My Unexpected CSection

ally1218

The due date for my son was March 1st 2013 but the Dr and I thought that he would come early. My husband had a cold in early February and by Valentines Day, I got it too. On Feb. 18th, I was asked to go to the Zoo by Laura but I felt so horrible. All I wanted to do was sleep on the couch and thats all I did. I went to bed early around 9:00 that night. I woke up at 1:34am to the feeling that I had peed on myself. I had heard that urinary incontinence was a symptom of pregnancy but I knew I had broke my water. I woke up Al and told him that my water had broke. He turned the light on to check but we had red sheets so it was hard to tell what it was. The plan was to stay and labor at home for as long as possible and I told Al to go back to sleep. He told me frantically that he couldn't go back to sleep now and that I should call the doctor. I laughed and decided to humor him so I did. I got the after hours line and got in touch with my doctors' partner who didn't really know me. He asked us to come in. I told Al it's not a big deal since my doctor knows my wishes and I decided to get in the shower to see if I could help the contractions along. I leaked the whole way. As I was in the shower, Al came in and asked that we go to hospital. Just in case. It would be easier on his nerves. That wasn't a part of the plan but the way he said it made me agree. I had already had most of my and the babys' things packed so I helped him pack a bag and get toiletries. We had a glass of orange juice and I took an apple to go because I knew they wouldn't let me eat once I got to the hospital. When we were on the road, I felt contractions start to come for the first time. They were less than 10 minutes apart. When we got to the hospital, an older male guard asked us why we were there to which I responded, "Um, my water broke so I'm here to have a baby." He looked like he was a bit flustered at my response and told Al where to park after dropping me off at the entrance. The guard even got me a wheelchair but I felt bad about using it when I didn't feel horrible yet so I declined. I had only eaten maybe a quarter of the apple and threw the rest away. Al and I went to LD where the checked me in and Al left me to park the car. The nurses made sure my water had broken and how dialated I was. I was only a 1 but I had figured as much since the contractions weren't painful or close together yet. They transferred me to another room and Al found me there. The nurse assigned to me did my paperwork and asked me questions while putting in my IV. She said that she had gotten in touch with my doctor and told him that we were here. She said that he expects the baby here by noon. I was beaming and happy to get underway. I wanted Al to call his boss and mine ASAP but he wanted to wait. I decided to walk once I was cleared to. We walked down the halls for about 10 minutes, with me holding my IV fluids. We saw two sets of twins in the nursery and I couldn't wait to see our baby. I realized that I hadn't felt one contraction while walking and I decided to go back. I plugged myself up to the monitors and called my boss. I talked to her for about 10 minutes, with no contractions on the monitor. My nurse came in and checked the monitor. I sat down on the bed and had two strong contractions. I was told not to get up anymore, as it looks like it stalls the contractions. So I was bed bound while Al slept most of the morning. By 11am, the nurse came to check me and I was at a 2. She recommended going on pitocin to kick start the contractions. I agreed to it, even though it wasn't in my birth plan. After an hour on it, they had noticed that the pitocin made the babys' heart rate drop so it was stopped. This time, the doctor came and checked me. I was at a 3. He said that they'll keep an eye on his heart rate but they need to help the contractions along. He also suggested getting an internal monitor so that they can make sure that the contractions are strong enough. All this time, I was feeling regular contractions but for some reason, they weren't progressing me along. I agreed again, although stubbornly, because this wasn't going at all to plan. My contractions were strong enough and the pitocin continued. Around 7:308:00, I felt the strongest contraction yet. They wanted the contractions to be at least at a 50, but 75 was favorable. This contraction topped at 116. It was very painful and the nurse said afterwards that she was surprised I didn't scream. Everyone thought it must be time to push. I was checked and I was only a 6. The doctor came in and confirmed, although he thought it was more of a 5. At this point, he recommended a csection. He wasn't dropped enough and I wasn't progressing. He thought that my pelvic bone was too narrow which would explain what was happening. I was upset. I didn't want to entertain the idea of a csection. I had done these extra things already and I had to do this as well?! I told them no. When they had left the room, Al and I talked about what we needed to do. The doctor had told me that by 1:00am, they need to have the baby delivered or else they will do an emergency csection, with or without our consent. We decided to do a csection voluntarily, since we both didn't believe that I would deliver before that time. Al ran out to catch the doctor. They all came back in the room and my doctor said that he believed that we were making the right choice. We started prepping for surgery right away. I didn't read up on csections since I thought it was an impossibility so I was asking lots of questions. And I hope that this is the only time in my life I will ever pee in a bed pan. Al went to put on a scrub outfit and a couple of nurses went to roll me into the OR. Al and I said our goodbyes and I went in the room alone. Al couldn't come in until the doctor was ready for him. The first thing they did was put in a spinal. I hugged a nurse while an anesthesiologist put a needle in my back, which I was dumb enough to see beforehand. I started to cry. I was so scared at this point. I laid down and they started to make sure that the drug was working. I was asked if I felt a cold and wet cotton ball on certain parts of my body. They blocked my view of my body and put in a catheter. I was balling my eyes out while the anesthesiologist tried to make small talk with me, telling me that everything was going well. I think by that point the doctor had come in because someone had asked for Al to come in. He came over to me and held my hand, which was strapped down. He had never been one to pray to God but he told me that while he was waiting to come in, he had prayed to his grandmother. We were both crying at this point and I started to feel pressure. I said ouch because of it, which scared the anesthesiologist for a second. After a few minutes, we heard a cry. At 9:24pm on Tuesday Feb. 19th, our son was born. We saw him for a quick second when a nurse showed him to us across the screen but she went quickly to clean him up. I asked Al to go with him so that one of us could be with him. I could feel more pressure but that was all. I laid there crying, wishing I could hold him or have skintoskin time. Al came back with Alex with a blanket and I got to kiss his head. I wasn't able to hold him until after we got back into our room. The doctor came in and told us that our son had gotten stuck in my pelvis. He had a goose egg on his head along with two scratches. He wouldn't have been able to pass through the birth canal so we had made the right choice. The doctor also said this explained why his blood pressure lowered during contractions because his head was hitting my pelvic bone. I asked him, "So if we had tried this birth in the 1800's, we wouldn't have survived?" He replied with a very matteroffact.yes. Soon after, we were moved into a recovery room. It was around 1:302:00am before we got settled down in our room and went to sleep.

Jackateolive

So happy it worked out well for you, but such a scary concept to consider (birth in the 1800s).  

Congrats and enjoy your little man.

jneden

Wow that's a scary story! Glad you're both doing good. Thanks for sharing!