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Birth Stories
36 hour labor: natural birth turned c-section +NICU
My water broke at 3am on my due date. I woke up to go to the bathroom and felt a small gush when I stood up. It was clear and I easily filled up a pad within 5-10 minutes so I knew it had to be my water.
Contractions started pretty soon after that. We waited until around 8am to call the doctor since I wanted to labor at home as long as possible. Plus, we needed one of our friends to stop by on her way to work to get our house key so she could pick up our dog after work.
The doctor had us stop by the office to check us out before we went to the hospital. I had my weekly appointment at 10:15 that morning anyway so we basically went there in time for that. When I got there I felt like everyone in the waiting room was staring at me! I had to start breathing through some of my contractions at that point.
When the doctor checked me, he confirmed that I was 4cm dilated and was definitely leaking AF. He gave me the green light to go ahead to the hospital, but that we should stop for some food, etc if we wanted on our way because we wouldn't get to eat for a long time. I was NOT hungry at that point, I was just uncomfortable, and wanted to get settled in at the hospital so we headed over. Plus, it was about a 30 min drive to the hospital. It was extremely uncomfortable and I felt every bump on the road.
Once we got there I felt more comfortable and just tried to relax through the contractions. They put an IV lock in my arm but I was not tied down to anything. The nurse had to do some initial monitoring and then had to check for about 5 minutes every 30 minutes or so, not too bad. In between I walked the hallways, took a jacuzzi bath, bounced on the birthing ball, etc. HOWEVER, I
ended up progressing REALLY slowly (like 1cm every 5+ hours or so). So,
they wanted to induce me with some pitocin (after about 20 hours....) so
I would still have the energy to push. Even though I was changing positions around, his head wasn't positioned quite
right so it wasn't pressing against my cervix enough. Plus, my contractions were only lasting about 30 seconds at a time, they thought I might need the extra push to make some more productive contractions. After the pitocin
I just about went out of my head in pain. I NEEDED an epidural and basically begged them for it. So much for all of my resolve 
I was getting exhausted at that point though and I knew I would need to rest and have the energy to push if I wanted a vaginal birth.
After the epidural, I slept for a while and finished
progressing to 10cm and a +2 station. I tried to push for like 2 hours
but he didn't budge *at all*. Finally, I started having a fever, there was
meconium in the amniotic fluid, and it had been like 36 hours of labor since my water broke,
and I was exhausted so they decided they needed to get him out and do a
c-section. (at that point I just wanted him OUT no matter how it
happened). Since I had an epidural already and it was a really good one they just upped the medicine on that and went with it, no spinal.
Since he was so big and was down in the birth canal
the doctor literally had her knee up on the table and the whole
operating table was rocking as she tried to pull him out!!!! I also
lost about a liter of blood and that was rough. I just remember SHAKING like crazy. I don't think I stopped shaking the entire operation and nothing I could do would stop it. I think it was partially from the operation/loss of blood and partially from the hormones. My husband said my fingers and the inside of my lips were turning blue. Apparently I asked multiple times (at least 4 times) if they were almost done. I only remember asking one or 2 times though! Finally after they
sewed me up I got to see him for a few minutes before they sent him off
to do all the normal checks in the nursery. He was a BIG boy at 9lbs 4oz and 21.5" long.
Unfortunately, once he got
to the nursery they found he had a fever and was breathing really fast,
then saw he had an elevated white blood cell count and something in his
lungs (possible pneumonia). They also did a lumbar puncture to make sure he didn't have meningitis. So, he was stuck in the special care unit while I was stuck in bed.
That just about killed me because I couldn't go and see him. I was like a crazy lady just crying and crying because I wanted to see my baby!
Finally I was able to get
up and around and it was good motivation to get out of bed (so I could
walk down the hall and go see him!). They repeated the CT scan at 3 and
5 days but there was still something there so they kept him on the IV
antibiotics for 7 days. Meanwhile I got discharged at 4 days. Luckily
they had a room I could stay in for free (for nursing moms). Learning
to breastfeed with all of those cords on him was *difficult* to say the
least. He had the 3 normal leads to measure heartrate/breathing
rate/oxygenation level, a lead for the IV, and a bilirubin blanket cord.
Plus, we needed to supplement at the beginning so we also had the tube
from the SNS to juggle. Also, every time he cried at all the nurses would pop
their head around the curtain and ask if we needed any help (which would
stress me out and inhibit let-down, which would make him more upset,
etc). Learning the "hard" way just means that breastfeeding at home has been not too bad at all though.
Whew! We are now all at home and everyone is happy and healthy, thank goodness. I do feel guilty that I tried to labor so long without progression- part of me feels like if we had just done the C-section earlier he wouldn't have had all of those problems at birth. On the other hand, I don't regret my c-section for a minute. I know in my heart I tried every single thing I could to get him out and it just wasn't going to work for me.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: 36 hour labor: natural birth turned c-section +NICU
You did a great job and did what was best for you and your baby, it must have been really hard to hold out as long as you did. I am glad that your home now and everything is going good!
WOW, you pretty much just told my story! I was induced, labored for over 30 hours, he went into distress and I had emergnecy c section. He had no oxygen for the first min., inhaled meconium, and had group B strep. He was in the NICU for 17 days and just came home on Saturday. I know what you mean about all the wire and all the people all around you and not being able to see him b/c you needed to recover first. I totally sympathize with you. They tried the lumbar puncture twice but they were never able to get enough fluid so they treated him as if he had meningitis - 14 days antibiotic. He had a long road and a rough start but he is doing so much better now!
I am glad to hear that your little one is ok and I wish the best for you guys!