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D.C. Area Babies
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Alessandra's Birth Story
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My due date came and went and we found ourselves at Inova Fairfax bright and early on my induction date of 09/09/09. I scheduled that date because I liked the doctors working that date. It turns out my 3 favorite doctors ended up working that date even though we thought I would deliver before then. That morning I was still at 2 cm, 50-70% effaced just like I had been the past two weeks. It seemed labor had stalled. I was having contractions but they were nothing to write home about.
Dr. Andersen came in and broke my water around 9 AM and then we started the Pitocin drip. They were going to up the Pitocin 2 levels every 15 minutes and would max me out at level 30. All morning we waited and of course it wasn't until I was absolutely maxed out at 30 that things started finally moving along. This was around noon and by 1 PM I was ready for the epidural. (God bless those women that do it without an epi.) The anesthesiologist didn't come until almost an hour later. After that, things were much more comfortable.
On the max level of 30, I made it to 9 cm. There was still a bit of cervix there too but their main concern was that she was still really high up. Dr. Yoon was trying to figure out which way she was facing and it didn't seem like she was facing the right way or that her head may have been coming in at a wrong angle. We had a slight scare around 5 PM when Alessandra's heart rate dropped lower than they would have liked. They think that she had multiple contractions going on and they put her in distress for a few minutes. I really wasn't worried. They gave me a shot of something and her heart rate righted itself instantly. After that though, they decided to turn of the Pitocin. Once this happened, my labor stalled yet again so they slowly turned it back on.
By this time, it was Dr. Kinder's shift. She ran into the same thing with the baby still being high up and not being able to tell which way she was facing. The baby was starting to develop a cone head too. She told me my options which were to push and hope for the best but that she wouldn't let me push for too long or just go straight in for a c-section. I was really torn because I didn't want to have to get a c-section if I didn't have to and we made Dr. Kinder come back twice while discussing it with my husband and my mom. My mom, who by the way delivered my brother breech WITHOUT an epidural, even seemed like the c-section was the better way to go. She's a registered nurse too so I always feel confident in her medical advice. In the end, we decided to push for a little while. She let me push for 40 minutes and the baby made no progress down the birth canal. At this point, right before 9 PM we decided to go in and have the c-section.
Things moved really quickly from this point. The OR was in good spirits. I had the shivers badly from the anesthesia they had given me. Demerol didn't even stop them for me. I didn't feel a thing during the c-section but could tell that Dr. Kinder was certainly having a hard time getting the baby out just by the way she was moving my body. It turns out that she was:
a.) a big baby at 8 lbs, 6 oz (didn't see that one coming as I didn't gain a ton of weight)
b.) "sunny-side up" - facing the wrong way
c.) had the cord wrapped around her neck
So in the end, the c-section was necessary. I might have gone all the way to 42 weeks that way. She was born just 2 minutes shy of being born at 9:09 PM on 09/09/09 at 9:07 PM thanks to Dr. Kinder's speediness.
I must say that I was blown away by the nurses at Inova Fairfax. They were all great. It certainly takes a certain person to do what they do, in my opinion. All in all, I was happy with our experience even though I had wanted to deliver vaginally, etc. I'm just happy to have a healthy baby. 
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Re: Alessandra's Birth Story
That is wonderful things worked out so well. She is gorgeous! Congrats!
Questions:
-Is Dr. Anderson your main OB? I have heard she is very good but the wait times for her office are horrendous. Is that true?
I have heard good things about InNOVA fairfax from my Gyn who says it is the best around. (Ok, not a question)
Are you Korean?
Thanks for writing your birth story. I really enjoy reading them and I'm glad that everything turned out well for you in the end. I also had to make the decision to have an unplanned C-section so I understand how hard it is to make that decision but it sounds like you made the right choice. Enjoy your time with your little girl and keep in touch during the early weeks. I found the first 6 weeks to be the most challenging and the women on the board helped so much when I had questions.
I don't have a main OB per se. At that practice you see all the doctors in a rotation. In fact, I didn't see Dr. Andersen till later in my pregnancy. By chance I saw a lot more of Dr. Kinder. I will say that Dr. Andersen insisted I have a bed despite the fact that the hospital was full on the day I was induced and her bedside manner is great. The key to that practice is to try to schedule your appt for as early as possible. As w/ any Dr's office, the later your app. the more likely they are behind. For as big as that practice is, they run that office really well. I haven't waited so long in the waiting area but have waited in the exam room for a bit a couple of times. The worst of it was when I was out of there an hour after my scheduled time. I have waited worse at other Dr's offices.
No, I'm Filipino. Are you Korean?
Thanks, Kendra. Will do. This board has proven to be invaluable. I'm trying to adhere to the whole "rest when the baby does" but should be able to check in more often as we get the hang of it.
I found them through the ladies on the Bump/Nest. Many of us go there and are very happy with them. The added bonus for me is that they are 5 minutes from where I live.
Thanks for posting this - I'm always so interested in other people's experiences. Despite the fact that the birth wasn't exactly as planned, I'm glad it all worked out! I totally agree, the staff at Inova FFX was awesome.
Alessandra is so cute - I'm glad I got to meet her in person! And I'm still jealous that she has the 9/9/09 birthday.
How long are you off from work? We should definitely get together!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this! I am being induced next Monday at Fairfax and your birth story is so comforting. My OB warned me about having a narrow birth canal and the possiblity of the baby being bigger than what we think which really surprised me b/c I am still fairly small and have not gained a lot of weight. Anyway, she asked that I keep in mind that a csection may be in my future. Great decision you made in terms of going for the csection! Congrats to you!
by the way, how has your csection recovering been so far?