Oliver Robert was born at 12:51am, August 10 - 7.55 pounds, 19.5 inches.
Birth story: (sorry it's so long)
I started having strong timetable contractions last Monday, around 5am. When they hit 5minutes apart we called the doctor, who had us come in. Labor and delivery had me stay for 14hours, and despite the traceable, regular contractions very little change wasmade. I was diagnosed with "prodromal" labor, and sent home.
Thursday we had that oh so dramatic appointment -and for a variety of medical reasons, the mfm specialist said we needed to be induced no later than Sunday. My doctor called the hospital, and Sunday was the only open slot.
I called on Sunday and was told they would not have time at all that day. We reminded thwm we were a medical induction for cause, not an elective... or evn over due, or macrosomnia. The mfm specialist had been pretty clear with the bile salts rising, every day past 38/6 was putting him in danger for no reason. I was hysterical, so my midwife offered to Let us come in and monitor the baby overnight, until we could induce first thing in the morning. My normally mild mannered husband was furious. He called the hospital administrator and not quite so gently reminded him of the potential danger of waiting -yes even one day. Suddenly we were back on to begin induction Sunday evening.
We got to l&d and got settled in. The dose of cervidal went in, and immediately the contractions I was having picked back up into a strong regular pattern. My doctor gave me a sedative, and I was monitored for the night. The next morning I had made some small progress, so the doctor gave me another cervical ripener. my contractions picked up to the point they were unable to do anymore after the first. The contractions calmed enough could have another overnight cycle, which we did. The next morning, my progress was still... glacial. The doctor saw my growing frustration and suggested a break. That was about 8am on Tuesday, with the plan being to discuss after lunchthe options from that point... which seemed to be more of the same, or higher risk interventions. My husband called into his work to see if he could pick up the shift he would be missing, since the doctor was pretty sure it would be another night of sleeping on the pull out chair, watching me sleep off the sedative. I was in the middle of calling my mom to whine when I felt a sharp sudden pain in the front of my wantedstomach and a slight trickle down my leg. I said "oh... I think my water broke..." and my mom said "you think or you know?" Just then a huge gush pourrd out. I squeaked, and dh says "oh yeah... it broke!" and ran out of the room. I had to be rescued from the middle of a very large slippery puddle
Very quickly things got very interesting. By noon I was feeling very dizzy, so they strapd me into the monitor. Having to sit still like that was terrible. I'd been coping fine until then with a ball, music etc. After I was in agony. I asked if we could get in the shower... It helped a lot. I was able to stand, while dh did massage. My best friend, who is a doula in training talked me through the contractions - which were 30 seconds apart, and coming on hard and strong.
The midwife finished delivering someone else, so she came in at this point. It was still only about 1 or 2 pm, so only a couple hours since this all really kicked off. I requested the tub, and the midwife warned me the tub was only allowed after a certain point. She wanted to check me, and with the lure of the tub, I agreed. She looked surprised, and asked if I wanted to know. I said no, all I wanted to know was tub or no tub. She said tub, so whoo hoo! I hobbled my way to the other room, as quickly as I could and three quarters nude... The me laughed at how motivated I was to get there.
The tub was heaven. It still hurt, but it made it so I could rest in spurts in between. I was feeling much more in control. The nurses were telling me how well I was doing, especially for a First time mom. I hung out in the tub for an hour, honestly feeling pretty Zen. Almost randomly I turned to my support team, completely in control and said "I want an epidural."
I think I surprised myself even. While not against the idea going in, I had hoped to avoid one if I could. And I was, at the moment, proving to everyone I could. The midwife wanted to give me a bag of fluids first, and my iv had apparently blown. I have terrible veins, so they called in a specialist. The specialist said " I've never put an iv in someone IN the tub before!"...you know I just became someone's "crazy but true" work story. Another hour in the tub, then the me helped me hobble back to my room.
The me wanted to check me before the epidural, to make sure I was still progressing. Her eyes got big, and she looked up at me and said "do you want to know?" I said yes... 10 cm. She asked if I still wanted the epidural, since this would be over so soon. I said I did...something told me to say yes.
After that was done, the midwife suggested i rest, while my body labored down. We put on Zen music, the hospitals nature scences. I was staring out the window, and there was a beautiful rainbow in the clouds over the mountains. Dh took a moment to go update my parents in the waiting room. The midwife said an hour to two hours and we would start pushing.
***tw***
All day I had been asking for my anticonvulsant, and the nurses had said no. By 9 pm when I started pushing I was two doses behind. Not good. I also started feeling a sense of no, this isn't right as soon as I started pushing. The first twenty minutes I made great progress, and the midwife even went so far as to say we would have an anniversary baby (tuesday was out first anniversary)
Then things started to go wrong. I stopped feeling the baby moving down, it felt like he hit a wall. The midwife and nurse started exchanging concerned looks with the nurse. Then my nerve started to seize. I couldn't lift or turn my head, and I was screaming in pain between contractions - not during. The midwife asked me what was happening, and dh explained my condition and how I had been denied my preventative all day. I had my best friend holding ice against the nerve in an attempt to numb it.
At this point the midwife is looking down right worried. She's stopped the soothing mantra of "this is normal, don't worry," and has started asking "what can we do to help you?"
An hour and a half into pushing, I finally got my missed medication. Yes, in the middle of pushing. About the same time I see my doula in training friend pull aside dh, and say something that makes him go white. I found out later she told him to prepare mentally for a c section ' she saw it coming and I would need him to be strong. She thought a little warning would let him deal with it mentally, and support me better when I was told where this was headed.
After about two and a half hours of pushing the midwife gently tried to bring me around to the idea. Little guy was fine - but she could feel he was positioned wrong somehow, and she"d done everything to try and get him at a better angle to no avail. She also said she had never seen anyone in as much pain as I was... And at some point, we needed to accept that either one of those factors would indicate a c section, and together we didn't have a choice at this point. I cried, a lot. They let my mom in at that point and both she and dh convinced me not only was this the right choice... It was the only one.
Mean while preperations had been going on. I honestly don't remember a whole lot here. The doctors strapped my arms down, put up the drape and finally let 4th in. He said they had already started cutting before he was even brought in, so he walked into active surgery. I passed out a few times during the surgery.
Oliver Robert was born by c section at 12:51 am. They did not bring him over to me when he was born, and he was brought to the baby station on the side I couldn't turn to. Dh didn't want to leave me to go to Oliver, but he did. He told me today he could see past the drape, and it was horrifying. He started crying today finally admitting how it made him feel.
After the surgery they placed him on my chest for skin to skin. I still couldn't see him. Apparently I was bleeding just this side of dangerous, but some sort medication got it under control. I woke up again to the gown I had been wearing being cut away completely saturated. Dh looked like he was panicked.
I was brought to a new room (normally you stay in one room the whole time, but they have c section recovery rooms with different accomodations) and my family was waiting. I passed out for the night.
Later that morning I woke up to a new day, and got to see his face for the first time, hear all his stats, and bond. He's doing amazing at breast feeding, his apgar was 9.9.
At the end of it all I'm mostly okay, he is perfect and... It's over. Still coming to terms a little with how the med free labor I wanted happened perfectly despite the induction ... And ended up in a terrifying emergency c section.
Several nurses came by the next morning to offer sympathy, congratulate me on a med free labor (if not delivery) and reaffirm I didn't "make the right choice" - there wasn't one. And thank God I did randomly decide on the epidural... Saved us both from General.
I'm still getting dizzy spells and keep randomly drifting off uncontrollably. It'll be a few weeks before I am allowed to drive, so my mom is coming to stay with us.
I'm so grateful I got to experience labor the way I wanted since I never will again (we'll scedule a repeat) and I am so glad the call was made when it was. Ds had a bruise on his head and armclearly proving he had his shoulder jammed in. If I had managed to force him out, we both could have been seriously hurt.
My dad said he was trying to enter like a football player. My son is ready to "tackle" the world.
Juliana Troy entered the world fast and Furious weighing 7 lbs 14 oz -- last Night 8/11, a Thursday, in the evening (9:10 pm) and same birth center room -- all the same as big brother, my second all natural birth. I had a week of false starts starting the week before and yesterday afternoon was unsure of whether it was another false start. At 5:00 pm... Contractions became stronger and more regular so we headed to my friends house who was our doula and photographer. Arrived at birth center dilated to a loose 4, in an hour and a half I went from a 4 to a 10 and feeling pushy. My bag of waters was bulging so at my final check they burst and then I intensely needed to push. After pushing for all of SIX minutes against the midwife stretching me (always exquisitely painful) our JuJu entered the world announcing her arrival! Interestingly enough she had the cord looped around her neck once and shoulder twice! as she came out she was gently unwound. Best of all minor tear/skid requiring No stitches!! Baby scored apgar of 9 upon arrival. Absolutely in love! Loved my experienced midwives and how thorough they were/are.
Miss Lily was born on Tuesday August 9th at 5:02 am 13 days early!
Sunday night we were in the ER getting DH stitches and only had a couple hours of sleep, then we both worked all day Monday and went to a going away party and didn't get home until around 10. At 11:30 Monday night my water broke with no previous contractions so we booked it to the hospital an hour away. We were in triage by 1:30 and I was 5 cm but having non painful contractions. Two hours later I was 8 cm and I was asking for the epidural. I was rushed to a delivery room and ended up declining the epidural. The next hour was the most painful as I was fighting the urge to push with every contraction. At 4:30 the doctor checked me again and I was ready to push. The relief I felt pushing was amazing and it didn't hurt at all. Thirty minutes later I was holding my little girl in my arms! The doctor stitched me up and she fed for 20 minutes each breast that first hour then DH did skin to skin. Recovering has been harder then I thought it would be but we are finally figuring out a routine and have caught up on our sleep. She's been nursing like a champ from the start.
Samuel Robert was born via scheduled c-section on Thursday, August, and weighed in at a gargantuan 10 lbs 4 oz, 21.5" at 39 weeks, 1 day.
He was head down, but had made no progress and hadn't dropped, and my OB said there was no way he would have on my 5'5" pre-pregnancy size 6 frame! I have a Chiari malformation (my brain is too big for my skull), so we scheduled the c-section to have planned, controlled anesthesia. All went pretty well, although my blood pressure dropped and it took me a few hours in recovery to get the pain, dizziness, nausea, etc under control. The c-section pain was pretty rough for a few days, the gas pain terrible, and I am still a little anemic from losing a fairly high amount of blood during the c-section.
Samuel started vomiting green bile acid a few hours after birth and x-rays showed a slightly distended abdomen, so he spent four nights in NICU with multiple x-rays, an IV, and withholding feedings for about 24 hours. All turned out well, his x-rays cleared up, and he is eating like a champ now. They never really solved the bile acid mystery. Having a NICU baby is good motivation to get up moving after a c-section, but it adds a layer of difficulty, for sure. Props to the moms that have longer NICU stays for baby while dealing with their own recovery!
Dad and dachshunds are in love with baby, and Dad was a real trooper in the hospital spending every waking and non-waking moment with Mom and Baby. The Greta dachshund likes her new baby brother, but has gone about her daily life. The Hans dachshund, however, must know where Baby is at all times and gets up every time we do to tend to him.
Ella Catherine arrive at 431pm on August 15th. 38 weeks 4 days. 6lbs 11oz and 19 in. will update with birth story later once we are home and a little better settled.
Emmeline Grey born 8/16 at 1:43pm via RCS. 7 lbs, 5 oz, and 19.25" long. She's absolute perfection - looks exactly like DD only with lots of hair. Latch is awesome but she's an eating machine and I haven't been able to sleep! I'm. So. Tired. Surgery was great and I'm recovering well!
I plan to add more when my brain starts working again but she's finally here and I'm a ball of happiness.
Marley Kate was welcomed into this world 8.17.16 at 8:14 am. She weighed 6lbs 8oz and 19.5 in. I was scheduled for an induction at 8:30 am yesterday but got a call that they were full so I was pushed back to 3:00. I started my first dose of Cytotec around 5:00 pm and was only 1cm dilated and 50%. Took another dose at 9:00 pm and had barely made any progress besides the contractions I was having. Around 1:30 or 2 am I was given a dose of ambien to help me sleep along with the start of pitocin. Was told that I probably wouldn't deliver baby until sometime later in the day and my doc would be in around 8:00 am to break my water. Ambien did nothing because the contractions started to get strong with Pitocin. I had back labor for a while which really sucked! Then around 4am I was asked about my pain. The nurse suggested Demeral (I was trying to avoid the epidural and wasn't to that point yet) That took a bit of the edge off and I slept between contractions. It wasn't much sleep since they were so close together though. I started to get pretty uncomfortable and sweating and nausea and told my husband I'm going to get the epidural as soon as I can because I couldn't take it any longer and if I was not making progress and felt this crappy it was going to be a really long day. I got up to use the restroom at 6am and my water broke and had bloody show. Kept telling nurses I had a lot of pressure before I went to the restroom and they said oh yeah that's normal. I had an extreme urge to push. The new nurse on duty checked me and said I was 10cm! The last check I had was around 4am (quite a blur) and I was only a 2. So I progressed much quicker than I had thought. At this point the only thing I wanted to do was push and after waiting on my doc to hurry up and get there in the traffic (for 45 minutes!!!) I finally got to push. Pushed less than 5 mins and she was here and all the pain was gone. Baby girl is healthy and I'm recovering from a tear but otherwise feeling great! I'm so happy that I was able to avoid the epidural because I'm terrified of catheters (lol don't judge me). I remained active and worked out my entire pregnancy and I think that is what got me through most of the pain. Also, very thankful that I didn't have a long labor given that this was my first pregnancy and I was induced. (Big sis is adopted)
Big sister Annabelle is so proud and already protective of her little sister. ❤️❤️
Our son Derek was born August 6, 2016 at 11:59 pm. He weighed 7 lb 2oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. I went to the hospital at 2pm suspecting I was leaking fluid. My doctor ran some tests and couldn't determine if I was, in fact, leaking so said he would induce me that night. He had to step out and would do it when he returned. While waiting for his return my water fully broke at about 7pm. My labor progressed very quickly and I began pushing at about 10:30. We welcomed Derek at 11:49. We are so in love!
Baby Anderson Hayes was born on 8/17 at 7:54 pm after being induced. After worrying since Friday about what position he was in after being told he was breech at our 39 week appt. we arrived at our 40 week dr. appt. I had high BP and protein in my urine so she was sending us to the hospital to be checked out and probably be induced or get a c section. After a quick ultrasound we were relieved to find he was head down. She said if my BP and bloodwork checked out to not be pre-e they would send me home. I asked her if we could just induce since he liked to flip so much and we were at 40 weeks. She said she would recommend it to the on call dr. When we got to the hospital around 12:30 they were ready for us and got us hooked up. My BP went back to normal, but we were still on for being induced. I was already having painless contractions before they started pitocin at around 2. They let my contractions pick up and move him down since my dr. had seen a hand by his face and they wanted him to drop and move it before breaking my water. The contractions were no worse than the false labor I had had earlier in the week. I labored for about 2 hours and then they broke my water. My contractions almost instantly became very painful. I knew I wanted an epidural and the dr. warned me not to wait or I could miss my opportunity so a half an hour later I had it placed and labored for another 2 hours before I started to feel pain in my stomach and some slight pressure with each contraction. I was at an 8 and the dr. said she would be back in an hour. About an hour later the nurse checked me and I only had a slight lip left so she went to get the dr. Before I knew it it was time to push. Three contractions and 9 minutes later Andy was born. This labor was so much easier than with DD and went so much faster. I didn't tear this time and just had what the dr. compared to a rug burn. Andy was a little bruised from his quick arrival, but they pretty much cleared up over night. DD came to meet him this morning and got upset everytime someone took him off of her lap.
Sébastien Philip was born yesterday 8/17 at 38w3d. I started feeling contractions at 4am and labored throughout the day not wanting to go too early like we did with our dd (arrived at 2cm and had to walk the halls for a few hours before we got admitted). We went in around 2pm and my contractions really kicked up in the 20 min drive to the hospital because by the time they checked me in triage I was already at 7cm. I was shocked I was that far already and asked for the epidural asap.
They asked my gbs status, which I didn't know because they hadn't gotten my results back as of my Monday Dr appointment so that had to call around. Turns out I was gbs+ so they stated penicillin as they were administering my epidural. Didn't feel a bit of the epi going on, but the penicillin sure burns like a bitch. Lol.
By the time they checked me again once my epidural kicked in I was already at 10cm. My bag hasn't broken yet though, so we waited about an hour for it to break in its own in order to give more time for the antibiotics. By the time I went to push, he was already so low on his own that it only took 2 good pushes for about 5 min and he was out at 5:13 pm at 7lbs 0oz and 20" long.
He was perfectly healthy and we are able to do immediate skin to skin for about an hour. Because I want able to get the full dose of antibiotics, we have to stay an extra night.
Oliver Thomas was born August 11th at 12:22pm via scheduled c section. He weighed 6lbs 7oz and was 19.5 inches long. My c section experience was not the best. We were scheduled for surgery at 9am and were prepped and ready to go. While I was sitting on the table in the OR being prepped by anesthesia a group of techs and nurses all of a sudden run in and kick my team out of the OR due to an extreme emergency with a different patient. I was so upset and disappointed but what could I do other than wait my turn. While waiting back in pre op I started cramping really bad. I went into labor with my breech baby while waiting for my c section! The contractions were coming 5 minutes apart and were strong enough to take my breath away. I was in so much pain when we were finally taken back to the OR for the second time. I received a spinal that hit the bone and was very unpleasant. I was so nervous I couldn't really talk to the anesthesiologist and as a result I was only numb on my left side. I was in agony. I kept telling the tech behind me that I could feel it and he kept saying pullIng and tugging was normal. He believed me when I started screaming! Things got serious really quickly and as soon as the baby was out I was knocked completely out. The last thing I remember before waking up was hearing him cry. It was an amazing sound. When I woke up in post op he was placed on my chest and it just did not matter anymore how he got here. I was so in love. I would do it all over again.
Hayes Andrew was born yesterday, 8/18, at 1:19 am, 39 weeks. He weighed in at a whopping 9lbs 3 ounces and is 22 inches long.
Labor started Wednesday night at 6:30 pm in my kitchen when I was doing a ridiculous dance in my kitchen that proceeded to make my water break. Contractions started up hard and fast right away. I wanted to labor at home but am so thankful we went to the hospital quickly to get some pain management.
When we arrived at the hospital, I was checked in as 6/7cm and got my epidural placed within an hour and a half. My body labored well and didn't need any pitocin this time to help contractions. I was fully dilated and +2 by 1am and baby was out after three contractions, about 15 minutes of pushing.
He is precious and loves to eat. Cluster feeding has already started and I've probably slept about 4 hours in the last 48 hours. Adrenaline is keeping me going but we are thrilled to be heading home to big sister today!! Thank you to everyone for the support! Excited to bump about baby now.
Juan Wilson III was born 8/16/16 at 11:40 pm, weighing 6 pounds 15 ounces and 21 inches long.
I went in on Tuesday morning at 6:00am to be induced, it started off kind of rough it took almost and hour to find someone who could stick me ( I have rolling veins). After all of that we finally was able to be administered some Cytotec which worked very fast. As time progressed, my cervix thinned out and my doctor broke my water, then I started to feel some mild contractions. I waited as long as I could to ask for the epidural, but eventually the contractions were too much for me.
Around 10:00 pm, I was fully dialted and needed to start practicing pushing. After a while I got the hang of it and started pushing which each contraction. The real act of pushing was harder than I thought, I had been pushing for and hour and half until they noticed his head was stuck and I was having trouble pushing. My doctor made the decision to use forceps to assist with getting him out, then they realized his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck and shoulders twice...as careful as she was helping to deliver in the process his arm was broken which resulted into him having to go to the NICU for further observation.
I only seen my sweet baby for the slightest moment before he had to go. Late that next morning he was brought to me and they confirmed the broken arm and said it would heal just fine, babies are stronger than we think. So now he's sporting a splint, but that isn't stopping him from being a happy baby.
We've been through a rough delivery and first couple of days together, but I'd do it all over again. So happy to be a mother. Special thanks to my labor buddy @lblu43
Naia Helena was born via RCS today at 12:17pm weighing 7lbs 7oz and measuring 20 inches long-exactly the same as her big brother! She is doing pretty well nursing and is calm overall.
We were at home getting into bed Wednesday night, when I
felt a small gush of fluid. It was not nearly what I expected for my water
breaking, but it clearly was not discharge or urine. Called the doctor and left
a message with the answering service. In the 10-15 minutes or so it took for
the doctor to call me back, it became clear my water had broken as more and
more fluid appeared. We talked with the doctor and headed over to the hospital,
checking in right around midnight.
Once we were checked in, the doctor told us that although my
water had broken, I was not in labor since I had had no contractions. I had a
slight crampy feeling, but that was it. She said we could wait until morning,
or move forward with inducing. I would not be going home with my water broken,
due to the risk of infection. We decided to wait until morning to see if my
body would get into gear. Had a very fitful night of “sleep,” if you can call
it that. I was being monitored for infection but everything looked good.
Unfortunately in the morning, I still had no contractions. A rather difficult
cervical check revealed I was maybe 1cm. The doctor recommended Cytotec, so I
took a dose of that and waited the 4 hours it takes to work. After the cytotec,
it became more difficult and painful to check my cervix due to the angle of the
baby’s head in there, and the nurse could not get a measurement. She said I
could either do another 4 hour dose of Cytotec and try to check again, or let
her give me fentanyl to ease the pain and allow her to access my cervix. I went
with the fentanyl. Getting the IV in was painful, but holy crap was that a
pleasant hour. I was worried about taking a narcotic, but she said it was a
minimal dose, and she gave it during a contraction, when she said the veins in
the placenta would be constricted a bit. She was able to check me, and found I
was at 3.5cm, enough to move forward with Pitocin. We got the Pitocin going
around noon or so. For the first hour or so the contractions started, and were
moderate. Painful, but not too bad. But by about 2:00 they started to get really
intense and painful. It felt too soon to get the epidural. I had planned to put
it off so that I could be up and walking around, not stuck in bed. But since my
water had broken, I was dripping fluid every time I got up and moved around
(despite the big pads), which really sucked. I decided to go ahead and get the
epi since I was kind of bed-bound already.
Having the epidural placed was a little scary. For some
reason it felt very rushed – I guess because they wanted to make sure it was
placed between contractions. But once it was in, it was great! They checked me
and I was now at 7cm. I was able to get a little rest for a few hours while the
Pitocin continued to do its thing. At one point I did feel completely numb from
the waist down, like my legs were total dead weight. It is a creepy feeling.
Eventually, the numbness eased up a bit to a level where I could feel
pressure/movement and even move my legs, but was not feeling pain. I was able
to feel contractions happening and also had a “feeling like I need to poop,”
which the nurse said was good and probably meant I was complete. Sure enough,
at 5:40 she checked and I was complete, and she said the baby’s head was “right
there,” whatever that means. The next thing I know she’s calling the doctor and
having me do a practice push. I couldn’t believe it was already time! She and
DH held my legs and the doctor was there to catch baby. After my first
contraction with pushing, the nurse got on the phone and called for the nursery
team to get there with a crib, the baby was almost there. I only pushed through
3 or 4 contractions, and my healthy baby boy arrived at 6:10!! A half an hour
from the check that showed I was complete, and really only 20 minutes or so of
pushing. It was nuts. They all kept telling me how lucky I was and how I
probably shouldn’t tell my friends (sorry).
Jack arrived and was placed on my chest for a good long
skin-to-skin session. Eventually he was weighed and measured (8lbs 4oz, 21¾
inches long!). We are over the moon, and it was especially amazing to me to see
my husband fall in love with him as soon as he held him. Now we’re just staying
in the hospital to be monitored a bit and get some coaching from the nurses on
breastfeeding and baby basics. The feeding has been a challenge, I’m not gonna
lie. I’m not loving it right now but I’m sticking with it and I guess we are
making progress. Looking forward to going home tomorrow!
Ronald Louis was born on August 12th at 8.03 pm. Due to gestational diabetes, i was induced with cytotec the previous night around 10pm. My contractions stated fast and furious but i could hardly feel them, which prevented a second dose of cytotec early the next morning. We started the pitocin around 4am and the contractions started to hurt more. The doctor, not mine because she had a medical leave emergency, came aroun 8am and broke my waters. At that point i was barely dilat, maybe 1cm. The contractions stated getting more and more intense due to little one being sunny side up. I felt no relief from contraction to contraction with my back hurting so bad. At 10.30 or so, i asked for an epidural. The anesthesiologist was hilarious and kept me entertained while placing the needle. He had to readjust twice because i could feel pain from the insertion. But once it went in, it was heavenly. We labored throughout the day with different side to side positions. What really helped was being on all fours and rockig my hips like in yoga. This helped me move to 7cm and eventually to 10 cm. We stared pushing at615pm that night. Unfortunately, the epidural wore off during this time so i felt not only the episiotomy but a fourth degree tear. I also tore on the side due to little one's head being 37.5 cm, 98th percentile. Once he came out though, it was all worth it. With GD, though, little one could not regulate his blood sugar and stayed in nicu for 6 days. We got to room in at the hospital the last night before he came home.
We welcomed Colin Andrew into the world at 1:44AM on August 18th. Weighing in at 7lb.1oz, and 20.5 inches long. Compared to my other 2, he's just a little peanut! I went in at 6:30AM on August 17th for induction at 40W3D, after a 19 hour labor. When I arrived, I was only dilated 2 and 50% effaced, so they started my induction with Cytotec. In between doses of Cytotec, and being monitored, I walked the halls... and walked and walked and walked! According to an app I have on my phone, I walked 6.13 miles trying to get contractions to intensify. It was a very slow process, and around 5:00 pm I was still only dilated to 3. The dr came in to check me and said that baby's head was way down, but I was dilating so slowly that he decided to break my water. Almost immediately after my water was broken, my contractions started to get pretty intense. By around 5:45, things were getting fast and furious and my nurses knew I wanted the Epidural, so they were pumping my IV fluids in as quickly as they could, which made me SO COLD!! I was shivering like crazy, and they just kept piling blankets on me. My nurses were great! Around 6:00 I was dilated to 4 and the nurses called for anesthesia. I think it was around 6:20-6:30 the Anesthesiologist came in and placed my epidural. The relief I felt after the Epidural was wonderful. I was still dilating pretty slowly, so we just hung out and chilled waiting for nature to take it's course. Thankfully I did NOT have to have Pitocin this time, since my contractions started doing what they needed to do as soon as he broke my water. We thought that I would be pushing by 11:30, but I still had just a small anterior lip of cervix in the way, so I just rested and dozed for a while longer and by 1, the nurse checked and said it was such a small amount that she was pretty sure she could push it back as we went. So we started pushing at 1AM, took a couple short breaks, got the Dr at 1:30 and little Colin was out at 1:44! Thankfully, I did not even tear! I think a lot of it had to do with my nurse stretching while I was pushing, and this was the easiest delivery I've had! (It's also my last one) We had 1 hour of skin to skin immediately and he latched on and nursed for a solid 20 minutes during that time! He's been nursing like a champ ever since, except when he wants to sleep... He can not be woken up to eat if he does not want to! ETA: Colin had what they call a "True Knot" in his cord. It's not unheard of, but not very common either. Luckily it was a loose enough knot that it caused no harm!
Baby boy (still no name) was born 8/21 at 3:37am weighing 9lbs 7oz. I was induced SAT at 10am with a foley bulb which got me to a 4 at 10pm. They had me on a low dose of pitocin as well.
At 1am contractions started to become intense and he made his grand entrance a few hours later. He came out with his hand above his head so on my final push they used a vacuum to help him out. I had low platelets (80,000) so was not able to get an epidural. The whole experience was intense and excruciating but I'd do it all over to have my sweet healthy baby!
Quinton Richard (team green turned blue!!) joined the world August 20, at 2:58 am! He's a big boy at 8lbs 12oz and 21.75 inches long. And born with a full head of blonde hair just like his mama.
My water broke at 2:30 am Aug 19th (my due date) but only a small gush. The Ph strip at the Drs at 10am wouldn't go positive for amniotic fluid so I was sent home and to come back at 1. I didn't have any contractions, but I KNEW my water broke, so at 1pm I went back to the Drs with a Tupperware which I was able to collect a small leak to prove I wasn't a crazy pregnant lady, and as I knew it was positive so off to L&D!
i was having contractions about 5-7 mins apart but not really strong enough to feel. The OB wanted initially to do pitocin since I they knew I had only a small leak which wasn't causing contractions. I was already off my birthplan of wanting to labor at home, so I was going to go along with it until thank goodness DH who paid so much attention to my desires of birth and our classes said to the OB "instead of starting a medication, why don't we just fully break her water and see if it kick starts." OB was iffy but agreed and low and behold 5 mins after them finishing the rupture I was feeling my contractions!
I wanted to stay natural as long as possible, and felt really good that I got to 5cm with contractions every 2 mins apart labored from about 2pm - 12am then gave into the epidural. A few hours later I was fully dialated and after 20 minutes of pushing Quinton arrived!
We we are both doing wonderful. He is a rockstar breastfeeder, and my milk came in 36 hours which is crazy for a FTM! DH and I are absolutely in love!!!
Finn William was born on Tuesday, August 16! After inducing at 6 am, he finally arrived via c section at 10:52 pm weighing 10 pounds 2 ounces and 22 inches long. We love, love, love our little (if you can call a 10 pound newborn little) man!
Poppy Sue was born via rcs on 8/18 at 7:41am - 8lbs 8oz - 20 1/2 inches
Our check-in time was 5am! After getting the lovely gown on and a few failed attempts at an IV we were ready to head to the OR. My Dr. made a longer incision since my last c-section they had to do a lot of pushing on my abdomen and use the suction (for my large daughter). This time my baby girl came out without any complications and was crying and looking for food from the moment she was handed to my husband. I just remember her crying the whole time we were in the OR. When they started to "put me back together" I got nauseous. I remember saying "How do you want me to do this?!" Since my arms were strapped down and I was dry heaving. I got one arm free and could hold the puke bag. I never did puke, but they had to wait for my heaving to pass before finishing my surgery. And since I didn't feel good, I wasn't up to holding LO. I figured DH could hold her, I'll have my time soon! It was kind of a bummer.
She is perfect! She likes to be held and sleep all day and be up all night. This made things difficult in the hospital since DH only stayed 1 night and then went home to care for our other 2 children. I hate asking for help, so I only had her out with the nurses when I knew I couldn't stay awake anymore.
Her brother and sister can't get enough of her and want to constantly hold her. She's nursing well and sleeping better now that we're home. My recovery is going well too.
My long pregnancy turned into an extremely quick labor and delivery.
I checked into the hospital at 5 pm 8/22 to begin ripening my cervix since I was still 2 cm, 50%, and -2. Slept from 12 am to 2 am ish. Tossed and turned and went in and out of sleep from 2 to 6 am ish. Nurse came in and said the midwife would check me at 7:30. The nurse also got me a birthing ball to sit on bc I was having contractions that were a little stronger.
I probably sat on the ball for about a half hour and then I started to walk back and forth with increase pain from the contractions. I woke DH at 725 am saying I was going to be checked very soon. When I was checked at 735-745 I was 6 cm and they scrambled around to get my epidural ready. But in the 5 or so minutes it took I was needing to push and leaking amniotic fluid. I was checked and was 10 cm! DH says I pushed for 4 mins and out she came!
Although I really wanted an epidural, I am happy with the med free birth outcome. I definitely had fear of the unknown bc I thought contractions would have been a lot worse.
Here is Ann.ika Ge.ne born 8/23 at 757 am. 8 lb 2 oz, 21". We are so in love!
Collin John was born at 11:20pm on 8/24 after a successful induction at 41 weeks. Smaller than his big brother, weighing in at 8 lbs. 12 oz. and 21" long.
ETA: Birth story I went into the hospital feeling calm and ready for my scheduled induction. I had been induced with DS1 at the same hospital for the same reason (past due) so I knew what to expect. L&D was very busy that morning so although we arrived at 7:30am, Cervadil was not placed until 10:15am. I was less than 1cm dilated and 50% effaced. I felt my first contraction shortly after noon and spent the next few hours with period-like cramps. At 2:45pm I was at 3cm, still 50% effaced and baby was at -3 station. Pitocin was started at 3:30pm and didn't do much for the next few hours. Sat on the birthing ball to try to help move baby down, but I was pretty comfortable and bored for the most part. My doctor came to check on me and she laughed because I asked her to make things "less boring." At this point I was at 4cm and baby had dropped to -2 station so she felt comfortable breaking my water at 7:45pm.
Then things started amping up. Contractions became more intense right away. I continued to sit on the birthing ball, biding my time, knowing I'd be asking for the epidural soon. The epidural was placed at 9pm. Then doctor ran home to tuck her kids into bed (at my urging), ready to return to the hospital when L&D called her. I assumed it would still be several hours since I was still only at 4.5 cm. We turned the lights off so I could get some rest. (Up until this point, everything was nearly identital to my induction with DS1 so I assumed it would take a few more hours for my body to relax and progress to 10cm.)
The epidural was only working on one side; I was still feeling strong, painful contractions on my left. I buzzed the nurse and she was trying to reposition me and troubleshoot why the epi was not working; she assured me she'd have the anesthesiologist come back and replace it if we couldn't figure it out. Meanwhile, contractions continued to get more and more painful to the point where they weren't letting up and I felt like I was getting stabbed in the pelvis. There ended up not being time to get the epidural fixed because the nurse checked me at 10pm (only an hour after epi was placed) and I was complete. They quickly called my doctor to come back - she only lives 15 min. away - and I started pushing at 10:30pm. Pushing was a huge relief; the pain I'd had over that last hour had almost disappeared. The mood in the room was lighthearted; we were all chatting and laughing in between contractions (even me!). I pushed for 50 minutes and Collin came out sunnyside up and screaming! We did an hour of skin to skin while my 2nd degree tear was stitched up. Overall a much better and faster experience than my first. 5 days PP now and I feel 10 times better than I did after DS1!
Avery Rose was born 8/19 at 2:11 pm via scheduled c-section. She was 8 lbs 12 oz snd 21 inches of sweet baby girl. Mom is recovering but very limited with what she can do around the house. Loving this baby!!
Coraline Lily was born 8/24 at 6:58pm. 6 pounds 6 ounces, 19 inches. Tiny baby for 41 weeks 4 days. We went in at 6am to start an induction with pitocin, starting at 3 centimeters and 75%. We started at a 2 and were up to 14 with the pitocin by 2pm. I was still not in labor and having inconsistent, unpainful contractions. They decided to break my water and boy did that get things started! I went from 3 to 10 within a few hours. I mostly labored in the tub. I pushed for about an hour, according to my husband, but I was so out of it I have no idea. Baby Cora is doing great. We are both learning how to BF. She is so calm and just a dream. I'm in love.
12 days overdue but baby Maxwell has arrived!!!! He was born yesterday 8/23 at 11:17, 8 lbs 2 oz and 20 3/4 in.
Long version: I started have contractions at 9:30 Mon night that were 10 min apart. I tried to get some sleep and called my husband ( who was about 2 1/2 hrs away for work) around 2 when they were 6-7 min apart. I got a little more sleep from about 4-6am and they went back to 10 min apart. In the morning I spent about 2+ hrs walking around the mall. Once contractions were about 5 min apart we went to the hospital around 1ish. They checked me and I was only 2 cm with irregular contractions but they decided to admit me because I already had an induction scheduled for 5 pm on Tues. I walked around and used the birthing ball and contractions started to get painful but were irregular by 6 I was still 2 cm and they decided to start the petocin. By about 8 I was in so much pain I asked for an epidural ( not the original plan). I was only 4 cm then but they decided i could have it. The difference was night and day. The epidural was so worth it even if it did mean I was stuck in bed. I got to sleep quite a bit after that. I didn't get to 10cm and pushing time until about 10 on Wed morning. Pushing went really well and relatively painless with the epidural. He was out in less than an hour. I had 2 really great coaches!
Man, this is LONG overdue... I'm chalking it up to exhaustion and figuring out the whole newborn thing.
Willa Louise was born on Thursday, August 11th at 7:13 pm. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 15 oz. and 20.5" long. She's got the red hair I was praying for and steel gray eyes.
I was induced the day before (at 41+1 weeks), but after 24 hours and absolutely no progress, my OB and I agreed a c-section was the best option. Recovering from major surgery + figuring out this newborn thing has me going crazy.
Hey guys, Sorry it took me forever. I have no idea where the time has gone. But we are team green turned pink on 8/23/16. Rhea Florence was born at 3:24am on Tuesday.
All Monday morning I had "early labor" contractions every 3 minutes... but they were not very painful and was very anxious as to whether things would actually happen as I was 41 weeks. I had my NST, ultrasound and membrane sweep and went home to rest. I napped and my contractions stopped around 6pm. I was so bummed and cried to DH about how it was never going to happen. Then we decided to try and have sex to relax and maybe get baby here... Well, immediately after sex I was thrown into full blown labor. I started shaking from the shift in hormones and my contractions were on top of each other. My doula came over and we called my midwife but then labored at home for 3 1/2 hours... then my husband said we should leave even though I was worried about going to early... we got to the hospital and they tried to place the IV like 6 times and kept missing my veins... finally they got it and checked me...I was 5cm and then immediately after my check my water broke.... then I labored while they got the spa tub ready so I could use that...
we walked to the spa room and had 3 contractions in the hallway. My DH was my rock along with my doula and her hip squeezes. I just kind of gave in and did whatever they instructed... we got to the room and my doula asked me to see if I wanted to pee before I got into the tub... well... I wanted to do it inbetween contractions... so I waited and held onto DH and noticed I was pushing... I couldn't verbalize it...so they led me over to the tub and I got in. I had one contraction and screamed "I'm pushing!!" and my doula kept saying its ok to m because I was panicking and I thought there is no way I'm ready... and then they checked me and I was 9cm but had a cervical lip. The midwife said she would hold it back while I pushed the baby past it. ( my mother had the same issue in childbirth). I had gotten to the hospital at midnight at it was 2:40 and we were pushing... I had to get out of the tub immediately because we had made it colder for me because my contractions kept making me boil, so it was not suitable to birth the baby in. I power walked back to my room because I thought the baby was going to fall out. I pushed until 3:24 and my daughter was born. I will never forget the crowning... the whole pushing process wasn't bad or painful... but I remember the crowning and had to sit there with her head half crowned while I waited for another contraction. I didn't realized that I let out a blood curdling scream when her head crowned... it was out of body like... and then I just pushed through it and I was done! I remember them calling out to me to over my eyes and then I pulled Rhea onto my chest.
I am very lucky with how fast everything went and how everything went med free and complication free. I attribute all of the coping to my doula... she was amazing and during my contractions I listened for her directions because I knew she would guide me through it.
Team Green is Now Team Blue!! Sawyer Ryan came into the world at 3:53 am 8/25 at a whopping 10 lbs 2 oz, 22 inches long. (We were NOT expecting an abnormally large baby!)
I had my weekly appointment 8/24 and had been agonizing over whether or not to try to get an induction- my doctor leaves town today and wouldn't be available to deliver/induce until the 29th. Everything was perfect with baby at the appointment- I had perfect bp, very little swelling, and I wasn't that uncomfortable! Baby passed the NST and the ultrasound test with flying colors. My doctor said we would schedule for Monday and I guess I looked like I was going to cry!!! She said there was an opening at 7 that night and it was a really hard call.
We we checked in at 7, and my first dose of cytec was administered orally at 7:50. At the point of checkin I had not dilated or effaced at all. My cervix was extremely high and hard. Second dose was administered at 11:05. I had made no progress since last check. I was devastated, and thought about asking if I could just go home and try later.
Fast forward to midnight. I'm hit with the urge to poop, so I got out of bed and headed for the restroom-water broke all over me and the floor. I called the nurses desk and told them I'd either peed myself or that my water had broken. Yeah I sat down and it continued to ooze, there was sooooo much fluid!!! That's when my contractions got out of control. The next hour and a half were pure hell. I called for my epi pretty quick, but the anesthesiologist had to drive in from a town about 30 min away. In the mean time I threw up several times, had contractions on top of each other (way worse than pitocin contractions I had with DD). I kept progressing to the point that they almost didn't allow me the epidural because I was at a 6/7 and fully effaced. The epi made me shake the rest of labor, but it was so worth it!
By 3 I was pushing and my nurse wasn't sure my doc would make it, but it took awhile to get him to advance, turns out he was sunny side up, which he corrected, as well ask huge.
At 3:53 my doctor pulled him out and exclaimed that I had just pushed out a 10 lb baby! I had a small episiotomy and no tearing. He's perfect. We have to stay an extra day because it turns out I am GBS positive. We are so in love... Big sister is still trying to figure out the new baby situation, which will be the hardest part!!
So sorry for the huge delay in me posting this! I don't know how you ladies do it, but I've been relatively absent from the bump recently trying to adjust to life with a baby! Just to warn, post is long.
Michaela Rae was born at 10:20 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016! On Friday of that week I felt gushes of fluid and decided to go to L&D to get checked. After an hour of being on the monitors (and experiencing several regular, but painless contractions) the test came back negative for fluid. The nurse told me I was too calm and that she doubted I would go into labor on my own (induction scheduled for Aug. 23). I fully believed her since I had no signs of labor, so I accepted that we would be induced and just tried to relax. However, my body had something else in mind. Early Saturday morning I was awaken with painful contractions, but they were so far apart and irregular that I chalked them up to painful braxton hicks and ignored them. Throughout the day the contractions got more intense. I continued to ignore them. When DH and I decided to go to bed that night around midnight, the contractions were pretty close together and so painful I couldn't breathe through them. I also started spotting around that time and lost my mucus plug. I decided to just get some rest and go to sleep assuming they would go away. But around 5 a.m. they were ranging from 5-7 minutes apart and so painful I started screaming through them. I woke up DH and told him to call out of work because there's no way I wasn't in labor. I called the on call nurse and she told me to go in right away and congratulated me on being in labor. We were so excited!
The ride to the hospital (40 minutes) was absolute hell with the contractions. We arrived around 6:45 a.m. and I got hooked up to the monitors yet again. I was having really strong contractions about 3 minutes apart. The nurse checked my cervix and while I was still only a half centimeter dilated, my water had officially broke, so I was admitted. As soon as they got me back in my room the contractions had worsened to the point where I threw my whole med free birth plan out the window and started screaming for an epidural (so proud of you ladies who were able to go med free!). Since I dilated to a centimeter and a half by that time (11 a.m.), they allowed me the epidural. From there things progressed quickly and over the course of the day I dilated to a 7. We experienced a scary moment where they had to re position me into "doggy style" because LO's heartbeat had become distressed. It was the most terrifying moment for me with nurses rushing around me, placing oxygen on me and monitoring her heart rate closely. But thankfully everything was OK after that.
I told my doctor weeks ago that I have a family history of emergency c-section and that I was concerned it would happen to me as well in case it was genetic. She agreed that we wouldn't wait for it to become emergency and they would take her as soon as there was any signs it was headed in that direction. Well, throughout the day she noticed I was dilating, contractions were getting closer together and stronger, but baby just couldn't drop past my pubic bone. Finally at 9 p.m. she called it and the c-section was scheduled for 10 p.m. Even though I fully expected this to happen, I ugly cried on the c-section table out of fear and shook so bad that once LO was out, they knocked me out for closing. I woke up in recovery with my baby girl and DH sitting right next to me. We immediately did skin to skin and breast fed. She latched on like a champ and we've been working on it ever since!
DH and I can't be more in love with the newest addition to our family. We haven't slept in days and are struggling to find a routine at night, but whenever I look into that beautiful face I know it's all worth it.
"Team Green" before Little One was born. We are now team Lady Bits.
Little miss Ahtaea was born at home (as planned) 8/22 in the early morning. She came into the world in my living room with my midwife, her student and her assistant, hubby, my Mamma and my MIL in attendance. We are all doing great!
Hubby and I absolutely adore our little girl. This pic is just before they put her hat on her, about 3hrs after birth.
I'm a little late posting. Our sweet Gauge decided to come fast and furious 8-22 at 11:20 pm at 7lbs 3oz and 20" long. I was 39w 6d. We had our due date appt with our OB and had set our gentle induction for Wednesday morning. We left thinking we had two days to prep. I got a mani pedi and while sitting there started noticing some contractions that got my attention about every 10 minutes. I ignored them after weeks of prodromal labor, I had convinced myself he wasn't coming on his own. Went home and did our normal Monday routine. A friend stopped by to visit and I realized I was still contracting and they were coming a lot closer together. Went into L&D feeling a little silly and doubting it was real labor. They checked me and I was the same as I was at my appt that morning but wanted to monitor me for a few hours. Within an hour, my contractions picked up and I knew that was it. I asked to be rechecked and I was fully effaced and 4.5 cm!!! Woo hoo!!! My natural birth plan was out the window already and I had decided I wanted the epidural before I had even gotten into a room because my contractions had gotten so strong. Then the anesthesiologist was in an emergency and within 30 minutes of getting into my room, I had to push. My body took over at that point and the Dr. barely made it in the room just to catch his body. It was so amazing. The most intense, but beautiful experience of my life. We are sooo in love!
Re: August 2016 Birth Announcements
Oliver Robert was born at 12:51am, August 10 - 7.55 pounds, 19.5 inches.
Birth story: (sorry it's so long)
I started having strong timetable contractions last Monday, around 5am. When they hit 5minutes apart we called the doctor, who had us come in. Labor and delivery had me stay for 14hours, and despite the traceable, regular contractions very little change wasmade. I was diagnosed with "prodromal" labor, and sent home.
Thursday we had that oh so dramatic appointment -and for a variety of medical reasons, the mfm specialist said we needed to be induced no later than Sunday. My doctor called the hospital, and Sunday was the only open slot.
I called on Sunday and was told they would not have time at all that day. We reminded thwm we were a medical induction for cause, not an elective... or evn over due, or macrosomnia. The mfm specialist had been pretty clear with the bile salts rising, every day past 38/6 was putting him in danger for no reason. I was hysterical, so my midwife offered to Let us come in and monitor the baby overnight, until we could induce first thing in the morning. My normally mild mannered husband was furious. He called the hospital administrator and not quite so gently reminded him of the potential danger of waiting -yes even one day. Suddenly we were back on to begin induction Sunday evening.
We got to l&d and got settled in. The dose of cervidal went in, and immediately the contractions I was having picked back up into a strong regular pattern. My doctor gave me a sedative, and I was monitored for the night. The next morning I had made some small progress, so the doctor gave me another cervical ripener. my contractions picked up to the point they were unable to do anymore after the first. The contractions calmed enough could have another overnight cycle, which we did. The next morning, my progress was still... glacial. The doctor saw my growing frustration and suggested a break. That was about 8am on Tuesday, with the plan being to discuss after lunchthe options from that point... which seemed to be more of the same, or higher risk interventions. My husband called into his work to see if he could pick up the shift he would be missing, since the doctor was pretty sure it would be another night of sleeping on the pull out chair, watching me sleep off the sedative. I was in the middle of calling my mom to whine when I felt a sharp sudden pain in the front of my wantedstomach and a slight trickle down my leg. I said "oh... I think my water broke..." and my mom said "you think or you know?" Just then a huge gush pourrd out. I squeaked, and dh says "oh yeah... it broke!" and ran out of the room. I had to be rescued from the middle of a very large slippery puddle
Very quickly things got very interesting. By noon I was feeling very dizzy, so they strapd me into the monitor. Having to sit still like that was terrible. I'd been coping fine until then with a ball, music etc. After I was in agony. I asked if we could get in the shower... It helped a lot. I was able to stand, while dh did massage. My best friend, who is a doula in training talked me through the contractions - which were 30 seconds apart, and coming on hard and strong.
The midwife finished delivering someone else, so she came in at this point. It was still only about 1 or 2 pm, so only a couple hours since this all really kicked off. I requested the tub, and the midwife warned me the tub was only allowed after a certain point. She wanted to check me, and with the lure of the tub, I agreed. She looked surprised, and asked if I wanted to know. I said no, all I wanted to know was tub or no tub. She said tub, so whoo hoo! I hobbled my way to the other room, as quickly as I could and three quarters nude... The me laughed at how motivated I was to get there.
The tub was heaven. It still hurt, but it made it so I could rest in spurts in between. I was feeling much more in control. The nurses were telling me how well I was doing, especially for a First time mom. I hung out in the tub for an hour, honestly feeling pretty Zen. Almost randomly I turned to my support team, completely in control and said "I want an epidural."
I think I surprised myself even. While not against the idea going in, I had hoped to avoid one if I could. And I was, at the moment, proving to everyone I could. The midwife wanted to give me a bag of fluids first, and my iv had apparently blown. I have terrible veins, so they called in a specialist. The specialist said " I've never put an iv in someone IN the tub before!"...you know I just became someone's "crazy but true" work story. Another hour in the tub, then the me helped me hobble back to my room.
The me wanted to check me before the epidural, to make sure I was still progressing. Her eyes got big, and she looked up at me and said "do you want to know?" I said yes... 10 cm. She asked if I still wanted the epidural, since this would be over so soon. I said I did...something told me to say yes.
After that was done, the midwife suggested i rest, while my body labored down. We put on Zen music, the hospitals nature scences. I was staring out the window, and there was a beautiful rainbow in the clouds over the mountains. Dh took a moment to go update my parents in the waiting room. The midwife said an hour to two hours and we would start pushing.
***tw***
All day I had been asking for my anticonvulsant, and the nurses had said no. By 9 pm when I started pushing I was two doses behind. Not good. I also started feeling a sense of no, this isn't right as soon as I started pushing. The first twenty minutes I made great progress, and the midwife even went so far as to say we would have an anniversary baby (tuesday was out first anniversary)
Then things started to go wrong. I stopped feeling the baby moving down, it felt like he hit a wall. The midwife and nurse started exchanging concerned looks with the nurse. Then my nerve started to seize. I couldn't lift or turn my head, and I was screaming in pain between contractions - not during. The midwife asked me what was happening, and dh explained my condition and how I had been denied my preventative all day. I had my best friend holding ice against the nerve in an attempt to numb it.
At this point the midwife is looking down right worried. She's stopped the soothing mantra of "this is normal, don't worry," and has started asking "what can we do to help you?"
An hour and a half into pushing, I finally got my missed medication. Yes, in the middle of pushing. About the same time I see my doula in training friend pull aside dh, and say something that makes him go white. I found out later she told him to prepare mentally for a c section ' she saw it coming and I would need him to be strong. She thought a little warning would let him deal with it mentally, and support me better when I was told where this was headed.
After about two and a half hours of pushing the midwife gently tried to bring me around to the idea. Little guy was fine - but she could feel he was positioned wrong somehow, and she"d done everything to try and get him at a better angle to no avail. She also said she had never seen anyone in as much pain as I was... And at some point, we needed to accept that either one of those factors would indicate a c section, and together we didn't have a choice at this point. I cried, a lot. They let my mom in at that point and both she and dh convinced me not only was this the right choice... It was the only one.
Mean while preperations had been going on. I honestly don't remember a whole lot here. The doctors strapped my arms down, put up the drape and finally let 4th in. He said they had already started cutting before he was even brought in, so he walked into active surgery. I passed out a few times during the surgery.
Oliver Robert was born by c section at 12:51 am. They did not bring him over to me when he was born, and he was brought to the baby station on the side I couldn't turn to. Dh didn't want to leave me to go to Oliver, but he did. He told me today he could see past the drape, and it was horrifying. He started crying today finally admitting how it made him feel.
After the surgery they placed him on my chest for skin to skin. I still couldn't see him. Apparently I was bleeding just this side of dangerous, but some sort medication got it under control. I woke up again to the gown I had been wearing being cut away completely saturated. Dh looked like he was panicked.
I was brought to a new room (normally you stay in one room the whole time, but they have c section recovery rooms with different accomodations) and my family was waiting. I passed out for the night.
Later that morning I woke up to a new day, and got to see his face for the first time, hear all his stats, and bond. He's doing amazing at breast feeding, his apgar was 9.9.
At the end of it all I'm mostly okay, he is perfect and... It's over. Still coming to terms a little with how the med free labor I wanted happened perfectly despite the induction ... And ended up in a terrifying emergency c section.
Several nurses came by the next morning to offer sympathy, congratulate me on a med free labor (if not delivery) and reaffirm I didn't "make the right choice" - there wasn't one. And thank God I did randomly decide on the epidural... Saved us both from General.
I'm still getting dizzy spells and keep randomly drifting off uncontrollably. It'll be a few weeks before I am allowed to drive, so my mom is coming to stay with us.
I'm so grateful I got to experience labor the way I wanted since I never will again (we'll scedule a repeat) and I am so glad the call was made when it was. Ds had a bruise on his head and armclearly proving he had his shoulder jammed in. If I had managed to force him out, we both could have been seriously hurt.
My dad said he was trying to enter like a football player. My son is ready to "tackle" the world.
Sunday night we were in the ER getting DH stitches and only had a couple hours of sleep, then we both worked all day Monday and went to a going away party and didn't get home until around 10. At 11:30 Monday night my water broke with no previous contractions so we booked it to the hospital an hour away. We were in triage by 1:30 and I was 5 cm but having non painful contractions. Two hours later I was 8 cm and I was asking for the epidural. I was rushed to a delivery room and ended up declining the epidural. The next hour was the most painful as I was fighting the urge to push with every contraction. At 4:30 the doctor checked me again and I was ready to push. The relief I felt pushing was amazing and it didn't hurt at all. Thirty minutes later I was holding my little girl in my arms! The doctor stitched me up and she fed for 20 minutes each breast that first hour then DH did skin to skin. Recovering has been harder then I thought it would be but we are finally figuring out a routine and have caught up on our sleep. She's been nursing like a champ from the start.
He was head down, but had made no progress and hadn't dropped, and my OB said there was no way he would have on my 5'5" pre-pregnancy size 6 frame! I have a Chiari malformation (my brain is too big for my skull), so we scheduled the c-section to have planned, controlled anesthesia. All went pretty well, although my blood pressure dropped and it took me a few hours in recovery to get the pain, dizziness, nausea, etc under control. The c-section pain was pretty rough for a few days, the gas pain terrible, and I am still a little anemic from losing a fairly high amount of blood during the c-section.
Samuel started vomiting green bile acid a few hours after birth and x-rays showed a slightly distended abdomen, so he spent four nights in NICU with multiple x-rays, an IV, and withholding feedings for about 24 hours. All turned out well, his x-rays cleared up, and he is eating like a champ now. They never really solved the bile acid mystery. Having a NICU baby is good motivation to get up moving after a c-section, but it adds a layer of difficulty, for sure. Props to the moms that have longer NICU stays for baby while dealing with their own recovery!
Dad and dachshunds are in love with baby, and Dad was a real trooper in the hospital spending every waking and non-waking moment with Mom and Baby. The Greta dachshund likes her new baby brother, but has gone about her daily life. The Hans dachshund, however, must know where Baby is at all times and gets up every time we do to tend to him.
I plan to add more when my brain starts working again but she's finally here and I'm a ball of happiness.
Baby #2: Emmeline Grey - August 2016
Baby #3: BFP 9/7/18 | EDD 05/24/19
am I was given a dose of ambien to help me sleep along with the start of pitocin. Was told that I probably wouldn't deliver baby until sometime later in the day and my doc would be in around 8:00 am to break my water. Ambien did nothing because the contractions started to get strong with Pitocin. I had back labor for a while which really sucked! Then around 4am I was asked about my pain. The nurse suggested Demeral (I was trying to avoid the epidural and wasn't to that point yet) That took a bit of the edge off and I slept between contractions. It wasn't much sleep since they were so close together though. I started to get pretty uncomfortable and sweating and nausea and told my husband I'm going to get the epidural as soon as I can because I couldn't take it any longer and if I was not making progress and felt this crappy it was going to be a really long day. I got up to use the restroom at 6am and my water broke and had bloody show. Kept telling nurses I had a lot of pressure before I went to the restroom and they said oh yeah that's normal. I had an extreme urge to push. The new nurse on duty checked me and said I was 10cm! The last check I had was around 4am (quite a blur) and I was only a 2. So I progressed much quicker than I had thought. At this point the only thing I wanted to do was push and after waiting on my doc to hurry up and get there in the traffic (for 45 minutes!!!) I finally got to push. Pushed less than 5 mins and she was here and all the pain was gone. Baby girl is healthy and I'm recovering from a tear but otherwise feeling great! I'm so happy that I was able to avoid the epidural because I'm terrified of catheters (lol don't judge me). I remained active and worked out my entire pregnancy and I think that is what got me through most of the pain. Also, very thankful that I didn't have a long labor given that this was my first pregnancy and I was induced. (Big sis is adopted)
Big sister Annabelle is so proud and already protective of her little sister. ❤️❤️
congrats to all the August mommas!!
TTC July 2015-November 2015
Baby boy born August 2016
Oops BFP February 2021
MMC March 2021
Back on BC for a year to decide what we want to do.
TTC Since March 2022
MMC June 2022
BFP September 2022 - Due June 2023!
They asked my gbs status, which I didn't know because they hadn't gotten my results back as of my Monday Dr appointment so that had to call around. Turns out I was gbs+ so they stated penicillin as they were administering my epidural. Didn't feel a bit of the epi going on, but the penicillin sure burns like a bitch. Lol.
By the time they checked me again once my epidural kicked in I was already at 10cm. My bag hasn't broken yet though, so we waited about an hour for it to break in its own in order to give more time for the antibiotics. By the time I went to push, he was already so low on his own that it only took 2 good pushes for about 5 min and he was out at 5:13 pm at 7lbs 0oz and 20" long.
He was perfectly healthy and we are able to do immediate skin to skin for about an hour. Because I want able to get the full dose of antibiotics, we have to stay an extra night.
I was so upset and disappointed but what could I do other than wait my turn. While waiting back in pre op I started cramping really bad. I went into labor with my breech baby while waiting for my c section! The contractions were coming 5 minutes apart and were strong enough to take my breath away. I was in so much pain when we were finally taken back to the OR for the second time. I received a spinal that hit the bone and was very unpleasant. I was so nervous I couldn't really talk to the anesthesiologist and as a result I was only numb on my left side.
I was in agony. I kept telling the tech behind me that I could feel it and he kept saying pullIng and tugging was normal. He believed me when I started screaming! Things got serious really quickly and as soon as the baby was out I was knocked completely out. The last thing I remember before waking up was hearing him cry. It was an amazing sound.
When I woke up in post op he was placed on my chest and it just did not matter anymore how he got here. I was so in love. I would do it all over again.
Labor started Wednesday night at 6:30 pm in my kitchen when I was doing a ridiculous dance in my kitchen that proceeded to make my water break. Contractions started up hard and fast right away. I wanted to labor at home but am so thankful we went to the hospital quickly to get some pain management.
When we arrived at the hospital, I was checked in as 6/7cm and got my epidural placed within an hour and a half. My body labored well and didn't need any pitocin this time to help contractions. I was fully dilated and +2 by 1am and baby was out after three contractions, about 15 minutes of pushing.
He is precious and loves to eat. Cluster feeding has already started and I've probably slept about 4 hours in the last 48 hours. Adrenaline is keeping me going but we are thrilled to be heading home to big sister today!! Thank you to everyone for the support! Excited to bump about baby now.
I went in on Tuesday morning at 6:00am to be induced, it started off kind of rough it took almost and hour to find someone who could stick me ( I have rolling veins). After all of that we finally was able to be administered some Cytotec which worked very fast. As time progressed, my cervix thinned out and my doctor broke my water, then I started to feel some mild contractions. I waited as long as I could to ask for the epidural, but eventually the contractions were too much for me.
Around 10:00 pm, I was fully dialted and needed to start practicing pushing. After a while I got the hang of it and started pushing which each contraction. The real act of pushing was harder than I thought, I had been pushing for and hour and half until they noticed his head was stuck and I was having trouble pushing. My doctor made the decision to use forceps to assist with getting him out, then they realized his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck and shoulders twice...as careful as she was helping to deliver in the process his arm was broken which resulted into him having to go to the NICU for further observation.
I only seen my sweet baby for the slightest moment before he had to go. Late that next morning he was brought to me and they confirmed the broken arm and said it would heal just fine, babies are stronger than we think. So now he's sporting a splint, but that isn't stopping him from being a happy baby.
We've been through a rough delivery and first couple of days together, but I'd do it all over again. So happy to be a mother. Special thanks to my labor buddy @lblu43
We were at home getting into bed Wednesday night, when I felt a small gush of fluid. It was not nearly what I expected for my water breaking, but it clearly was not discharge or urine. Called the doctor and left a message with the answering service. In the 10-15 minutes or so it took for the doctor to call me back, it became clear my water had broken as more and more fluid appeared. We talked with the doctor and headed over to the hospital, checking in right around midnight.
Once we were checked in, the doctor told us that although my water had broken, I was not in labor since I had had no contractions. I had a slight crampy feeling, but that was it. She said we could wait until morning, or move forward with inducing. I would not be going home with my water broken, due to the risk of infection. We decided to wait until morning to see if my body would get into gear. Had a very fitful night of “sleep,” if you can call it that. I was being monitored for infection but everything looked good. Unfortunately in the morning, I still had no contractions. A rather difficult cervical check revealed I was maybe 1cm. The doctor recommended Cytotec, so I took a dose of that and waited the 4 hours it takes to work. After the cytotec, it became more difficult and painful to check my cervix due to the angle of the baby’s head in there, and the nurse could not get a measurement. She said I could either do another 4 hour dose of Cytotec and try to check again, or let her give me fentanyl to ease the pain and allow her to access my cervix. I went with the fentanyl. Getting the IV in was painful, but holy crap was that a pleasant hour. I was worried about taking a narcotic, but she said it was a minimal dose, and she gave it during a contraction, when she said the veins in the placenta would be constricted a bit. She was able to check me, and found I was at 3.5cm, enough to move forward with Pitocin. We got the Pitocin going around noon or so. For the first hour or so the contractions started, and were moderate. Painful, but not too bad. But by about 2:00 they started to get really intense and painful. It felt too soon to get the epidural. I had planned to put it off so that I could be up and walking around, not stuck in bed. But since my water had broken, I was dripping fluid every time I got up and moved around (despite the big pads), which really sucked. I decided to go ahead and get the epi since I was kind of bed-bound already.
Having the epidural placed was a little scary. For some reason it felt very rushed – I guess because they wanted to make sure it was placed between contractions. But once it was in, it was great! They checked me and I was now at 7cm. I was able to get a little rest for a few hours while the Pitocin continued to do its thing. At one point I did feel completely numb from the waist down, like my legs were total dead weight. It is a creepy feeling. Eventually, the numbness eased up a bit to a level where I could feel pressure/movement and even move my legs, but was not feeling pain. I was able to feel contractions happening and also had a “feeling like I need to poop,” which the nurse said was good and probably meant I was complete. Sure enough, at 5:40 she checked and I was complete, and she said the baby’s head was “right there,” whatever that means. The next thing I know she’s calling the doctor and having me do a practice push. I couldn’t believe it was already time! She and DH held my legs and the doctor was there to catch baby. After my first contraction with pushing, the nurse got on the phone and called for the nursery team to get there with a crib, the baby was almost there. I only pushed through 3 or 4 contractions, and my healthy baby boy arrived at 6:10!! A half an hour from the check that showed I was complete, and really only 20 minutes or so of pushing. It was nuts. They all kept telling me how lucky I was and how I probably shouldn’t tell my friends (sorry).
Jack arrived and was placed on my chest for a good long skin-to-skin session. Eventually he was weighed and measured (8lbs 4oz, 21¾ inches long!). We are over the moon, and it was especially amazing to me to see my husband fall in love with him as soon as he held him. Now we’re just staying in the hospital to be monitored a bit and get some coaching from the nurses on breastfeeding and baby basics. The feeding has been a challenge, I’m not gonna lie. I’m not loving it right now but I’m sticking with it and I guess we are making progress. Looking forward to going home tomorrow!
I went in at 6:30AM on August 17th for induction at 40W3D, after a 19 hour labor. When I arrived, I was only dilated 2 and 50% effaced, so they started my induction with Cytotec. In between doses of Cytotec, and being monitored, I walked the halls... and walked and walked and walked! According to an app I have on my phone, I walked 6.13 miles trying to get contractions to intensify. It was a very slow process, and around 5:00 pm I was still only dilated to 3. The dr came in to check me and said that baby's head was way down, but I was dilating so slowly that he decided to break my water. Almost immediately after my water was broken, my contractions started to get pretty intense. By around 5:45, things were getting fast and furious and my nurses knew I wanted the Epidural, so they were pumping my IV fluids in as quickly as they could, which made me SO COLD!! I was shivering like crazy, and they just kept piling blankets on me. My nurses were great! Around 6:00 I was dilated to 4 and the nurses called for anesthesia. I think it was around 6:20-6:30 the Anesthesiologist came in and placed my epidural. The relief I felt after the Epidural was wonderful. I was still dilating pretty slowly, so we just hung out and chilled waiting for nature to take it's course. Thankfully I did NOT have to have Pitocin this time, since my contractions started doing what they needed to do as soon as he broke my water. We thought that I would be pushing by 11:30, but I still had just a small anterior lip of cervix in the way, so I just rested and dozed for a while longer and by 1, the nurse checked and said it was such a small amount that she was pretty sure she could push it back as we went. So we started pushing at 1AM, took a couple short breaks, got the Dr at 1:30 and little Colin was out at 1:44! Thankfully, I did not even tear! I think a lot of it had to do with my nurse stretching while I was pushing, and this was the easiest delivery I've had! (It's also my last one)
We had 1 hour of skin to skin immediately and he latched on and nursed for a solid 20 minutes during that time! He's been nursing like a champ ever since, except when he wants to sleep... He can not be woken up to eat if he does not want to!
ETA: Colin had what they call a "True Knot" in his cord. It's not unheard of, but not very common either. Luckily it was a loose enough knot that it caused no harm!
At 1am contractions started to become intense and he made his grand entrance a few hours later. He came out with his hand above his head so on my final push they used a vacuum to help him out. I had low platelets (80,000) so was not able to get an epidural. The whole experience was intense and excruciating but I'd do it all over to have my sweet healthy baby!
My water broke at 2:30 am Aug 19th (my due date) but only a small gush. The Ph strip at the Drs at 10am wouldn't go positive for amniotic fluid so I was sent home and to come back at 1. I didn't have any contractions, but I KNEW my water broke, so at 1pm I went back to the Drs with a Tupperware which I was able to collect a small leak to prove I wasn't a crazy pregnant lady, and as I knew it was positive so off to L&D!
i was having contractions about 5-7 mins apart but not really strong enough to feel. The OB wanted initially to do pitocin since I they knew I had only a small leak which wasn't causing contractions. I was already off my birthplan of wanting to labor at home, so I was going to go along with it until thank goodness DH who paid so much attention to my desires of birth and our classes said to the OB "instead of starting a medication, why don't we just fully break her water and see if it kick starts." OB was iffy but agreed and low and behold 5 mins after them finishing the rupture I was feeling my contractions!
I wanted to stay natural as long as possible, and felt really good that I got to 5cm with contractions every 2 mins apart labored from about 2pm - 12am then gave into the epidural. A few hours later I was fully dialated and after 20 minutes of pushing Quinton arrived!
We we are both doing wonderful. He is a rockstar breastfeeder, and my milk came in 36 hours which is crazy for a FTM! DH and I are absolutely in love!!!
Our check-in time was 5am! After getting the lovely gown on and a few failed attempts at an IV we were ready to head to the OR. My Dr. made a longer incision since my last c-section they had to do a lot of pushing on my abdomen and use the suction (for my large daughter). This time my baby girl came out without any complications and was crying and looking for food from the moment she was handed to my husband. I just remember her crying the whole time we were in the OR. When they started to "put me back together" I got nauseous. I remember saying "How do you want me to do this?!" Since my arms were strapped down and I was dry heaving. I got one arm free and could hold the puke bag. I never did puke, but they had to wait for my heaving to pass before finishing my surgery. And since I didn't feel good, I wasn't up to holding LO. I figured DH could hold her, I'll have my time soon! It was kind of a bummer.
She is perfect! She likes to be held and sleep all day and be up all night. This made things difficult in the hospital since DH only stayed 1 night and then went home to care for our other 2 children. I hate asking for help, so I only had her out with the nurses when I knew I couldn't stay awake anymore.
Her brother and sister can't get enough of her and want to constantly hold her. She's nursing well and sleeping better now that we're home. My recovery is going well too.
I checked into the hospital at 5 pm 8/22 to begin ripening my cervix since I was still 2 cm, 50%, and -2. Slept from 12 am to 2 am ish. Tossed and turned and went in and out of sleep from 2 to 6 am ish. Nurse came in and said the midwife would check me at 7:30. The nurse also got me a birthing ball to sit on bc I was having contractions that were a little stronger.
I probably sat on the ball for about a half hour and then I started to walk back and forth with increase pain from the contractions. I woke DH at 725 am saying I was going to be checked very soon. When I was checked at 735-745 I was 6 cm and they scrambled around to get my epidural ready. But in the 5 or so minutes it took I was needing to push and leaking amniotic fluid. I was checked and was 10 cm! DH says I pushed for 4 mins and out she came!
Although I really wanted an epidural, I am happy with the med free birth outcome. I definitely had fear of the unknown bc I thought contractions would have been a lot worse.
Here is Ann.ika Ge.ne born 8/23 at 757 am. 8 lb 2 oz, 21". We are so in love!
Me (32) DH (34) | |
BFP #1 4/5/12 | Natural m/c on 4/18/12 (6w1d)
BFP #2 8/23/12 | DS born 5/3/13
BFP #3 12/6/15 | DD born 8/23/16
BFP #4 2/22/19 | EDD 10/28/19
ETA: Birth story
I went into the hospital feeling calm and ready for my scheduled induction. I had been induced with DS1 at the same hospital for the same reason (past due) so I knew what to expect. L&D was very busy that morning so although we arrived at 7:30am, Cervadil was not placed until 10:15am. I was less than 1cm dilated and 50% effaced. I felt my first contraction shortly after noon and spent the next few hours with period-like cramps. At 2:45pm I was at 3cm, still 50% effaced and baby was at -3 station. Pitocin was started at 3:30pm and didn't do much for the next few hours. Sat on the birthing ball to try to help move baby down, but I was pretty comfortable and bored for the most part. My doctor came to check on me and she laughed because I asked her to make things "less boring." At this point I was at 4cm and baby had dropped to -2 station so she felt comfortable breaking my water at 7:45pm.
Then things started amping up. Contractions became more intense right away. I continued to sit on the birthing ball, biding my time, knowing I'd be asking for the epidural soon. The epidural was placed at 9pm. Then doctor ran home to tuck her kids into bed (at my urging), ready to return to the hospital when L&D called her. I assumed it would still be several hours since I was still only at 4.5 cm. We turned the lights off so I could get some rest. (Up until this point, everything was nearly identital to my induction with DS1 so I assumed it would take a few more hours for my body to relax and progress to 10cm.)
The epidural was only working on one side; I was still feeling strong, painful contractions on my left. I buzzed the nurse and she was trying to reposition me and troubleshoot why the epi was not working; she assured me she'd have the anesthesiologist come back and replace it if we couldn't figure it out. Meanwhile, contractions continued to get more and more painful to the point where they weren't letting up and I felt like I was getting stabbed in the pelvis. There ended up not being time to get the epidural fixed because the nurse checked me at 10pm (only an hour after epi was placed) and I was complete. They quickly called my doctor to come back - she only lives 15 min. away - and I started pushing at 10:30pm. Pushing was a huge relief; the pain I'd had over that last hour had almost disappeared. The mood in the room was lighthearted; we were all chatting and laughing in between contractions (even me!). I pushed for 50 minutes and Collin came out sunnyside up and screaming! We did an hour of skin to skin while my 2nd degree tear was stitched up. Overall a much better and faster experience than my first. 5 days PP now and I feel 10 times better than I did after DS1!
We went in at 6am to start an induction with pitocin, starting at 3 centimeters and 75%. We started at a 2 and were up to 14 with the pitocin by 2pm. I was still not in labor and having inconsistent, unpainful contractions. They decided to break my water and boy did that get things started! I went from 3 to 10 within a few hours. I mostly labored in the tub. I pushed for about an hour, according to my husband, but I was so out of it I have no idea.
Baby Cora is doing great. We are both learning how to BF. She is so calm and just a dream. I'm in love.
He was born yesterday 8/23 at 11:17, 8 lbs 2 oz and 20 3/4 in.
Long version: I started have contractions at 9:30 Mon night that were 10 min apart. I tried to get some sleep and called my husband ( who was about 2 1/2 hrs away for work) around 2 when they were 6-7 min apart. I got a little more sleep from about 4-6am and they went back to 10 min apart. In the morning I spent about 2+ hrs walking around the mall. Once contractions were about 5 min apart we went to the hospital around 1ish. They checked me and I was only 2 cm with irregular contractions but they decided to admit me because I already had an induction scheduled for 5 pm on Tues.
I walked around and used the birthing ball and contractions started to get painful but were irregular by 6 I was still 2 cm and they decided to start the petocin. By about 8 I was in so much pain I asked for an epidural ( not the original plan). I was only 4 cm then but they decided i could have it. The difference was night and day. The epidural was so worth it even if it did mean I was stuck in bed. I got to sleep quite a bit after that.
I didn't get to 10cm and pushing time until about 10 on Wed morning. Pushing went really well and relatively painless with the epidural. He was out in less than an hour. I had 2 really great coaches!
Willa Louise was born on Thursday, August 11th at 7:13 pm. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 15 oz. and 20.5" long. She's got the red hair I was praying for and steel gray eyes.
I was induced the day before (at 41+1 weeks), but after 24 hours and absolutely no progress, my OB and I agreed a c-section was the best option. Recovering from major surgery + figuring out this newborn thing has me going crazy.
Congrats to all the mamas on your deliveries!
Sorry it took me forever. I have no idea where the time has gone. But we are team green turned pink on 8/23/16. Rhea Florence was born at 3:24am on Tuesday.
All Monday morning I had "early labor" contractions every 3 minutes... but they were not very painful and was very anxious as to whether things would actually happen as I was 41 weeks. I had my NST, ultrasound and membrane sweep and went home to rest. I napped and my contractions stopped around 6pm. I was so bummed and cried to DH about how it was never going to happen. Then we decided to try and have sex to relax and maybe get baby here... Well, immediately after sex I was thrown into full blown labor. I started shaking from the shift in hormones and my contractions were on top of each other. My doula came over and we called my midwife but then labored at home for 3 1/2 hours... then my husband said we should leave even though I was worried about going to early... we got to the hospital and they tried to place the IV like 6 times and kept missing my veins... finally they got it and checked me...I was 5cm and then immediately after my check my water broke.... then I labored while they got the spa tub ready so I could use that...
we walked to the spa room and had 3 contractions in the hallway. My DH was my rock along with my doula and her hip squeezes. I just kind of gave in and did whatever they instructed... we got to the room and my doula asked me to see if I wanted to pee before I got into the tub... well... I wanted to do it inbetween contractions... so I waited and held onto DH and noticed I was pushing... I couldn't verbalize it...so they led me over to the tub and I got in. I had one contraction and screamed "I'm pushing!!" and my doula kept saying its ok to m because I was panicking and I thought there is no way I'm ready... and then they checked me and I was 9cm but had a cervical lip. The midwife said she would hold it back while I pushed the baby past it. ( my mother had the same issue in childbirth). I had gotten to the hospital at midnight at it was 2:40 and we were pushing... I had to get out of the tub immediately because we had made it colder for me because my contractions kept making me boil, so it was not suitable to birth the baby in. I power walked back to my room because I thought the baby was going to fall out. I pushed until 3:24 and my daughter was born. I will never forget the crowning... the whole pushing process wasn't bad or painful... but I remember the crowning and had to sit there with her head half crowned while I waited for another contraction. I didn't realized that I let out a blood curdling scream when her head crowned... it was out of body like... and then I just pushed through it and I was done! I remember them calling out to me to over my eyes and then I pulled Rhea onto my chest.
I am very lucky with how fast everything went and how everything went med free and complication free. I attribute all of the coping to my doula... she was amazing and during my contractions I listened for her directions because I knew she would guide me through it.
I had my weekly appointment 8/24 and had been agonizing over whether or not to try to get an induction- my doctor leaves town today and wouldn't be available to deliver/induce until the 29th. Everything was perfect with baby at the appointment- I had perfect bp, very little swelling, and I wasn't that uncomfortable! Baby passed the NST and the ultrasound test with flying colors. My doctor said we would schedule for Monday and I guess I looked like I was going to cry!!! She said there was an opening at 7 that night and it was a really hard call.
We we checked in at 7, and my first dose of cytec was administered orally at 7:50. At the point of checkin I had not dilated or effaced at all. My cervix was extremely high and hard. Second dose was administered at 11:05. I had made no progress since last check. I was devastated, and thought about asking if I could just go home and try later.
Fast forward to midnight. I'm hit with the urge to poop, so I got out of bed and headed for the restroom-water broke all over me and the floor. I called the nurses desk and told them I'd either peed myself or that my water had broken. Yeah I sat down and it continued to ooze, there was sooooo much fluid!!! That's when my contractions got out of control. The next hour and a half were pure hell. I called for my epi pretty quick, but the anesthesiologist had to drive in from a town about 30 min away. In the mean time I threw up several times, had contractions on top of each other (way worse than pitocin contractions I had with DD). I kept progressing to the point that they almost didn't allow me the epidural because I was at a 6/7 and fully effaced. The epi made me shake the rest of labor, but it was so worth it!
By 3 I was pushing and my nurse wasn't sure my doc would make it, but it took awhile to get him to advance, turns out he was sunny side up, which he corrected, as well ask huge.
At 3:53 my doctor pulled him out and exclaimed that I had just pushed out a 10 lb baby! I had a small episiotomy and no tearing. He's perfect. We have to stay an extra day because it turns out I am GBS positive. We are so in love... Big sister is still trying to figure out the new baby situation, which will be the hardest part!!
Michaela Rae was born at 10:20 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016! On Friday of that week I felt gushes of fluid and decided to go to L&D to get checked. After an hour of being on the monitors (and experiencing several regular, but painless contractions) the test came back negative for fluid. The nurse told me I was too calm and that she doubted I would go into labor on my own (induction scheduled for Aug. 23). I fully believed her since I had no signs of labor, so I accepted that we would be induced and just tried to relax. However, my body had something else in mind. Early Saturday morning I was awaken with painful contractions, but they were so far apart and irregular that I chalked them up to painful braxton hicks and ignored them. Throughout the day the contractions got more intense. I continued to ignore them. When DH and I decided to go to bed that night around midnight, the contractions were pretty close together and so painful I couldn't breathe through them. I also started spotting around that time and lost my mucus plug. I decided to just get some rest and go to sleep assuming they would go away. But around 5 a.m. they were ranging from 5-7 minutes apart and so painful I started screaming through them. I woke up DH and told him to call out of work because there's no way I wasn't in labor. I called the on call nurse and she told me to go in right away and congratulated me on being in labor. We were so excited!
The ride to the hospital (40 minutes) was absolute hell with the contractions. We arrived around 6:45 a.m. and I got hooked up to the monitors yet again. I was having really strong contractions about 3 minutes apart. The nurse checked my cervix and while I was still only a half centimeter dilated, my water had officially broke, so I was admitted. As soon as they got me back in my room the contractions had worsened to the point where I threw my whole med free birth plan out the window and started screaming for an epidural (so proud of you ladies who were able to go med free!). Since I dilated to a centimeter and a half by that time (11 a.m.), they allowed me the epidural. From there things progressed quickly and over the course of the day I dilated to a 7. We experienced a scary moment where they had to re position me into "doggy style" because LO's heartbeat had become distressed. It was the most terrifying moment for me with nurses rushing around me, placing oxygen on me and monitoring her heart rate closely. But thankfully everything was OK after that.
I told my doctor weeks ago that I have a family history of emergency c-section and that I was concerned it would happen to me as well in case it was genetic. She agreed that we wouldn't wait for it to become emergency and they would take her as soon as there was any signs it was headed in that direction. Well, throughout the day she noticed I was dilating, contractions were getting closer together and stronger, but baby just couldn't drop past my pubic bone. Finally at 9 p.m. she called it and the c-section was scheduled for 10 p.m. Even though I fully expected this to happen, I ugly cried on the c-section table out of fear and shook so bad that once LO was out, they knocked me out for closing. I woke up in recovery with my baby girl and DH sitting right next to me. We immediately did skin to skin and breast fed. She latched on like a champ and we've been working on it ever since!
DH and I can't be more in love with the newest addition to our family. We haven't slept in days and are struggling to find a routine at night, but whenever I look into that beautiful face I know it's all worth it.
**Removed for TOU violation**
Little miss Ahtaea was born at home (as planned) 8/22 in the early morning. She came into the world in my living room with my midwife, her student and her assistant, hubby, my Mamma and my MIL in attendance. We are all doing great!
Hubby and I absolutely adore our little girl. This pic is just before they put her hat on her, about 3hrs after birth.