Morgan H.’s High Risk Induction

Morgan had a wonderful doula, Webster certified chiropractic care, and used acupuncture to get pregnant AND for pain in pregnancy.

She was induced for several serious complications in her pregnancy.

My induction began around 10am on 4/22/21, and I was already 2cm dilated when I arrived. I had very tolerable, consistent contractions all day long. (I had been having contractions since about 16 weeks, which was stressful and terrifying. I was on anti-contraction meds most of my pregnancy). 

I kept active, walked around, bounced on an exercise ball, did the Miles Circuit and Three Sisters of Balance from Spinning Babies®, used the peanut ball, and watched “The Princess Bride”, “Frozen” and “Impractical Jokers” with Lucas (my husband). 

I asked to be checked around 10pm, and was disappointed to find out I was only 3cm after almost 12 hours. I sent our doula home so we could all try and rest while things were still tolerable. 

Leland then had a few heart decels, which were very scary, but the nurses all handled things amazingly. They stopped the pitocin to give him a break, and once things calmed down and leveled back out we restarted at a lower dose. 

After a while Lucas fell asleep. I kept having to get up to pee every 5 minutes, which was a whole song and dance with all my wires and IV pole. I decided I’d just hang out in the bathroom for a while and read a book on my phone. 

While I was in there, my water broke. I knew things would get much more intense after my water breaking, so I called the doula to come back around 1:30am. 

The contractions quickly picked up and became much more intense. I ended up getting in the shower, and the warm water was truly a godsend. The contractions were getting extremely close together and difficult to handle. 

My nurses were angels, getting soaked by the shower while trying to hold my belly monitors in place. Leland didn’t want to stay on the monitors and was making it very hard to keep track of what he was up to. 

I went through transition while still in the shower, and got very shaky and nauseous. Once my body started involuntarily pushing in the shower, I moved back to the bed. 

My doctor was there and ready to go. I knew I didn’t want to push while laying flat on my back, so I pushed on my hands and knees for a while. Then I switched to side laying and Lucas helped support my leg. 

Lucas was so wonderful and encouraging while I was pushing. It was the most painful part for me, and I kept wanting to fight against the contractions. He helped ground me and reminded me that I could do this, and we’d have our baby soon. 

Leland made his arrival at 4:15am, after just about 3 hours of active labor. Once he decided he was ready, he wasn’t holding back. Going from 3 to 10cm in just a couple hours is extremelyyy intense.

I am so proud of my body for what it accomplished, and eternally grateful for the precious gift of my perfect, healthy baby boy!

Check out the SPINNING BABIES HOME PAGE to learn more about the movements Morgan used in early labor!