The Story of Samantha Jane?s Birth - Really Really Long!
Jen748
member
Sorry it is so long...you all know how wordy and focused on details I am! 
We had a nervous night of sleep, realizing that it was the last night of just us?scary and thrilling at the same time!! After getting to the hospital a few minutes after 6 (my parents and brother beat us there) we got checked in and moved backed into our labor and delivery room. The rooms at Liberty Hospital are reminiscent of hotel rooms, complete with spa showers and comfortable d?cor. After getting settled with the nurse in our room, 302, Dr. Tegler came in to do an internal exam and break my water. I was dilated to a 4 and about 80% effaced.
Having my water broke was an interesting experience, to say the least! It did not hurt, which I anticipated. In fact, I really didn?t feel the process until the gush of water! Which, was a bit gross, especially during a contraction, anytime I moved and any time Samantha moved! Samantha was not happy with the water breaking, her heart rate sped up and she started wiggling and kicking! The nurse started me on Pitocin and my contractions started.
A lot of people told me that when you have real labor contractions, you would know it. During pregnancy this was very frustrating because I wanted specific details on how labor contractions felt so that I would really know when I was in labor. Well, after going through labor, I finally see what they were saying! Labor contractions are so strong; you really do know when they start!
The contractions began growing in intensity throughout the morning and when I was next checked I was dilated to a 5 and effaced around 90%. The nurses lowered my pitocin drip because my body was doing most of the work it needed to on its own. It appeared that I just needed my water broke to get the process started! I had found a position that was very effective for me to deal with the pain of the contraction but the external fetal heart monitor would lose Samantha each time I got into this position. I would sit cross legged, gripping my knees and hunching over but after losing Samantha?s heart rate each time, the nurses asked me to avoid that position, if at all possible.
Brett asked the nurse when we would be in the window for an epidural; to make sure we didn?t miss that window should I decide to get one. At that point, the nurse said they would have to get another bag of fluid in me before they could give me an epidural. She indicated it would take close to an hour before the fluids were in and the doctor could come in. At that point, I told her to go ahead with putting in the orders and fluid, knowing that I could turn the doctor away if I decided at the last moment to forgo the epidural. After my favorite labor position was removed from the possible positions for dealing with the pain, I was in favor of finding something else to relieve the pain!
I was still dilated to a 5 when the anesthesiologist came in to give the epidural and I hit my brick wall, I almost had a panic attack! The automatic blood pressure cuff was going on and off about every 30 seconds, or so it felt! My left arm was numb from the cuff from my fingers to my shoulder! I was squeezing Brett with my right hand and leaning over my bulging belly so that the anesthesiologist can complete the epidural. Then the nurse started messing with the fetal heart monitor on my belly and it got to be too much! I was starting to freak out, cry and hyperventilate so Brett had to talk me down from my ledge! He did amazing, even when I was crying out from the numbing needle, the ?zings? from the epidural kicking in and from feeling out of control with the blood pressure cuff and nursing messing with me!!!
The epidural started working but was not hitting my lower left back and abdomen, so I was still feeing some pretty intense contractions there. This is the point when began to have a second panic attack because I was in pain and the nursing staff was coming in and out of the room causing some major annoyance and unwelcome distraction. One particular nurse (not my regular nurse) was extremely loud and I would have kicked her in the head if I could have used my legs at that time!! By the time my epidural had hit those last two spots, Brett had calmed me downed with breathing techniques and a wonderful loving presence.
When the nurse checked me an hour after the epidural I was at a 9 and they could see her head!! That was the most amazing feeling?my baby was so close to being in our arms!! They had me start pushing a few minutes later around 2:00 pm, which was an interesting process since I could not feel the contractions, except for a small amount of back pressure. The nurses and Brett would help me out by lifting my legs into the brace stir ups and helping me know when I was having a contraction so I could push. Samantha had a foot, or both feet, in my ribs the entire time I was pushing, which made it incredibly hard to push! I felt like my lungs could not inflate and my ribs were being stabbed with a knife from the inside! It was incredibly difficult to push through an entire contraction because I could not get a deep enough breath to last long enough!!
I asked for a mirror to see the baby?s head and they brought in this mirror on a rolling stand so that it could be positioned so that I could see her head moving down towards the crowning point! I had decided I wanted to see the baby crowning but had not considered watching while I pushed. Turns out, it was a powerful motivation tool! I could also use it to determine if the way I was pushing was effective or just wasting precious energy. Being able to see her head getting closer and closer to crowning was an awesome experience. It was such an emotional connection to Samantha, knowing that I was bringing her into the world with the help of Brett!
Dr. Cargill came in after I had been pushing for around an hour to finish the delivery! She kept voicing for me to have longer pushes and even though it hurt, I kept trying to push longer and harder. She kept telling me how close Samantha?s head was to coming out, which was great motivation. Brett was wonderfully supportive through the pushing including holding my right leg and helping counterpush on my back to give me a push point.
When I pushed Samantha?s head out, I didn?t really feel it but she started to cry and Brett was instantly in love! I felt the shoulder?s come out and the next thing I knew Dr. Cargill was ready for Brett to cut the cord. He was so overwhelmed by Samantha being here that he almost missed cutting the cord, but he focused enough to cut it. I ended up with a second degree episiotomy, which was not as big of a deal as I had anticipated!
The next thing I knew, I was holding our baby girl on my chest?full of the most amazing amount of love, more than I thought ever possible! All I could do was to stare at her and cry?tears of joy of course!! She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen!!! Brett and I kept staring at her and then each other, hardly believing she was finally here? and so perfect for us!
Samantha was not keeping her color pink enough so they had to give her some oxygen to keep her pink for a few minutes after delivery. Outside of that, she was wonderful! She had a little swelling on the right side of her head and face because she came out slightly crooked. Partially because of that, her right eye was swollen and she would only open the left eye.
After she was checked out by the nursery staff and taken for her first bath, which Brett watched and documented for us in photos, we attempted breastfeeding. Samantha is a very lazy eater, we learned. We had some difficult with her latching on, but she finally did latch on during the first breastfeeding session. Each session after that became more and more problematic, with each session involving her screaming because she was hungry and mad because she couldn?t get latched on, making latching even harder.
Partially due to her latching issues, Samantha dropped more than 10 percent of her body weight in that first day, getting down to 6 pounds and 13 ounces. It was recommended we start supplementing with formula to help her get food and help with the weight loss. This involved a syringe type apparatus that we used to shoot formula in her mouth while she was breastfeeding. It required both of us and all four of our hands for a feeding. All while Samantha was still not latching on properly, if at all.
The other aspects of the hospital stay were wonderful, we loved holding our baby girl and did utilize the nursery for a few hours each night to keep rested while it was possible! The recovery from delivery was not as bad as I had made it out to be in my head. I hardly felt the stitches and the post partum bleeding/swelling was much less of an issue than I thought it would be!
The first few nights at home were extremely rough, between the breastfeeding issues and Samantha?s nocturnal schedule. We learned really fast that the saying of sleeping when the baby sleeps is the only way to survive those first few weeks!! I had an emotional breakdown the first night home over the breastfeeding. It was awful! Samantha was hungry and angry because she couldn?t latch and get the food she needed. I was exhausted and feeling very frustrated with not being able to connect/latch with her. We finally decided to use one of the bottle tops the hospital sent home with the liquid formula for supplementing and feed her straight formula. I didn?t want to give up on breastfeeding but she needed to eat desperately.
I attempted to pump the next day and got a few ounces of colostrum but knew that continuing to pump would keep me up every few hours, on top of a newborn that hardly slept. I decided that I just couldn?t do the pumping and keep sane or emotionally stable! It was a hard decision, but one that I am still extremely glad I made.
Switching to formula brought on a new set of issues, mainly because Samantha has a sensitive belly! She had major gas, which was causing her major distress and not allowing her to sleep very long. We switched to a gentle version of formula but ended up switching her to a soy based formula in the end. Combined with the gas drops, the soy formula seems to have been the winning combination. She still has gas, but it is much easier for her to pass and doesn?t involve near the amount of screaming and discomfort!
In short, labor, delivery and post partum were all worth it?we have our wonderful family of three?more than I could imagine in my life. Brett and I are closer than ever and we have a whole new person to fill our lives with joy!!
Re: The Story of Samantha Jane?s Birth - Really Really Long!