Labor Story

Every birth is different, or so I've been told. And this definitely seems to be the case. When hearing stories of other ladies who have given birth in Turkey, I had my hopes for a speedy, starting-on-its-own delivery.

My doctor was concerned about high blood pressure kicking in for me since my first visit to her at 21 weeks. And let me tell you, I LOVE this lady! She has been nothing but informative, patient, and eager to help both Matt and me as we journeyed through our first pregnancy, and her English and beside manner are both superb. When I was at 39 weeks, she let me know that she didn't want me going into the 41st week. She talked us through all the risks that could be involved if my blood pressure went high and said that she planned to induce a few days after the due date if I didn't go into labor on my own. After apologizing for even feeling the need to suggest it, she then asked the question that I would imagine any parent would want their doctor to ask them: "Are you okay with this?"

And our answer was a resounding "yes." We trusted her, and that means sooooo much. Would it be nicer to not induce? Definitely. But did we want to run risks by continuing to carry? Not at all.

November 3rd came and went, and so did November 4th. On the 5th, we went to see her with our hospital bag and 5 liters of water in tow. She checked me out and sent me on to the hospital. By this point I was already at 3 cm, so the process was happening. Just not at any sort of speed.

By 11:30 I was admitted and induction had begun. We were in a shared room, which we didn't expect, but there was a curtain around each of the 3 beds in the room. Around 2:30 my doctor came to check on things. I had dilated some more, and she broke my water to speed up the process. That was a strange sensation! By the time the nurse returned with the stick used to break water, my doctor had already done it with her hands. She's a sneaky thing! But I'm so grateful she did that instead of using the tool. That would have done a number on my mind.

Around 4:30 we moved into a delivery room. At this point the contractions really ramped up. They hadn't been too much of a problem and were definitely manageable. But now they were zapping me for everything I had, which apparently wasn't much, and they were back-to-back-to-back.

Yes, I cried.

The nurses did another check on me around 6:00, asking if I wanted an epidural. I said no. Then within 5 minutes called them back in and asked for it. When the anesthesiologist arrived, he was a really, really nice man who spoke pretty good English. Hooray for English speakers! He did inform me several times that it's better to do the epidural at 4-5 cm, but he said that he could still do it now. Apparently I must have asked for it at the last possible moment.

Right after getting the epidural. Didn't even realize that Matt took this picture. Sneaky husband!

He got that all set up, and by 6:30 it was kicking in. My doctor came in soon after this and said things were looking good. When I asked her about the pressure I felt "down there," she said "that's your body's way of telling you it's time to start pushing." Things started speeding up at this point. By 7:00 the pushing process started, and at 7:30 Michael Alexander Mitchell made his debut!

Of course, there had to be an odd part of this story. During the half hour of pushing (can I please tell you how happy I am that it was only 30 min. and not the 2 hours that many others in my shoes would have done!), a lady came barging in. Let me remind you, all is visible at this point! So much for modesty and privacy. She was yelling at my doctor for taking her shoes from the prep room!!! What a shocker that was! My doctor stood up and talked with her trying to get her out quickly. Can't say I've never heard of a scenario like that!

Alright, we know that newborns can't smile. But doesn't this seem like such an awesome father-son picture? :)

So welcome Mikey! We're still figuring out everything, but in a week and a half of life, he's gotten pretty good at eating and are a champion sleeper once he goes to sleep. We love him bunches, and are looking forward to the many adventures that we get to experience now that we are a family of 3.