Brian Thomas Birth Story and PIPs!!

sweetiebird726 · September 2012

So I finally have gotten to the point where I have not only gotten enough sleep, but into a routine to be able to write this down!!

Stats and PIPs first

Brian Thomas; 7 lbs 0.7 oz, 20 inches; 9/20/12 at 10:25pm - my favorite picture is (hopefully) in my siggy

So my original due date was 9/16, and after my dr appt at 39w5d, they agreed to schedule an induction date for 9/21 at 40w5d. I was 80% effaced and 2 cm on 9/18.

I had my membranes stripped at my appointment on 9/18, and didn't feel anything the rest of the day. On 9/19 I woke up with mild crampiness, and went into triage that evening with timeable contractions starting every 6-7 minutes, increasing to ever 3-4 minutes. They weren't causing any cervical change after 2 hours and weren't increasing in pain, so I got sent home.

I then had increasingly painful, but irregular contractions the rest of that night and the morning of 9/20. They fizzled out around 3:30am. Contractions started again around 12:30pm at 6 minutes, and kept increasing in intensity. Called the dr at 4:00pm, and left the house at 5:00pm to head back into triage, with strong contractions 4-5 minutes apart.

We checked into triage, and they were on the verge of possibly sending me home again since I had no cervical change when suddenly the room filled with people. DS started having decels, which they were able to resolve with repositioning, and that bought me an admission into L&D. DS was moving around a lot making it difficult to monitor his heartrate, but after finding a good spot, I was wheeled into L&D.

Contractions continued and they were about to give me an epidural around 3-4cm, when DS jumped off the monitor after a short decel period. They manually broke my water to put in a lead on DS's head, and discovered that there was meconium. I'm starting to get a bit worried at this point, but was reassured I had nothing to worry about.

Shortly after that they placed the epidural (I think around 9:15pm), and this is where the story gets interesting. Some of it was relayed to me afterwards, so I'm a bit fuzzy on details.

The epidural was placed beautifully and began to work almost immediately. I felt great after 30 minutes, and my sister came back to visit for a couple minutes. I started feeling nauseous, and DH suggested that she step out for a bit. I started throwing up, and then the room filled with people again. I started getting tossed from side to side, with my belly being shaken vigorously as I was getting sick, and I had NO idea what was going on or why they were doing that to me. Before I knew it, I was getting wheeled into the OR, where they told me they were going to do a c section.

The last thing I remember is being told that they were "going to take good care of me" and I remember saying "what about him?!?!" A mask was placed over my face and then I went under general anesthesia.

I woke up 2 hours later to see my DH in scrubs and the first question out of my mouth was if DS was ok. DH told me DS came out kicking and screaming from what he could hear as he was getting the scrubs on. I was placed under at 10:20pm and he was out at 10:25pm, so DH didn't make it into the room in time unfortunately. He did get to see him get checked out, and was the first person (besides the doctors/nurses) to hold him.

Then I got the story of what happened. Apparently the epidural bottomed out my blood pressure to 85/60, and DS's heartrate slowed down as a result. I was given a medication to bring it back up, and it started working slowly, but not fast enough for DS to recover. They decided to do a crash c section to get him out since he wasn't responding quickly enough. I had signed a consent for a c-section in triage in the event of an emergency, which I'm glad happened now.

DH was scared out of his mind and a bit traumatized, but said he felt much better after he heard DS crying and was told that I would be ok too. He started crying telling me the story, and I still can't believe his strength to be able to handle what had happened, and be able to be strong for both of us during what must have been a terrifying moment.

Recovery was a little rough, and we are having some issues breastfeeding as a result, but I couldn't be happier to have DS here with us. I still get emotional thinking about the could-have-beens if the hospital staff hadn't been watching us so closely and responded SO fast, but I'm working on not dwelling on that.

I couldn't ask for a better baby, he is (in my opinion) the most beautiful baby ever and looks just like DH I'm still in awe that he's mine and I get to keep him!

I'm slowing coming to terms with the way he was delivered, and how it wasn't anywhere remotely near what I had envisioned or hoped for. But, in the end DS is safe and so am I, and that's all that really matters. Even though my birth story was a little traumatic for everyone involved, it turned out exactly the way it needed to - with a gorgeous, healthy little boy, and for that I am beyond thankful.

numb3rMel · September 2012

That story made me tear up! I'm glad you're both ok now. GL with recovery and BF! Congrats!

jbBeans · September 2012

numb3rMel:
That story made me tear up! I'm glad you're both ok now. GL with recovery and BF! Congrats!

Tearing up over here, too! Glad everyone is ok! GL with your recovery

hmp1 · September 2012

Scary, lad you are doing well! Congrats.

bosha711 · September 2012

That must've been so scary for you! I'm glad you have a beautiful healthy baby to show for it! Congrats!

hjk · September 2012

Congratulations! I had a complicated delivery/C section as well and I understand how it's hard to come to terms with the delivery being like nothing you could have ever considered, never mind imagined. I agree that in the end, you know that your baby is perfect and you are well and that's what matters, but it's still hard. Hope the BFing comes along soon.