Birth story - 29 hour labor - GD/Natural Fail

ella.mabel

I was hoping to have a natural delivery without pain medication. My due date was 1/5/2010.  I was scheduled for induction 1/6/2010. I had gestational diabetes, and made every effort to keep my blood sugars under control in order to keep the baby?s weight under control and make sure she came out as healthy as possible.  At my OB appointment on 12/31, my OB stripped my membranes.  I was 3 cm and 90% effaced.  My OB predicted that I would have a ?quick and easy? delivery, so I was feeling very positive.    Contractions started at 12:30 PM on Saturday 1/2.  They were very low in my abdomen and had a very achy and crampy back.  They were completely unlike the Braxton-Hicks contractions that I had felt during pregnancy.  I called the OB?s office at 2:30 PM because contractions were 3 to 5 minutes apart, and they said to wait a couple of hours and call them back.  I also called the doula (Marcia) to report what was happening.  Since we live 40 minutes from the hospital, she said that we could labor at her house because she lived 5 minutes from the hospital, and has a 2^nd floor with a private bedroom and bathroom.  We went to Marica?s house at 5:30 PM since the weather was getting bad.  I tried to eat a strawberry and banana crepe, but nothing tasted good to me.  I ended up having a banana.  I tried to lie down and get some sleep, but I was too uncomfortable during contractions.  I took a bath, which helped ease my back pain.  I started feeling nauseous, and the contractions kept coming, but now they were sometimes 10 minutes apart. We went to hospital at 2:30 AM so they could check my progress.  When I arrived at the hospital, I vomited all over the floor.  Marcia felt this was a good sign that I may be entering transition.  They checked me out and I was 5 cm dilated so they admitted me.   I labored all night without pain medication.  I used the tub for a couple of hours, the doula used massage techniques, but it was getting harder and harder to manage the contractions due to lack of sleep and food, and the fact that I had been laboring for 14 + hours.     They checked me at 7:30 AM on Sunday 1/3- I was still 5 cm.  Ugh!  The OB arrived at 8:30 AM ? still 5 cm.  She talked to me about the pain management options.  I really wanted to avoid the epidural, so I opted to try Nubain to ?take the edge off?.  It helped with the pain, but quickly wore off and it actually caused my contractions to slow down.  They checked me at 10:30 AM, they reported that I was still 5 ? 6 cm.  At this point, I was exhausted both physically and emotionally.  I talked to Marcia about the situation since she has seen hundreds of births.  She helped me feel ok about opting for the epidural. It was a very difficult decision and I cried because I felt like a failure for giving up on my attempt at a natural delivery. Once they gave it to me, I actually got 2 hours of sleep.  They began giving me Pitocin and my body began to make progress. I could not feel the contractions at all and I began to quickly dilate.  I started pushing at 3:30 PM, and after a couple of contractions, the epidural wore off.  The pushing didn?t feel like I expected it to.  As she descended, it didn?t hurt; it just felt like an extreme pressure and was extremely uncomfortable.  We used the birth bar and a mirror (yes, I saw myself poop? and no, this didn?t bother me whatsoever).  Just as the baby?s head was starting to show, her heart rate was dropping into the 70?s.  The OB decided that she needed to use the vacuum to get her out as quickly as possible.  The room flooded with people, and I was told I had 3 contractions (9 pushes) to get her out or else I would be whisked away to the operating room for an emergency c-section.  At one point, I saw the OB pick up the scissors, and I felt when she gave me the episiotomy, but I can?t say it hurt any worse than what I was already feeling from the head crowning.  I had a 2^nd degree incision, along with a tear along my left labia. After 29 hours of labor including 2 hours of pushing, Elvi Rachael was born at 5:25 PM at 7 pounds 3 oz.  DH and I named her after both of our grandmothers.  My grandmother passed away at 98 years old in April 2009.  I never had the opportunity to tell her I was pregnant.   Looking back, I don?t feel bad about getting the epidural and the Pitocin.  I can only imagine how long my labor would have lasted without these interventions.     

babydragonsister

Congratulations on your little girl!!!

Thanks for sharing your story....I wanted to go natural too, and ended up with an epi, pitocin, and then a c-section...so I understand the disappointment.  It's nice to have a doula, though, to support you in your decisions, isn't it?   

Also, you mentioned that your little girl was named after both of your grandmothers...our little Adam Foster was named after both of our grandfathers!