09/14/2023
Today my Ava turns 8, and I thought it would be fun to share her birth story… September 1, 2015, Ava's due date, came and passed with no signs that she was ready to make an appearance. Since I had a healthy pregnancy, the doctors allowed me to go two weeks past my due date and our induction was scheduled for the night of September 14th. With each day that passed, I grew increasingly frustrated and anxious, as I wanted to avoid being induced at all costs. For the next 13 days, I did everything I could to jumpstart labor - acupuncture, yoga, walking miles (even up and down the Williamsburg Bridge!), going for a massage, and eating all the food known to start labor. If you Google natural ways to induce labor, I did it all, except castor oil!
On the night of September 12th, after eating spicy drunken noodles from our favorite Thai place, I started to have very mild cramping. The cramps came and went every other hour, so I chalked it up to false labor. I took a bath, waddled into bed, listened to a meditation and drifted off to sleep. I woke up Sunday morning, upset that nothing progressed. In an attempt to distract me, Matt and I took our dog for a walk. We stopped at our favorite coffee shop and then again at the market to pick up brownie mix (because pregnancy cravings are real!). On our walk home, I had to pause and find a bench due to a contraction that lasted about 90 seconds. This was more intense than what I experienced the night before. It was about 11am when we got home and I baked my brownies and attempted to lay down and rest. However, my one contraction an hour started to become more frequent and I felt a strong urge to be upright. I alternated between sitting on an exercise ball and kneeling over the couch during my contractions. Things progressed quickly in the afternoon and by 5pm my contractions were around 7 minutes apart. My doula, Erica, came over to help at this point.
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