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LGBT Parenting
KH826
member
William's Birth Story
KH826
member
I had been in what I thought was early labor for about 3 days when I went to the hospital on Friday, May 30th. I had been at the OB on Tuesday of that week, and I was 3cm dilated. I had been having a lot of cramping and back pain and the OB confirmed that what I was feeling in fact was early contractions. On Wednesday, May 28th I lost my mucous plug and had two instances of bloody show. By later in the day on Wednesday I was feeling contractions about 10-12 mins apart, and I had a lot of back pain and a feeling of a lot of pressure. So that evening my wife and I went to the mall and walked laps for about an hour. Thursday was more of the same, and my contractions were sporadic (some strong, others not -- at varying frequencies). At that point I hadn't slept in two night's due to the contractions waking me up pretty much every time I had one. On Thursday afternoon my wife left work early and we walked again for about 1.5 hours until I was just totally exhausted. When we got home, I bounced on a birthing ball off and on for several hours and drank raspberry leaf tea. Thursday night was another sleepless night and contractions seemed to be stronger but frequency was still sporadic. On Friday, May 30th I was just feeling beside myself. I hadn't slept in three nights, I had a lot of shortness of breath, contractions were still sporadic, but pressure was strong. I called the OB, and they told me to go to the hospital.
They checked me at the hospital and said I was still 3cm dilated. I had a very emotional meltdown. After 3 days I had made no progress. The midwife I saw at the hospital sent me home and told me I should try to sleep - ha!
The weekend was more of the same with increasing discomfort and pressure and no sleep. I went to my OB's office for my scheduled appointment on Monday, June 2nd, and I was 4.5cm dilated. My OB said she could see my exhaustion and discomfort on my face, and when I told her about the last 5 days she said she was concerned my body was going to need help to transition from early to active labor. So, she stripped my membranes and we made an appointment to follow up at the OB's office the next morning at 8:15am. Overnight was more of the same, so at 8:15am on Tuesday, June 3rd (my due date), we trekked off to the OB's office. We took our hospital bags with us. I was in tears walking from the parking garage. A mixture if pain, frustration and exhaustion just hit me like a ton of bricks. My OB checked me and I was 5cm dilated, and she said if I agreed that she would admit me right to the hospital (skip OB triage) and start me on pitocin and break my water (she said my water bag was bulging when she checked me). My wife and I agreed with this plan. I originally wanted to avoid pitocin, but after 6 days I needed progress, if had indeed hit the wall and my body was not kicking into active labor on its own.
So we got to the hospital at 9am on Tuesday, June 3rd, and I was starting to feel stronger contractions as they were admitting me. After a lot of thought and discussion, I decided to get an epidural since we were starting pitocin. I was told that my water had broken on its own when I was waiting for the epidural. Unfortunately, I had a reaction to the epidural and my BP dropped and I got very dizzy. They kept moving me from one side to the other and put me on oxygen. After about 10 scary minutes my BP went up out of the danger zone, and baby looked good on the monitor. Once it was stable they started the pitocin. They kept increasing the dosage of the pitocin every hour to bring my contractions closer together. My wife took a nap. I couldn't sleep. After about 8 hours I was on the max dose of pitocin and the new dr (there was a shift change) checked me again. I was still 5cm. How could this be?!?! The new dr asked if I wanted her to break my water. I told her that the doctor who admitted me told me my water was broken on its own 8 hours ago! She replied that I was leaking fluid, but that my water bag was still intact. I was furious! Well, she broke my water and within 2 hours I was at 7cm - thank heavens! At that point I started feeling pain with every contraction. I told the nurse this, and she told me to hit the button for my epidural that would give me additional medication. I told her I could handle the pain, but I just wanted her to know. Well they continued to up my pitocin and within 30 minutes I was feeling everything. I hit my epidural button but nothing happened. I told the nurse and took the anesthesiologist an hour to get to me. So I went through transition without a working epidural and 22 units of pitocin. I managed it with breathing, and holding my wife's hand, but I couldn't move from the bed and I just silently cried until the anesthesiologist finally arrived. He immediately knew that my epidural wasn't working and he gave me a shot through the epidural port in my back and within 2 minutes I felt nothing. But it worked a little too well. My legs were like led bricks and I couldn't feel them or move them at all. Much worse than when I originally had the epidural. I hated it, and I felt paranoid that I couldn't feel of move my legs. I had my wife stand at the end of the bed and rub and move my legs for me.
Then all of a sudden around midnight (so now June 4th), I felt incredibly nauseous. I told my wife I was going to be sick. She grabbed a bed pain for me and called the nurse. I vomited for about 5 mins, and within minutes the dr arrived to check me. I was 10cm and ready to push. I told the dr that I worried I couldn't push because of how numb I was after the extra bolus of epidural. The dr said she would turn down the epidural, but I told her I wanted her to turn it off completely. We turned off the epidural and waited about 5 mins and I started to feel each contraction again, so I told the dr I was ready to push. 10 minutes and 6 pushes later, our son was born.
As many of you know, we were anticipating a baby girl. We were told at our anatomy scan that our baby was a girl. Needless to say, it came as quite a shock when William George was born at 12:57am on June 4th. This birth story is about Will, so I am not going to focus on our shock. Will was (and is) beautiful at 9lbs 6oz and 21 1/4 inches long. They put him on my chest immediately, while I delivered the placenta. Unfortunately, I was not able to breast feed right away, because I was torn in two places and my bleeding was not under control. The doctor who delivered Will called in another doctor. The two of them worked on me for about 20 mins to get the bleeding under control. My uterus would not clamp down and needed to be massaged for the bleeding to stop. I told my wife to go stand with Will while they cleaned him up, but she kept going back and forth between me and the baby. After they stopped my bleeding, they stitched me up, and then they brought Will back over to me. We were able to do skin-to-skin then, and he did latch on the breast for a few minutes.
Things got a little crazy again a short while later when the nurse tried to help me up to get cleaned up, and I got dizzy and passed out. Turns out my BP kept dropping following my blood loss and for the next several days I experienced low BP and dizzy spells. Due to this, they would not allow me to get out of bed to use the bathroom so the recatheterized me (I had been catheterized with the epidural, but it was removed after I delivered). Well, unfortunately, I developed a UTI from the catheter. That infection on top of two 2nd degree tears made the first several days post delivery very painful and difficult. Will also ended up in the NICU 12 hours after delivery due to his low sugars.
Today, Will is 12 days old and he is thriving, and I am healing. The whole experience was not at all what we planned for, but we would do it all over again many times over for our little guy -- he is amazing!
They checked me at the hospital and said I was still 3cm dilated. I had a very emotional meltdown. After 3 days I had made no progress. The midwife I saw at the hospital sent me home and told me I should try to sleep - ha!
The weekend was more of the same with increasing discomfort and pressure and no sleep. I went to my OB's office for my scheduled appointment on Monday, June 2nd, and I was 4.5cm dilated. My OB said she could see my exhaustion and discomfort on my face, and when I told her about the last 5 days she said she was concerned my body was going to need help to transition from early to active labor. So, she stripped my membranes and we made an appointment to follow up at the OB's office the next morning at 8:15am. Overnight was more of the same, so at 8:15am on Tuesday, June 3rd (my due date), we trekked off to the OB's office. We took our hospital bags with us. I was in tears walking from the parking garage. A mixture if pain, frustration and exhaustion just hit me like a ton of bricks. My OB checked me and I was 5cm dilated, and she said if I agreed that she would admit me right to the hospital (skip OB triage) and start me on pitocin and break my water (she said my water bag was bulging when she checked me). My wife and I agreed with this plan. I originally wanted to avoid pitocin, but after 6 days I needed progress, if had indeed hit the wall and my body was not kicking into active labor on its own.
So we got to the hospital at 9am on Tuesday, June 3rd, and I was starting to feel stronger contractions as they were admitting me. After a lot of thought and discussion, I decided to get an epidural since we were starting pitocin. I was told that my water had broken on its own when I was waiting for the epidural. Unfortunately, I had a reaction to the epidural and my BP dropped and I got very dizzy. They kept moving me from one side to the other and put me on oxygen. After about 10 scary minutes my BP went up out of the danger zone, and baby looked good on the monitor. Once it was stable they started the pitocin. They kept increasing the dosage of the pitocin every hour to bring my contractions closer together. My wife took a nap. I couldn't sleep. After about 8 hours I was on the max dose of pitocin and the new dr (there was a shift change) checked me again. I was still 5cm. How could this be?!?! The new dr asked if I wanted her to break my water. I told her that the doctor who admitted me told me my water was broken on its own 8 hours ago! She replied that I was leaking fluid, but that my water bag was still intact. I was furious! Well, she broke my water and within 2 hours I was at 7cm - thank heavens! At that point I started feeling pain with every contraction. I told the nurse this, and she told me to hit the button for my epidural that would give me additional medication. I told her I could handle the pain, but I just wanted her to know. Well they continued to up my pitocin and within 30 minutes I was feeling everything. I hit my epidural button but nothing happened. I told the nurse and took the anesthesiologist an hour to get to me. So I went through transition without a working epidural and 22 units of pitocin. I managed it with breathing, and holding my wife's hand, but I couldn't move from the bed and I just silently cried until the anesthesiologist finally arrived. He immediately knew that my epidural wasn't working and he gave me a shot through the epidural port in my back and within 2 minutes I felt nothing. But it worked a little too well. My legs were like led bricks and I couldn't feel them or move them at all. Much worse than when I originally had the epidural. I hated it, and I felt paranoid that I couldn't feel of move my legs. I had my wife stand at the end of the bed and rub and move my legs for me.
Then all of a sudden around midnight (so now June 4th), I felt incredibly nauseous. I told my wife I was going to be sick. She grabbed a bed pain for me and called the nurse. I vomited for about 5 mins, and within minutes the dr arrived to check me. I was 10cm and ready to push. I told the dr that I worried I couldn't push because of how numb I was after the extra bolus of epidural. The dr said she would turn down the epidural, but I told her I wanted her to turn it off completely. We turned off the epidural and waited about 5 mins and I started to feel each contraction again, so I told the dr I was ready to push. 10 minutes and 6 pushes later, our son was born.
As many of you know, we were anticipating a baby girl. We were told at our anatomy scan that our baby was a girl. Needless to say, it came as quite a shock when William George was born at 12:57am on June 4th. This birth story is about Will, so I am not going to focus on our shock. Will was (and is) beautiful at 9lbs 6oz and 21 1/4 inches long. They put him on my chest immediately, while I delivered the placenta. Unfortunately, I was not able to breast feed right away, because I was torn in two places and my bleeding was not under control. The doctor who delivered Will called in another doctor. The two of them worked on me for about 20 mins to get the bleeding under control. My uterus would not clamp down and needed to be massaged for the bleeding to stop. I told my wife to go stand with Will while they cleaned him up, but she kept going back and forth between me and the baby. After they stopped my bleeding, they stitched me up, and then they brought Will back over to me. We were able to do skin-to-skin then, and he did latch on the breast for a few minutes.
Things got a little crazy again a short while later when the nurse tried to help me up to get cleaned up, and I got dizzy and passed out. Turns out my BP kept dropping following my blood loss and for the next several days I experienced low BP and dizzy spells. Due to this, they would not allow me to get out of bed to use the bathroom so the recatheterized me (I had been catheterized with the epidural, but it was removed after I delivered). Well, unfortunately, I developed a UTI from the catheter. That infection on top of two 2nd degree tears made the first several days post delivery very painful and difficult. Will also ended up in the NICU 12 hours after delivery due to his low sugars.
Today, Will is 12 days old and he is thriving, and I am healing. The whole experience was not at all what we planned for, but we would do it all over again many times over for our little guy -- he is amazing!
Me - 30, My wife - 31 , Together for 10 yrs - Married August 2012
5 medicated IUIs w/ RE (March - July 2013) = BFN
Fresh IVF Cycle in September 2013 resulted in 18 mature eggs, 16 fertilized, 12 made it to day 5. Transfer of 2 Grade A blastocysts on 9/15/13, and 10 embryos in the freezer! *****BFP on 9/25/13 - betas: @10dp5dt = 232; @12dp5dt = 465; @15dp5dt = 1,581 *********William George born June 4, 2014*********This discussion has been closed.
Re: William's Birth Story
Your baby is lovely, absolutely beautiful, and I am so happy that everyone is safe and sound now.
queer couple - 32 (me) & 33 (my love) years old - donor sperm,
Our IF/TTC journey since Nov 2012.
Me: dx of DOR in Nov. 2012. Low AMH, AFC - 6, Normal FSH, SS-A (RO) Antibodies (Autoimmune issues), tubes clear, Sono (November 2013) NORMAL! <p>
7 IUI's - December 2012-September 2013. Medicated, Injected, Triggered.... all BFN.
My Love: (the amazing @Healz413)
Normal AMH & FSH, AFC ~27, blocked tube dx'd via HSG in 2012. Hydrosalpinx & ovarian cyst dx'd in May 2013.
dx of Stage IV Endo & bilateral salpinectomy in June 2013.
Partner IVF#1a- December 2013 - H's eggs, my Ute - CANCELLED due to low response
Partner IVF #1b - February 2014 - H's eggs, my Ute - ER February 4 (10 retrieved, 3 fertilized), Transfer Feb 7 of one Grade 1 and one Grade 2 day 3 embryos. 1 - Day 3, Grade 1 frosty saved. BFP - 6dp3dt via FRER, Beta #1 - 110, Beta #2 175, Beta #3 - 348, Beta #4 - 2222!, Beta #5 - 4255. Ultrasound (6w1d) - 2 heartbearts!
We lost our beautiful Twin baby girls on June 18, 2014. Tavin Sara and Casey Elizabeth were born at 21 weeks gestation and were absolutely beautiful, precious, amazing babies. We miss our daughters every day and love them with all our hearts.
We're queer. I'm 33, have severe stage 4 endo, and had both fallopian tubes removed. My love ("Manada" on the boards, 32) was diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve. We did Partner IVF (my eggs, her uterus). We lost our twins Tavin and Casey at 21 weeks gestation.
Our IUIs
with @Manada: IUI# 1-7 (December 2012- September 2013) all BFN. Tried natural, femara, clomid, puregon/follistim, clomid and menopur combo, both the ovidrel and HCG triggers.
Our IVFs:
IVF #1 my eggs November/December 2013: Cancelled IVF due to poor response
IVF #2 my eggs/Manada's uterus January/February 2014
BCPs and lupron overlap Stimmed: 1/22-2/2: Bravelle and Menopur (dosage ranged from B300 and M150 to B375 and M150 to B300 and M225)
2/4 retrieved 10 eggs. Endo was much worse than expected. Only 3 eggs fertilized; February 7 transferred two day 3 embryos, froze one. All great condition.
BFP eve of 6dp3dt; Beta 1 (11dp3dt): 110; Beta 2 (13dp3dt): 175; Beta 3 (15dp3dt): 348; Beta 4 (19dp3dt): 2222; Beta 5 (21dp3dt): 4255
1st ultrasound (3/6 6w 1d): TWINS!!!! Twin A measuring 6w1d with a heartbeat of 118bpm. Twin B measuring 6w0d with a heartbeat of 113bpm.
***July 18, 2014 we lost our beautiful babies at 21 weeks gestation. They were born too early. Tavin Sara T. and Casey Elizabeth T. are beautiful and precious and we will love them and miss them forever.***
FET #1 December 2014
Also - if you ever felt like sharing I am interested to hear how it was for you and your wife finding out your Lucie was a Will instead. I realize this is a personal subject so if I'm overstepping I apologize :-)
Me: 30 DW (aka C): 29
Together since 2/15/11 ~ Legally married in NY on 9/29/12
***CP mentioned***
We've been working on baby #1 since July 2013 using Open ID donor sperm. 8 IUI attempts with 5 actual IUIs and one chemical pregnancy. We have one fresh IVF cycle under our belts as well as a FET. I have endometriosis and a uterine septum that was corrected via surgery in November 2013.
11/14/14 - Second HSG shows that tubes are still clear and ute is looking good.
12/6/14 - Started BCPs in prep for IVF #2
12/22/14 - Saline u/s and endometrial scratch (All was clear and OUCH!)
1/2/15 - Began stimming for IVF #2
****All Welcome!****
We are Mommas to four fur babies - 3 dogs and 1 cat.
Me - 30, My wife - 31 , Together for 10 yrs - Married August 2012
5 medicated IUIs w/ RE (March - July 2013) = BFN
Fresh IVF Cycle in September 2013 resulted in 18 mature eggs, 16 fertilized, 12 made it to day 5. Transfer of 2 Grade A blastocysts on 9/15/13, and 10 embryos in the freezer! *****BFP on 9/25/13 - betas: @10dp5dt = 232; @12dp5dt = 465; @15dp5dt = 1,581 *********William George born June 4, 2014*********