XP: Amelia Jane's Birth Story

I posted this on the Baltimore Nest as well.  I am not sure I can make this any shorter so bear with me if you are reading.

Let's see, the last time we left off before she was born, I was put on bedrest Monday night by my doctor for my increased BP.  Turns out this kind doc also stripped my membranes that night during the exam...I had no idea until a nurse in L&D told me...sneaky sneaky.  At that time, I was 2 CM and 80%.  I cramped all night Monday night into Tuesday and also lost the rest of my MP.  Tuesday morning things got progressively worse, but I was in complete denial that I was in labor.  Definitely felt like the worst menstrual cramps I have ever had, coupled with intense back pain.  DH went to work at 7am in Baltimore, which was a nice treat since he usually works down near D.C.  He promised to be available by phone if I needed him.  I started pacing the living room every 10 minutes or so as the pain would not allow me to sit or lie down.  I used the bathroom so frequently that I was sure that I was leaking amniotic fluid. 

Around 10am, DH called me to tell me he had to leave Baltimore and go to D.C. for work.  He said he could turn around and come home but I knew it was important for him to go.  He promised to be home between 2:30-4:30.  Around 10:30am, things intensified.  It was more like every 7-8 minutes between contractions.  I held out for the next hour, pacing and pacing.  At 11:30am, I called DH and asked him if he would be able to come home soon.  Turns out he was done and about to leave...thank heavens.  I showered and packed up the last of our things.  My attempts to put on makeup were not successful between contractions, despite my best efforts...oh well.  My attempts at shaving my legs were even funnier...in the end I figured a little stubble would help DH have a better grip when I was pushing...haha.

I paced until he got home at 12:45pm.  My contractions were 5 minutes apart at this time.  He did not even stop for the bathroom, to change, or anything.  The whole thing felt very movie like...I never anticipated it would go like this.  We threw everything in the car, bid farewell to the dog and left for GBMC.  I cried the whole way in the car since I was having such bad back labor...it was sooo hard to sit.  I did bring a small bag to vomit in but never used it.  DH refused to stop at the gatehouse to get a parking ticket and then pulled up to the valet at L&D, threw the keys at him and we went in to register.  In about 15 minutes, we finally got back to the L&D assessment/triage.  I am guessing at this point it was 1:30pm.  

Turns out I was only 3CM at this point...1 freakin' CM change from last night.  And my water was still intact.  I absolutely could not believe it for the amount of pain I was in.  I made the decision then to go forward and have the epidural as there was no way I would have been able to handle more intense and longer pain.  I am not sure if it was because I was having such back labor that the pain was so bad?  Anyways, I begged them to admit me and they did fairly quickly. 

I was pretty drug seeking at this point.  They started the IV bag of fluids and said I needed to finish it before I could get the epi.  They took some blood and I also got some antibiotics via IV for the baby as I tested GBS+ during the pregnancy.  They informed me it might be a bit of a wait for the epi, if I could get it, as they were waiting for my blood work to come back.  I asked for some pain medication and I got Staydol injected through the IV to take the edge off.  Just made me feel a bit loopy/drunk for about 30 minutes.  I got the epi I think before 4pm.  I did not think it hurt very much at all...and this is coming from a big cry baby.  I actually thought that the IV in my hand hurt worse when they did it.  Because of my high BP, I had to lie on my side during the whole labor part.  So the epi did not feel very effective during the contractions as one side would be very numb and the other not.  They ended up upping the epi twice during the whole labor process.  I definitely could still feel things.  I think it was mostly my thighs and calves that were numb.  They debated reinserting the epi but as things progressed later, both Doc and I refused.  At this time, the nurse also broke my water.  They also catheterized me and inserted internal monitoring for my contractions, as they were having a hard time keeping track of them from the outside.  It was kind of surreal how fast things were going but I was very very thankful that I did not need Pitocin and did not end up with a c-section or the Doc using the forceps or vacuum.  

My parents arrived around 4:45pm and DH's mom around 5:45pm.  It was good timing as I would have kicked them all out during all the things they did to me above.  I thought I would be all happy in bed, watching tv and chatting it up for hours because of the epi.  That just did not happen.  Turns out I went from 3CM to 8CM while they were all in there, in about an hour.  I was writhering in pain and luckily DH then kicked them all out.  Doc came in and said I was 8CM.  I then went from 8CM to 10CM and 100% in the 20-30 minutes following that.  Around 7ish, Doc informed me I was going to start pushing.  She was extremely patient with me, definitely guiding me with what to do with a firm but nurturing voice, and I could have not asked for a better doc to be doing it!  DH had the one leg and did a wonderful job counting to 10 for each push and giving lots of encouragement.  I pushed for about 35 minutes during each contraction and our beautiful baby girl was born at 7:47PM.  After she and I got cleaned up, I think the family was allowed back in around 8:30PM.  We got our room in post partum I think around 11PM.  I was in some pain but refused any pain meds during my stay....haha, go figure after my drug seeking behaviors during labor.  I had minimal tearing and was up and at 'em walking the halls with DH and the baby by 5AM.  We had a very nice stay at GBMC.  The staff were great and we had a HUGE corner room...for anyone delivering at GBMC, I would highly recommend asking your delivery nurse for this type of room for post partum.   We were ready to leave on Thursday very early in the morning.  Of course the discharge process takes forever so in the end, we were home by 12:30PM.

As we were discharging, the pediatrician called and informed us our daughter was jaundiced.  Her bilirubin labs had just come back and they were not high but still concerning.  So every day since discharge, we had to go back to the hospital for Amelia to get a heel prick for labwork.  Her levels kept rising and peaked on Sunday, her 5th day, as they suspected they would.  It was reassessed after Monday's labs and they finally started going down so she never ended up under the lights.  Because of her jaundice, we had to supplement with formula since her discharge, which was not what I wanted, but if I have learned anything so far with parenting, it is to be flexible.  We are settling in now...nights are definitely hard and BF is hard but we are managing.  DH actually goes back to work today and I will miss his help dearly.  My work kindly informed me that they would like me back May 28th so until then, I will be hanging around here a whole lot more!         

Here is the link to my facebook photo album of her first week if anyone is interested: 

https://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=212713&id=609749615&l=262f3636d6