Birth Story #1- Titi Pie

I have documented my birth story of my second but have yet to with my first!

I thought I would share!

Summer of 2003 I found out I was pregnant. Not necessarily the type of thing you plan at 17 years old!  That's right...17. But I have to admit once the initial shock of it wore off I had never been happier. 

My pregnancy with my first was quite normal. I had morning sicknesses, fatigue and the usual pregnancy symptoms.  At 4 months in I shared the news with my parent's! Lol one can only imagine how that went!

Tiana was due April 3rd. At 20 weeks I found out she was a girl.  I had been hoping for a boy but when I saw her heart beating through the ultrasound my heart welled up with love! 

I began organizing her room, purchasing items.  Her room theme was Winnie the Pooh. The walls were green and her furniture was white.  I did all the painting and assembling of furniture myself at 6 months pregnant.

With DD#1 I didn't show much until my 6-7 month of pregnancy. One day I literally woke up and had a full on bump.  It was very cool! 

The week of her due date I stayed at her grandmothers.  She lives minutes from Credit Valley Hospital and preferred I stayed there in the event I went into labor. 

My due date came and went and no baby.  I had a few false alarms and went into delivery only for them to send me right back.  I was miserable.  I wanted her out.

I just wanted to meet her and start our lives together.  Dr.Gurland scheduled me for induction on Sat April 10 th at 8am.  The night before I could hardly sleep. Finally she was coming.

At 7am I began getting dressed and getting ready to leave.  My doula was going to meet me at the hospital.  Once I got there they immediately hooked me up to iv's.

I was sooo excited! The Dr came in an explained what was about to happen and the process of my induction. First they would get me some IV and then break my waters.  After that they would start me on pitocin which would get my labor kick started. 

Being a new mom this all meant nothing to me. All that mattered was she was coming soon!

When the broke my waters I felt a warm gush of liquid come out. Everything became very VERY real.  They started to give me my pitocin to bring on contractions.  They were quite manageable at first.  After about 2-3 hrs they began to get stronger.

I would glare at the nurse when she would come in and turn up my drip.  One of the nurses was actually my friends cousin whom I used to hang out with from time to time(ironically she was on staff for my 2nd daughters labor,LOL). She was in school for nursing and happened to be doing her clinical that day.  She was very empathetic with me and encouraging.

Come lunch time I was DONE with the pain.  It was getting so strong I felt like I had no control. They offered me an epidural and I gladly accepted!  

Getting my epidural wasn't scary at all. You see when you are in that sort of pain the fear of a giant needle in your back pails in comparison!

I gladly hunched over and practically begged for them to insert it and FAST.
1...2...3...and it was in.  I was shocked.

Within minutes my contractions were nothing more than a spiked line on a charted paper.  I was in heaven. My doula's job got very easy as I began to feel very sleepy and dosed off to sleep.

They woke me a few times to see how far along I was.  Around 6pm, I was ready to wake up.  I was very thirsty and probably inhaled 4-5 cups of ice chips within the hour.

Slowly my stomach began to hurt. Like bad period cramps or the stomach flu.
I sincerely had to GO!
I told the nurse I needed to use the washroom. She said 'no, it's the baby'. I remember thinking this girl is a fool still in school...surely I can tell the difference between having to go and having a baby.

The cramps continued and increased until it dawned on me my epidural was no longer working. Those hard cramps were back. I begged for another epidural and a bathroom break and both were declined.

I was 10 centimeters dilated.  Just great I thought....I need to go to the washroom and u want me to push out a baby??  I didn't know then the sensation is the same.

The room quickly filled with what felt like hundreds of medical staff.  My Dr walked in all suited up, mask on and said 'push'.  This man just gets straight to business! LOL

So I did as I was told. At this point the pain was full on so pushing was a bit of a relief.  It indeed did feel like I was taking a very giant poop lol!  With 3-5 pushed Tiana was out and rested on my chest. 

It was over. I looked down at her and my very first words to her were ' you have beautiful skin'.  I remember thinking she was the most gorgeous baby I had ever rested my eyes on.

She weighed in at a whopping 9lbs 5 oz. 
She was perfect.  She started nursing like a champ. 

I had minor tearing and a few stitches.  All in all I recovered very quickly.
After her birth I remember specifically NOT wanting to do that EVER again.  Lol

You see going from no pain to all pain was a terrible feeling. In some ways I feel like I birthed her naturally because by the time I had her not a drug was in my system.  I only remember continuing to feel groggy afterwards. 

We spent one LONG night at her grandma's once I was released and then I went home. I was supposed to stay longer but I just wanted to get home and start life.  The day I got home from the hospital I walked her to the grocery store in her new stroller to do our groceries. 

I went back to school within the week and really just got on with life.  Only something an 18 year old could do.  I envy the energy I had back then!

She was a chronic nurser. She spent 90% of her day on my boob.  For her first year of life she was up every 1-2 hrs to feed.
I am sure I over fed her!  All she wanted was to nurse.  It was the most tiring year ever, yet somehow I got through as a single mom.

Single moms have a strength like no other.
They rely on no one, yet get the job done!  That time in my life taught me a lot and lead me to salvation. I didn't want her to grow up and live the same empty life I was living. I wanted more for her.  I often thank God for her precious influence lead me to Christ.  Showed me there was more to this life!