The Birth Story of An Unmedicated Induction {Layton's Arrival}

One thing we love so much about being doulas is the unique births that take place in all settings. Whether that's a hospital birth or you are delivering at home, each birth story is unique to each individual family, each and every time they bring a baby into their family.

This series of birth stories will show the numerous emotions accompanying birth and the different decisions that can be made for each family as they navigate their journey into parenthood.

We are honored to share, with you, the Young's birth story...

On August 6th, I was 38 weeks 2 days pregnant and so ready to meet our little one. Contractions started around noon and continued to come every 4-8 min for most of the day. My husband was anxiously waiting to go to the hospital that night but deep down I knew it just wasn’t the REAL deal. Sure enough I drifted off to sleep and woke up the next morning still pregnant and no contractions. Twelve hours of what is commonly referred to as false labor {but is sometimes our body's way of preparing for labor to start and is called PRODROMAL LABOR} really got our hopes up and the days to follow I was looking for ANY sign of labor starting again.

On August 10th, I started to lose pieces of my mucus plug and thought for sure it would begin anytime. Every night I went to sleep I thought “it might just happen tonight” and when each morning rolled around, I’d get a little more disappointed.

Waiting for our son's arrival was mentally one of the hardest things I have ever done; I felt like everyone was just waiting on me and the call that it was time.

At 39 weeks I was dilated to 1cm and our midwife wanted to do a growth scan at our next appointment due to our baby’s size. I was determined to go into labor naturally before our due date…I was trying everything I could think of to change my cervix: pineapple, running, exercise ball, lots & lots of walking, squats, walking in heels, you name it!

August 18th rolled around and David {my husband} met me at our midwives office straight from work that morning. We anxiously waited for our growth scan to begin. During the ultrasound, I could tell they were struggling to find pockets of fluid but I still had hope. After they did their final measurements, the technician told us they were most likely going to have to deliver our baby today due to his size and lack of amniotic fluid remaining.

A wave of so many emotions came over me and I began to cry. I didn’t feel scared but the uncertainty of an induction and the question “why is my body failing me and my baby?” ran through my mind.

Reality set in that we were going to meet our little one and I was both excited and terrified at the same time. Our midwife decided to do a direct admit and send us over as soon as possible. We decided to run home, finish packing our bags, eat a quick lunch, and give Oaklee {our schnauzer!} one last hug as our only baby.

We arrived at the hospital pretty close to 1pm and began the check-in process. Our nurse, Karin, was absolutely amazing from the start. She warned me that the induction process can be quite long {sometimes 3 days} but the good news was she would be back to work the following morning to hopefully have this baby! I received one dose of Cytotec (ripens cervix) at 1:30pm and began contracting every 2 ½ minutes fairly quickly. At 5:30pm I was checked and dilated to 2cm dilated, 70% effaced and baby was -2 station.

My midwife then gave us the option to do another dose of Cytotec and see if my body progresses enough with that or start Pitocin. She referred to these options as the bunny slope & black diamond… we went with the black diamond route and decided to get this show on the road!

At 6:15pm they started Pitocin and things started to pick up. We called our Doula and Birth Photographer around 8pm and I decided to get out of bed and cope with the contractions with the birth ball and heating pad on my back. My midwife came back to check me at 10:10pm and I was 3cm dilated 80% effaced and baby was -2 station. I surprisingly felt good with the little bit of progress and my midwife suggested to get in bed and rest while I was still in early labor; she then bumped my Pitocin up from a 4 to a 6.

I asked her if I could get into the birthing tub and she still thought it was too early; she suggested to save the tub for something to look forward to once I progressed a little more. I climbed into bed and began to cope with the labor pains and rest in-between contractions as well as I could. Every break between contractions I got a taste of how good rest would feel right now but in the back of my mind I knew another contraction would soon start. I began to feel more intense contractions throughout my body and with each contraction I thought to myself “why am I doing this without an epidural?”

Knowing every contraction got me closer to the end helped me get through the pain. My doula Hali suggested getting into the shower and by that point I was willing to try anything. I instantly felt relief and assumed it was because I was able to stand through the contractions instead of lying down. At this time I felt confident about not getting the epidural and was ready to rock, what I thought was active labor. The second contraction in the shower was the first time I saw blood, so I knew it was a great sign of progress. By the end of the third contraction, I started to have a lot of pressure and I mentioned it to Hali. She reassured me she would let the nurse know when she came back in the room.

Before the nurse had time to return, the most intense/overpowering feeling rushed over me. I wasn’t sure what was about to happen. My body hunched over and pushed three times uncontrollably.

Nurses that I’ve never seen before rushed in and walked me back to the bed as they called my midwife, repeatedly telling me not to push. Once my midwife came in and laid me back on the bed she checked me and I will never forget her face when she looked at the nurse… In complete shock she said, “Lets have this baby!” As of 12:04am, a quick hour and 45 minutes later I was 10cm dilated and 100% effaced. At 12:14am she broke my water

...and at 12:16am on August 19th, three pushes later… we met our sweet baby boy!

Every single person in the room was so shocked at how fast I had progressed and delivered. My midwife, nurses, and doula were absolutely incredible throughout the entire process and into recovery. In all honesty, I wasn’t too thrilled at the idea of delivering in a hospital setting; but after the experience I had, I would choose to do it over and over again.

Incredible photography by: Leanne Haskins Photography