Tristan James's Birth Story

I was 1 week overdue and scheduled for an induction. The night before I had a foley balloon inserted above my cervix to help dilate. It was pretty painful and contractions started soon after it was inserted. They gave me ambien to help me sleep through the night, which was wonderful. The foley balloon fell out at 2:30AM when I got up to use the restroom, which is what it's suppose to do. I checked into the hospital that morning at 8am and was 5cm dilated and 80% effaced and Tristan was at -1 station. I had complete back labor. ALL the pain referred to my lower back. I can not explain the pain. It was unworldly. 15 hours later while I was in the transition phase and delusional, they said I made no progress due to the pain and they talked me into an epidural saying that it would speed up the process. Literally, 30 minutes after the epidural took affect, I had dilated to 10cm and was ready to push. Unfortunately, I couldn't feel ANYTHING so part of me thinks that contributed to most of the damage that was done. Plus, I had a super impatient midwife who had her hand in me pulling him with every push. She did not do an episiotomy, so I tore EXTREMELY bad upward all the way to my urethra. My husband saw it happen and I told him not to sugar coat it for me. He's a medic, so he knows bad tears from what's normal. Apparently mine's beyond normal. I bled quite a bit, but they patched me up in good time. My son came out with his head turned, but he was and still is perfect in every way. Very minimal jaundice which is great considering the high altitude we live in. I may have had some bad damage, but I would go through it all over again just to have this beautiful boy in my life. So completely blessed!

	Comment from bguertner » Posted Jun. 21, 2012 8:54pm Congratulations! February 25th is a fabulous due date - it's my birthday!
	Comment from looney » Posted Jun. 21, 2012 4:39pm Congratulations on your miracle baby!!! Welcome :)