Annabelle Noel was born on December 27, 2012 weighing 5lbs 12oz and at 19.5 inches long after a long and stressful induction.
I went in on Thursday morning at 12AM to start my induction and after 2 hours and two nurses poking me 3 times to get my IV started they inserted the gel to begin softening my cervix at close to 2. The plan was to give me 2-3 doses before breaking my water and/or starting Pitocin. I only ever got one dose since I was ?contracting too much? to get a second dose, the first dose got me to 3.5-4 cm before the contractions slowed and my doctor gave me the choice to break my water and see if that would be enough to kick my labor back off or I could try the Pitocin first. I was worried that the Pitocin would make my contractions to painful so I opted for breaking my water instead.
Breaking my water worked for a while and my contractions got much stronger though I was still doing fine alternating between walking around the floor and sitting on a birthing ball in my room any time I didn?t need to be in bed for monitoring or hooked up to my IV for antibiotics for my GBS. I got to about 5 cm before my labor slowed down again and my doctor encouraged me to start the Pitocin. Once they started the Pitocin my contractions became much more intense and close together. My cervix was still really high and I wasn?t making much progress because Annabelle was at a bit of an angle and wasn?t descending very well. After a few hours I was in tears because the back pain from the way she was sitting was so intense that I could hardly breathe during the contractions which were coming so close together that I felt I didn?t get any break between them. I was terrified of another epidural but finally gave in and asked for the anesthesiologist.
This anesthesiologist was amazing and after I discussed with him what happened last time he decided that because I had Pre-e last time they probably gave me less fluids before starting my epidural which is probably why I ended up almost passing out from it. This time he decided they would give me extra fluids to avoid that happening again and once I had enough fluids they gave me the epidural. My BP did drop quite a bit again but it didn?t get nearly as low as last time. They determined that my BP is sensitive to the medication and I will need to make sure that at future births I am given extra fluid as well. I did need some ephedrine to get my BP back to normal and I felt much better for the remainder of my labor.
Once I got the epidural my body was able to relax enough for Annabelle to drop and put pressure on my cervix which quickly finished dilating and only a few hours later it was time to push. My nurse had me practice push during one contraction and quickly told me to stop while she got my doctor and the nursery nurse into the room. I pushed 2-3 times each for 4 contractions and Annabelle was born. She screamed right away and they placed her on me right away so I could see and touch her while they cleaned her off. They then moved her onto my skin where she stayed until more than an hour later after I had delivered the placenta and nursed her.
Because of her size nursing has been a bit of a struggle and we?ve been supplementing with formula using a feeding tube to sneak the extra fluid in while she nurses. She has a good latch but gets frustrated or tired easily and doesn?t like to put in the work necessary to get the colostrum flowing. My milk came in today so I?m hoping we can stop with the formula and focus on the breastfeeding full time.
Thank you so much ladies for your support over these last nine months, and to those ladies who were there for me for my time on TTCAL as well. This has been a very long and emotional journey and I don?t think I could have made it without this loss community to turn to.
Now for what I know is everyone?s favorite part of a birth story post.
Here she is right after she was born.
And here she is in the car on the way home from the hospital.
There are much better photos but they are all on my husband's camera and he isn't very good at putting them on the computer for me to see so your stuck with the ones from my phone. Thank you again ladies, I look forward to seeing you over on PAL!
Re: Annabelle's birth story
BFP#2 09/11/12 beta1=72 @13dpo beta2=160 @14dpo beta3=over 6000 @24dpo U/S @7w2dd hb=146bpm U/S @8w5d hb=159bpm U/S @12w hb=164bpm
EDD 05/20/13
My Ovulation Chart
1/12/13 DD was born
4/9/16 DS was born
9/17 CP
6/23/18 BFP EDD 3/4/19
D&C: 03/08/12 Waited for AF for 146 long days!
Hysteroscopy/D&C on July 10th to fix blocked cervix (DX: Cervical Stenosis)
BFP #2 12/8/12, EDD 08/21/13 Our rainbow arrived 08/24/13!
BFP#1 April 12, 2011, EDD December 24, 2011, strong heart beat at 7w3d, d&c at 10w6d
BFP#2 Oct 24, 2011, natural miscarriage, EDD unknown
After RPL testing my losses and subsequent infertility are considered unexplained.
Cycle #22: Femara, TI, and progesterone = BFP!!
BFP#3 Dec 21, 2012. Beta #1 @14dpo = 134, progesterone 67.8. Beta #2 @ 17dpo = 664! Team green, EDD 9/1/13, healthy baby boy born 9/12/13!
My chart.
Congratulations to the fabulous KGS2003! Her sweet boys are here! Grow boys grow!!!
EDD 1/31/13, MC May 17. EDD 3/31/13, MC July 26. I miss you so much already my angel loves
Married the love of my life 7/11/09 - Our first baby, Peyton Mark, was born sleeping 10/25/11 at 33 weeks - Our second baby, BFP 2/4/12, welcome to the world Raylan! Holy Moly, BPF 2/4/14, please be safe and sound little one!
My Blog
BFP#2 ~ 8/2/11, EDD 4/11/12, D&C 9/12/11 at 9w5d
BFP#3 ~ 4/15/12, EDD 12/21/12 ~ DD born 12/22/12
BFP#1 "Watermelon" born 3/2011
BFP#2 "Pumpkin" 7/14/12 ~ EDD 3/23/13 ~ Natural M/C 8/3/12 @ 7 weeks
BFP#3 "Pineapple" born 4/2013
BFP#4 "Grapefruit" EDD 3/29/16
Congratulations! She's beautiful!
PGAL/PAL welcome
BFP #2 9.12.12, EDD 5.24.13, Baby Boy Born 5.15.13!!
My Ovulation Chart
3 Clomid (100mg) cycles + TI + Trigger = BFN's, Femara + Trigger + IUI#1 = BFN
Femara + Trigger + IUI#2 = BFP!
"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will." ~Gandhi
BFP#1 on 02/14/09 BIRTH to Mason 6lb9oz on 10/12/09
BFP#2 on 5/28/11 EDD 2/1/12 Natural M/C on 6/13/11
BFP#3 on 1/20/12 EDD 9/30/12 Natural m/c on 1/27/12
BFP#4 on 4/23/12 BIRTH to Isabella 7lb1oz on 12/19/12
BFP #2: EDD 9/3/13~~Slow HB at 1st U/S~~MMC -Loss on 2/13/13
We lost our first (EDD 07/23/12) after finding out at 12 weeks there was no longer a heartbeat. Our rainbow was born 05/22/13 and was worth all we went through.
“So can you understand? Why I want a daughter while I’m still young? I wanna hold her hand and show her some beauty before all this damage is done. But if it’s too much to ask, it’s too much to ask … Then send me a son.” – Arcade Fire
M/C 7/8/12
Perfect baby boy born 7/8/13
BFP 8/20/14 EDD 4/27/15 It's a GIRL!!
BFP #2 - 7/1/12 - Met my lucky charm Alexandra on 3-16-13!!!
Source: weheartit.com via Captain on Pinterest