Community› The Bump Month Clubs› July 2012 Moms
July 2012 Moms
New Discussion

Claire's Birth Story (super long and eventful)

OUKatieOUKatie member
in July 2012 Moms

I really can't believe I'm typing one of these, for so many reasons. It's so surreal to be typing up MY birth experience after being on TK/TN/TB for so long. I've never understood why people want to type these up but there is something compelling about just getting it out...My birthing experience was very eventful so I apologize for the length.

 

5am: Anyway, I went in for an induction on Monday, 6/16, at 5am. I was 3cm (not quite a 4) when we started, softened cervix, etc. By 6am, I was on pitocin, on the monitors, etc. I was already having contractions when I arrived but they were rather mild. The pit got them a bit stronger.

8am: My ob stopped in around 8am to check my progress (4cm! yeah!) and break my water. Um, I screamed and basically crawled up the bed. Holy cow. So, yeah, we decided to wait on that.

11am: The oxygen mask went on. LO's heartrate was okay but she wasn't really responding to the contractions so they gave me the O2 to get her in the game.

12pm: About noon, things were getting painful and the contractions were getting to be less manageable. I asked my nurse to check me and I was at 5cm. I decided to go ahead and get the epi because I was nervous that if I waited too much longer I'd have trouble holding still during the epi.

1pm: The anestheseoligist came in about 12:30ish and did the epi. It worked quickly, a little better on my right than the left in my legs. I started to get nauseated and mildly dizzy, though. This part is a little foggy. My blood pressure dropped and so they ended up having to dial back the epi and stop the pit until my blood pressure stabalized. That was super frustrating because at this point, my contractions stopped (remember, I had been contracting on my own prior to the pit).

2:30pm: Started back up with the pit, but we had to start over 2/min (I had been up to 14/min.). Luckily, things got going again and this time no discomfort so yay. I continued to make good progression throughout the day, especially as the pit was increased.

5:30ish pm: My ob broke my water at this point. NBD now thanks to the epi! I continued to labor and chat with my visitors. Note: I wasn't sure about visitors but since I had the epi, it was really fine. DH's parents came earlier in the day when I wasn't so tired and uncomfy so that was good and my mom, sister, sister's friend (who is wonderful at keeping my mom distracted, which is why she was there), and my 2 best friends, plus my dad was in and out a few times were there for the long haul. It really was just fine. When I wanted space, they were great about asking if I wanted some quiet and they'd clear out quickly. If I wanted company, they'd take turns. Nobody was pushy or got offended so it worked out well. They definitely let me be in control of that and I was really thankful for their support both when I wanted a distraction and when I wanted just DH.

10:00pm: My epi wears off. OMG, bad bad bad. I was freaking out, uncontrollable crying, that I'd have to do this without the epi because at this point it was extremely painful. My nurse was great, though, as was DH. She quickly checked me and I was at an 8cm. Good progress but not so far or so quick that I couldn't get a bolus of the epi. The anesthesioligist arrived very quickly and got me all fixed up. What happened is that I was on a very low dose of the med because my blood pressure had dropped. The bolus combined with the "extra shot" button made everything great again.

At this point, I decided that DH and I should nap because it would probably be our last chance to rest before I had to push. I slept for 2 hours and he slept a bit longer than that. I called my mom and she came in and sat with me so I could have a little company while DH slept some more.

1:00am: I'm at 10cm and it is time to push. It was just me, DH, and my labor nurse. Pushing was hard but my nurse was really good at helping me get positioned and describing how to push. I could tell when I did a good job and when I didn't. Of course, she was telling me I was doing great everytime but when I started telling her "oh, that push wasn't good" and identifying what was "off," she was more honest about which ones were good and which were bad, lol. It was really helpful, though. DD wasn't making a lot of progress down and at this point we figured out that she was sunny-side up. Agh! Thankfully, she was in a good "close enough but not too far down" position and the nurse was able to get her turned over. YAY!

1:30am: DD started descending pretty quickly. She crowned at about 1:55 and the nurse called for the labor team and the doctor. TMI: I could feel myself tearing as I tried to keep DD in. Holy moly. Both the crowning and tearing were extremely painful. (For epi gals: I found out about 20 minutes later that my epi had mostly worn off so I don't think this is normal for an epi birth.)

2:00am: Things went crazy from here. I was not pushing but DD was really wanting out, of course. The nurse's eyes got huge and she called for the charge nurse to come immediately. The charge nurse came in and tried to hold DD's head in but about 15 seconds later, her eyes got huge and she told me to push "Push now, push now!" OMG. DD was totally out in one push at 2:06am.

From here, things are confusing for me yet I can remember it all in my mind. Before we knew what was happening, the charge nurse had cut her cord and they had DD in the warmer while calling for the NICU. WHAT? I was so confused...why didn't DH get to cut her cord, why wasn't she put on me right away? I was asking if she was okay, DH was standing right next to me holding my hand, and somehow it was both chaotic and calm at the same time.

It turns out that DD had the cord wrapped around her neck twice. This is why she wasn't responding to the contractions and I had to have oxygen. It was a good thing she descended and came quickly so that she didn't strangle herself on her cord.

She started crying by the time they had her on the warmer (maybe 4 seconds at most after she came out, the time between her being born, getting the cord cut, and being put on the warmer was really fast) and she pinked up really fast as they rubbed her down. She got a 7 on her first APGAR (not too bad for having a cord double-wrapped around her neck!) and a 9 on her second APGAR :). I knew even as I asked that she had to be fine because she was crying and very pink. I could see her on the warmer and just knew she was find. The NICU agreed and they didn't take her out of the room or have to treat her in any way. She was just fine! I could see her making hunger cues already :)

They gave me DD all swaddled up (to keep her warm as a precaution...normally they do immediate skin-to-skin) and we snuggled while I was stitched up. My epi had worn down at this point so the doctor (who got there 2 minutes too late!) had to give me some local anesthetic for the stitches. DD was pissed that she couldn't nurse yet, lol!

My nurse helped me get all set up to nurse DD and we had our first nursing session. She nursed on both sides :) She has a pretty good natural latch and adores nursing but we are working on getting a consistently good latch.

My mom, 1 of my sisters (the other was OOT for work, she was really upset), and my 2 best friends got to come in and see her at 4am. Everyone held her and it was wonderful :)

 

DH is an amazing dad. I really can't believe how wonderful he is, both to her and to me. He is more worn out than I am. He is just so good to her and with her, and I never imagined or expected just how incredible he truly is as a father. We adore her more than words could ever convey, though I know that all of you mamas with outside babies must know exactly how I feel, yet it's hard to believe that anyone, anywhere could ever love someone this much.

 

 

image
Report Reply to Post

Re: Claire's Birth Story (super long and eventful)

This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"