the birth of longkitten (longcat, XP from jan'15)

longcat07 · January 2015

PgAL preface: before anything, i want to thank you all for the love and support you've given me since i started coming around after my BFP last may. i didn't post many threads myself but your words here have had such an impact and got me through many a miserable, down-spiraling panicky day/evening/whatever. it's been busy since beanie girl made her arrival but i'll be lurking and loving when i can.

the short version: maura kathryn was born 1/16/15 at 9:07pm at 40w2d gestation, after somewhere between 6 and 7 hours of regular/real contractions and 15min of pushing. she's a chunk at 9lb 2oz and 21.5" long.

the long version: all morning on friday, off and on, i was feeling what i mistook to be lower GI discomfort. lower back pain and low belly cramps that came and went quickly with no particular regularity. around 11:30 i finally sat down and put my feet up for a bit and noticed that this cramping was coinciding with what i thought were BH, which i'd been feeling regularly for over a week at that point. so i thought, hm, interesting, and then left off because they were so short and irregular. i was paying closer attention after that though. SO and i got DS on the bus for preschool at 12:30 and then went to run errands. it was around 2pm that we were at the credit union opening a new account when i noticed that they were closer together and more regular, although still very short. then we went to target and they intensified. that was fun. lol. during all this time, SO's dad (who was our childcare plan for DS at go time) was on his way up for the weekend just because...we hadn't called him yet. it was all very fortunate.

when we got home around 3pm, i started timing the contractions and they were two minutes or less apart and averaging about 45 seconds long, so i wasn't really sure what to do. i mean, they were intense enough to have to breathe through and so close together, but still so short. also, bloody show when i went to the bathroom...gross. once FFIL showed up and DS got home, i called L&D and they were like, yeah, you better come in, as a STM and GBS+ to boot. so we finished packing, kissed DS goodbye and went in. i spent an hour in triage on my back (3cm when i came in) so they could get variation in the baby's heart rate, and it was the most miserable hour of the entire labor. contractions were still short but they were one on top of the other, and all i wanted to do was be able to sit on the bed and lean forward through the contractions.

they finally admitted me (which they knew they were going to do anyway, but the doctor was waiting for the heart rate thing and to see how far i'd dilate in a hour...i went up to 4.5 in that time) and took me to a room where i immediately asked for an epidural. so much for med-free! it was the plan to keep an open mind though, and i was reaching the limit of my ability to breathe through contractions. they got the anesthesiologist in there almost right away. it took him about 10min to place it because DAMN it's hard to sit with your back curled like that when you're that pregnant and having contractions that are a 9 on the pain scale. SO did great holding me steady though, especially since about halfway through the procedure my water broke with a weird *pop* feeling down under and a huge gush, and then contractions got way more intense.

but, epidural. yay for modern medicine! sweet relief. and in 2 hours i progressed the rest of the way in perfect comfort. i had to wait a bit because the doctor was at another birth, but once he was there, i pushed through three contractions (probably 8 times total, about 15min) and she was out. SO was shocked at how fast she came out. i tore in both directions because her shoulders came so quickly and the upper tear went through my urethra and also ruptured an artery, so i lost a fair amount of blood. not enough to need a transfusion but enough that between that and the location of the tear, they put me on a catheter until sunday morning, which suuuuuuuuucked. between the swelling, stitches, and blood, it took three nurses and a doctor over half an hour to place that damn catheter. it was for the best though, because i was feeling pretty icky through most of saturday, and was doing well yesterday after they took it out that morning.

so far we've had some really frustrating feeding issues with her and my stitches are sore and we're all exhausted, but otherwise i think we're doing well.