Viviana's very late birth story(PIPs)

MollySm · August 2014

Feel free to skip this, since I know I'm so far behind and you all have read so many. But I never wrote it up, and I've been feeling guilty (since I did write up my first daughter's), so H has the baby and I'm sitting down to write and to try and remember the details.

My due date was June 20th, which came and went. My first daughter was 5 days over due, so I wasn't shocked but hoped to have Viviana a little sooner. Both before and after my due date I would have full days of painful contractions, coming every 2 min or so, and they never led anywhere. I was checked on my due date, and was 2cm dilated (up from 1 the week before). On June 25th I was feeling very frustrated, so we did a ton of walking that evening. The next morning, in an attempt to keep trying, we had sex and H pushed on the pressure points in my hand. At 9am I took a shower, and contractions started. They weren't super painful, but they were every 2 or so minutes. I had been in that position so many times at that point, I didn't really believe it was ever going to start.

We went to Gramma's house for the day, so that my 2 year old could play with her cousin. The contractions continued all morning, sometimes more painful and sometimes less. They were always about 1.5-2.5 minutes apart. After lunch they started getting less painful, which frustrated me. As soon as we put my daughter down for her nap, I decided to go take a walk, so that I'd at least feel like I was getting somewhere. The contractions continued, so when I got back I told my husband that we weren't ready yet, but that I thought we should get our hospital bag and the carseat. We drove home, and as we were driving the contractions slowed back down. I was so frustrated! But we were there, so we grabbed our stuff anyway.

When we got back to Gramma's house, I was standing in the kitchen, talked to my SIL, when all of a sudden I felt like I peed myself. I told her that either my water broke, or I legitimately peed myself. The gush wasn't big enough to get on the floor, and we had gone a week before to be checked for a similar gush, so I still was so uncertain. Everyone talked about it, and laughed at the fact that I wasn't sure. I had a few more small gushes, so at the point we decided to go in, just because we were so sick of waiting and wondering. I figured if it wasn't my water, I could at least convince them to sweep my membranes.

Our daughter was still asleep, so we didn't even say goodbye, but she was so excited to be at Gramma's we figured she wouldn't care. My labor with her was 30 hours, so I made H stop for burgers and fries with me on the way, because I was so worried about being hungry. The contractions had slowed to every 5 min, so I felt stupid for even going in. When we got into the hospital, I was still feeling small gushes, so I started to be more optimistic that I was actually going to have a baby. The resident checked me and could tell even before she did anything that my water had broken. And I had made it to 4 cm! (With my first, I labored much more painfully for hours and hours, to get in and find that I was only 1 cm).

They admitted me, and we started waiting and getting through the contractions. My family doctor was called, and she came to the hospital to be on hand in case things started moving quickly. They checked me around 1:30 am and I had progressed to 5 cm. I got an epidural when things became too painful around 3 am. With my older daughter the epidural made one side of my body completely numb, and the other side felt everything, it was really terrible. This time it was much more even, which was an enormous relief. I was checked after getting it, and was 6cm, 75% and -1 station. I slept a little and at 6am I was 8-9 cm, 100% and -1. AT 7:30 I was complete and +1. My doctor said we'd push in about 30 min.

With my first daughter, labor stalled after 8 or so hours, I needed pitosin, the total labor was 30 hours (with me awake over 2 full nights), with 3 hours of pushing and a vacuum at the end. The epidural didn't work, I was scared of being forced into a c-section because my water was broken for over 24 hours, my daughter didn't cry when she came out and had to be checked right away - the whole thing was really traumatic. This labor was already going so much more smoothly. I didn't get much sleep, but I loved having my family doctor by my side the whole time, things were moving along well, etc.

We got to the pushing and I was still worried because I didn't feel like I had to push. My doctor kept telling me it was fine. They brought in a bunch of people (it was a university hospital) and I started to push. I did the first push (3 counts of 10) but I wasn't really pushing that hard because I was so nervous about the 3 hours of pushing - I was trying to save some energy. My doctor said she thought the cord might be around Vivi's neck, so to push harder the 2nd time because we wanted to get her out quickly. With the second set I did the first push to 10, and then she started to come out! The nurse yelled to me to stop pushing and they shoved her back in a bit. They let her sit while the doctor unwrapped the cord and I stretched out a bit to prevent tearing(no tearing this time, whohoo!), and then she pretty much just slid right out. They handed her right to me and I got to cuddle and love her.

So Viviana Mae was born at 8:02 am on June 27th, one week past her due date. She was 7lbs 4oz. They claimed she was 22 inches, but I could tell that wasn't right, and it was confirmed at her 3 day appointment when she was only about 19.5 oz. She is just over 1 month now, and she's an amazing baby. I'm so in love with her!

And here are some pictures if you made it this far! Viviana a few hours old, meeting her big sister for the first time, and a more recent picture.