My baby arrived via emergency c-section! Birth story inside...

AfterAll · January 2012

Lesson 1 of parenting: expect the unexpected. And oh yeah- jinx is for real. I told DH how easy and painless things were going and then everything started to go horribly wrong...

I went in for an elective induction at 39w6d to begin Cervadil. My cervix was not favorable which meant I had an increased chance of a c section. DH and I weighed the options and ultimately felt this was the best plan for our family for a variety of reasons, the main one being that DS1 at 7lbs 13oz tore me apart and this baby was on track to be a bit larger.

To make a long story short, my induction went fine. As soon as I got here they noticed that I had a few contractions on the monitor and the baby had major heart decels. They monitored me for a bit, he seemed to recover so they began with the Cervadil.

The cervadil did nothing (just like with DS1). I contracted all night long and had a bloody show and was still at 0 in the morning. They began Pitocin and an epi and within 5.5 hours I had gone from 0-10 and was ready to push.

Every time I pushed the baby's heart rate dropped below 100 and stayed there. They turned off my epi so I'd get him out faster and I had excruciating contractions because he was sunny side up, just like DS1 If I wasn't so dry and thirsty I would have been in tears. Over the course of 2 hours I pushed maybe 10 times. The doctor was trying to let me labor down since the baby could not withstand pushing. I was in agony but he tried every position imaginable, including having me on my hands and knees pushing and on my side. Finally the doctor tried the vacuum and this kid was absolutely not budging.

The doctor said I had to have an emergency c. I was exhausted, defeated, sad, and scared. And I'm sure anyone who labored only to have one can understand. There were no less than 20 people in the OR running in every direction. I begged them not to knock me out and they obliged and turned my epi back on. It happened so quickly my arms weren't tied down and I had my hair down as well. My eyes were rolling back in my head and I was passing out from exhaustion and the meds while DH tried to keep me awake.

It was over fairly quickly but it took some force to get him dislodged from my pelvis- and at 3:34 pm Theodore Jacob was born kicking and screaming at 7lbs 9oz, less than his big brother and the u/s estimate and 19.5 inches. He's named after both of our grandfathers- both WWII vets named Theodore, one a holocaust survivor and both great men. With all of the commotion they forgot to clamp the umbilical cord on the baby before moving him to the warmer and it looked like a crime scene in there- the baby is completely fine though.

The doctor stapled and stitched me up, he said in order to leave me with the future option of a VBAC- the furthest thing from my mind right now. My vagina tore too from the vacuum to add insult to injury. They took the baby away. I saw him briefly then DH followed him out.

I was taken to recovery and after an hour my BP dropped suddenly to 60 over something. I ended up staying in recovery for hours. I delivered at 3:43 and didn't see Teddy again until 8:30 while waiting in recovery to stabilize and for an open room.

He latched right on and nursed well. Poor guy is super sleepy- and who can blame him?

I am such a ball of emotions and I am sure many of you can relate- this was never something I considered as an option for my delivery. Ultimately we are both here and healthy, and that is all that matters.

The doctor assured me that I didn't do this by electing for an induction. It likely would have happened anyway and due to his decels with my own contractions prior to induction, it really worked out for the best that I came when I did.