DreadGamerBaby arrival!

DreadGamerWife · October 2014

Summary: Corinne Helena arrived at 5:54 am on 10/07/14. Total time from water breaking to birth was slightly under 13 hours. She was 20 inches long and weighted 7 pounds, 3 ounces.

Long version: My water broke while I was at home, at 5:15 pm (two days prior to due date and one day prior to induction date). I had to call DH as he was working late and he got home around 6:15. The on call OB advised that we get to the hospital no later than 10 pm. At 7 pm, my contractions were about 3 minutes apart and lasting approximately 1 minute. We finished up the hospital bag, packed some sandwiches for DH, and left for the hospital. It took us about half an hour to get to the hospital.

At the hospital, we quickly checked in and were escorted to our labor/delivery suite. Our plan was to do a pain med free delivery, but that quickly changed to medical issues. The OB checked and I was already 5 cm dilated and 100% effaced. However, Corinne was at -2 station. During the first hour, they became concerned about my blood pressure and began to theorize that I had developed pre-e during the week between my last OB appointment and when my water broke. The pre-e diagnosis was confirmed around 9 pm. As such, they needed to do continuous monitoring (as opposed to 15 minutes out of every hour as I would have been allowed otherwise).

Around 9:30 pm, I was allowed to walk around the room as I was more comfortable standing than laying down. However, after a few contractions, DH noticed some blood pooling around my feet and I was immediately moved back on the bed and the OB was called. She quickly checked me and could not tell where the blood was coming from. It could be the cervix or it could be the placenta. She discussed our options and recommended that we consent to an epidural in case the blood was from the placenta (which would trigger a c-section). She also wanted permission to place an internal fetal monitor as our daughter kept moving off the external monitor and due to the possible placenta issue, it was critical that she was constantly monitored. After a brief discussion, we consented to both items in the interest of my and our daughter's health.

The epidural was quickly placed (with only half a bag of fluids in me). The pain went away and it also helped bring down my BP significantly. At this pointed, I was 7 cm dilated but no change in station. We were left mostly alone for the next two hours. I mainly listened to my ipod while DH slept.

At midnight, my nurse checked me and I was fully dilated but they wanted to have me labor down. After three hours of laboring down, I had made enough progress to start pushing. I pushed for 3 hours and at 5:54 am, Corinne Helena was born. She was 20 inches long and weighed 7 pounds and 3 ounces. We were able to have skin to skin immediately after birth and we started to breast feeding about half an hour after she was born. Her blood sugars were good at birth and went up after 2 hours.

I had one 2nd degree tear and a few minor ones that were quickly stitched up. Due to the pre-e, I had to be on Magnesium drip for 24 hours post birth. As such, I was confined to the bed and not allowed to have anything to eat/drink besides clear liquids.

We have a had a few feeding issues - she is a lazy feeder and frequently falls asleep while feeding, so my supply is a little low. As such, we need to supplement with formula for a few days while I pump after each feeding.