Gideon Robert was born at 5:01 pm on October 1st. He weighs 7 lbs 4 oz and is 18.5 inches long. I was at 4 cm when I got to the hospital, but I was not having strong contractions. The doctor broke my water at 11:45 to get labor going. At around 2:45, I was at 9 cm, but baby was still really high. I got an epidural and waited about two hours. Pushed for about 15 minutes and out came Gideon. We're so excited to introduce him to his big brother later today.
Late post but I've just been recovering and spending time with baby. Macie Elizabeth Mae was born September 30 at 11:28 a.m. after a scheduled c section. 8lbs 8 ounces and 20.5 inches. I couldn't imagine loving anyone this much, but here she is. I just hold her for hours looking at her. Still getting the hang of nursing but not gonna give up.
I don't post here often but decided to post our announcement. Sawyer was due 10/7 but was induced and born 9/21 due to high blood pressure. I went nearly epidural free until the pushing part as the anesthesiologist was busy and didn't get there until the end. I went from 5cm-10cm in 15 min and it was super crazy intense. I pushed for about 15 minutes and ended with an episiotomy. Little guy was 7lbs11oz and 21.5inches tall which was huge for being as early as he was
Grayson Samuel was born at 2:01pm, 7 lbs 9 oz and 20 in via c-section due to breech. He is perfect and i still feel great (but tired) with whatever pain meds they are giving me.
Rowan Jack was born via C section last night at 10:47pm. He was 39w 3d, weighed in at 6lbs 13 ounces and 18.5 inches long. We are over the moon in love with him!
Evelyn Rose was born today at 1:24 pm at 7 lbs 5oz and 19 inches. After a weekend of trying many old wives tales to naturally induce labor, my water broke at 2 am. Went to hospital and was 3 cm dialated but contractions weren't painful. Walked around wing to speed things up and by 9 am I was dying in pain and 4 cm. Got an epidural and some pitocin, took a nap, and by 1 pm it was time to push. Pushed for about 30 minutes and out she came... no tears and no stitches! Couldn't have asked for a smoother delivery or sweeter baby!
Meet Jolene Margot. She arrived 10/2 at 9:18pm, 6.9 pounds and 18 inches. Water broke at 7:15 am with no contractions so I showered and did last minute work stuff, was admitted at 9:30 at 1cm and a high thick cervix. We thought we were in for the long haul, at around 1 started pitocin and I was having a baby at 9:18pm, we jumped from 3.5 cm dilated to 6.5 in one hour and the next hour it was time to push!
Warning, this will be long. Wanted to recount it in detail.
On Saturday night, October 1st, DH and I together with my stepdaughters took our last evening walk after dinner as a family of 4. My 8 year old SD said "the baby is coming tonight Anna. Your breathing is different."
Sure enough at 2am on sunday, October 2nd I woke up to pee and felt my water broke. We called L&d who told us to go ahead and head over. I showered, took my time to pack last minute stuff and make sure the cat was good for the next few days.
Together with my husband and two SDs we headed to the hospital and I was admitted at about 330am. I was only dilated to 1cm (after previously being told a week before that I was at a 3!) and was told the cervix was behind baby's head. I still don't understand that part.
Walked around the hospital from the time I was admitted to about 10am to get labor going. My SDs were gone by that time. At 1230pm I was only at 3cm. I said yes to pitocin and got things going. At 530pm I got checked and was at 5cm. Got my epidural in place. After that I was pretty much bed bound.
I used the peanut ball the entire time and labored on my side. Baby's heart rate would drop every time I had a Contraction and I was laying on my left, so I stayed on my right after that.
At 8pm they gave me a bolus because I could still feel the Contraction pains on my left side. I went to sleep once bolus kicked in, and DH and I got a good 2 hour nap in before we were woken up at midnight by the midwife. She said she wasn't happy with how his heart rate kept slowing down with each Contraction that she was considering putting in a kind of catheter to see more clearly what's happening with the baby and if necessary add more fluid. DH and I were alarmed and had never heard of this catheter.
Thankfully that didn't have to happen because she checked me and found I was at 10cm and it was time to start pushing.
For an hour, I pushed on my side with every Contraction with just DH and the nurse. Then the nurse calls the midwife and says it's baby time! I was made to lay on my back and push.
Pushing without feeling anything down there was strange, but the midwife had me reach down to touch his head when he was crowning so I knew how close he was. After about 10 minutes of pushing he was completely out. All 6.14lbs of him. Hearing him cry was the most magical thing in the world. It's true what everyone says, your heart grows so much bigger.
After waffling for days on what his middle name should be, we finally decided on the perfect name for him.
O16, meet Isaac Asher. Born on the eve of Rosh Hashanah on October 3rd at 1:07am 6.14lbs and 18.25 inches long.
Grayson Michael arrived yesterday Oct 3rd at 4:44 pm! 37 weeks and 2 days. 8lb, 1oz. 20.5 in!
I started contracting every 3 minutes on Sunday night after getting home from work, but they were very tolerable. I knew I was in very early labor as the contractions felt different than the Braxton Hicks. Went to bed and woke up Monday and the contractions continued about every 2 minutes but getting stronger. I decided to have my mother-in-law come stay with my daughter and my husband picked me up to take me to L&D. When I was first checked I was 3.5 cm dilated and 70% effaced. 2 hours went by being strapped to monitors and laying in bed (contractions still getting stronger but still tolerable) and I was still 3.5 cm and 70% so they sent me home at 2:30. My OB said he wanted me to cook him a while longer!
I get home and all of a sudden I was in tears from the contractions and (TMI) I had the bloody show so we decided to go back. They checked me back in and I couldn't even get changed. I was sobbing up against the wall fighting the urge to push so the nurse said to stop and get into the bed your very active and when they checked me I was complete and waters bulging. No time for an IV or epidural. 12 minutes from the time I got into my room and baby Grayson arrived. I doubt I would have been willing or able go unmedicated unless I had no choice like in this situation, but I got to experience it all natural! It was excruciating but totally worth it. What a crazy whirlwind!
Edit to add: he came out so fast and with the cord around his neck that his face is bruised, but it is slowly getting better.
Robert Lee arrived on Oct 4 at 2:28 pm. He weighed 6lb 13 oz and was 17 inches long. Went in at midnight tO start antibiotics before induction. The doctor broke my water just before 8am. I had planned on going pain med free, but opted for the epidural. Within an hour i had the epidural placed. I basically slept through all of my labor and felt very little pressure from any contractions. Finally at 2pm i was ready to push. Not being able to feel my contractions, my awesome L&D Nurse coached me through pushing through the contractions. My son came out screaming 30 minutes later. We are doing well and he is doing really well with breast feeding. TB won't let me upload a picture of our sweet baby boy, but take my word for it, he is absolutely beautiful.
Mr. K. Made his way into the world 10/4/16 at6:51am 38 weeks + 3 days old. He was 6'11" and 19" of pure fuzzy love!! Contractions began 10/3 (hubs bday) around 11:30pm and my water broke on its own 90 mins later (2nd baby/2nd time it broke on its own) and my contractions went from appx 8 mins apart to 4 mins apart and got to 2 mins apart in the car on the way to the hospital.
Arrived dilated to about 5cm and labored on birthing ball for several hours. Until the "head is in the 90th %" echoed for the 1000th time and asked for an epidural (which they messed up and had to redo while I was in active labor). By 6:35am I was ready to push and push I did!! 10 minutes later he was born!!!
He's a wig baby with tons of black fluff on his perfect giant head and he is nursing very well. I have a 2nd degree tear which is not too bad. But the PP cramping is most def painful!!
We are all so blessed to be able to bring life into the world! All of the O16 babies already born are so precious! Congrats to my fellow new moms and soon to be new moms!!
Love and luck to all on your and your new babies' journeys!!!
My bp had been high for about 3 weeks, and at my weekly appointment last Friday, she thought it was too high and wanted me to come to l and d for monitoring. Once we got here, the dr on call was like, oh we're not sending you home with numbers this high when it's safe to deliver at 39w.
They put in Cervadil to ripen my cervix Friday night. Sat am I was at 2 and they started Pitocin. Sat night I was only at 3 and utterly exhausted so we decided to pause for the night and do Cervadil again.
Sunday am I was at 3.5 or 4 and went back on Pitocin. They decided to break my water at 3:15 because they were having a hard time keeping him on the monitors and they can only do internal monitors after water has been broken. From there we flew- iv pain meds cause it got intense fast, then turned around and got the epi. About a half hour later I told the nurse i felt like I had to push pee out, which was impossible since I had a catheter. She told me I would know when it was real and to wait it out. About 15 minutes later I called her back and asked her to check- if that wasn't it I didn't know how I was going to make it to the real thing. She said- you're going to make a liar out of me- his head is right there! I started pushing at 6 and he was out at 6:59pm. 2 2nd degree tears- ouch!
We are doing great! He had some jaundice issues so we have been supplementing formula, but should be going home today!
For those of you gals who aren't on FB, Olivia Starle joined us on 10/4 at 11:35AM (on her due date!). She weighs 7lbs, 4 oz and is 20 inches long!!
On Monday at my doctor's appointment, I was only 1 cm and not effaced. My OB and I discussed induction for the following week because it looked like nothing was going to happen. I was having some transient back pain that was apparently labor because baby was sunny side up. At around 10pm, I got myself ready to head into the hospital as contractions were less than 5 minutes apart and pretty strong. When I got here, I was still only 1 cm. They had me walk for an hour, which moved dilation to 2. They gave me a shot of fentanyl for the back pain and sent me home to rest. The shot lasted about 4 hours! When I got up, contractions were 100x worse. I took a 45 minute warm shower to try and ease the back pain before coming back to the hospital.
When I got here the second time, I was dialated to 6! They tried to get me admitted and good to go. The anesthesiologist was in the middle of a c-section, so by the time I got my epidural, I was dialated to 9. Within the hour I was pushing, and after 35 minutes she was here!
I wasn't going to do one of these b/c I've been MIA from this board for awhile, but I'm planning to get more involved now (was having some weird PGAL/family stuff that made talking about pregnancy the last thing I wanted to do).
Ellen was born at 38 weeks, 6 days on September 28, 2016. I started having contractions at 4am on 9/27, so I tried to rest for a bit, then walked around my neighborhood until things picked up. We went to the hospital around 4pm, and I was only dilated to 3. I walked around the hospital for 1.5 hours and was at 4 and 80% effaced when I got back. I was admitted at about 8:30, had an epidural at 9:30 (best decision ever), and they broke my water at 1am. By 4am I was fully effaced and 9 cm dilated, so I labored down for another 45 minutes, and she came in 4 contractions - just about 15 minutes of pushing. She weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces, and was 19.5 inches long.
Breastfeeding went really well in the hospital, but was terrible when we got home. We're seeing a great lactation specialist and she's doing so much better now!
Team Green turned to Team Blue here Sean Peter John was born October 4th at 7:33am 7lbs 13.9oz 19.7 inches long. He came out so fast his poor little face was battered so he is swollen.
Team green turned team blue, meet Gabriel Max! He was born October 7th 8:14 am and was 7lbs 9 oz, 20 inches. I woke up around 2 am with some mild cramps and tried to go back to sleep. By 3 am I could tell they were definitely contractions and coming every 8 minutes. I got up drank some water and eat a small snack and they went back to being tolerable and every 12 minutes. By 5 am they were back 8 minutes and strong, so I tried to get a hold of my mom who was supposed to watch our toddler during the labor. We got the hospital at 6:20 am and when I was checked I was 4 almost 5 dialated. I begged for pain meds as soon I got in the room but by the time I got registered and an IV in me it was too late. I went from being dialated 5 to 10 in less than one hour. My water never broke the doctor had to break it (when she finally made it there). The nurses said I pushed for 15 minutes and the baby was out. For me it felt like I pushed for ever because the pain was so intense. I did have a 1st degree tear but overall I feel good. Baby is doing great and breastfeeding is still a work in progress but we are getting the hang of it.
I was admitted to the hospital Wednesday October 5 for planned c-section the morning of the 6th at 39w+3d due to breech positioning and high bp.
Team blue turned team pink! (hahah) as baby Abigail was born at 8:20 am and weighed 3.1 kg (6.8 lbs). The moments in between feeling her lifted out of me and her first cry felt like eternity! They brought her up for me to see her face and then flipped her around and I let out a laugh because sure enough she's full girl! So much for ultrasounds in Tanzania.
We are still waiting on my milk to come in and one nipple has decided to go flat but we are pushing forward. We were discharged yesterday afternoon and are home recovering.
BFP #1 - MC Dec 2, 2015 (@ 9weeks) BFP #2 - Feb 2, 2016 --EDD 10/10/16 --Abigail- October 6, 2016. Heart warrior. October 2017- Began fostering to adopt T, (DOB:November 19, 2013)
Baby Zhuri Elizabeth was born 10/8 at 7:33am. 7lbs 5.8oz and 21" long.
Thursday night (10/6) after getting my membranes stripped by my OB the previous day and feeling mild cramping, I began to get contractions but not anything I didn't think I was able to handle. I went for a walk with my sister around 8pm then got home and drank lots of water to see if the pain would ease up.
At about 7am Friday morning I woke up to very painful contractions every 5m and lasting about 2m each. Took a hot shower to ease up the pain a little and notified SO that i felt like it was go time. We headed to L&D around 9am with my mom and by the time I was triaged I was already 5cm dilated and was immediately admitted.
Long Story short it took me 12 hours to reach 10cm!!! (Even after the pitocin) by this time of course my epidural had wore off and I was in excruciating pain. Baby was faced sunny side up and was having a hard time laboring down. After pushing for several hours, and having the doctor cut me open at the same time she finally came out 7:33am the next day!
She was having trouble breathing due to her swallowing some of her meconium and was rushed to the NICU. She's doing a lot better now and we're just waiting for the doctor to let us know when we can bring her home. FX that we can take her home tomorrow!! She's such a sweet strong baby!
Edited to add birth story. Could be missing a few details somewhere in there but right now this is all I remember lol
Reagan Marie was born via emergency c-section Friday, October 7th at 3:47pm!
When I woke up Friday morning, I felt like something was off. She hadn't moved much and she's a very active baby. Luckily, I had a doctor's appointment already scheduled for that morning at 10. When I got there, they sent me to ultrasound to check things out. Her heartbeat was strong and she moved around enough, but the doctor wasn't satisfied with "enough" considering how active she usually is, so they sent me to L&D to be monitored. Once I got there, they told me that the contractions I had been having we're real, not BH, and I was dilated to 4cm, so they decided to induce. When the doctor broke my water, she saw that Reagan had her first poop in the womb. Even still, they agreed to let me try for a vaginal delivery, so they gave me an epidural and let me ride out a couple contractions, but with every one, Reagan's heart rate was dipping, so she made the call to do a c-section and away we went! It all happened so fast that the spinal didn't have time to take full effect, so I had a good bit of pain during the procedure. Good news was that when they did a deep suction on Reagan's lungs, they barely got any meconium, so the doctor concluded that she must've just pooped that day and hadn't been breathing it in for long at all. Her umbilical chord was like a phone chord, all curled up, so they think that's why her heart rate was dipping after contractions.
After all that, we're left with the most precious, perfectly health baby girl with a full head of black hair! Born at 38w3d, she weighed 5lb 13oz and is 19 inches long.
I went to my regular OB check up on Thursday 10/6. My blood pressure was elevated and doc asked me to go L&D triage to "get some baseline labs and make sure it's safe to keep waiting". So I did. My hemoglobin was low, my BP went below my normal, and me and Wade's heart rates wouldn't go down. The doc on call was worried that I had ruptured since I was a VBAC, so she said her gut was we needed to have a baby today. So went into the OR.
No abruption (yay!). When she started she said she was going to cut off my old scar tissue and get me a much prettier one lol. Wade Zigmund was born at 6:16pm on Thursday October 6. 9lbs 1oz, 21" long. Doc commented that I had several thin spots on my uterus and so we probably would have had a bad VBAC experience. Also the cord was around his neck and my placenta was giving her enough grief getting detached from my uterus that she called in another doctor to consult/help. Together they got it loose and sewed me up. My incision is much prettier this time lol. I have all internal stitches which will be a minimal scar line at best she said. All the docs and nurses say it looks great too, which is good
A few hours after we got settled into our room, Wade started throwing up mucus, which we were warned was going to happen since csection babies didn't have that push through the birth canal to force any of it out. But he kept acting like he was choking on it, so I called the nurse. She came by and said it was totally normal, as was some pink some mucus-vomit. What wasn't fine was green. Well about 30 mins later he started throwing up bright green. Mind you we haven't fed since I was in recovery; he was just too sleepy, so there wasn't anything in there for him to be getting to be throwing up. The nurse takes him to the pediatrician, who he throws up green stuff on too. They take X-rays and don't like what they see, so about 4:30-5 NICU came and took my son.
After a day of waiting and testing, it was determined there is air in his intestinal wall. The NICU doc was really awesome, walked through everything and even showed us Wade's different X-rays so we could see what they were seeing.
Based on all that, we are on 7 days of bowel rest which started Friday as Day 1. After that we slowly introduce food for 4-5 days and see how he does. So pending how actual food goes, we could have him home in as little as 10 days from now (11 days total).
Because he can't eat, they suggested a PICC line in his arm to be able to get him bigger quantities of the nutrition solution. We agreed, cause poor little man acts starving all the time. The other alternative is to redo the IV multiple times, which sounded awful. The nurse practitioner said he was champ at putting it in last night, and he looks like he feels so much better.
Our doc check in this morning was wonderful. X-rays showed "marked improvement" and we are down to one foot stick a day for a glucose check. We are upping fluids and nutrition today. We have almost zero jaundice concerns, doc said his levels are practically record lows so he's not even going to bother to check for another 2 days. It was as good of a report as we ever could have hoped for.
I feel fabulous considering I had a 9lb baby ripped outa me. Motrin 800 and Percocets really do wonders; add a belly binder and I feel like Super Woman sometimes (although I was told not to act like it lol). I've taken a shower and warn "civies" as my doctor called my street clothes. It all just makes me feel more human.
Pumping is going decently well. Every time I get a few more drops of colostrum so I'm hopeful for a good supply; I had one with DD so no reason my body can't do the same for Mr. Wade.
I can't rave enough about our NICU. We have parent key cards which literally allow us 24/7 access to our son. The nurses have been wonderful and sweet, and like I said the doctor(s) have been very interactive and have communicated very well. We are very lucky to have this big children's hospital attached to where we gave birth and all sorts of resources close to home. I know some of our mamas had to drive far for what I have available within 15 mins of home, and my heart aches for you and helped me see how lucky we truly are.
Doc said with this type of issue, it was probably caused by stress in the uterus, and isn't usually caught until LO is at home, so by the time they get to the hospital, they are in bad shape. So another reason on why we're lucky; Wade doesn't act or look sick, even doc commented on how well he's acting.
If you read my whole story, thank you and I applaud you. I had a lot to say and I wanted to write everything down before I forgot.
And now, photos.
Daddy with Wade and his SD Elizabeth
Daddy and Wade doing skin to skin before we were whisked off to NICU.
Lucia Mae was born on Oct 6th at 920 pm. She was 2 weeks early - we got a medical induction due to gestational hypertension. She is 6lbs and 6oz, 18 inches long, and so wonderful. Labor was the hardest thing I've ever done, but we are recovering nicely and working on nursing!
We checked into the hospital around 5pm on the 5th and they placed my Foley bulb (I was only about 0.5 cm dilated at that point). It was quite tortuous because my cervix was so high. It took two doctors and all around not a great start to the induction process. I didn't have much of an appetite that night due to camping and even though they gave me an Ambien, I didn't get much sleep. They started me on Pitocin around 4am. The bulb was ready to come out around noon, and I spent a couple hours laboring in the tub and walking around until I got my first Epidural at 4pm. Life got better after that although I could still feel contractions in my hip and, later, in my bum. Turns out I could feel the contractions there because baby was so low and around 5ish I was fully dilated and felt ready to push! Unfortunately, the doc wasn't ready yet (super busy day in L&D due to a storm). When I finally did start pushing, I got extremely tired after about an hour since I was sleep and food deprived by this point. Doc said to rest a bit. Unfortunately, the Epidural had worn off and I was in quite a bit of agony and unable to rest. I got another Epidural, which did nothing, and asked my doc if we could use the vacuum to help me out since I knew I wasn't going to get any rest. Three pushes Later, Out pops Lucia! She was quite the sight for sore eyes, and her dad was giddy at the sight of her .
Glad to see I'm not the only one who dropped off the face of the earth after having my baby! Congrats to a you other mamas...love reading these birth stories and seeing all the babies!
Short version: Everett Grey was born October 1st at 3:22AM. He weighed 9lbs, 13oz and was 20.5" long. I *think* that puts me in the lead for chunkiest baby so far! Yay? I don't know about the rest of you, but 8 days out and I've already mostly forgotten the misery of pregnancy and labor. Bring on round 3!
LONG version: I went into labor on Friday September 30th, having painful contractions all day starting around 11AM. I started timing them, and they were about 7-8 mins apart by about 10:30PM. I couldn't take it anymore and called my midwife, even though she wanted me to wait until 4-1-1 (4 mins apart, 1 min in length, for 1 hour). She asked me to walk around a bit and come to the hospital in an hour or so. As soon as I started walking around they immediately went to 2.5 mins apart. I told my husband we better go before I have a baby in the car.
We got to the hospital about 11:30PM and right after we got checked in my water broke in the wheel chair. That didn't happen with my first, it was definitely a bizarre experience! I was checked by my midwife and at about 4.5-5 cm dilated, but I needed a bag of IV fluids before they'd give me an epidural, which I was told would take about 10-20 mins. Ummm, no. About an hour later and countless excruciating contractions, the IV bag was finally done and I got the epi. I was checked as soon as it kicked in and was 8cm. No clue what time it was at this point. Maybe an hour or so later I was at a 10 and ready to push though. About 15 mins of pushing, and a small episiotomy (apparently the scar tissue from my previous tearing was looking like it was likely to tear in multiple directions), baby was here.
He cried for about an hour after delivery, so unlike my daughter who was content right away. He scored I think an 8-9 on apgars and was healthy as could be! However, we sent him to the nursery that night to get a few hours sleep, and the nurses noticed his coloring around his mouth turned a bit blue as he sucked on a paci. They checked his oxygen levels, and his saturation was going down in the 60s and some points when it should be in the 90s. The nurses came to talk to us and mentioned some scary things like brain scan, EKG of his heart, and possible infections causing the "desats". To the NICU we went at 4:30AM on October 2nd.
Long story short, after some tense and scary moments, a clear EKG, and no infections on his 48 hour blood culture, it was determined he was completely healthy and just needed a couple days to adjust to being outside the womb. My heart goes out to you NICU mamas. There were some very sick babies there and my heart just broke for the stress their families were going through. And now, a pic of my little squishy babe. So far, he's the happiest, most content baby despite all the pokes and prods he had his first few days of life. Love him to bits!
I'm finally making it back. Adjusting to newborn life again and not forgetting to take care of your others kids is hard y'all lol. We were scheduled for induction Friday the 7th at 5:30am. Of course, I woke up to pee the night before and couldn't go back to sleep. I had to leave at 4am anyway to get my boys to my moms and get to the hospital on time so I just stayed up after 2.5 hours of sleep. Terrible decision. Right before we left, I went to let my dog back in and she got sprayed by skunk! Like literally right then. I don't have time to deal with it so I have to leave her outside when she's an inside dog and now I'm furious that I'm going to come home to that and I'm pretty sure I smell like skunk too. Whatever. I had to be there at 5:30 because the doctor that was delivering (not my regular doctor) likes to get started early. Fine, I can do that. With my last baby I had to be there at 7am, we got started a little after 8am and he was here at 12:14pm so I'm thinking the earlier the better so I can get back home. I should've known nothing was going as planned when I walked in smelling like a skunk. lol The doctor didn't show up until 8:30! Then he wanted to take it slow because of my history of "rapid labor" and all. Meaning my pitocin was pretty low and taking forever for me to dilate to 10cm. I think it was after 4pm before I made it and I was at 4cm when I got there. So after waiting patiently all day, exhausted and starving, Miss Hannah Kay made her appearance at 4:49pm, weighing 7lbs 12oz 19.75" and looking just like my middle baby. She has a full head of dark hair that I don't expect to stick around. Both of my boys lost their dark hair shortly after birth and are now blonde. Hopefully she will keep hers though, it's already good for bows! Breastfeeding has been rough. My nipples are ripped to shreds but she managed to go home at her birth weight and has only lost 7oz since. We saw the ped today and got her tongue tie clipped so I'm hoping we're both on the road to recovery. I also lost my mind and bought hospital pictures which I normally don't do. But I thought she did such a good job and she saw I was vulnerable and went in for the kill with the slideshow and sweet music. Oh well...it's my last baby and my only girl. I also remembered to take my last baby pic before I left which I usually forget!
Little miss M came to join us earth-side on the eighth of October! She was 41 weeks' gestation, 8lb 9oz, and 20 inches long (so much for "measuring small"! Thanks smart doctors).
I started to have uncomfortable early labor contractions at 11pm the 6th, and they were regular & 2-3 minutes apart by 3am on the 7th. I told DH we needed to go in...called my mom multiple times (who 7 days prior *insisted* we call her over to watch DS when it was time, "even at 3am!") and of course she didn't pick up. Called my cousin who promptly showed up ten minutes later... And off we went.
I was contracting well but only 1.5cm dilated, so I got a shot of morphine/phenergan in the butt and sent home. The in laws relieved my cousin on DS duty, and contractions slowed to a near stop...then picked up to 4-5 minutes apart and we went back in at 8pm. Still 1.5cm. I walked and did squats in triage for an hour (so awkward) a different nurse checked, and I was told I was 3cm and would be admitted! Yay right?
Except for then the first nurse came back and said "since cervical checks can be subjective across different people, for the sake of consistency I going to have to re-check you." Like 2 minutes after the other nurse checked. UM WTAF LADY, NO. I told her that I was still super painful from the last check, and WTH was the point of sending someone else in to check in the first place if that person's judgment wouldn't be trusted? And that I didn't want to subject myself or the baby to additional risk of infection with unnecessary extra frequent cervical checks. She started to give me some line about how "it's ok to labor at home and come back..." At which point I ask that she call my OB and see what they want to do with the exams we already had.
They admitted me 5 minutes later.
After a lovely epidural and 12 hours of labor more, she joined us!
ETA: feel free to laugh along with me at the over-the-top pink frilly girly outfit MIL decided to dress her in:
Zachary Nolan was born 2 hours before his due date. I gave him a pep talk that morning.
I started spotting in the morning and the doc said to go the hospital to get it checked out in case it was dilation. I got out of the car and my water broke in the parking lot.
I was fully dilated within 6 hours. He did have his first poo in utero so we kept an eye on him. I had to wait until he scooted down and then 3.5 hours of pushing. Intense pushing. Yikes! I may have thrown up at the very end when I had nothing left to push. With a little suction, he came out at 9:33 pm, 22 inches, 7 lbs 2 ounces and perfect.
Connor James was born October 8th at 10:23pm, 7lbs 5 oz and 20 in long. Sorry for anyone on the FB group if this is redundant. We live in Charleston and were evacuated Tuesday to Greenville, SC where my job has another branch. They put us in a hotel and I was working all week. I was feeling good but things were hectic being in a hotel with the dog and husband just waiting on the storm to pass.
On Friday morning my alarm went off and while I was laying there it felt like I leaked a little in my underwear. It happened again, so I got up and showered and was noticing contractions. When I wiped I noticed it was a little sticky, so I called my doctor. She told me to go on into the closest hospital to get checked. Being in a strange city, I started to panic, so DH called a local doggy day care and dropped the dog off just in case and took me up. I ended up going to the wrong location because they had a separate campus for labor and delivery. They took me by ambulance to the right location and I finally got checked. I lost my mucus plug while there but was only 1 cm dilated, so they sent me home. They said if contractions got worse or my water broke to come back. My job set me up with a new hotel right by the hospital and made sure the dog had somewhere to stay. DH and I went back to the hotel ate and took a nap. That night I was having more pain and was losing more mucus. I ate a big dinner and we walked laps around the hotel. At midnight I wasn't able to sleep and was back and forth to the bathroom, and at 1 i was washing my hands when there was suddenly a puddle under me and my water broke. I got DH up and back to the hospital we went.
They confirmed it was my water breaking, but I was still only 1 cm, so they admitted me and started pitocin. After a couple hours I was still only 1 cm but in pain, so they said I could have pain meds.The medication they gave me did not react well, I was immediately nauseous, hot and just out of sorts. I felt awful but couldn't verbalize the issue. I then broke down about being in a weird city, without my doctors or family. My family in Florida was trying to get to me, but with the storm roads were closed. Once that medication wore off, around 10am I was still only 1 cm dilated, but they said I could have an epidural. Once I got the epidural things started moving. Within an hour I was 4-5 cm, then 2 hours later at 7, and by 5 pm I was at 9. Things stalled at 9 and they were just waiting for one side of my cervix to thin out. My parents and sister got there at 6 and by 830 I started pushing, After an hour, the doctor came in and said I had a narrow pelvis and baby wouldn't be able to be pushed through and due to my efforts he would come out with a cone head. I tried to mentally prepare and they prepped me for surgery.
When they took Connor out he instantly started crying and so did I. The second I heard him my heart soared. I saw my husband tear up and they brought him over for me to see and the cleaned him. I remember being so out of it afterwards and most of the next day. Outside of pain and soreness I can't complain. We got released yesterday and made it back to Charleston with only part of our fence missing. Overall we got lucky with the storm and I'm so glad to have our family home and together!
I awoke to a contraction that felt different at around 2:45 am. My water broke (very mildly - really didn't know it was the water) about 30 minutes later. We had to book it to the hospital since I was GBS+. Got to the hospital 4 cm dilat d and 100%effaced. My plan was to go unmedicated, but my contractions were all in my back and had no breaks in between, so I opted for a small dose of IV pain meds. I felt that for about one contraction and then we were back to square one. I wanted another dose, but then they checked and I was at an 8 and trying to push, so it was too late. The doctor assisted in getting me from 8 to fully dilated , and pushing began. But E didn't do well with that and her heart rate dropped with every push. They discovered she had the cord around her neck. Forceps were used and she made her debut ! It was crazy and painful and not at all what I expected. But I am so, so glad she's here.
Reagan James entered the world this morning via scheduled c section weighing in at 7lbs 12oz and 19.5" long. I feel quite good pain wise, my spinal lasted a nice long time so I've been in good shape pain wise today. I've sure noticed the feeling contractions have been unreal brutal this time and he feeds like a little piggy, which is good cause my milk is already staying to come in! He has been pooping like crazy and his sisters are over the moon excited about him! Will have to edit later to add a picture cause I guess TB doesn't like me tonight!
Elle Abbott was born 10/10 weighing 7lb 10oz at 39 weeks, 1 day. Sunday afternoon my mom and I went to the mall. As soon as we walked back in the house, I felt a gush. I thought my water must have broken but I wasn't positive. As soon as I put on new underwear, there was a second big gush so I called my ob. We were admitted to the hospital around 3 on Sunday but I wasn't having regular contractions so they started pitocin and 11ish hours later, there she was!
I went to the OB Monday at 37w4d for a regular appointment and NST. Had a cervical check and I was 6 cm, 80% effaced, and not having regular contractions. My OB called the hospital and spoke with the on-call OB and they decided to induce since my other labors were fast. Got to the hospital around 2 pm. A resident checked me and hooked me up to the monitors in triage. I was having contractions but they weren't very strong or regular. Walked the halls for awhile and contractions picked up. Got checked again and was at 7 cm. Moved to a L&D room at 6:30 pm. At 9 pm they broke my water, I was at 8 cm. I labored sitting up for awhile but was feeling constant cramping in the my lower uterus, even between contractions. I laid down on my left side and contractions got more intense but I got a break between them. Suddenly felt the urge to bear down and push and it didn't go away when the contraction ended. The nurse called the OB into my room and I pushed for 3 minutes. Amelia was born at 11:02 pm on October 10, 6 lbs 12 oz and 18" long. We are so blessed and so in love!
Willow Ka'hikialani was born via repeat c-section on October 14th at 7:32 a.m. She weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces and was 19 inches long. My c-section went really smoothly and my recovery has been great (so far). This sweet girl has my heart.
Adrianna Jialong came along on October 12th after about 10 hours total of labor, 7 lbs 8 oz and 20 inches long, 39 weeks. I had been saying that she can come anytime after October 11th because I had a midterm to due on the 9th and our anniversary is the 11th and I didn't want her born on our anniversary. Well, she listened very well because I woke up with contractions at around 2 am on the 12th! I must have been in early labor and not even noticed, because when I woke up they were already 4-5 minutes apart and lasting about 45-60 seconds. I was convinced I still had a lot to go, especially after I called the triage nurse at L&D, and when she found out this was my first, she said to labor at home for awhile and don't call back or come in until they are about 2-3 minutes apart. After about half an hour I had to call back and say we were headed in because they were coming every 3 minutes. They checked me at triage and said I was 5 cm, so we headed back to the labor room. The doctor came in to assess me, and I swear not 15 minutes after the nurse said I was 5 cm all of a sudden I was at 9 cm. I had wanted to go medication free, but since the labor was going so fast and I thought I still had about 12 more hours of this, I asked for the epidural. They had it placed within another 20 minutes, and she gave me a pretty heavy dose since I had progressed so much. I loved the epidural, best thing ever! Right after the epidural they broke my water and I was at 10 cm and complete. I got to labor down for about 2 hours, and after another 2 hours of pushing, she was here! The end of pushing was definitely the worst part since I asked for the epidural to be turned down so I would make good progress, but it was immediately worth it when she came out :-) We're at home now, trying to figure out breastfeeding and how to get her to sleep without one of us holding her. My husband has been fantastic through it all.
Ashton Oliver joined us 10/14/16 at 2:42pm via emergency c-section weighing in at 6lbs 13?oz!! Went into to regular OB appointment on 10/13 with complaints of a persistent headache and just sort of feeling "off". My protein turned up positive and my BP ended up being 160/110.... (I had severe pre-E with my oldest that resulted in emergency deliver at 35w). Doc sent me to L&d for more labs and monitoring and after waiting all day for land they finally decided to go ahead and induce since I was term 38w5d. My H was still in the process of trying to get DS handed off to our parents so it took him quite awhile to get to the hospital which gave me some quiet napping time. I started out with a very high, thick cervix and only dilated about 1cm. They started the pitocin low and slow and tried twice (ouch) to insert the balloon to help dilate. We ended up laboring all night long and were finally able to get some sleep after getting my epidural around 6am. Got to 9cm and had pretty heaving contractions around 12:30 and we began to push. Unfortunately baby's head wasn't making any progress and my epidural decided to run out right when I began pushing.... I pushed quite vigorously for almost 90 minutes and then ended up needing the emergency C-section. Apparently I lost quite a bit of blood during surgery so I've now had two blood transfusions which has helped me, but with surgery and the blood issues we've been having a few difficulties with breastfeeding. Hoping to go home by Monday and continue to try and BF and get to feeling better. It's been a tough few days.
Charles Shelton is here! Induction started around 9:30 pm on 10/8. A few hours of cervadil and I went to 3cm. They broke my water at 4cm around 7am. Epidural went in around 8am and I went from 4-10 in an hour. I was needing to push and the doc said they would check me again in about an hour.....1 hour! Hell no! 3 "practice pushes" layer his head was out. DH was crying and the nurse was yelling at him to hurry and push the call button to get a dr in the room. 10:33am our little guy was born at 6lbs 11oz and 17.5 in long!
Logan Matthew was born on October 16 @ 305pm. 10lb 5oz and 22 inches long. He was born one day short of his due date. I think that's the record for this birth month so far. I started having contractions a few days ago but they stopped and started until last night around 9. I timed them to be 5 minutes apart and decided to call the md who told us to head to the hospital. As I grabbed my bags and prepared to leave, my water broke. We got to the hospital and I was 3 cm and 80% effaced. At around 4 am I was to 9cm. I stayed there for a while so they started pit. It took several hours to finally get to push. I pushed for an hour and 15 minutes before this ham came. After delivery he wasn't breathing well and was taken to the nursery after we I held him for a short time. The doc said I had 4th degree tears and sewed me back together. My placenta was being a pain so she had to manually remove it. I felt a gush of warm and though it was strange and it kept pouring out. I started to hemorrhage so they rushed me to the OR where they did a D & C. I need 4 units of blood and almost died due to the massive amount of blood loss. Since then my son and myself have been doing well and recovering. I could not have made it through without my strong DH.
Genevieve "Evie" Debra born October 14 at 4:18 pm 7 lbs 5 oz 18" long
Checked into hospital at 8am Friday morning for induction at 40+6 already being dilated to a 4. Started pitocin and broke water around 11:30. Contractions started getting stronger soon after but still manageable. Dr did a cervix check around 3pm and I was at a 6. Laid down on bed and used the peanut ball that my doula brought. Contractions started getting very very intense and started accepting that I needed an epidural. Hubby went out to get the nurse to have her come in so we could tell her to get the anesthesiologist. At the moment the nurse came in at 4pm I said I felt like I needed to poop, rolled on my back and could only think of pushing. Nurse checked I was at 10 and baby was right there. Called my ob who was 10 minutes away. Had to have doula and hubby talk me down to wait. Hospital ob came in and got ready and then immediately after my ob showed up. Had to focus on not pushing for 3-4 contractions. Once she was ready I could push and she came out in 3 pushes at 4:18pm! Overall around 5 hours of labor. So glad I didn't have to get an epidural but this was definitely the hardest thing I have ever done.
Lilah Elyse made her entrance in this world on Wednesday, October 5 at 6:15 pm. She weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 19 1/4 inches long.
I woke up at 12:25 am on Wednesday thinking, "Oh I have pee again," and then 1 second later my water broke in the bed (so glad we have a waterproof mattress protector). So I woke DH up and told him my had broken and I was taking a shower. I had a hard time convincing him that we had plenty of time for me to do this but I was not about to ride to the hospital covered in fluid. DH got the bag and truck ready. When I got out of the shower, I made the bed and started the sheets and off we went.
We got to the hospital around 1:30 am and checked into triage. I was only 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Since my water had broken they didn't want to check my cervix too often for risk of infection and said that they didn't want me to labor much more than 18 hours. I walked the halls and experienced very mild contractions for the first few hours. At 6:00 am they checked again and I was still only dilated at 1 cm so they started me on Pitocin.
At that point, the contractions started coming much more fast and furiously. Around 8:00 am, I started experiencing back labor but could still walk through it. By 2:00 pm, I was convinced that I couldn't do this and asked for an epidural. My epidural was in by 3:30 and I was dilated to 4 cm. I am fortunate to have an amazing epidural! If people would have not kept coming in my room, I could have napped until it was time to push.
At 4:15 pm, the doctor came in to check my cervix again. He was like, "Oh interesting". I was thinking to myself that if I'm still only 4 cm I'm going to lose it. Turns out I was 10 cm and fully effaced. They sat the bed up and let me labor down until 6:00 pm. I was shaking the entire time from excitement/nervousness/being scared shitless/hormones. I pushed for 15 minutes and she was here.
Jaina Alexandria was born on October 14 at 4:27pm weighing 7 lb. 6 oz. and 20½ inches long. I haven't been taking pictures so I don't have any good ones on my phone. We should probably get on that.
The story: We really wanted her to be born on her due date, October 13. I was really grumpy the whole day and my Braxton Hicks contractions seemed more painful and frequent, so I started timing them. They were 10-12 minutes apart most of the day, but growing closer that night. About the time I usually go to bed, they were up to 5 min 15 sec apart, and I was waiting until they were less than five. BUT then they spaced out again. So all night contractions were 8-10 minutes apart but sometimes as long as 15-20 minutes apart (not counting those I missed). It hurt so much, I called my doctor first thing in the morning even though I had an appointment at 10. She told me I could go ahead and just come in. I was dilated 5-6 cm, so she sent me to the hospital. They were surprised that my contractions were effective based on their spacing. I asked for the epidural right away and it took time to administer based on my previous back surgery. Afterward it was really nice for a little while. I felt contractions only as a slight twinge in my left butt cheek. But then they started me on pitocin (because they wanted closer contractions for the pushing stage) and they started feeling like terrible vagina cramps. My nurse told me that was the pressure of the baby and not because of the pitocin or an epidural gap, but I don't believe her. They had me start pushing what felt was right away. I don't know how long I was pushing because it was terrible. I just tried to breathe for the baby in between and push despite the pain for the baby otherwise. She was having some trouble with her heart rate during this stage so they were hurrying me. I did manage to get her out somehow (I felt like my pushing was doing zero) though I did get a second degree tear. It could have been a lot worse, given that I pretty much expected my body would tear.
I'm having a hard time adjusting. We had a lot of trouble breastfeeding at first and my nipples are a bit damaged, though it is going better. I have no idea what to do with this baby and feel like I'm making so many mistakes. I'm sure if I ever get used to this new schedule I'll be posting a lot of questions. Jaina, meanwhile, is perfect and my husband is amazing.
Re: October 2016 Birth Announcements
I was at 4 cm when I got to the hospital, but I was not having strong contractions. The doctor broke my water at 11:45 to get labor going. At around 2:45, I was at 9 cm, but baby was still really high. I got an epidural and waited about two hours. Pushed for about 15 minutes and out came Gideon. We're so excited to introduce him to his big brother later today.
IVF #1 1/10-transfered 2 blasts- DS born 10/2010
March 2015- Chemical pg
1/25/16- BFP Beta1 12dpo = 17, Beta 2 14 dpo = 28.. resulted in one beautiful boy born 9/21/16
Now I'm a stay at home loving life and pursuing my love of photography!!!
On Saturday night, October 1st, DH and I together with my stepdaughters took our last evening walk after dinner as a family of 4. My 8 year old SD said "the baby is coming tonight Anna. Your breathing is different."
Sure enough at 2am on sunday, October 2nd I woke up to pee and felt my water broke. We called L&d who told us to go ahead and head over. I showered, took my time to pack last minute stuff and make sure the cat was good for the next few days.
Together with my husband and two SDs we headed to the hospital and I was admitted at about 330am. I was only dilated to 1cm (after previously being told a week before that I was at a 3!) and was told the cervix was behind baby's head. I still don't understand that part.
Walked around the hospital from the time I was admitted to about 10am to get labor going. My SDs were gone by that time. At 1230pm I was only at 3cm. I said yes to pitocin and got things going. At 530pm I got checked and was at 5cm. Got my epidural in place. After that I was pretty much bed bound.
I used the peanut ball the entire time and labored on my side. Baby's heart rate would drop every time I had a Contraction and I was laying on my left, so I stayed on my right after that.
At 8pm they gave me a bolus because I could still feel the Contraction pains on my left side. I went to sleep once bolus kicked in, and DH and I got a good 2 hour nap in before we were woken up at midnight by the midwife. She said she wasn't happy with how his heart rate kept slowing down with each Contraction that she was considering putting in a kind of catheter to see more clearly what's happening with the baby and if necessary add more fluid. DH and I were alarmed and had never heard of this catheter.
Thankfully that didn't have to happen because she checked me and found I was at 10cm and it was time to start pushing.
For an hour, I pushed on my side with every Contraction with just DH and the nurse. Then the nurse calls the midwife and says it's baby time! I was made to lay on my back and push.
Pushing without feeling anything down there was strange, but the midwife had me reach down to touch his head when he was crowning so I knew how close he was. After about 10 minutes of pushing he was completely out. All 6.14lbs of him. Hearing him cry was the most magical thing in the world. It's true what everyone says, your heart grows so much bigger.
After waffling for days on what his middle name should be, we finally decided on the perfect name for him.
O16, meet Isaac Asher. Born on the eve of Rosh Hashanah on October 3rd at 1:07am 6.14lbs and 18.25 inches long.
We are so smitten.
I started contracting every 3 minutes on Sunday night after getting home from work, but they were very tolerable. I knew I was in very early labor as the contractions felt different than the Braxton Hicks. Went to bed and woke up Monday and the contractions continued about every 2 minutes but getting stronger. I decided to have my mother-in-law come stay with my daughter and my husband picked me up to take me to L&D. When I was first checked I was 3.5 cm dilated and 70% effaced. 2 hours went by being strapped to monitors and laying in bed (contractions still getting stronger but still tolerable) and I was still 3.5 cm and 70% so they sent me home at 2:30. My OB said he wanted me to cook him a while longer!
I get home and all of a sudden I was in tears from the contractions and (TMI) I had the bloody show so we decided to go back. They checked me back in and I couldn't even get changed. I was sobbing up against the wall fighting the urge to push so the nurse said to stop and get into the bed your very active and when they checked me I was complete and waters bulging. No time for an IV or epidural. 12 minutes from the time I got into my room and baby Grayson arrived. I doubt I would have been willing or able go unmedicated unless I had no choice like in this situation, but I got to experience it all natural! It was excruciating but totally worth it. What a crazy whirlwind!
Edit to add: he came out so fast and with the cord around his neck that his face is bruised, but it is slowly getting better.
Baby #2: Grayson EDD 10/22/16
10/3/16 6:49pm
8lb 2oz, 20.5 in
We are doing great! He had some jaundice issues so we have been supplementing formula, but should be going home today!
On Monday at my doctor's appointment, I was only 1 cm and not effaced. My OB and I discussed induction for the following week because it looked like nothing was going to happen. I was having some transient back pain that was apparently labor because baby was sunny side up. At around 10pm, I got myself ready to head into the hospital as contractions were less than 5 minutes apart and pretty strong. When I got here, I was still only 1 cm. They had me walk for an hour, which moved dilation to 2. They gave me a shot of fentanyl for the back pain and sent me home to rest. The shot lasted about 4 hours! When I got up, contractions were 100x worse. I took a 45 minute warm shower to try and ease the back pain before coming back to the hospital.
When I got here the second time, I was dialated to 6! They tried to get me admitted and good to go. The anesthesiologist was in the middle of a c-section, so by the time I got my epidural, I was dialated to 9. Within the hour I was pushing, and after 35 minutes she was here!
I wasn't going to do one of these b/c I've been MIA from this board for awhile, but I'm planning to get more involved now (was having some weird PGAL/family stuff that made talking about pregnancy the last thing I wanted to do).
Ellen was born at 38 weeks, 6 days on September 28, 2016. I started having contractions at 4am on 9/27, so I tried to rest for a bit, then walked around my neighborhood until things picked up. We went to the hospital around 4pm, and I was only dilated to 3. I walked around the hospital for 1.5 hours and was at 4 and 80% effaced when I got back. I was admitted at about 8:30, had an epidural at 9:30 (best decision ever), and they broke my water at 1am. By 4am I was fully effaced and 9 cm dilated, so I labored down for another 45 minutes, and she came in 4 contractions - just about 15 minutes of pushing. She weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces, and was 19.5 inches long.
Breastfeeding went really well in the hospital, but was terrible when we got home. We're seeing a great lactation specialist and she's doing so much better now!
Sean Peter John was born October 4th at 7:33am
7lbs 13.9oz 19.7 inches long.
He came out so fast his poor little face was battered so he is swollen.
I woke up around 2 am with some mild cramps and tried to go back to sleep. By 3 am I could tell they were definitely contractions and coming every 8 minutes. I got up drank some water and eat a small snack and they went back to being tolerable and every 12 minutes. By 5 am they were back 8 minutes and strong, so I tried to get a hold of my mom who was supposed to watch our toddler during the labor.
We got the hospital at 6:20 am and when I was checked I was 4 almost 5 dialated. I begged for pain meds as soon I got in the room but by the time I got registered and an IV in me it was too late. I went from being dialated 5 to 10 in less than one hour. My water never broke the doctor had to break it (when she finally made it there). The nurses said I pushed for 15 minutes and the baby was out. For me it felt like I pushed for ever because the pain was so intense. I did have a 1st degree tear but overall I feel good. Baby is doing great and breastfeeding is still a work in progress but we are getting the hang of it.
I was induced due to very high blood pressure. After three days of trying cervidil, Foley balloon and pitocin, I failed to progress past 3.5 cm.
Ruby Debra was born 10 days early on Sunday, October 2nd at 11:37pm via c-section. 6lb 9oz, 18 inches. She is our little jewel!
I was admitted to the hospital Wednesday October 5 for planned c-section the morning of the 6th at 39w+3d due to breech positioning and high bp.
Team blue turned team pink! (hahah) as baby Abigail was born at 8:20 am and weighed 3.1 kg (6.8 lbs). The moments in between feeling her lifted out of me and her first cry felt like eternity! They brought her up for me to see her face and then flipped her around and I let out a laugh because sure enough she's full girl! So much for ultrasounds in Tanzania.
We are still waiting on my milk to come in and one nipple has decided to go flat but we are pushing forward. We were discharged yesterday afternoon and are home recovering.
BFP #2 - Feb 2, 2016 --EDD 10/10/16 --Abigail- October 6, 2016. Heart warrior.
October 2017- Began fostering to adopt T, (DOB:November 19, 2013)
When I woke up Friday morning, I felt like something was off. She hadn't moved much and she's a very active baby. Luckily, I had a doctor's appointment already scheduled for that morning at 10. When I got there, they sent me to ultrasound to check things out. Her heartbeat was strong and she moved around enough, but the doctor wasn't satisfied with "enough" considering how active she usually is, so they sent me to L&D to be monitored. Once I got there, they told me that the contractions I had been having we're real, not BH, and I was dilated to 4cm, so they decided to induce. When the doctor broke my water, she saw that Reagan had her first poop in the womb. Even still, they agreed to let me try for a vaginal delivery, so they gave me an epidural and let me ride out a couple contractions, but with every one, Reagan's heart rate was dipping, so she made the call to do a c-section and away we went! It all happened so fast that the spinal didn't have time to take full effect, so I had a good bit of pain during the procedure. Good news was that when they did a deep suction on Reagan's lungs, they barely got any meconium, so the doctor concluded that she must've just pooped that day and hadn't been breathing it in for long at all. Her umbilical chord was like a phone chord, all curled up, so they think that's why her heart rate was dipping after contractions.
After all that, we're left with the most precious, perfectly health baby girl with a full head of black hair! Born at 38w3d, she weighed 5lb 13oz and is 19 inches long.
And now, photos.
Daddy with Wade and his SD Elizabeth
Daddy and Wade doing skin to skin before we were whisked off to NICU.
Wade gripping Daddy's finger
Big sister Elizabeth and Wade (pre-PICC line)
Mommy to Elizabeth (6/18/09), preemie at 34 weeks
Team Blue!
We checked into the hospital around 5pm on the 5th and they placed my Foley bulb (I was only about 0.5 cm dilated at that point). It was quite tortuous because my cervix was so high. It took two doctors and all around not a great start to the induction process. I didn't have much of an appetite that night due to camping and even though they gave me an Ambien, I didn't get much sleep. They started me on Pitocin around 4am. The bulb was ready to come out around noon, and I spent a couple hours laboring in the tub and walking around until I got my first Epidural at 4pm. Life got better after that although I could still feel contractions in my hip and, later, in my bum. Turns out I could feel the contractions there because baby was so low and around 5ish I was fully dilated and felt ready to push! Unfortunately, the doc wasn't ready yet (super busy day in L&D due to a storm). When I finally did start pushing, I got extremely tired after about an hour since I was sleep and food deprived by this point. Doc said to rest a bit. Unfortunately, the Epidural had worn off and I was in quite a bit of agony and unable to rest. I got another Epidural, which did nothing, and asked my doc if we could use the vacuum to help me out since I knew I wasn't going to get any rest. Three pushes Later, Out pops Lucia! She was quite the sight for sore eyes, and her dad was giddy at the sight of her
Short version: Everett Grey was born October 1st at 3:22AM. He weighed 9lbs, 13oz and was 20.5" long. I *think* that puts me in the lead for chunkiest baby so far! Yay?
LONG version: I went into labor on Friday September 30th, having painful contractions all day starting around 11AM. I started timing them, and they were about 7-8 mins apart by about 10:30PM. I couldn't take it anymore and called my midwife, even though she wanted me to wait until 4-1-1 (4 mins apart, 1 min in length, for 1 hour). She asked me to walk around a bit and come to the hospital in an hour or so. As soon as I started walking around they immediately went to 2.5 mins apart. I told my husband we better go before I have a baby in the car.
We got to the hospital about 11:30PM and right after we got checked in my water broke in the wheel chair. That didn't happen with my first, it was definitely a bizarre experience! I was checked by my midwife and at about 4.5-5 cm dilated, but I needed a bag of IV fluids before they'd give me an epidural, which I was told would take about 10-20 mins. Ummm, no. About an hour later and countless excruciating contractions, the IV bag was finally done and I got the epi. I was checked as soon as it kicked in and was 8cm. No clue what time it was at this point. Maybe an hour or so later I was at a 10 and ready to push though. About 15 mins of pushing, and a small episiotomy (apparently the scar tissue from my previous tearing was looking like it was likely to tear in multiple directions), baby was here.
He cried for about an hour after delivery, so unlike my daughter who was content right away. He scored I think an 8-9 on apgars and was healthy as could be! However, we sent him to the nursery that night to get a few hours sleep, and the nurses noticed his coloring around his mouth turned a bit blue as he sucked on a paci. They checked his oxygen levels, and his saturation was going down in the 60s and some points when it should be in the 90s. The nurses came to talk to us and mentioned some scary things like brain scan, EKG of his heart, and possible infections causing the "desats". To the NICU we went at 4:30AM on October 2nd.
Long story short, after some tense and scary moments, a clear EKG, and no infections on his 48 hour blood culture, it was determined he was completely healthy and just needed a couple days to adjust to being outside the womb. My heart goes out to you NICU mamas. There were some very sick babies there and my heart just broke for the stress their families were going through. And now, a pic of my little squishy babe. So far, he's the happiest, most content baby despite all the pokes and prods he had his first few days of life. Love him to bits!
We were scheduled for induction Friday the 7th at 5:30am. Of course, I woke up to pee the night before and couldn't go back to sleep. I had to leave at 4am anyway to get my boys to my moms and get to the hospital on time so I just stayed up after 2.5 hours of sleep. Terrible decision. Right before we left, I went to let my dog back in and she got sprayed by skunk! Like literally right then. I don't have time to deal with it so I have to leave her outside when she's an inside dog and now I'm furious that I'm going to come home to that and I'm pretty sure I smell like skunk too. Whatever.
I had to be there at 5:30 because the doctor that was delivering (not my regular doctor) likes to get started early. Fine, I can do that. With my last baby I had to be there at 7am, we got started a little after 8am and he was here at 12:14pm so I'm thinking the earlier the better so I can get back home. I should've known nothing was going as planned when I walked in smelling like a skunk. lol
The doctor didn't show up until 8:30! Then he wanted to take it slow because of my history of "rapid labor" and all. Meaning my pitocin was pretty low and taking forever for me to dilate to 10cm. I think it was after 4pm before I made it and I was at 4cm when I got there. So after waiting patiently all day, exhausted and starving, Miss Hannah Kay made her appearance at 4:49pm, weighing 7lbs 12oz 19.75" and looking just like my middle baby. She has a full head of dark hair that I don't expect to stick around. Both of my boys lost their dark hair shortly after birth and are now blonde. Hopefully she will keep hers though, it's already good for bows!
Breastfeeding has been rough. My nipples are ripped to shreds but she managed to go home at her birth weight and has only lost 7oz since. We saw the ped today and got her tongue tie clipped so I'm hoping we're both on the road to recovery.
I also lost my mind and bought hospital pictures which I normally don't do. But I thought she did such a good job and she saw I was vulnerable and went in for the kill with the slideshow and sweet music. Oh well...it's my last baby and my only girl.
I started to have uncomfortable early labor contractions at 11pm the 6th, and they were regular & 2-3 minutes apart by 3am on the 7th. I told DH we needed to go in...called my mom multiple times (who 7 days prior *insisted* we call her over to watch DS when it was time, "even at 3am!") and of course she didn't pick up. Called my cousin who promptly showed up ten minutes later... And off we went.
I was contracting well but only 1.5cm dilated, so I got a shot of morphine/phenergan in the butt and sent home. The in laws relieved my cousin on DS duty, and contractions slowed to a near stop...then picked up to 4-5 minutes apart and we went back in at 8pm. Still 1.5cm. I walked and did squats in triage for an hour (so awkward) a different nurse checked, and I was told I was 3cm and would be admitted! Yay right?
Except for then the first nurse came back and said "since cervical checks can be subjective across different people, for the sake of consistency I going to have to re-check you." Like 2 minutes after the other nurse checked. UM WTAF LADY, NO. I told her that I was still super painful from the last check, and WTH was the point of sending someone else in to check in the first place if that person's judgment wouldn't be trusted? And that I didn't want to subject myself or the baby to additional risk of infection with unnecessary extra frequent cervical checks. She started to give me some line about how "it's ok to labor at home and come back..." At which point I ask that she call my OB and see what they want to do with the exams we already had.
They admitted me 5 minutes later.
After a lovely epidural and 12 hours of labor more, she joined us!
ETA: feel free to laugh along with me at the over-the-top pink frilly girly outfit MIL decided to dress her in:
On Friday morning my alarm went off and while I was laying there it felt like I leaked a little in my underwear. It happened again, so I got up and showered and was noticing contractions. When I wiped I noticed it was a little sticky, so I called my doctor. She told me to go on into the closest hospital to get checked. Being in a strange city, I started to panic, so DH called a local doggy day care and dropped the dog off just in case and took me up. I ended up going to the wrong location because they had a separate campus for labor and delivery. They took me by ambulance to the right location and I finally got checked. I lost my mucus plug while there but was only 1 cm dilated, so they sent me home. They said if contractions got worse or my water broke to come back. My job set me up with a new hotel right by the hospital and made sure the dog had somewhere to stay. DH and I went back to the hotel ate and took a nap. That night I was having more pain and was losing more mucus. I ate a big dinner and we walked laps around the hotel. At midnight I wasn't able to sleep and was back and forth to the bathroom, and at 1 i was washing my hands when there was suddenly a puddle under me and my water broke. I got DH up and back to the hospital we went.
They confirmed it was my water breaking, but I was still only 1 cm, so they admitted me and started pitocin. After a couple hours I was still only 1 cm but in pain, so they said I could have pain meds.The medication they gave me did not react well, I was immediately nauseous, hot and just out of sorts. I felt awful but couldn't verbalize the issue. I then broke down about being in a weird city, without my doctors or family. My family in Florida was trying to get to me, but with the storm roads were closed. Once that medication wore off, around 10am I was still only 1 cm dilated, but they said I could have an epidural. Once I got the epidural things started moving. Within an hour I was 4-5 cm, then 2 hours later at 7, and by 5 pm I was at 9. Things stalled at 9 and they were just waiting for one side of my cervix to thin out. My parents and sister got there at 6 and by 830 I started pushing, After an hour, the doctor came in and said I had a narrow pelvis and baby wouldn't be able to be pushed through and due to my efforts he would come out with a cone head. I tried to mentally prepare and they prepped me for surgery.
When they took Connor out he instantly started crying and so did I. The second I heard him my heart soared. I saw my husband tear up and they brought him over for me to see and the cleaned him. I remember being so out of it afterwards and most of the next day. Outside of pain and soreness I can't complain. We got released yesterday and made it back to Charleston with only part of our fence missing. Overall we got lucky with the storm and I'm so glad to have our family home and together!
I awoke to a contraction that felt different at around 2:45 am. My water broke (very mildly - really didn't know it was the water) about 30 minutes later. We had to book it to the hospital since I was GBS+. Got to the hospital 4 cm dilat d and 100%effaced. My plan was to go unmedicated, but my contractions were all in my back and had no breaks in between, so I opted for a small dose of IV pain meds. I felt that for about one contraction and then we were back to square one. I wanted another dose, but then they checked and I was at an 8 and trying to push, so it was too late. The doctor assisted in getting me from 8 to fully dilated , and pushing began. But E didn't do well with that and her heart rate dropped with every push. They discovered she had the cord around her neck. Forceps were used and she made her debut ! It was crazy and painful and not at all what I expected. But I am so, so glad she's here.
Will have to edit later to add a picture cause I guess TB doesn't like me tonight!
They checked me at triage and said I was 5 cm, so we headed back to the labor room. The doctor came in to assess me, and I swear not 15 minutes after the nurse said I was 5 cm all of a sudden I was at 9 cm. I had wanted to go medication free, but since the labor was going so fast and I thought I still had about 12 more hours of this, I asked for the epidural. They had it placed within another 20 minutes, and she gave me a pretty heavy dose since I had progressed so much. I loved the epidural, best thing ever! Right after the epidural they broke my water and I was at 10 cm and complete. I got to labor down for about 2 hours, and after another 2 hours of pushing, she was here! The end of pushing was definitely the worst part since I asked for the epidural to be turned down so I would make good progress, but it was immediately worth it when she came out :-)
We're at home now, trying to figure out breastfeeding and how to get her to sleep without one of us holding her. My husband has been fantastic through it all.
Married: 10/11/15
Baby girl Addie born 10/12/16
I started having contractions a few days ago but they stopped and started until last night around 9. I timed them to be 5 minutes apart and decided to call the md who told us to head to the hospital. As I grabbed my bags and prepared to leave, my water broke. We got to the hospital and I was 3 cm and 80% effaced. At around 4 am I was to 9cm. I stayed there for a while so they started pit. It took several hours to finally get to push. I pushed for an hour and 15 minutes before this ham came. After delivery he wasn't breathing well and was taken to the nursery after we I held him for a short time. The doc said I had 4th degree tears and sewed me back together. My placenta was being a pain so she had to manually remove it. I felt a gush of warm and though it was strange and it kept pouring out. I started to hemorrhage so they rushed me to the OR where they did a D & C. I need 4 units of blood and almost died due to the massive amount of blood loss. Since then my son and myself have been doing well and recovering. I could not have made it through without my strong DH.
born October 14 at 4:18 pm
7 lbs 5 oz 18" long
Checked into hospital at 8am Friday morning for induction at 40+6 already being dilated to a 4. Started pitocin and broke water around 11:30. Contractions started getting stronger soon after but still manageable. Dr did a cervix check around 3pm and I was at a 6. Laid down on bed and used the peanut ball that my doula brought. Contractions started getting very very intense and started accepting that I needed an epidural. Hubby went out to get the nurse to have her come in so we could tell her to get the anesthesiologist. At the moment the nurse came in at 4pm I said I felt like I needed to poop, rolled on my back and could only think of pushing. Nurse checked I was at 10 and baby was right there. Called my ob who was 10 minutes away. Had to have doula and hubby talk me down to wait. Hospital ob came in and got ready and then immediately after my ob showed up. Had to focus on not pushing for 3-4 contractions. Once she was ready I could push and she came out in 3 pushes at 4:18pm! Overall around 5 hours of labor. So glad I didn't have to get an epidural but this was definitely the hardest thing I have ever done.
Lilah Elyse made her entrance in this world on Wednesday, October 5 at 6:15 pm. She weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 19 1/4 inches long.
I woke up at 12:25 am on Wednesday thinking, "Oh I have pee again," and then 1 second later my water broke in the bed (so glad we have a waterproof mattress protector). So I woke DH up and told him my had broken and I was taking a shower. I had a hard time convincing him that we had plenty of time for me to do this but I was not about to ride to the hospital covered in fluid. DH got the bag and truck ready. When I got out of the shower, I made the bed and started the sheets and off we went.
We got to the hospital around 1:30 am and checked into triage. I was only 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Since my water had broken they didn't want to check my cervix too often for risk of infection and said that they didn't want me to labor much more than 18 hours. I walked the halls and experienced very mild contractions for the first few hours. At 6:00 am they checked again and I was still only dilated at 1 cm so they started me on Pitocin.
At that point, the contractions started coming much more fast and furiously. Around 8:00 am, I started experiencing back labor but could still walk through it. By 2:00 pm, I was convinced that I couldn't do this and asked for an epidural. My epidural was in by 3:30 and I was dilated to 4 cm. I am fortunate to have an amazing epidural! If people would have not kept coming in my room, I could have napped until it was time to push.
At 4:15 pm, the doctor came in to check my cervix again. He was like, "Oh interesting". I was thinking to myself that if I'm still only 4 cm I'm going to lose it. Turns out I was 10 cm and fully effaced. They sat the bed up and let me labor down until 6:00 pm. I was shaking the entire time from excitement/nervousness/being scared shitless/hormones. I pushed for 15 minutes and she was here.
We are so in love!
Dating: 10/3/08 | Married: 12/27/14
TTC #1: August 2015 | BFP: 2/3/16 | EDD: 10/7/16
DD: 10/5/16
TTC #2: September 2017 | BFP: 4/28/18 | EDD: 1/7/19
DS: 1/9/19
I haven't been taking pictures so I don't have any good ones on my phone. We should probably get on that.
The story: We really wanted her to be born on her due date, October 13. I was really grumpy the whole day and my Braxton Hicks contractions seemed more painful and frequent, so I started timing them. They were 10-12 minutes apart most of the day, but growing closer that night. About the time I usually go to bed, they were up to 5 min 15 sec apart, and I was waiting until they were less than five. BUT then they spaced out again. So all night contractions were 8-10 minutes apart but sometimes as long as 15-20 minutes apart (not counting those I missed). It hurt so much, I called my doctor first thing in the morning even though I had an appointment at 10. She told me I could go ahead and just come in. I was dilated 5-6 cm, so she sent me to the hospital. They were surprised that my contractions were effective based on their spacing. I asked for the epidural right away and it took time to administer based on my previous back surgery. Afterward it was really nice for a little while. I felt contractions only as a slight twinge in my left butt cheek. But then they started me on pitocin (because they wanted closer contractions for the pushing stage) and they started feeling like terrible vagina cramps. My nurse told me that was the pressure of the baby and not because of the pitocin or an epidural gap, but I don't believe her. They had me start pushing what felt was right away. I don't know how long I was pushing because it was terrible. I just tried to breathe for the baby in between and push despite the pain for the baby otherwise. She was having some trouble with her heart rate during this stage so they were hurrying me. I did manage to get her out somehow (I felt like my pushing was doing zero) though I did get a second degree tear. It could have been a lot worse, given that I pretty much expected my body would tear.
I'm having a hard time adjusting. We had a lot of trouble breastfeeding at first and my nipples are a bit damaged, though it is going better. I have no idea what to do with this baby and feel like I'm making so many mistakes. I'm sure if I ever get used to this new schedule I'll be posting a lot of questions. Jaina, meanwhile, is perfect and my husband is amazing.