st, I was certain I’d get to meet my baby boy soon – next day for sure! As it turned out, I didn’t meet him until 36+ hours later.

Because that’s how long it all took. From the moment my water broke to the moment I got consistent contractions, more than 24 hours passed. And even then, I had to get one medicine to stimulate dilation, and another to stimulate my cervix to soften. It wasn’t a simple, easy, natural birth I was looking forward to. In the end, it took 3 doctord and an episiotomy for me to be able to deliver him.

I am so grateful that he was born healthy, and that I ended up having a natural birth, no matter how complicated and (during the last hour) painful. And I did learn a thing or two from it.

Read about my thoughts and experiences one year after giving birth!

Things I Learned From my Difficult Labor Experience

Having a medical team you can trust is so important.

My doctors wouldn’t induce me even after 24 hours passed from my water breaking. Most would do it in the next couple of hours and have it over with. But all the doctors and nurses that passed through in those 3 days were in favor of letting my body get there itself. In the meantime, they rigorously followed my baby’s heartbeat and my own state to make sure everything is alright. As frustrating as it seemed back then, I am now grateful to them for doing that. An induced birth would have been rushed and far more painful, and without the time my body needed to get there, God knows if I would have been able to

There probably will be pain, epidural or not – so find a way to live through it.

I was hooked on the epidural for about 4 hours, and it was bliss – I slept through the majority of them. However, it took a while for me to get to 4cm open so I could get an epidural, and those contractions were pretty painful. For the last hour as the doctors were waiting for me to hit the 10cm mark, they turned off the epidural so I could feel the urge to push. That hour was hell. Not only were the contractions super painful, but my sciatica was excruciating with each. I was crying and throwing up bile – but I survived and ended up delivering a beautiful baby boy. Bottom line is, never expect a fully painless delivery and have a strategy in place for dealing with pain.

It’s true what they say – you will forget all the negative aspects of it.

Although I only left the hospital 2 weeks ago, it feels like months. It’s so hard to remember those days without feeling like someone else lived through them. I remember the feeling of him popping out of me, and of my sciatica causing me to thrash around, but not much else. All there is now is my beautiful baby boy I don’t know how I lived without all these years.

Jelena

A 27-year-old married mom, trying to have it all. I have a full-time job I enjoy, a home I’m in love with, and plenty of hobbies I try my best to have the time for. A psychologist by vocation, with the goal of helping young women live their best lives.