My Birth Story: Labor, Delivery and Postpartum With Gestational Diabetes

My pregnancy was in no way easy. After suffering from two miscarriages in my life, finding out that I was pregnant again was both exciting and extremely scary. I was afraid that I was going to lose this baby like I lost the other two. But thankfully, by the grace of God and some good luck, my little baby boy made it into the world healthy as ever, and this is my story.

Gestational Diabetes

I was diagnosed at 30 weeks with gestational diabetes. I failed my glucose test miserably, and because of that was given a blood glucose monitor to test my sugars with four times a day. The thought of pricking my finger that much made me a little bit nauseous, but I did it for my little one!

Because of the gestational diabetes, I also ended up having to take medication to regulate my sugar levels (no injected insulin, thank God!) and restrict my diet in the carbs area. It was a difficult adjustment to make, but I am happy that I was able to make it work and that my little guy was born healthy.

To read more about my journey during my pregnancy with Gestational Diabetes, click here.

My Water Broke!

At 38 weeks and 3 days pregnant, I was hungry as ever and craving my all time favorite place to go to eat: Wegmans Cafe. It was about 8 at night, and Andy and I decided to stop by to get something to eat.

I had some fish-free sushi and pizza logs to fill my system. I was content and happy. On the way out, we talked with a friend for a little while who was working there. He asked me if I was feeling ready to have the baby.

Of course, I was. Little did I know that when I would get home a little over an hour later, that journey would begin!

Around 10:30pm on August 1st, 2019 I was laying in bed with Andy. He was playing his video game, enjoying his first day off from work for his 6 weeks of parental leave when I felt a pop in between my hips.

I did not think anything of it at first, because I had experienced a lot of popping sensations in my hips the entire time that I was pregnant. Plus, it didn’t hurt, so I didn’t really think much of it… But then I started to feel warmth between my legs. I got very wide eyed, looked at Andy and told him “I just felt a pop!”.

He looked at me probably just as wide eyed as I was looking at him. I didn’t want to believe it, but here it was happening! My water had just broken. I got up off of the bed, and when I stood up water gushed from my body. It just kept flowing and flowing, so at that point Andy grabbed a towel, grabbed the baby bags and we headed to the hospital.

Arriving At The Hospital

I would be lying to you if I told you that I wasn’t scared out of my mind when my water broke. Here I was, full term with my baby and wishing every single day that he would just come out, and I was finally in that moment.

But why was I so scared? I felt absolutely terrified and yet extremely excited at the same time. I was afraid of the pain and afraid of the unknown, but also so so so excited to finally meet my little guy! The time was finally here!

They gave me my wristband at the hospital and sent us on our way up to the third floor labor and delivery. As I walked through the double doors, towel between my legs, leaking amniotic fluid, I turned to Andy and said, “This is it. We won’t be leaving these doors for a few more days now! This is really happening!”.

I was happy, excited, nervous and absolutely terrified all at the same time. My time had arrived.

Labor and Delivery: Triage

When I first got to the hospital, they put us in an examination room for monitoring and testing to make sure that I was in labor and that my water had actually broken. They hooked me up to the monitors, and did a test on the towel for amniotic fluid which of course came back positive.

At that moment, I felt incredibly stupid and foolish for all of the times I was laying on that same bed worried that my water broke when there was barely a trickle of fluid coming from my body. This was totally different. This was like a waterfall that just kept falling.

They wanted a urine sample from me, so I wobbled my way to the bathroom to complete their request. When I got there and sat down to pee, more and more amniotic fluid kept coming out of me.

When I went to wipe, a very large amount of clear, boogery mucous with a tiny blood tinge to it came out of me. It was about the size of my cell phone. I immediately knew what it was from all of the reading and worrying I had done my entire pregnancy. I was losing my mucous plug.

Once I finished up giving the nurse the urine sample she had asked for, I hobbled on back to my triage room and laid down on the hospital bed. Soon after Ii laid down and began to get comfortable, the nurse was back with the test results.

I was indeed leaking amniotic fluid. It was official. I already knew it, but getting the official diagnosis made it even more real. My water had broken. I was in labor.

Being Admitted To The Hospital

Because my water had broken, they immediately admitted me to the unit. I kept thinking to myself, “OMG. This is it, I am having our baby soon!”. I was a bundle of both nerves and excitement for what was to come.

They walked me to my room, and Andy began setting up the room by unpacking our bags a little bit. This was it. I was going to give birth in this room. Room number 2. Here we go.

Early Labor Begins

Because my water had already broken, I was considered in labor, even though when I was checked by the nurse I was only at 1cm. I was in labor, but my labor had not become active yet. At this point, I was a bundle of nerves.

I decided at that point to take a shower to calmly anxiety. After my shower I did my hair, put on my gown and wobbled my way back to the hospital bed where the nurse then inserted the IV into my arm.

They began giving me fluids to help increase my bodys contractions naturally. The contractions were not painful at this point, and weren’t for a while. The one thing I do recall being quite uncomfortable though was my water leaking everywhere along with my mucous plug coming out. This might be TMI for some, but it was like a gigantic blood tinged booger. It grossed me out, actually.

Starting Induction With Pitocin

After several hours, I was checked again by the nurse for dilation. I was still at only 1cm, so the doctor decided at that point to begin pitocin to speed things up, due to the risk of infection from my water breaking. Basically, I had 24 hours to get this baby out. I believe the pitocin was started around the 16 hour mark.

16 hours in labor might sound like a lot (I was in labor for 20 total) but in reality it was not that bad for me. Well, those first 16 hours were not too bad at least. I was only at 1cm during that time so it was fairly painless. It only became painful when the pitocin kicked in.

Once the pitocin began to work and I began to dilate more and more, my contractions began to come closer together and get stronger and stronger. I had planned on using the pain relief option they had given me when the pain got too bad.

It was getting there, so I decided to ask for the Nubain. They gave me a dose of it to take the edge off. It helped me to calm down and relax through the contractions as my body did the hard work of dilating to get the baby out.

After about an hour, at the 17 hour mark I began to feel more pain again as the nubain wore off, so I asked for another dose. They gave it to me. It did not help as much as it did originally, but I was happy to have any sort of relief from the pain of the contractions.

To me, it just felt like the biggest Charlie horse ever. One that kept coming back, each time with an angrier vengeance than the time before. All I could do was breathe through it. That helped a lot.

Getting The Epidural

The epidural was an absolute life saver for the hour that it worked for me. I have scoliosis in a couple of places in my back, so it made it really hard for the anesthesiologist to get the catheter placed properly.

He tried quite a few times (9 to be exact) to get the catheter placed properly in my spine so that the epidural would do it’s job. He left halfway confident, but letting me know that there was potential for it to only work for a short period of time.

That scared me, but I was pretty confident myself that it would stay in place. At least, I prayed that it would!

Once the epidural was in, I felt immediate relief. Unlike the Nubain that made me not really care about the pain I was experiencing, the epidural actually took the pain away. Like, ALL OF IT. I distinctly remember looking at the monitor go crazy, up and down with the strong contractions and I could not feel a thing.

I actually had to turn to Andy and have him ask the nurse if I was still having contractions because I could not feel them at all. WHAT A RELIEF! I was able to get a short nap in during that time for an hour or so as my labor progressed.

Let The Dilating Begin

Once the epidural was in and the pitocin was full force, I began dilating rather quickly. I went from 4cm to 7cm while the epidural was working properly.

The Epidural Failed

After 7cm hit, I began to feel some pain and contractions again. I told the nurse and she said “yes honey. You’re going to feel some pressure down there as he moves down.”

This wasn’t just pressure though. This was PAIN. Very intense, shaking pain. The nurse called for the anesthesiologist to come in right away.

Anesthesiologist Revisits Me

When the pain doctor arrived, I was in the middle of a VERY long and painful contraction. I was basically begging him to try again to place my epidural.

At that point in my labor though, there was nothing that he could do. It was that moment I realized I would have to do it all natural.

I was absolutely terrified in that moment. Everything was so overwhelming. The contractions just kept on coming and coming, each one more painful and lasting longer than the one before.

All I could do was breathe. “Just keep breathing” is what I told myself.

10 Centimeters

I went from 7cm to 10cm rather quickly after the pain doctor left the room. I was on my own with the pain now. It was just my boyfriend Andy, the nurse and the nurse midwife at that time.

The contractions felt never ending. The pain was so intense that I actually threw up.

I felt like I had to push so I told my nurse. She rushed the nurse midwife in the room and had her check me. She told me finally that it was time to push.

FINALLY it was nearing the end!

Crowning

Once it was time to push, I was more than ready to get that baby OUT of my body and for the pain to come to an end.

I pushed for 30 minutes total. Each push felt like an eternity. It felt hard to control my breathing, but I did what I could.

As the baby moved downward and began crowning, I heard the nurse say “he has hair! I can see some hair!”

That was so exciting to me. I wanted to meet my baby already. She asked me if I wanted to feel the top of his head. Of course, I said yes and felt below.

The moment my fingertips touched the top of his head, I felt overwhelmed with love and joy. I suddenly had a new energy and felt like I could push more. I felt revitalized. Well, as much as I could for the crowning stage of labor.

The Cord Was Wrapped Around His Neck

This was definitely the scariest part of my labor and delivery. About 25 minutes into pushing, the midwife said something that scared me to my core.

“THE CORD IS WRAPPED AROUND HIS NECK!”

No mama wants to hear that. I was terrified. Then came another contraction. I had a new mission at that point and it was to get that baby out as fast as I possibly could.

I pushed with my entire being for my son. He came out 3 pushes later.

He Wasn’t Crying

When he came out, everyone was absolutely silent. Not even Andy said a word and I was terrified. Had something happened to him?

Eventually the nurses said “come on little guy, let it out. Cry for me!”

A few minutes passed and felt like an eternity. My heart was shattering and the entire room was still… and then…

“WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

My son let out a single, loud wail and instantly my heart was full. He was alive. He was well, he was here and my life was complete.

Cutting The Cord

Immediately after my son was born and cleaned off a bit, a teeny tiny pink and blue striped hospital baby hat was placed on his head and he was placed on my chest.

The overwhelming feeling of love and joy overcame me. That moment was absolutely perfect. He was perfect. Our family was finally complete and everything was perfect.

I cried as I held him. I remember telling him “hi little guy! I’m your mommy! I love you so much, oh my gosh I love you so much!”.

I will never forget that moment. It was the best one of my life and made all of the pain worth it immediately.

The midwife handed Andy the scissors, and he cut the cord.

Delivering The Placenta

Right when I thought everything was all done and over with, the nurse told me that I still had to deliver the placenta.

I had completely forgotten about that part. I was just so overwhelmed to finally meet my son that I really did forget.

I felt so ready though. I pushed once nice and hard and the placenta came out like a football.

I’m not even exaggerating about that either. It literally flew out of me! Andy was grossed out by that part, but I was just relieved for it to be over with.

Stitches

The nurse took the baby off of my chest and handed him to Andy while I pushed the placenta out, and told me then that it was time to see if I needed to get stitches.

When I was pregnant, the thought of getting stitches scared the shit out of me. I was terrified.

When it actually came down to it though, I wasn’t scared at all. I was just relieved that it was all done and over with. The baby was here and we both made it out healthy.

The nurse midwife examined me, and told me that she was going to give me a few stitches. I ended up with just 2 simple stitches. Not bad! I was happy with that.

Postpartum Room

Once I was finished in the labor and delivery room, we were all moved to a postpartum room to recover.

The baby went to the nursery to be cleaned up and have his testing done while Andy and I got acclimated to our new roles as mother and father.

I was able to get up and walk around just fine even though the pain medicine had pretty much worn off. The nurse offered me some ibuprofen and tylenol on rotation to help me with the pains. Of course, I accepted gladly.

Going To The Bathroom For The First Time After Birth

I will admit it. I was that person that was absolutely terrified of going to the bathroom after birth. I had heard all of the horror stories. Women told me that pooping and peeing after birth hurt more for them than the actual birth itself.

Hearing that, of course I had a good reason to be terrified. The very first time I felt like I had to pee, I waddled my way into the bathroom and sat down.

I was still bleeding quite a bit, with some small clots here and there but nothing worrying or abnormal. I gathered up all of my courage and attempted to pee.

It burned. It really burned. It hurt, but it was really nothing compared to the pain of giving birth. I used the dermaplast spray to numb myself down there, and then followed up with some warm water in the peri care bottle the hospital gave me.

Pro mom tip: USE THAT SPRAY AND SQUIRT BOTTLE. Combined, they really are a lifesaver.

After I was finished, I cleaned myself up and put on a big girl sized diaper. Sexy. I thought I would care, but in that moment I really didn’t have a care in the world. I was just happy we were all okay.

My first number 2 was less painful than peeing was. I was given some laxative medications orally in the hospital so it helped to make that first poo a little bit easier.

Getting Acclimated To Parenthood

Once our son was finished getting all of his testing done, they wheeled our 7lb 2oz baby into our room on a little baby cart. He was in a warm blanket swaddle and looking comfy and cozy. He was sound asleep.

I would say that for the first hour that he was with us, we just started at him. We ooed and awed over how cute he was. He was absolutely perfect.

I breasted him for the first time shortly after that. He latched on pretty well. The whole experience was beautiful. I love being a mom!

Friends & Family Came To Visit

After about an hour of being with Wesley, Andy and I finally gave the okay for our friends and family to come in and visit. My mom and grandma were the first people in. Then came Andy’s grandparents, Andy’s mom, my brother, and some of our friends.

Everyone was very respectful and kind. They ooed and awed over him just as much as we did. It was beautiful.

Final Thoughts

Labor and delivery was hard. In fact, it was the hardest thing that I have ever done in my entire life. But, with that said it was and is also single handedly the most beautiful and amazing thing I have ever experienced.

Motherhood is beautifully difficult, and I love every moment of it.

Xoxo,

Lia

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