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January 2011 Moms
Unbelievable labor and delivery (LONG)
Briar was born at 35 weeks +4 days, on Sunday, December 19th. It was a complete whirlwind labor and delivery that went terribly in some ways and fabulously in others.
Prelude:
DH left for a cross-country business trip on Wednesday and was to come home on Monday. Before he left I had a bad feeling, especially when he joked "don't have the baby while I'm gone." We laughed, but he would totally eat his words.
Saturday, December 18th:
Some friends were supposed to come visit, so I spent the entire morning cleaning the house, but in the end they couldn't make it. That afternoon I ran a bunch of errands and bought some odds and ends for the baby's room. Around 11:30pm I was exhausted, so I called DH to say 'goodnight' and went to bed.
Sunday, December 19th:
At 3:15am I went to the bathroom. As I got back in bed I felt a bubbling sensation and thought I might have to use the bathroom again...when I stood up fluid was gushing down my legs. At first I was in denial, but as I tip-toed toward the door it kept coming. My next thought was "OMG my water broke." I quickly called DH to say "COME HOME NOW" and then my doctor. Of course, he wanted me to come to the hospital.
I spent the next 45 minutes packing, as my bag was only partially put together. DH called no less than 3 times asking why I hadn't left for the hospital. I ended up leaving at 4am, but since DH had my camera, I took a detour (totally the opposite direction of the hospital) to buy a disposable camera and some castor oil.* The clerks probably thought I was insane, waddling around the store with a towel between my legs. At this point I'd had one slight contraction.
*I had talked with a doula literally a week earlier (I was planning a natural birth), and she recommended that if my water broke I should take castor oil to speed the process.
Made it to the hospital at 4:15am and as I entered the emergency room the nurse on call asked "are you even pregnant?" Uh, yes! She wheeled me upstairs and at 5am my doctor came in to run a fluid test, Group B swab, and check me. I was 3cm, 100% effaced, baby at -1. Unfortunately, they had to set a heplock to get me hydrated and start antibiotics for precautionary measures. They asked if I wanted to refuse, but I was more concerned about the baby, so I ended up stuck in bed strapped to the monitors. Totally NOT my plan.
Luckily, I had a great nurse with tons of natural birth experience, so she came in and out to check on me. At this point my contractions were 4 minutes apart and very weak. We expected the baby would hang out for several hours, so no one was concerned.
Around 6:30am I went to use the bathroom and was suddenly in excruciating pain and shaking uncontrollably. I called my nurse screaming "help, help!" and when she came in she told me I was in transition. What?! She asked to check me - I was 10cm and the baby was coming NOW.
DH was at the airport at this point, and it was clear he wouldn't make it.
Apparently there was a shift change at 7am, so I was offered an epidural to stave off pushing. I was super annoyed, but agreed since (in my opinion) at this point it wouldn't affect the baby. Turns out the epidural didn't do anything, but that's neither here nor there.
By 7:30am my new nurse showed up, told me she could see the baby's hair, and called my doctor. I was, again, totally in denial (I asked about 50 times if it was too early), but I really, really felt like I had to push. My contractions were still 4 minutes apart, about a minute long and unbelievably painful.
Once everything was set up, at 8am I was told to push and at 8:31am DD came out screaming. I was sobbing and DH kept asking "what's her weight?" (4lbs. 15 oz.). Because of her gestational age, a NICU nurse was present to assess her - she scored a 9 and 9 on her APGARs and was super healthy. By 9am I was sitting alone in the room with DD and breastfeeding her. It was so quiet and such a strange feeling to be holding our baby.
After she was born, hospital policy meant DD had to be in the NICU, so she was whisked away with my instructions (no shots, no bath, no bottles/pacifiers, etc.). MIL had come about an hour earlier and I eventually let her come in once the baby went to the nursery. I didn't want anyone to see her before DH, and I wouldn't give them her name either, since we had been keeping it a secret.
We chatted for a bit and by 9:30am I was walking to my room. The nurses were in disbelief since I'd had an epidural, but like I said, it didn't do anything.
By 6pm DH made it to the hospital, and at this point DD was in a normal crib in the NICU. They wouldn't release her to the general nursery, so I was a bit irritated, but because she was healthy she got to come home with us on Tuesday.
Feeding was a struggle at first, especially breastfeeding, since I'm only producing colostrum nearly two weeks pp. It's not enough to support healthy weight gain, so we're supplementing, but I've come to peace with the combined feeding. Otherwise, DD continues to do well, and DH claims he wasn't scarred for life missing out on her birth...but he said he will be if we don't have another baby.
If you made it this far, congrats. : )
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Re: Unbelievable labor and delivery (LONG)
Wow! Kudos to you for driving yourself to the hospital. I was a soaked mess for over an hour when my water broke, no way I could've stopped in a pharmacy.
Sorry DH missed the birth, but I am so glad DD is doing well.
Carina 12.28.2010 | Aurelia 9.23.12 | Chart - Round 3
Holy crazy birth story!
)
Glad everything went well! Sorry your DH missed the birth. Sounds like you did a great job though!
Congratulations on your little girl!
It was so crazy, but the actual labor was much smoother (and thankfully SO much faster) than I imagined.
Everyone in L&D and the post partum unit kept asking "are you the couple that...?" My doctor said he'd never forget us!