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Ivy's birth story (biokitty42)

biokitty42biokitty42 member
edited September 2014 in September 2014 Moms
I finally have a chance to get this typed out, so here goes.  tl:dr  Ivy was born Saturday at 9:06 a.m., 8 pounds, 2.6 ounces, 20.5 inches, after two good pushes.

I noticed on Thursday morning that I was having Braxton Hicks contractions that were semi-regular.  They were completely painless but were happening every 5-25 minutes.  My first labor started with regular, painless contractions, so I let my husband know things might be happening.  They continued all morning and afternoon, which was much longer than with my first.

I was starting to think it might be nothing after all when I realized the contractions were starting to hurt just a little bit.  At that point I called my parents, who live three hours away, but told them to wait because I still wasn't sure.  The pain increased over dinnertime, but was still very mild.  My parents and sister were pretty sure they would just drive up in the morning.  I started losing bits of bloody mucus, and contractions continued to pick up.  After much discussion, everyone decided to drive up that night, even though they'd be getting in after midnight.

Well, I'm very grateful they did.  My parents had only been here thirty minutes when I decided it was time to go to the hospital.  My contractions were getting very painful.  DH and I drove to the hospital and my parents stayed to take care of DD (who still gets up at night).  We got to the hospital and I was at 3 cm, so they had me walk around the hospital for an hour to see if I would get to a 4 so they could admit me.  I spent most of that walk looking for bathrooms because I started having some tummy upset.  I was so nervous they were going to send us home, but I was at 4 cm after walking.

They admitted me and the nurse blew my IV the first time (same thing happened with my last labor; she hit a valve and I had weird nerve pain for months afterwards).  I eventually had to get it put in on the underside of my forearm, which was kind of an awkward spot.  I labored for awhile and barely progressed even though contractions were getting bad.  I got an epi, which also went like last time.  He couldn't get it in at first and had to try again, which wasn't much fun.

The epi took away most of my pain, but I could still feel some on my right side.  My doctor broke my water and noted that it was stained with meconium, so some NICU staff would attend delivery just to make sure there were no complications.  My epi was working better than the one with my first labor, but eventually it stopped working and I was feeling very strong contractions.  Everyone was clustered around saying I shouldn't be feeling them like that and they wanted to give me more medication, but my blood pressure was too low.

A nurse gave me a catheter to empty my bladder, and then checked my cervix.  I was at 6 cm.  This was after laboring for about six hours at the hospital.  I had progressed faster with DD1 and was kind of discouraged, especially since I was in so much pain and had so far to dilate.  A doctor checked me immediately after the nurse did to verify I was at 6 cm.  I was.

About a minute later, baby's heart rate went a little crazy.  I was in too much pain to notice, but my sister said it shot up to 200 at one point.  I had several nurses and doctors around at that point.  About two minutes after that, I had a screaming contraction and felt that unmistakable feeling of intense painful pressure that meant baby was on her way.  I wasn't even pushing, but her head was coming out.  I had dilated from 6 cm to 10 cm in about three minutes.

I'm not too proud to say that I lost my mind.  That feeling is like nothing in the world, and I was in agony.  My sister said I was like some kind of terrified animal (thanks, sis!).  Things went fast from there.  They got my feet up, and I did one wimpy push because I was kind of freaking out.  DH and my sister motivated me and I pushed hard.  Out came her head.  The cord was around her neck.  I was screaming asking if she was okay.  They said yes, and I gave one more HUGE push and she was out.

I didn't get her on my chest right away, and DH didn't get to cut the cord, because the NICU staff was looking her over.  She started crying loudly really fast, and the meconium didn't cause any complications.  She looks so much like DD1 as a baby, it's unbelievable.  I felt bonded to her so much more quickly than with DD1, which is nice.  She sleeps like an angel all day and nurses every 45 minutes for most of the night, of course.  I'm pretty tired.  The biggest challenge is adapting to having two, especially because DD1 co-sleeps through part of the night.  We haven't figured out our new normal yet, and it's tough having both kids in the same room as us.  We'll figure it out!

ETA:  She came so fast at the end that my mom didn't make it in time and missed the birth.  I feel bad for her, but I'm so glad my sister was there for me.  Also, with DD1 I had a ton of little one or two stitch tears.  I was so sore and miserable.  With Ivy, one tiny tear, one stitch, and I feel so good already!

For comparison, DD1 is first, then DD2.

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