Lucia’s Birth story

*vomiting trigger warning

**this is a novel, long labor = long story

I had a membrane sweep done Tuesday, and was 2.5 cm already. Regular contractions began Tuesday 11/18 at midnight but went away after a few hours.

Wednesday 11/19 they came back with a vengeance around 2am and by 6am they were hard to manage and pretty regular, so DH called our doula Shannon and she (and a shadow doula Laura) arrived at our house at 7a.  I thought for sure, this is the day I will meet Butternut! I was pretty nauseous and with each big contraction, I would throw up whatever I had consumed. Each of these was a relief, but by evening time I was in pretty bad shape and the contractions were irregular. Our plan was to labor at home as long as possible to increase the chances of an intervention-free, med-free birth and because the contractions had tapered off, we held off going to the hospital. Eventually, Shannon suggested that because I must be dehydrated from all the vomiting we should at least go to the hospital for IV fluids because the lack of fluids is possibly what is making my ute less effective. The labor would not progress at this rate. 

So off we go to the hospital at 11pm, expecting we might get sent home. I’m feeling weak and very disheartened. At L&D we get put in a tiny triage room. The nurse has a hard time inserting my IV because I’m so dehydrated. The midwife on that night was Laurel, who I’d seen in my prenatal visits (and who had done the sweep). She checked me and I was 4! They offered me nausea medication, and the option of “something to help me sleep” -- morphine. I’d sleep and probably wake up in active labor. Never in a million years would I have thought I would agree to morphine, but everyone felt confident that I would not be delivering in the next few hours (which is when it is dangerous for baby) and I was so very tired and wiped out that I agreed. We decided to go back home after the shot and rest.

Everyone went to bed. In my mind I expected to wake up and go back to the hospital and have a baby! Again, not what happened! I woke up after 4 hours of sleep feeling almost human again. Both doulas stayed the night. I had contractions throughout the day, and Shannon helped me manage them, but they never got back to 3-1-1. Eventually around 10pm, we headed back to the hospital. My contractions were very strong. In the car, my water broke...a leak not a splash.

The midwife working that night, Emily, was not one I had met before (I feel like this is was a key thing for me). Laurel (from the previous night) had said that when I came back, we could go straight to the birthing room. Emily wouldn’t let me. She also didn’t want to check me because of the infection risk. She offered to let me go home, or stay in the triage room. Shannon tried to explain that I’d been having regular contractions. But Emily based her decision on the way I looked during contractions and the timing. I was heartbroken. Eventually we pushed for a cervix check and she did one. She said “you’re either going to love me or hate me, but you are 10cm”. I have no idea how long I’d been complete.  (I guess I didn't look like the typical laboring woman who is 10cm. Next time I'll exaggerate my contractions:)

After that it gets fuzzy. They convinced me to get pitocin to make the contractions more effective. I pushed in a bunch of different positions, but 5 hours later (Friday morning, now) still no baby. They were having a hard time monitoring her, because she was so low. The nurses were concerned that if she didn’t come soon they’d have to do a c-section. At this point, I am a little beside myself. An OB comes in and suggests a vacuum assist. She explains the risks and I’m scared. She says it will take them a while to get set up so I can try to keep pushing until then. Everyone is focused on me, coaching me on pushing laying down (I thought that was supposed to be the worst position, but obviously not). Somehow, I manage to push baby Lucia out in that 10 minutes. DH caught her and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Except that she wasn’t breathing. She had inhaled a TON of meconium. A pediatrician was there and DH went with her and they intubated her and she cried but when they brought her over she was still pale and they rushed her (with DH) off to the NICU.

The nurses reported to me that DH was already a wonderful father, calmly talking to Lucia while the doctors worked on her. He sang her Happy Birthday, said “welcome to San Francisco” and told her about our dog. Of course, the placenta took longer than usual to come out. I only had a 2^nd degree tear and my septum tore. When all was done, I was left alone in the room for a little while. That was the scariest moment.

On the positive side, Lucia made a crazy fast recovery. Even by the time I got to see her, a couple hours later, she was already doing so much better. They kept her in the NICU for a few days, worried about an infection, but the test came back two days later as a negative we got to go home with a healthy, sweet baby girl. She is a fighter (see photo!) and I am so proud of her already. She was 6 lbs, 12 oz and 19 inches.

Edit because I posted too soon!