Super short version:

I was induced into labor on Friday 1/29 and contractions started that afternoon. I decided to get an epidural and get some relief from the pain so that I could get some sleep before the delivery. Joss was born at 11:41am ET on Sat 1.30 with no complications.

The Birth story:

I was due to deliver our little one on January 17th 2021. We knew that due dates were not a perfect science and that it was more of a “due month” since the baby could come 10 days earlier or later than predicted, but we were still bummed when we couldn’t meet our kid on the 17th! I had an ultrasound done on Friday January 22 to make sure there were enough fluids to sustain the baby for longer. If there wasn’t enough I was going to be induced that day! Luckily her heartbeat, breathing, and fluid levels were all great (and my blood pressure was normal) so I was able to stay pregnant in the hopes that labor would start naturally.

I was able to stay relatively active throughout my whole pregnancy, which was great! I could run, bike and do yoga throughout my first trimester. Then had to cut out the biking in October when my belly got too big, and stopped running in November when the lower back pain got worse. Though I was able to do a virtual half marathon over the Summer when I was 10 weeks! Since late November I had been walking at least 2-4 times a week either on our treadmill or outside. After the Dr’s appointment on 1/22 I decided to kick it up a notch! We went for a 2.5 mile walk both days that weekend, and I was easting pretty much only spicy food. Unfortunately nothing seemed to bring on natural labor, and staying pregnant past 42 weeks was an unnecessary risk that myself and my midwife weren’t willing to take.

We went into Mt.Auburn hospital on Friday morning (1/29), and I received my first dose of mesoprostol at around 1pm. I was allowed one support person to be with me the entire duration of my stay there so my husband Scott was there. We wore masks the entire time (since medical staff were constantly in and out) and we weren’t allowed to leave our rooms. I was required to get a covid test a few days before my scheduled induction and got a negative result.

I received my second dose of mesoprostol at around 4:30pm and light contraction started at around 8pm. Contractions started to get a lot more intense at around 10pm. I was only 3cm dilated at that point so I decided to get an epidural and try to get some rest before delivery. It was very busy in the hospital so the anesthesiologist couldn’t get to me until 1:30am, after that I was able to get some sleep.

I woke up at around 5am and could feel contractions just enough so that I couldn’t sleep, luckily an IV of Benadryl put me back to sleep a few more hours. When I woke up at 8am I was feeling the urge to push, and my water broke at around 8:30! I received another shot of pain reliever (bolus) at around 9am to help with pain management during delivery. Luckily I was still able to move my legs a little and I could still feel when a contraction was coming on.

I won’t go into too many details on the delivery itself (feel free to reach out if you’d like to hear more- happy to share!). I pushed for 1hr and 15min and then my husband Scott was the one to announce the gender. We decided on our girl and boy names that morning so the first thing that I said after finding out it’s a girl was “it’s Jocelyn!!!”. I was in tears of joy! I was able to be skin to skin with her the first 45 minutes and start to nurse her. I also cut her cord when the time came.

The staff at Mt Auburn was absolutely amazing and we were able to make it home before the snow storm started on Monday February 1st. The last week with her has been an amazing blur of cuddles, diaper changes, naps, and nursing session. We wouldn’t trade a second of it (even the crying!) for anything.

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