Successful Induction, Team Green Birth Story-Long!

The EDD for our first child, a team green baby, was June 17, 2010.  However, I was diabetic before pregnancy and deemed high-risk from the beginning.  I needed tons of insulin to maintain good BG numbers, but my endo was very happy with how I was managing.  My blood pressure was creeping up at each OB visit and I was put on medication, which seemed to help for awhile.  My swelling and weight gain were out of control!  I was the classic miserably pregnant woman and was put on modified bed rest for the last month of my pregnancy.  I had been having NST's twice per week for about 3-4 weeks at the end.  It always took us a long time to "pass", which resulted in a few BPP's to check that everything was OK.  At 38 weeks, my OB said that in my situation, she usually didn't see us getting much past this point and since she was on call that weekend, we should induce on Saturday, June 5, which was 38W 2D.  (In the future, I will try to hold out longer if tests indicate we can)

Friday night we had a last dinner at Olive Garden and went home to get everything prepared.  We got to bed way too late and had a hard time getting up, despite being so excited.  We took a few last belly pics and were off to the hospital.  We checked in about 7:30am and started cytotek (will ask for cervadil if needed again) with a completelly closed and firm cervix.  I had an IV, but no drip to start and was hooked to the monitor to check for contractions.  They were present, but I couldn't feel them and the monitor kept slipping off anyway.  About 10:00 am my OB came in to check me and I was about 1cm and she swept my membranes without warning me.  This was really painful and brought tears to my eyes!  I remember saying "it feels like your finger is up inside my uterus," haha, only because it was.  I think this is when we started the pitocin drip as well.  They encouraged me to walk around, but the baby was putting tons of pressure on my pelvic floor and walking was incredibly uncomfortable.  I bounced on the yoga ball and paced around the room instead. 

About 11 or 12 she came in to break my water. I was maybe 2 or 3 cm and still had no noticeable to me contractions.  She wanted me to order lunch, which was surprising. I had the feeling she thought this would be a long process.  I had been under the mistaken impression that you really shouldn't eat in labor.  Which, for me, is probably true and I should have trusted my instincts.  I was gushing fluid, which seemed like it just never was going to run out.  I ate lunch maybe around 1.  After that, DH and I played boggle while I sat on the bed or yoga ball. My mom arrived and checked in on us and decided to run to the store for a few things since not much was happening. I was starting to feel a few cramps and needed a fan to keep me cool.

Slowly, things were getting more painful. The contractions were not showing up consistently and the HRM kept slipping. When I told my nurse that I was really starting to feeling things, she replied "If you say you can feel it, I believe you." This really made me feel good about my nurse, even though it was such a little thing. I had my bloody show when using the bathroom, which she was excited about. I did need help to get back to the bed/ball, especially with leaking so much fluid. DH and my nurse were great and I felt very supported. Around 3pm is when I really started to feel more pain than just a period cramp. I had to tell DH to get off the phone "NOW" as he was starting his week away from the restaurant where he works as GM and was answering a few questions while I was doing OK.  Boggle also ended around this time, but not before I got an amazing score for "vesicle/s"!

My mom was back and all 3 of them helped me through difficult labor for 2-3 hours.  My plan was to go pain-med free as long as I could, the whole way if possible.  However, I did not know enough to ask them to stop turning up, turn down, or turn off the pit, so it became extremely difficult very fast.  I had terrible back labor and DH was breaking a sweat trying to apply enough counter-pressure to my lower back.  I could not get enough.  I remember that I felt OK when there were no contractions, but I began to panic "Oh no, it's another one," at about 5pm.  I also had an automatic blood pressure cuff on, which was annoying and uncomfortable.  At this point, my nurse said she needed to go talk to the doctor.  When she walked out of the room, my mom turned to me and said, "Honey, you need to get the epidural."  Meanwhile, DH was just about collapsing with effort trying to get me through the back labor.  Honestly, I didn't even think about pain meds because I was too distracted by the pain!  The nurse came back and said my blood pressure was 210/105 and we all agreed that the epi was our next step.  She looked worried about me and asked if I wanted Stadol.  I asked if it would help with the contractions and she told me it was more to help rest between, so I declined.  However, she did not leave the room and kept the medication close by.  I also felt I needed to vomit and would not let that emesis bucket go for anything!  It didn't take much longer and it was in use.  Of course, I also forgot about trying to use the huge whirlpool tub, which they would have allowed even though my water was broken and I had an IV.

 The anesthesiologist was on the way, I thought it only took about a half hour, but DH thought more like an hour.  I was vomiting with tears running down my face and he wanted to "come back at a better time," ha!  My nurse gave him a dirty look and said, "No, she needs it now."  He asked me the standard questions and was not the most friendly guy.  (I'm sure the smell didn't help)  It was really tought to get in the bent-over position, especially during a contraction.  They were too close together to have him wait until one was over.  However, he was quite efficient and within minutes I was starting to feel relief.  I remember thinking the prick from the local anesthetic was really nothing compared to the labor pain.  Then, it was about 6 and time for a nap.  As I was falling asleep, I could feel a twisty motion near my cervix and I think this is when the baby turned from being sunny-side up to the "correct" direction.  I think I was about 5-6 cm shortly after the epi.

After sleeping for an hour or two, my OB came in to check on us.  My BP had improved and she told me I was lucky to not have had a stroke.  Baby had been looking good, but the monitors kept slipping and they decided an internal would be easier (again, something I would chime in on this time).  My epi had me completely numbed and I was in no pain. Now, it was just time to wait for 10 cm! I think I fell asleep off and on until around 10pm when the new nurse came in and checked me. I was fully dialated and she said I could start pushing! After a few practice pushes we turned down the epi and got down to business. The effort was like climbing a mountain! However, I was pushing blind and could barely feel my contractions.  (I will probably wait until I feel my body doing more work on its own next time)  It was a lot of one step forward, one step back for perhaps the first hour. But, we were all joking and laughing in between pushes. I think my nurse spent a lot of time doing perineal massage and I really didn't care about pooping on the table (which I did) or having someone staring at my crotch that long.

At around 11, I started making a bit more progress with pushes, but still the baby moved back whenever I wasn't pushing.  She encouraged me with "I can feel lots of hair" comments and gave me play-by-play on whether baby was descending or not.  Finally, around 11:30 I finally got baby down far enough for her to call the doctor.  The epi still provided fantastic pain relief, but I could move my legs and felt more "numb" than "dead."  Also, I was more in sync with pushing during a contraction and really felt my body doing more of the work to push baby out. 

It only took the OB a few moments to get in the room, and when she did I really could tell that progress was being made.  As she was getting her gown on I said I could feel another contraction and she OK'd me to push, I asked "Are you sure?"  She told me "yes," so I gave a tiny push and I felt a pop and the baby's head came out!  The doctor was a bit startled and had to wrap the end of the gown around her hand because there was no time for the other glove! She had me wait a moment because the cord was losely wrapped around baby's neck. Then, said I could push again. With (I think) just one more push, baby was almost completely out. I think there was a slight pause (maybe for suctioning or cord issues) and then she placed baby on my stomach, she checked and announced it was a boy!  I remember everybody kind of cheering before and after the gender announcement and DH cut the cord and and baby was taken to the warmer rather quickly for rubbing and checking.  The doc told me I had a very easy birth and the next one would be even easier.  I asked about APGARs and don't remember exactly what they were, (3 and 8 or 9?) and the nurse said he did need a little stimulation to breathe.  I'm sure this is why we kind of hurried through cord cutting and laying on my belly.  He was soon wrapped up and given to me to hold   Pierson Philip was born at 11:38pm on June 5, 2010.  6 lbs 5 oz 18 1/4 inches long with a head full of dark hair (my "special request" beyond healthy baby, no matter the gender).

I remember the doc giving a "this is not what I expected" look to the nurse after he first came out and she was holding onto him, which made me worried that he was absolutely huge.  My last BPP had estimated 8lb 2-3 oz.  Turns out that he was almost two pounds smaller than my last BPP had estimated and they couldn't believe it.  Also, I had absolutely no tearing and needed no stitches.  I couldn't believe that myself and had her check me again.  The placenta came quickly and with no issues and my epi was still doing great to keep the pain at bay.  The doctor insisted that I needed to eat right away to keep my sugar up, so I watched Pierson get his first bath from daddy and the nurse while having a snack.  I felt absolutely euphoric and energetic.  After the bath, we tried to have him nurse, which didn't work out and we decided to try a bit later.

Overnight his sugars did get a bit low and instead of waking me up to breastfeed he was given a bottle, which I was not happy about.  This was just the start of our breastfeeding troubles and ultimately it took many, many visits with the lactation specialist, special equipment, and a full month before he would nurse on his own.  I also had terrible undersupply issues (even with every home remedy) and had to supplement with formula for 5-6 months before I "dried up" so much that we had to switch to formula completely.  I cannot help but think that the tough labor that he experienced could have had something to do with it.  He was also very skinny and I feel he wanted to cook for a few more weeks.  It was really my medical issues that prevented us from getting closer to his due date.  Despite this, I was very happy then and now for how things turned out.  I only needed tylenol for a day or two, which provided plenty of pain relief.  I was able to completely stop medication for diabetes and hypertension after the birth.  Also, CDing has worked very well for us and does make me feel better about having something go according to plan.

Pierson is now ready to be a big brother to another team green baby at the end of May!  I just had to write my insanely long story to help other mommas that are facing an induction/GD/DM/PIH.  I love reading birth stories and I know how hard it is to finally write everything out--hoping this is good karma for other birth stories to get told!