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Cincinnati Babies
MrsMoher
member
Addy's Birth Story & Pic in Siggy
MrsMoher
member
I went to my last OB appointment on 3/21 and met with the doctor who would be on call the day I would be induced to have a final check. Unfortunately Addy still hadn?t dropped and I was only at 1 and still thick, which led to me being admitted on Tuesday 3/22 at 7 P to start the cervadil overnight. The following morning I was contracting regularly, but the progress was slow (only at 1.5 or 2 at this point). They opted not to start pitocin due to me having contractions and instead just broke my water to see what would happen.
After several hours they recommended I go ahead and get my epi, even though I really didn?t want to do it yet. Unbeknownst to me a resident was called in to place it. My back is still bruised and it took a good 15 minutes of poking, prodding, and it felt like he was stabbing me with an ice pick in my lower back, only to find out that it was spotty and way too far to the right side. My right leg was numb to the point I could not move it, my left was tingly and dulled, but retained feeling. The worst part was that where Addy was trying to drop (read that as grinding into my hip joint) was on the left lower part of my belly and that was the one spot the epi did not take at all!
After about 6 hours of laboring without the pit I was only at 4, so they started it in hopes that it would help progress me and help her drop. Unfortunately after a few hours on the pit, I was still only between 5 and 6 and Addy was still refusing to drop. The doctor was antsy to go the c-section route due to the shoulder dystocia and possible large size, so he said I had one hour for her to drop and me to progress or it was time to call it for a c-section. Since my epi was crap, the new anathesia guy gave me a dose of meds in the catheter to try to give me some relief and then sat me straight up in bed, dropped the feet part, & upped my pit quite a bit. And let?s not forget I bawled like a baby the whole hour because I never wanted a c-section and am petrified of them. After about a half hour I started getting really uncomfortable again. It was weird because at this point the new meds they put through had almost completely numbed my left in addition to the already numbed right leg, but that one spot, the one where her head was grinding still had feeling and did that ever hurt.
After an hour of pure hormonal mess, the OB checked again and found that I was at 9 and she was much lower. Apparently the new pain I had been feeling was her head moving down into the birth canal on the left side. The OB granted me another hour to progress before another check and we discussed where to go. The epi guy did stop back by during this time and gave me another dose, since in his words my epi was not right and it was too late to try to correct it at that point. After that dose you could have chopped off my right leg without me even knowing and probably could have hacked most of my left one off too. The only thing I could move on either leg was the toes on my left foot! The spot that didn?t work was a little better, although still painful, but did give me time for a quick half hour nap.
When I woke I was in extreme pain, just in the one spot again, because at this point anything below my breasts may as well not exist (except my favorite spot). I was breathing through contractions and climbing up the bed with each one. I looked at H after about 10 minutes and told him I needed to push. About 5 minutes later the nurse arrived and said if you are going to push you have to be ready to do this quick, because we are prepping someone to wheel in for a c-section. She wanted to do a test push and then decide if I had to wait for that other c-section or could bump in front of her (guess which one I was desperately hoping for?). My heart sank because I was in so much pain, so exhausted (keep in mind I haven?t eaten in over 24 hours, haven?t slept more than maybe 7 hours and it was getting close to 11) and I was afraid that I wouldn?t be able to feel the contractions early enough to push, since I could only feel the bottom of my stomach. AND when I did finally try to push I couldn?t feel the muscles you need to push with either! I was afraid I wasn?t doing anything other than holding my breath!
Although I couldn?t feel the pushes, I apparently did one bang up job because she immediately told H to rip the call button out of the wall to get the nurses? station immediately. In less than 10 minutes they were all in the room and ready. I pushed with the first contraction (at least they told me I did) and then nothing for about 2 minutes. I was again thinking that they were going to have my do a c-section because all of a sudden my contractions weren?t coming. Can you tell I was irrational and completely off my rocker by this point? They kept reassuring me it would feel like a long time, but that they were going to come. Luckily they were right and they started again after a minute or two and were right on top of each other. I pushed maybe 10 times total and she was out and on my chest. Given that Eli wasn?t breathing he didn?t get put on my chest, so it was amazing that I got to see her right there like that. My first question, is she okay (the answer was yes). Then is it a girl?
Adalyn was 10lb. 5oz. and the placenta was about 3.5lb according to the nurse. So between just those two I lost 15lbs immediately, not counting the cord and fluids! It was amazing. Quite literally I did not realize just how badly she was pushing on my internally until she came out and it felt like they lifted a truck off my stomach! FWIW I could not support my own weight until 8A the next morning, because that right leg was so numb.
Addy did have a mild shoulder issue, which I believe us getting her dressed made worse. We found out on the day they released us that her left clavical has a mild break. And we already had our first trip to the doctors. We noticed on our last night at the hospital that she had diaper rash but they basically said we were wrong and she didn?t need anything for it and didn?t call our on call docs, just used whatever pedi they had there that night. Today she is so raw and bleeding, so our doc gave us a prescription diaper cream which seems to be helping. Poor little girl has had a rough few days!
Mr & Mrs - 10/15/05
Elijah Matthew - 5/3/07 ~ Adalyn Rosemary - 3/23/11
*Photos by Kacy Cierley*
Elijah Matthew - 5/3/07 ~ Adalyn Rosemary - 3/23/11
*Photos by Kacy Cierley*
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Addy's Birth Story & Pic in Siggy
Amazing story! I absolutely cannot believe you pushed that big baby out, what a trooper you are.
Despite the troubles, it sounds like everything really did go OK and your precious baby is home with you now. Hope her diaper rash improves and you all get to settle in and get used to each other.
Congrats!
Tyler Anthony arrived on 9.21.09
The Chronicles of Justin and Tyler
What a story! Addy's birth story sounds a lot like Charlotte's in many ways--I really feel for you with that crap epi--my crap epi labor was possibly worse (and definitely more exhausting since it slowed everything down) than my med free labors. It was weird--annoying numbness in some parts combined with excruciating pain in others--not fun!
All things considered, it sounds like you were a real trooper! Way to go pushing that big girl out! I LOVE IT!
And of course, congrats on your new baby girl!
Jennie
Katie: 1/16/08 2lbs. 15oz.
Abby & Emily: 12/31/10 6lbs. 2oz. & 5lbs. 7oz.