Sofia’s Birth Story

Hello Friends! It’s so crazy to sit down and actually share Sofia’s birth story with you guys because over the last several months I have read dozens and dozens and here I am sharing my experience with all of you. But before I begin I want to thank you all for being so patient and for being so kind during this time and congratulating us on our new baby girl Sofia. We love her so much and I honestly still can’t believe she is here, I legit ask Arnel everyday I am like can you believe she is here because I can’t.  Also grab a drink because my birth story is a bit long, I mean after all I was in labor for over 24 hours.

Back Story….

Alright so lets rewind a bit, my original due date was March 7th but baby was measuring a week ahead pretty much from week 32, which doesn’t always mean much but we for sure thought she would be an early bird. Ha! boy was I wrong, she was definitely a late! March 7th came which was a Thursday and I had an appointment scheduled for Monday the 11th to check and see if I was progressing any. Monday also came we went and saw the OB and she said I was still only about 1.5-2cm dilated and she saw that we attempted to strip my membrane like 2 weeks ago and that it hadn’t worked so she asked me would I want to again I said yes because I honestly didn’t want to get induced and wanted to try everything and anything to get her to come on her own. So the doctor goes, I usually am 100% sure when I know it will work but she goes this is about a 50% shot, I said okay well if it doesn’t occur then we would be scheduled to get induced on Wednesday night the 13th. To be honest we went home I cried about it and cried and just wanted her to come on her own, had read so many things about getting induced that I had this fear about it from day one. Anywho we went home again we tried everything, I mean everything, if you think of something I probably tried it, I kept getting dms about try this and this and that and my response was yup been there done that. Literally this child did not want to come on her own. While we decided on an induction for Wednesday night, it seems like baby girl heard about her eviction notice and was like wait I am coming, I am coming; just wait for that part.

I told Arnel Monday night, that I would spend the following day which is Tuesday; out and about and that I wanted to keep my mind off things. So Tuesday came and I got dressed, I decided to go shopping with my MIL and buy more things that I probably didn’t need. So we did some shopping, had lunch, I then went to the park with Arnel that evening, the battery in my car actually ended up dying at the park so we had to get picked up by my in laws which is hilarious. We ended up having a cook out with our in laws and I was just kind of keeping my mind off the whole induction process. Well around 7pm I told Arnel my stomach kind of aches. Mind you that for the last few weeks I had like 0 contractions and or braxton hicks, it was radio silence. Arnel didn’t think anything of it and neither did I. I told him that after dinner I will take a shower, wash my hair and just finish packing for the following day. I got to the bathroom (this is about to get real personal and a little tmi, so if you get grossed out stop reading) I peed and then got up to finish undressing when this weird mucus thing came out and pink fluid. I yelled for Arnel because I didn’t know what it was, was it my water? was it something that is hurting baby? I mean I have never been in labor, what the hell do I know? I called my midwife right away and she called me back told me to head to the hospital, she thinks its my water because of the pink/clear fluid. I said should I rush she goes don’t rush but try to make it within the next two hours. I hit panic mode, I started crying, I am like omg is this thing happening, what in the world, I am not ready, ugh I was a mess. I showered really quickly, luckily put some last minute things in my hospital bag (which so much crap didn’t get used that I can’t wait to tell you guys about that). Arnel looked so excited because he knew we just avoided the induction process and baby was on her way.

Hospital Arrival…

We got to the hospital, I had a few small contractions, nothing major, we got to our room, I changed into a hospital gown, they want you completely naked under there so don’t even bother wearing your nursing bras and camis until way after delivery. The nurse came to swab me to make sure that my water had actually broke and she was going to send it off to the lab and she checked me and said I was still about 1.5-2cm dilated, nothing had changed. She told us to go walk around the halls for 45 minutes while we wait for our labs. I had slowly started to get contractions every few minutes but I was like it’s fine nothing I can’t handle. Well the lab came back and they said my water hadn’t actually broken but that it was more than likely just my mucus plug and the pink fluid that came with it. So they told us they just want to keep an eye on me for a few hours and see if I would continue getting contractions so they told us to walk another 45 minutes. Arnel and I were like okay great it’s fine we can do that. They checked me again and were like well you aren’t dilating much what do you and Arnel want to do, would you like to get induced tonight or just try walking. I said I want to continue walking, they did want to keep me just to make sure me and baby were okay. Well that 3rd walk really broke the camel’s back. I told Arnel I wanted to get back to the room because the contractions were legit every 30 seconds. I got back on the monitor to check contractions and the nurse said she has never seen the chart go crazy. She goes honestly we can’t give you CERVIDIL (a hormone to help open up the uterus) even if we wanted to because your contractions are 30 seconds apart. I kid you not that 30 seconds apart continued from around 8pm till about 3am. I was dying at that point, they were so painful, but I kept pushing through. Every time the nurse came in she said would you like something because this is nuts, I was like no I am just going to keep going and this baby is going to be strong like her momma. At 3am they checked me again and were like okay you are about 3cm and I said THANK GOD!  We were finally going places!

They decided to keep us overnight and just monitor my crazy contractions. The midwife and nurse came to speak with us and said I should probably try to get sleep because this is going to be an all day event and if I don’t get sleep then I will hit exhaustion and struggle with the actual delivery. I looked at Arnel and I said okay let me continue with my every 30 second-1 minute contractions a bit longer until I am at a point of no return, so I continued with them for another hour until I was like okay just give me a shot in my bottom to calm me down. They gave me some morphine to relieve the pain and I slept for the next few hours and it was amazing, while I could slightly still feel them and I kept waking up every 30 minutes, it was much better and they were manageable. I told Arnel when I start zoning out because of the pain I want you to make the call for them to give me an epidural. So around 1pm I was a little past 5.5 cm and I started zoning out/passing out because at that point the pain just takes over your body that you just don’t fight it nor can you just ride it out. My contractions had been back to back since 8pm to 1pm the next day that the nurses were amazed I hadn’t asked for an epidural way before. Also if you have been in labor you know what labor contractions look like on the monitor they kept referring to my contractions to an EKG report because I had no pause. Also when I decided to get my epidural, the anesthesiologist was in surgery so I had to wait 45 minutes, those 45 minutes were the longest 45 minutes of my entire life. He came in, he got me all ready, I asked him to just not paralyze me and to keep the baby safe and that was my only request. The reason I loved the epidural was because I actually felt my legs, I could move them I could roll over on my own. I read stories that women can’t feel anything from their belly down. Not me, either he gave me the epidural too high on my spine because the only thing that was super numb was my stomach and around my hip area but I could still feel the pressure of each contraction. To be honest I loved it that way, it reassured me that I wasn’t paralyzed and I was still mobile. Also the epidural is a small catheter into your spine and the medicine is distributed through it, sort of like an IV.

The Calm Before The Storm….

So it’s now like 2pm, I am still 5.5cm dilated but feeling much better, not dying by any means. For the next few hours I am feeling the pressure of each contraction but not bad, I mean I have never had an epidural so I wasn’t sure how or what you are supposed to feel, some of my friends said they didn’t feel anything. I still continued to feel the pressure and could feel each contraction come. Around 5pm I told Arnel I think the epidural is wearing off because I am starting to feel pain not pressure, so they call in the Nurse Anesthetist and he administers a quick pain reliever into the catheter directly to relieve the pain quicker and then reconnects my epidural catheter into the main syringe that slowly distributes the epidural. He said he ordered another syringe because it’s all out of medicine. So that’s an easy switch, he orders it, these two nurses come in(that weren’t a part of my are team) and are just suppose to add it on, kind of like you would switch out an IV bag, nothing complicated. So the new nurses were filling in for another nurse and were just sent in to do that. I said that’s fine no worries just do your thing and let me not be in pain. Well after the “quick pain reliever” dose started to fade around 7:30 again I tell Arnel, I am like why am I in pain, the epidural must not be working. I felt every single contractions as if I had no epidural, as if all the medicine had all dried up. I was in excruciating pain, by 7:30pm I was exhausted, I hadn’t eaten anything, I was just in bad shape. I kept riding out the contractions back to back. At that point I was 8cm dilated, yes 8 and full on experiencing my back to back contractions. SOOOOO PAINFUL! At 10pm I told Arnel something isn’t right, please call the nurse call the anesthesiologist do something. I am full on crying at this point, I am in so much pain I can’t describe it. The nurse comes in (another one that isn’t a part of delivery team)  she goes you are 10cm dilated it’s time to push. I said I can’t push I can feel everything, the epidural isn’t working, I feel like my body is being ripped into shreds. She goes honey that’s pressure not pain. I am like dude I know what pain is and I know what pressure is and this is PAIN. So my regular delivery nurse comes in and goes okay lets push. Mind you the OB and or midwife don’t actually arrive until your baby is actually making it’s way out. You start your pushing with your nurse. So I start pushing and I can tell it’s not happening, I am full on dying mode at this point! I see the nurse look at the monitor and she goes we are going to pause and stop pushing, I am calling the anesthesiologist, baby’s heart rate is going up and so is yours. She checks my temp and sees I have a fever, yup I developed a fever while going from 8 to 10cm because my body went into shock. The anesthesiologist comes in he goes okay lets see what the issue is, he walks over to administer meds directly through the catheter and goes well thats weird your syringe is full and looks for the catheter because it’s behind me, and goes well here is the problem, you are unplugged. I was like are you serious he goes when was the second dose administered we are like well it was supposed to be hours ago he goes, holly shit how did this happen. The nurse who told me to push is standing there with her eyes wide open apologizing like crazy. I looked at her and I said I told you I know what pain is and I know what pressure is. The anesthesiologist makes a joke and goes, “you didn’t know when you ask for an epidural that you actually get a natural birth.” I said I guess not, he goes well at least now you know what it feels like, I said I sure do. Arnel was so pissed, I just looked at him and I said babe I know what I felt and that didn’t feel like an epidural.

Long story short, they gave me quick dose of antibiotics, gave me the meds, told me to stay calm for about 45 minutes and let the meds kick in. My delivery nurse comes back in she goes how do you feel? I said I feel like a million bucks and I am so ready to have this baby so I want to push NOW. She goes okay lets do it!

The Delivery….

I grabbed both my legs looked at Arnel and I told him I am the mother fucking hulk and I am pushing this baby out if it’s the last thing I do on this earth. We did three pushes and nurse goes wow you are a rockstar, if you keep this up, this baby will be out in the next twenty minutes. We did 3 more pushes, she calls in the midwife and the midwife gets suited up. They prepare everything and at this point the room went from one nurse to about 8 nurses. It was like watching a synchronized team put things together. Arnel just kept telling me to breathe. I pushed a few more times and again mind you my epidural allowed me to feel lots of pressure in my downstairs area and I was mostly numb on my belly. So I felt that baby’s head crown and everything. When the baby’s head started crowning that’s when I started sweating when everyone was telling me to breathe and I had been calm and didnt’ make a single peep pretty much for 24 hours at that point until I raised my voice and said “IF ONE MORE PERSON TELLS ME TO BREATHE I WILL LOSE IT.” The whole room went silent, I still kept holding my own legs because that’s what felt best for me. I pushed and pushed and the midwife was like if you want to push do it and I did. I started getting tired and the head nurse goes okay Lejla one more push with this contraction and the baby will be out. I gave it my all and I saw them pull her out. I just waited for that scream and 3 seconds later I hear her scream. I had only pushed for about 25 minutes which was amazing and the actually pushing and delivery part was the easiest for me, I could do it 10 more times. It was the laboring that nearly killed me because it was long, painful, exhausting and as I mentioned my experience was a wild one.

After they cleaned her up and daddy cut the umbilical cord I got to hold her and just tell her how much I loved her and I cried and cried. I just didn’t want to let her out of my arms. She was the most beautiful and most precious thing we had ever created. Arnel and I are so in love and could not be more excited to be parents. I have fallen in love with my husband even more, which I didn’t think would be possible. He is truly the best daddy to Sofia and we are both so lucky to have him.

Thank you again for reading and stopping by, we love you all so very much!

xoxo

The Hasanovic Family