- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
April 2014 Moms
kangstadt
member
Lunar eclipse baby boy!
kangstadt
member
My little Leif Tyler made his appearance! Sorry if it's long-winded, but I've been super impatient to share his birth story :-).
For the past week, I had been having strong and fairly regular Braxton-Hicks contractions, to the point where I would time them and they would all be within 5 minutes of each other, but they wouldn't progress or get stronger past that. On Monday, April 14th at my weekly check up, I had my membranes stripped around 11am at the recommendation of my midwife (I was/had been 3cm and 80% effaced, and she thought it might get things moving). By the time I got home after some errands, I felt the first twinge of what was definitely something "different," than the normal tightening feeling of Braxton-Hicks in my lower abdomen. Around 3:45pm, I started timing the contractions since they were more painful and similar to menstrual cramps than before. Fifteen minutes into timing, I decided to call my SO just in case. He started heading for home and I kept timing. For the next hour the contractions were all within 3-4 minutes of each other and each one lasted over a minute. We called my midwife once SO got home and she said to head in. We got to the hospital around 6pm. I was still only around 3cm, but the contractions were getting much stronger. My blood pressure was a little high (as it had been at my appointment that morning too), so they hooked me up to the monitors and I was pretty much stuck in the bed - not really the mobile labor period I had imagined and hoped for! At another check around 8pm or so, I was 7cm. I breathed and focused through as many of the contractions as I could, hoping to stick to my med-free birth plan, but being confined to the bed really made me lose my focus as it got later into the night. I was already on antibiotics (GBS+), so they started fluids too just in case I wanted to do an epidural. I became nauseated a few times, and by the time I was 10cm dilated, I would feel flushed and ready to vomit after every contraction. I can't begin to explain how trapped I felt by the stupid blood pressure cuff, IV, and fetal monitors, and I gave in and asked for the epidural. It helped dull the contractions to the point where I almost dozed off - although it's the oddest feeling in the world when your entire leg is pins and needles asleep - and they let me relax for about half an hour or so before the doctor came in to break my water. After that, things got kind of crazy; my little guy's heart rate kept dropping and then going back to baseline between every contraction, and although I tried my best to push him out quickly, my doctor was worried he had the cord around his neck. So another change from my ideal birth plan; my doc had to use forceps and give me an episiotomy to help get him out. I didn't even notice or hear the doctor mention the episiotomy since I was so focused on trying to push him out and worried about his fluctuating heart rate. Finally, at 1:44am, he came out and it was the scariest moment of my life to see him gray and not crying; the nurses had to take him and put him on oxygen right away to stabilize his respiration. His initial APGAR score was 7, and it went up to an 8 after five minutes, but I still didn't get to hold him until about 20 minutes after he was born. After that first scare, we've had incredible luck; his respiration and temperature stabilized and we got to keep him in the room through the night. Since I was GBS+ and he had a high temperature at birth, the doctors put him on a 48 hour IV and antibiotics just to be safe. He also had a slight heart murmur, but thankfully our luck held and his heart murmur was gone by Thursday morning (our discharge day, if all went well), and his cultures were all negative. We got to come home yesterday and it's been perfect. He's breastfeeding like a champ - although my boobs feel like sore cantaloupes... - and I can't believe how madly in love I am with him. Even though my ideal birth plan didn't include being confined to the bed, an epidural, usage of forceps, or an episiotomy, none of it matters since he's here and safe and healthy.
Introducing Leif Tyler - born on April 15th (my original EDD) at 1:44am during the lunar eclipse. 6lbs, 13.5 oz and 18 1/2 inches long.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Lunar eclipse baby boy!