Birth Stories
Levi's Birth Story: 2 months later :)
Recently I read a friend's labor story and realized I didn't do a good job writing mine. There are details about my experience that are starting to fade away and I don't want that to happen, so I'm writing it here.
Sun. June 27th.
Around 11 pm I felt like I was leaking fluid, so being past my due date, Chris and I decided to go to the Labor and Delivery and check it out. After being inspected (which was not fun, let me tell you), they decided it wasn't amniotic fluid. At that point we figured we'd be released, but the doctors (Paragon and the resident doctors) looked at us and said, "Well we can't let you leave with blood pressure like that. How would you like to have a baby tomorrow?" Chris and I were stunned. 9 months leading to this moment--we totally didn't expect it after the fluid results came back, but we were really excited to start the whole process.
11:30 pm: Admitted into the hospital for an "augmented" labor (not induction, because I was contracting on my own and dilated). I was having contractions on my own every 4 minutes (early labor) and was dilated 1cm. I was given a birthing room and told to "try to sleep". Our nurse hooked up my IV and gave me some medicine to relax me, and I was in and out of sleep for several hours. (Poor Chris had to sleep on the uncomfortable couch).
Mon. June 28th.
I was given Pitocin around 2:30 am to speed up contractions, and it wasn't nearly as bad as I was told. The contractions were definitely harder than before, and I wasn't on any pain meds yet, so I'm pretty proud of myself! It worked because around 3:30 am they went from 4 minutes apart, to 2 minutes apart. It wasn't enough to break my water though, so at 5 am, my doctor came in and broke my water (I had so much water the doctor was even freaked out--my belly went from huge to about 5 months pregnant-looking instantly. It was the creepiest feeling ever). Then from 6 am-4 pm my contractions went from 2 minutes apart to 1 minute apart, and I chose Morphine to ease my pain instead of the epidural (I wanted to get to 4 cm before getting the epidural so it wouldn't slow labor down). Morphine only took the edge off, but it was still incredibly painful. Around 2 pm I decided to go for the epi, around 3.5 cm, and the whole process was seriously uncomfortable. It took about 45 minutes and Chris wasn't allowed to be in the room for the whole process. I had to sit on the end of my bed (during contractions, mind you) and hug a pillow so my back would be round and arched. They used a needle to numb the area (which was more painful than I thought) and then I felt the epidural go into my back and poke around. It made me sick but thankfully I didn't throw up. After that, I started feeling numb, and Chris was allowed to come back in. Unfortunately after about 45 minutes, the numbness started wearing off and things started to get ugly.
The pain was terrible. I was in active labor but not dilating past 4 cm. Not only that, but they began doing pelvic exams every hour, and every time they did, I bled everywhere. Not just slightly, but enough to soak the giant bed pads they had under me. The nurses were a little concerned, but the doctor said a bigger baby meant larger blood volume...but it made me feel absolutely disgusting. Amniotic fluid and blood came out in gushes literally every hour, and because the epidural didn't work (it failed to touch all my nerves) I was feeling everything, including the catheter that was inserted into my bladder and THEN the uterine catheter placed in my uterus to monitor the level of contractions. I instinctly "breathed" through the contractions, but it was awful. Chris watched as I winced in pain and tried to breathe through it, and I could tell he was getting really upset. At 4 pm, there was still no progression--I was at 4 cm, still contracting every minute and then every 30-40 seconds. We all watched as the contractions went off the charts over and over again. It was excruciating.
At 5 pm I was given the epidural a second time by a new person, and this time Chris stayed with me. I felt the needle (catheter actually) be pulled out of my spine (wierdest feeling ever) and a new one be put in another spot. This time it worked! Then came the bad news. At 6 pm my doctor (whom I loved and trusted) told me because of my high blood pressure and the fact that I wasn't progressing, I need to have a c-section. She was concerned even if we waited a few hours, it would just end in a c-section anyway, but I bought myself an hour until 6 pm to see if anything had changed or progression. The whole time I was talking to my mom and sobbing, because the entire pregnancy the last thing I wanted was a C-section....but at 7 I decided it was best for Levi, so I unwillingly consented and they got me prepped for surgery.
It was the longest, most emotional half hour of my life as they gave me a new medicine to numb me from the ribs-area all the way to my toes. I had to sign a few papers and the attending nurses came in to give me a run down of the procedure. Chris was on pins and needles watching me listen to all of it--he was absolutely heartbroken for me but he was really calm and said exactly what I needed to hear. We prayed before I went it, and then it was like God gave me this incredible peace....I was still nervous but it was miraculous!
I had to go into the surgery room without Chris to start the procedure (which was KILLING him). I couldn't move my legs so they had to hoist me from my bed to the operating table (stark naked...nice). There were about 15-20 (its hard to remember) people in the room, and once I was on the operating table I met the Doctor who would do the surgery (Dr McKnight) and they poked me for a good ten minutes all over to make sure I couldn't feel anything. Finally Chris was allowed in. My arms were strapped down and the curtain placed in front of my face, and I felt everything they did. I was only given the medicine to numb my body--nothing else. So I was wide awake and 110% alert while it was happening. I felt the incision, I felt a lot of pressure and tugging and pulling, and I tried to not throw up while Chris played with my hair and talked to me (I still don't know what he said, I completely forgot).
Finally Chris was allowed to stand up and see Levi coming out and the doctor said, "Here he is! Dad stand up and look! He's here!" I remember Chris standing up and then finally heard this strong baby cry, and a nurse said to me "You're a mom!! Great job mommy!" Everyone was ooing and awing, and Chris rushed over to see him getting his measurements and all cleaned up. Here is where it got fuzzy; I was told I could have some relaxing meds after Levi was out, so I started feeling lightheaded from everything that was happening ( I felt them pull my uterus out of my body to stitch it up and that made me almost lose it) and I requested those magical meds that made me feel very, very relaxed. They held Levi out to see me, all puffy faced and red in his blanket and little hat, and then wisked him away to the NICU (he had swallowed meconium and they wanted to monitor his breathing for a few hours). I was in recovery for 2 hours, at which point my parents arrived and met me there. Chris showed them to the NICU where they met Levi, but no one held him until I came in
Finally, finally I was released from recovery and was wheeled into the NICU to see him. He had been screaming and when I said "Hi baby", he stopped screaming and opened his eyes--and it was the most rewarding, magical moment I've ever had, hands down. We were told he could leave and go to my recovery suite with me....it was incredible.
Sun. June 27th.
Around 11 pm I felt like I was leaking fluid, so being past my due date, Chris and I decided to go to the Labor and Delivery and check it out. After being inspected (which was not fun, let me tell you), they decided it wasn't amniotic fluid. At that point we figured we'd be released, but the doctors (Paragon and the resident doctors) looked at us and said, "Well we can't let you leave with blood pressure like that. How would you like to have a baby tomorrow?" Chris and I were stunned. 9 months leading to this moment--we totally didn't expect it after the fluid results came back, but we were really excited to start the whole process.
11:30 pm: Admitted into the hospital for an "augmented" labor (not induction, because I was contracting on my own and dilated). I was having contractions on my own every 4 minutes (early labor) and was dilated 1cm. I was given a birthing room and told to "try to sleep". Our nurse hooked up my IV and gave me some medicine to relax me, and I was in and out of sleep for several hours. (Poor Chris had to sleep on the uncomfortable couch).
Mon. June 28th.
I was given Pitocin around 2:30 am to speed up contractions, and it wasn't nearly as bad as I was told. The contractions were definitely harder than before, and I wasn't on any pain meds yet, so I'm pretty proud of myself! It worked because around 3:30 am they went from 4 minutes apart, to 2 minutes apart. It wasn't enough to break my water though, so at 5 am, my doctor came in and broke my water (I had so much water the doctor was even freaked out--my belly went from huge to about 5 months pregnant-looking instantly. It was the creepiest feeling ever). Then from 6 am-4 pm my contractions went from 2 minutes apart to 1 minute apart, and I chose Morphine to ease my pain instead of the epidural (I wanted to get to 4 cm before getting the epidural so it wouldn't slow labor down). Morphine only took the edge off, but it was still incredibly painful. Around 2 pm I decided to go for the epi, around 3.5 cm, and the whole process was seriously uncomfortable. It took about 45 minutes and Chris wasn't allowed to be in the room for the whole process. I had to sit on the end of my bed (during contractions, mind you) and hug a pillow so my back would be round and arched. They used a needle to numb the area (which was more painful than I thought) and then I felt the epidural go into my back and poke around. It made me sick but thankfully I didn't throw up. After that, I started feeling numb, and Chris was allowed to come back in. Unfortunately after about 45 minutes, the numbness started wearing off and things started to get ugly.
The pain was terrible. I was in active labor but not dilating past 4 cm. Not only that, but they began doing pelvic exams every hour, and every time they did, I bled everywhere. Not just slightly, but enough to soak the giant bed pads they had under me. The nurses were a little concerned, but the doctor said a bigger baby meant larger blood volume...but it made me feel absolutely disgusting. Amniotic fluid and blood came out in gushes literally every hour, and because the epidural didn't work (it failed to touch all my nerves) I was feeling everything, including the catheter that was inserted into my bladder and THEN the uterine catheter placed in my uterus to monitor the level of contractions. I instinctly "breathed" through the contractions, but it was awful. Chris watched as I winced in pain and tried to breathe through it, and I could tell he was getting really upset. At 4 pm, there was still no progression--I was at 4 cm, still contracting every minute and then every 30-40 seconds. We all watched as the contractions went off the charts over and over again. It was excruciating.
At 5 pm I was given the epidural a second time by a new person, and this time Chris stayed with me. I felt the needle (catheter actually) be pulled out of my spine (wierdest feeling ever) and a new one be put in another spot. This time it worked! Then came the bad news. At 6 pm my doctor (whom I loved and trusted) told me because of my high blood pressure and the fact that I wasn't progressing, I need to have a c-section. She was concerned even if we waited a few hours, it would just end in a c-section anyway, but I bought myself an hour until 6 pm to see if anything had changed or progression. The whole time I was talking to my mom and sobbing, because the entire pregnancy the last thing I wanted was a C-section....but at 7 I decided it was best for Levi, so I unwillingly consented and they got me prepped for surgery.
It was the longest, most emotional half hour of my life as they gave me a new medicine to numb me from the ribs-area all the way to my toes. I had to sign a few papers and the attending nurses came in to give me a run down of the procedure. Chris was on pins and needles watching me listen to all of it--he was absolutely heartbroken for me but he was really calm and said exactly what I needed to hear. We prayed before I went it, and then it was like God gave me this incredible peace....I was still nervous but it was miraculous!
I had to go into the surgery room without Chris to start the procedure (which was KILLING him). I couldn't move my legs so they had to hoist me from my bed to the operating table (stark naked...nice). There were about 15-20 (its hard to remember) people in the room, and once I was on the operating table I met the Doctor who would do the surgery (Dr McKnight) and they poked me for a good ten minutes all over to make sure I couldn't feel anything. Finally Chris was allowed in. My arms were strapped down and the curtain placed in front of my face, and I felt everything they did. I was only given the medicine to numb my body--nothing else. So I was wide awake and 110% alert while it was happening. I felt the incision, I felt a lot of pressure and tugging and pulling, and I tried to not throw up while Chris played with my hair and talked to me (I still don't know what he said, I completely forgot).
Finally Chris was allowed to stand up and see Levi coming out and the doctor said, "Here he is! Dad stand up and look! He's here!" I remember Chris standing up and then finally heard this strong baby cry, and a nurse said to me "You're a mom!! Great job mommy!" Everyone was ooing and awing, and Chris rushed over to see him getting his measurements and all cleaned up. Here is where it got fuzzy; I was told I could have some relaxing meds after Levi was out, so I started feeling lightheaded from everything that was happening ( I felt them pull my uterus out of my body to stitch it up and that made me almost lose it) and I requested those magical meds that made me feel very, very relaxed. They held Levi out to see me, all puffy faced and red in his blanket and little hat, and then wisked him away to the NICU (he had swallowed meconium and they wanted to monitor his breathing for a few hours). I was in recovery for 2 hours, at which point my parents arrived and met me there. Chris showed them to the NICU where they met Levi, but no one held him until I came in
Finally, finally I was released from recovery and was wheeled into the NICU to see him. He had been screaming and when I said "Hi baby", he stopped screaming and opened his eyes--and it was the most rewarding, magical moment I've ever had, hands down. We were told he could leave and go to my recovery suite with me....it was incredible.
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Re: Levi's Birth Story: 2 months later :)
I remember you from the tri boards - at least I think I do. You had a different name. Your birth story made me tear up as it was very similar to my own.
Congratulations!