Elise Kathleen's birth story (Littledeer84)

Littledeer84 · October 2014

TL;DR version - Elise Kathleen was born October 17. She surprised us and was breech, resulting in a c-section. She was 7 lbs, 12 ounces, 21.5 inches long and has a lot of dark hair! We are all doing well now after her eventful entry into the world.

Long Version:

After a week that included a kidney stone which I mistook for labor, I was set for an induction on October 17 at 39 weeks. DH and I went in for the induction early on Friday morning. The nurse went to place my iv – and I guess my vein was “juicy.” I wasn’t looking when she placed it, but I felt liquid dripping down my arm, and the nurse (who was really great) kept saying that it was juicy. Something about the feeling of the blood and her description of it set me off – I started feeling faint, had a racing heart, and couldn’t breathe. I was having a panic attack! I still don’t understand why I got set off, but they put a wet rag on my forehead tried to talk me through it. After a while I started to calm down, but I was so surprised at my reaction. The on call doctor came it, and she told me it was totally fine – having anxiety was completely normal, which helped me feel better.

Since I was GBS positive, they hooked me up to some antibiotics and the Pitocin. And we started the wait. My nurse offered the epidural when I was ready, and by about 10am, I was ready. The doctor came in, and started his thing, and I again started having a panic attack. I still can’t explain now why these procedures were setting me off – before delivery I would have said I was a little nervous about everything, but not overly concerned. But the anesthesiologist was a pro, he got me set up quickly and I was able to lay down and try to relax. Even so, I threw up after the epidural due to my nerves.

After a little bit the nurse decided to check me – and I definitely didn’t feel totally numb down there yet! Ouch! She thought I was maybe a 3, but said my bag of water was really tough. She couldn’t be sure that she felt a head. I didn’t really think anything of it, until she brought in the on-call doctor and an ultrasound machine. The doctor introduced herself and said they wanted to check the baby’s position. So we got the first ultrasound since way back at the 20 week a/s. She waved the wand around low and we saw a spine, and then she moved it up and said “There is the head.” I looked at where she was – just below my ribs on the right side. My first thought was “c-section.” The on-call doctor asked me if I had discussed what would happen if the baby was breech, and I said no, even though I sort of knew what it meant. The on-call doc said we could attempt a version, but if that failed they would have to do a c-section.

My nurse got my doctor on the phone, and she talked with me. I asked how often the versions are successful, and she thought it was a 50/50 chance. She offered to go straight to the c-section, but I decided to try the version because I already had a vaginal birth with DD and wanted to avoid surgery if possible. So the plan was they would stop my Pitocin, and we would go to the OR for the version once my doctor made it to the hospital, which we had to wait about 1.5 hours for as she was working at another hospital that day as well. I was so nervous! Again, I had the panicky feeling, and the nurses gave me a cool wash cloth for my head. They brought in the haz-mat suit thing that they make the dads wear, and my H suited up. I remember teasing him that he looked like he was ready for ebola.

The time came, and they wheeled me down to the OR. My doctor arrived a few minutes after we did, and I met another anesthesiologist and another doctor – it seemed like there were so many people there! They gave me a shot of something that was supposed to relax my uterus, but they warned me it would make me shakey, and they were right. I could not stop shaking. Pretty quickly, they started the version, and besides some pressure, I really didn’t feel much. Thank god for the anesthesiologist. H was sitting right next to me, and his presence really helped me stay calmer that I think I would have otherwise. It seemed like the version was working, they got baby flipped, but as soon as they let go she flipped right back to where she had been. And then her heart rate went down. My doctor said, “Ok, we are going to prep you for the c-section.” And I swear it wasn’t 2 minutes later that DD2 was born! H and I still cannot believe how fast it happened. They threw up a curtain and got her out in no time. I cried when they held her up and said “It’s a girl!” So much relief that she was here, that the uncertainty was gone, that she was crying and ok.

Turns out she had the cord around her neck, so she was not going to turn on her own. The doctors stitched me up while I watched the nurses check out baby girl. H went to be with the baby – he told me later that he saw them working on me and he doesn’t think he can un-see it. I felt so much relief, but was still shaking like crazy. Even when they took me to recovery, I was afraid to hold our little girl because I was shaking so much. I had been really looking forward to skin to skin right after birth, but I felt so awful and weak at the time I asked my husband to do it instead. He was a little self conscious about it, but he knew it was important, and I love that he was willing to do that with her. The nurses took a few pictures for me, and I’m so glad they did. He kept saying she was getting chest hair in her mouth and that she was trying to nurse him, but I know he is glad he did it.

Within an hour I felt like I could hold her for the first time – and when I did it was like I instantly felt better. Just holding her made me calmer and stronger, it was amazing. We had not been sure about a girl name when we came to the hospital, so it took a few hours of discussion but we decided on Elise Kathleen. My overall recovery has been great so far, besides those first few rough hours immediately after the section. Elise has been a great baby – nursing is going much smoother than my first DD, and Elise is sleeping several hours at a time at night. Nora loves “her baby” as she calls Elise. Our families both came to town for visits, but now we are just getting into the swing of things as a family of 4.