Isabella's Story (PTL/Bedrest/Prodromal labor/Epi fail/CSection!)

Most women are able to tell you exactly when they went into labor. If not specific to the hour, then they can at least identify the date. For me, it was slightly more questionable than that. After finding out I was pregnant just two months before our wedding, I worried more about whether my dress would fit and what I would be able to eat or drink at the reception than anything else. I enjoyed a carefree and uneventful first 32 weeks of pregnancy. That ended quickly at 32w 5d. While at work--I work as a nurse and run around throughout the majority of my 12-hour shift--I continued to complain of "not feeling right" accompanied by abdominal pain, which I attributed to a "bug" that had been going around. Since nurses and doctors make the worst patients, my coworkers offered explanations such as "you're just not used to this much weight", "you're constipated", and best of all "you're just pregnant". Well, I showed them. After arriving home and going straight to bed, I awoke with abdominal cramping, and was sent to the hospital after speaking with my physician. Upon arriving to the birthing unit--a place I had no intention of visiting for another 8 weeks--I was put on a fetal heart monitor and a contraction monitor, had a pelvic exam, and was declared to be in active labor, dilated to 2cm and 80% effaced. Both my husband, who is a physician, and myself were aware of all the reasons this could not be the day we were to meet our daughter. Never have I felt so helpless and, incorrectly so, I felt guilty. I was given IV fluid and Terbutaline to stop the contractions, and received my first dose of steroids so that, should our little one insist on her arrival, this would help her lungs produce surfactant and mature more quickly. The contractions eased up for about an hour, at which point they seemed to increase exponentially, and it became clear I wasn't going home. I spent the next two days with a Magnesium Sulfate drip, another tocolytic to stop the contractions, and received my second and final dose of steroids. Easy enough right? Nope! Because my magnesium level became too high, I also experienced Magnesium toxicity, which manifested itself via temporary blindness. Another small bump in what was becoming an arduous road...
Four days later my contractions were irregular, farther apart, and were not causing any change in my cervix. I was sent home on strict bedrest, and was given a free pass to drive only to my doctor's office for weekly exams. Everything appeared to be settling down, and I "enjoyed" my bedrest until 36w 4d. Suddenly, the contractions I had been experiencing for weeks seemed to be a bit more rhythmic, and definitely more uncomfortable. After timing the contractions for 4 hours, I called my doctor to let him know they were 8 minutes apart and very uncomfortable. Monitoring at the birthing unit then confirmed what I already knew--I was having uterine contractions every 8 minutes and they were intense. However, despite the pain, the contractions were not strong enough to cause further dilation at this point, and I was sent home. In tears. And in pain.
72 hours later, during which I had slept for a grand total of 37 uninterrupted minutes, my sister took me to my doctor's office (between she and my husband, my driving privileges had been revoked). I turned into a sleep-deprived, belly-holding, still-contracting puddle in the exam room. Whether it was the stress or my body was trying to prove a point, my blood pressure was also elevated upon exam, and I returned to my home away from home: the Birthing Unit. Yet again, monitoring showed that I was STILL contracting, but this time a pelvic exam confirmed it: I was dilated to 6cm. I had been in prodromal labor at home for somewhere between 2-3 days, but it was finally time. Within 3 hours I had an epidural placed, and my husband finally arrived--with a look of panic across his face that this too might be a false alarm. Unfortunately, the epidural only worked on my right side. I was able to bear the pain, however, when my labor stalled at 8cm after having my water broken and having received Pitocin, I was told I was going to need a cesarean section. It had never even crossed my mind that I would have my daughter any way other than vaginally. But at that point, I just wanted to see her safe and sound. Flash forward through having the epidural removed, spinal anesthetic administered via a separate injection, and me vomitting throughout the whole procedure because I can't tolerate narcotics, and there we were at our big moment. She came out screaming, 3 weeks early, and I sobbed tears of joy. Isabella Marie was born on February 27, 2010 at 2:57AM. She weighed 6 pounds and 4 ounces, and was 18 inches long. I will never be able to tell her when I went into labor, nor can I described how long exactly it lasted. But I can tell my daughter that I would go through every obstacle and hurdle all over again to be able to look into those eyes for even a moment.