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Alice Lily's Birth Story

Alice Lily was born on December 24th, 2020 at 1:32 pm

On December 23rd at 7 am I woke up with light contractions, they were nothing bad and I started my day as usual. However, that didn’t last too long as by 11 am they were coming on fast and strong. By then it was getting harder to walk and talk, I remember sitting in the car drinking a Maid Marion’s milkshake (as one does when they’re 9 months pregnant) and a contraction came on. My hand clenched so hard on the cup it broke and the milkshake spilt over onto the seat.

We headed home, my goal was to spend as much time at home as possible because we were only 2 minutes away from the hospital.

Contractions were coming about every 3 minutes, lasting for about 30 seconds. I laid in the bath and tried to ease the pain, with little to no help. After that, I had given the hospital a call, as I just felt I couldn’t handle the pain getting more intense (I had no idea what I was about to be in for).

By 3 pm that same day we headed down the road and I got checked by the doctor, I was 0 centimetres dilated. I was devastated. They said they wanted to keep me present for monitoring and injected a shot into my hip to attempt to relieve the tense muscles, saying that should help with progressing dilation.

Contractions began getting even more intense around 7 pm, staying consistent at 1 minute and 30 seconds apart, lasting for about 1 minute each. Remaining at 0 centimetres dilated, I was not “eligible” for an epidural. To this day I am still bitter.

Overnight they kept injecting shots into my hips every 3 hours, however, I still remained at 0 centimetres dilated. With contractions staying consistent, I did not get a wink of rest.

Once 7 am rolled around and staff change began, I was suddenly “eligible” for the epidural, despite still being 0 centimetres dilated. I had been in labour for about 24 hours at this point.

By 9 am the anesthesiologist arrived to inject the epidural, I had never been so excited to meet someone! Unfortunately, after 3 attempts, the epidural was unsuccessful. I’m not exactly sure why, but it did sound like my spine was not able to get into an optimal position.

I’m frequently asked, “Does an epidural hurt” and all I can say is that is the most WELCOMED pain in your life after laboring for over 24 hours.

The nurses told Sam to go home and get some rest as it was going to be another really long day. He reluctantly headed out the door, being a man who does everything that he is told.

The nurses gave me oral medication that was supposed to help with the pain, but unfortunately, this left me profusely vomiting for the rest of the birthing process. I am an easily nauseated person and mixing that with extreme pain was not a good combination. They began feeding me toast and juice so I had something to vomit every couple of minutes.

By this time I had been awake for over 27 hours and was beyond exhausted. After each contraction, I passed out and then was violently awoken 60 seconds later by another contraction and vomiting.

Alice's heartbeat began to drop rapidly at 11 am. Doctors and nurses started rushing in and talking about an emergency c-section if her heart rate didn’t settle quickly. I began frantically calling Sam to come back to the hospital. Thankfully within 10 minutes, he was back and Alice’s heart rate stabilized.

For another 2.5 hours, I remained not dilating, throwing up, passing out, and having contractions every 60 seconds with no helpful pain relief. With no end in sight and becoming extremely upset with the lack of dilation, I became very emotional. It was then I could feel an intense pressure coming below, a feeling that I had to push. It started taking over my body, however, my body still remained 0 centimetres dilated.

Alice was over it and determined to push herself out of there.

That’s when her heartbeat started plummeting again, except this time I was rushed into an emergency c-section.

During the c-section, I continued to vomit, with Sam holding my head to the side so I wouldn’t choke. I remember it being very difficult to breathe. Thankfully, within minutes I could hear baby Alice crying and passed over to Sam. I’m so thankful the nurses took his phone and got pictures of them.

My little angel was born at 1:32 pm on December 24th, 2020. The best Christmas present someone could ask for!

Surgery quickly wrapped up and I went into recovery. Within minutes I had passed out after experiencing 30 hours of labour. I was able to hold Alice about 6 hours later, with Sam waiting for me with cheesecake and McDonald’s (the only thing open late on Christmas Eve).

I’d love to tell you it was a beautiful experience, but it honestly was traumatic. I don’t think anything can prepare you for a birth that was never meant to end well. Without a medical team present I’m not sure how Alice’s story would’ve ended. Despite my experience with the medical staff feeling like a rollercoaster, I’m beyond thankful for all their contributions to getting Alice Lily safely into the world.

And if you’re wondering, I will be having a planned c-section for the next child, whenever that may be.