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Pregnant after 35
mthoomom
member
Antonin's birth story and photos
mthoomom
member
Hello everyone! I figured that since my baby is two weeks old, it was about time to share his birth story!
At my 38 week visit I had borderline high blood pressure reading. It was not the first time my bp had been high, so the midwife told me to go home and grab my things and then head to L&D. I hadn't packed a bag yet, so we went home and threw some stuff together and then went to the hospital. A few days before, I was pretty sure that I had felt the baby make a major position change, so when we were in triage I asked the midwife who was on-call to verify that my baby was still head down as had been done the previous week. To everyone's surprise but mine, the little guy's head was now in my left rib. So now I had a choice-- either have an external version done so I could birth him vaginally, or have a c-section that afternoon. I chose to have the version done because it seemed easier than having surgery. The version was extremely uncomfortable. The midwife stood on one side and the doctor on the other and they dug their fingers into my abdomen and pushed as hard as they could to turn my baby. I should have had my husband take a video because I wish I had visual proof that I had gone through such a crazy procedure! Luckily, they were able to turn him without too much trouble. They strapped a giant velcro corset on me to keep him from moving, and then gave me a dose of cytotec to help start contractions and soften my cervix since I was one centimeter dilated and 20% effaced. Over the next 48 hours they tried multiple different things to get labor going. Three more doses of cytotec, low dose pitocin, regular pitocin, and a foley bulb, which finally got me to 4 centimeters. It was now Wednesday afternoon, and my induction had begun on Monday. At this point I was completely exhausted. The midwife suggested I get into the tub, where I proceeded to have a breakdown. I cried for about 20 minutes, mostly out of frustration, which completely stopped my contractions. I was feeling extremely defeated, and asked for an epidural. I had planned on having another unmedicated birth like my first two, but at this point I could not have cared less about natural childbirth. About 5 contractions after the epidural was placed, I stared feeling a lot of pressure. They checked me and announced that I was at 10 centimeters. I could not believe how quickly I had gone to being completely dilated after receiving it! They told me that I could start pushing, and the nurse brought out one of the big mirrors so I could watch my progress. I am so glad that I asked for the mirror, because watching my son be born was the most amazing thing I have ever seen! I pushed for about 40 minutes (the epidural was a bit too effective) and then they told me to reach down and grab my baby. I pulled him onto my chest and he cried for a minute or two, then stopped and quietly looked around. I sat up an nursed him, and they allowed me to do skin-to-skin with him for the first hour after birth. I didn't have any tears, which felt like a huge win after what I had gone through, and my baby was perfectly healthy despite my blood pressure and the early induction. He weighed 7lbs 5oz, and was 20 inches long. Today is my due date, and we are pretty sure he would have been almost 9 lbs if I had gone full term.
I'm going to miss being a part of this group, but will definitely lurk to keep up on everyone's progress! I wish all of you happy healthy pregnancies and beautiful babies
At my 38 week visit I had borderline high blood pressure reading. It was not the first time my bp had been high, so the midwife told me to go home and grab my things and then head to L&D. I hadn't packed a bag yet, so we went home and threw some stuff together and then went to the hospital. A few days before, I was pretty sure that I had felt the baby make a major position change, so when we were in triage I asked the midwife who was on-call to verify that my baby was still head down as had been done the previous week. To everyone's surprise but mine, the little guy's head was now in my left rib. So now I had a choice-- either have an external version done so I could birth him vaginally, or have a c-section that afternoon. I chose to have the version done because it seemed easier than having surgery. The version was extremely uncomfortable. The midwife stood on one side and the doctor on the other and they dug their fingers into my abdomen and pushed as hard as they could to turn my baby. I should have had my husband take a video because I wish I had visual proof that I had gone through such a crazy procedure! Luckily, they were able to turn him without too much trouble. They strapped a giant velcro corset on me to keep him from moving, and then gave me a dose of cytotec to help start contractions and soften my cervix since I was one centimeter dilated and 20% effaced. Over the next 48 hours they tried multiple different things to get labor going. Three more doses of cytotec, low dose pitocin, regular pitocin, and a foley bulb, which finally got me to 4 centimeters. It was now Wednesday afternoon, and my induction had begun on Monday. At this point I was completely exhausted. The midwife suggested I get into the tub, where I proceeded to have a breakdown. I cried for about 20 minutes, mostly out of frustration, which completely stopped my contractions. I was feeling extremely defeated, and asked for an epidural. I had planned on having another unmedicated birth like my first two, but at this point I could not have cared less about natural childbirth. About 5 contractions after the epidural was placed, I stared feeling a lot of pressure. They checked me and announced that I was at 10 centimeters. I could not believe how quickly I had gone to being completely dilated after receiving it! They told me that I could start pushing, and the nurse brought out one of the big mirrors so I could watch my progress. I am so glad that I asked for the mirror, because watching my son be born was the most amazing thing I have ever seen! I pushed for about 40 minutes (the epidural was a bit too effective) and then they told me to reach down and grab my baby. I pulled him onto my chest and he cried for a minute or two, then stopped and quietly looked around. I sat up an nursed him, and they allowed me to do skin-to-skin with him for the first hour after birth. I didn't have any tears, which felt like a huge win after what I had gone through, and my baby was perfectly healthy despite my blood pressure and the early induction. He weighed 7lbs 5oz, and was 20 inches long. Today is my due date, and we are pretty sure he would have been almost 9 lbs if I had gone full term.
I'm going to miss being a part of this group, but will definitely lurk to keep up on everyone's progress! I wish all of you happy healthy pregnancies and beautiful babies
Re: Antonin's birth story and photos
I always cry when I read birth stories
Married 5/30/15
TTC #1 June 2015
BFP #1 9/28/15, EDD 6/10/16. DS born 5/23/16!
TTC #2 May 2017
BFP #2 m/c 11/18/17 5w5d
BFP #3 12/17/17 EDD 8/25/18. It's a boy!
BFP 2/19/15 • MMC found at 9 wks • D&E at 11 wks (age 36)
BFP 8/29/15 • CP (age 37)
TTC#2 since May 2017
BFP 10/18/17 • MMC found at 8 wks • Misoprostal at 10.5 wks (age 39)
BFP 2/16/18 • CP (age 39)
BFP 4/13/18 • CP (age 39)
BFP 5/07/18 • MMC found at 10.5 wks • D&E at 11.5 wks • Testing showed it was a girl with Trisomy 22. (age 39/40)
9/5/18 Diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve (4-5 follicles, one ovary had none and was very atrophied)
RE says the low egg count is likely causing my recurrent pregnancy loss. Less eggs results in more aneuploidy.
BFP 9/24/18 • CP (age 40)
BFP 3.8.16 EDD 11.20.16