XP - 67 hours induction birth story w/ infection and NICU time (super long)
TinyTRex321
member
Sorry in advance that this is super long but I guess that is what
happens when you have a story that last for 3 days! If you are nervous
of being induced then this is probably not a good story to read. 
Leading up to my induction I was put on bed rest a week prior and had
been to the hospital 3 separate times to be monitored because of high
blood pressure. When my blood pressure was high on the morning of
Wednesday, November 28th I had a good feeling they were going to decide
it was time to induce me. DH and I got to the hospital around 9 a.m.
and the doctors thought with my blood pressure creeping up I should be
induced. I was 38 weeks and 1 day at that point and over whelmed by the
idea of an induction but knew it was what was for the best. The doctor
checked me and I was 1 cm dilated, 50% effaced, and -3 station. I wasn't
excited about how high baby was but it was what it was.
I was in triage and had to wait for labor and delivery room to open
up before they started my induction. The plan was to use misoprostol to
soften my cervix for up to 12 hours and then to move on to pitocin. We
didn't get in to a room until 3:45 p.m. and then I had the first dose of
misoprostol. Because of the miso they wanted me to stay hooked up to
the monitors so I had to call for a nurse anytime I had to go to the
bathroom which was really annoying. I had a 2nd dose of miso at 8 p.m.
and started to feel contractions at 9:30 p.m. I had been having small
contractions before that but I couldn't feel them. At 12:45 p.m. they
gave me a break from the miso and let me walk the halls for an hour.
Thursday morning at 3:30 a.m I had the 3rd dose of miso and my 1st dose
of antibiotics since I was GBS +. At 8 a.m. they checked me and I was 1
1/2 cm dilated and still 50% effaced and -3 station. I was really
frustrated with virtually no progress.
At 1 p.m. the doctor came in and suggested they insert a cook
catheter (similar concept to a foley bulb) to help manually dilate me.
Having that inserted was super painful and uncomfortable. At the same
time they started me on pitocin and gave me another break from the
monitors to walk the halls. This time I just had to push my IV bags
around with me. As the pitocin kicked in the contractions got much more
intense and I couldn't find a way to get situated that was comfortable.
At 4 p.m. I was ready for the epidural. They had a hard time finding
the right spot for it so it took about a half hour. The doctor said my
back was swollen from fluids so it made it harder. They had my DH holding
the monitor on the baby and the nurse kept telling him what a good job
he was doing. I was like hello I'm the one in an awkward position
through contractions getting a needle stuck in my back.
After
the epidural I took a nice nap. When I woke up I was
really uncomfortable feeling like I had to pee. It felt like someone was
standing on my bladder. It was the weirdest sensation b/c I had a
catheter in so it's not like I really had to pee. The doctor never could
figure out what was causing that pressure for me. I spent the night
sleeping on and off and being woken up by nurses b/c one of the monitors
would have to be adjusted. At some point they inserted an internal
monitor for contractions to be able to read them better. This was actual
a lot more comfortable than the bigger monitor having to be adjusted on
my stomach constantly.
Friday morning at 5 a.m. the doctor broke my water and seemed
surprised by how much fluid I had, but it was clear so it was normal. It
really just kept gushing and gushing
and they had to keep changing the pad under me. At that point I was 6 cm
dilated and -2 station. I was relieved for some progress but knew baby
still needed to move down a lot. I was checked again at 9:30 a.m. and
was still 6 cm but was -1 station and 70% effaced. At 2 p.m. I was 7 cm,
-1 station, and 90% effaced. Most of Friday is really a blur to me and I
just remember a lot of sleeping for brief amounts of times and being
checked in on by my awesome nurse Violet. She was in her 60's and I had
her all day Thursday and Friday. She was like a grandmother looking
after me.
At 5 p.m. on Friday they told me I had a temperature of 100.2 and
b/c of that they were going to start me on another antibiotic just in
case of an infection. Also they told me that the babies heart rate had
been elevated and it could be a sign of an infection but they didn't
really seem that concerned to me. Looking back I'm sure they didn't want
to alarm me and they were taking the necessary actions. I found out
later that I had a Chorioamnionitis infection that I have read could have been
caused by the Strep B. By 5:45 p.m. my
temperature was normal again. Later I have asked my doctor if I could have
prevented passing the infection to Elliot if I had a c/s as soon as my
fever went up but they said no at that point it was too late b/c I
already had the infection.
The doctor checked me at 11 p.m. and I was 9 cm dilated, 90% effaced and 0-1 station. Saturday at 2 a.m. they sat my bed up straight and had me start to labor down. At 5:30 a.m. the doctor came in and said he was still a little high and she thought he might have a big head but couldn't tell that much. She said I could try for a little longer or we could go to a c section. I started to cry b/c I didn't know what to do and was just so exhausted. I asked for her advice. She said lets give you another hour and if he hasn't moved down then she would suggest a c section. After an hour she checked me and he had moved down and she could get a better feel on his head and she didn't think it was overly big. She said she wanted me to start to push and she would see how my pushes were. I started pushing at 6:40 a.m. and she said I was a great pusher and thought that a vaginal delivery would be a success. At this point my body still hadn't taken over laboring on it's own completely so I had long periods between contractions and pushes. When I did push I would sometimes push 4-5 times instead of 3 to take full advantage of the contraction.
After pushing for an
hour and 45 minutes I knew we were getting close. The amount of
pressure I felt was crazy and I just needed to get him out. Even with
the epidural I definitely felt the ring of fire, my hat is off to all women who
go at it naturally. Two more big pushes and at 8:38 a.m. Elliot Lane was finally here! They put
him on my chest and both DH and I cried and were so in love. They
took him after a few minutes b/c he wasn't pinking up enough and called
peds to come look at him. By the time the peds team got there he looked
great though and they gave him back to me for skin to skin. His 1st
apgar was a 7 and the 2nd apgar was a 9. The doctor delivered the
placenta and stitched my 1st degree tear up. The doctor also said we
didn't get to do delayed cord clamping b/c there was a big knot in
his cord. I assume this could have been dangerous so I'm thankful that it wasn't a problem.
67 hours after they started my induction my sweet baby was finally in my arms!
In the afternoon they took Elliot's blood sugar and it was really
low so they had me breast feed him and took it again and instead it
going up it went down a lot. They tried to give him some formula but he
was too sleepy to take it. At this point they came in and told me he
would have to to the NICU but could possibly be released in 24 hours.
They told me they were going to get him situated and we could come down
in an hour to see him. I'll never forget the face of the NICU nurse
that pushed him out of my room. DH and I just cried and cried and
called family until it was time to go see him.
Elliot ended up staying in the NICU for 8 nights because I had passed my infection to him and he had to be treated on antibiotics he also had to get better at eating and gain some weight. It was the hardest week of my life having to leave my baby every night at the hospital. I really admire and feel for the moms and dads that have a baby in the NICU for an extended period of time.
If you guys made it all the way through my long post then thanks for listening. It was a crazy experience and not what I pictured at all but I guess you can't control how it all works out and what matters is that Elliot is here and we are both healthy.
Re: XP - 67 hours induction birth story w/ infection and NICU time (super long)
Congratulations! I am very happy to hear that your baby is out of the NICU and doing well! My son was born with GBS as well! (amongst many other things - see siggy). I dont meet many other moms whose baby was born with GBS (thankfully). But after the doctors telling us he might be blind, deaf, brain damage, developmentally delayed, have cerebral palsy....if he even lived....I am happy to tell you that he is now a little over two years old and perfectly "healthy and normal"! He is my miracle baby and so is your sweet baby Elliot!
3TC March Siggy Challenge: Funny Internet Meme
Age: Me 26, DH 27, Married Oct. 10, 2009 ,TTC since March 2012
Problem: Irregular menstruation, unexplained
Nov&Dec-Provera because of no period after 35+ days
First RE appt 1/10/2013
Tests: TSH (normal), Prolactin (normal), SA (abnormal)
Hysteroscopy (normal) and PCOS labs (negative/normal) 1/15/2013
2/1/13- HPT BFP but Beta Hcg was negative
Plan: Femara + Trigger + IUI in April if no real BFP before then Bloggy Blog!