February 2017 Moms
madamerwin
member
Madamerwin's Birth Thread
madamerwin
member
Baby Theodore was born yesterday, February 15th at 5:34pm, weighing 7lbs 5oz and measuring 19" long. It was a long and exhausting 20 hours, but we are both healthy and happy.
The long story:
On Tuesday night as I got off the couch to get ready for bed, I noticed a little gush of liquid. At first I thought I just peed a little, so I sent to the bathroom and emptied my bladder. When I got up, I started leaking more. Still not convinced it was anything other than pee, I tried peeing again. Got up AGAIN and had a big gush, so I called the midwife. Since I'm GBS+, she wanted us to come to the hospital right away, even though I wasn't having any contractions yet. We packed up and headed over and were admitted just after 11pm on Tuesday night. The nurses started me on IV antibiotics and fluids and decided to wait a few hours to see if contractions would start on their own.
By 4am I was still not having very strong contractions, so they started me on pitocin. At this point I was 3cm dilated, 80% effaced, and baby was at zero station. Within two hours of starting pitocin, contractions were coming more regularly and were getting stronger. As they upped the dosage, things got really intense - contractions were lasting a minute with only 2 minutes in between, and they were really, really intense. I changed positions every few contractions, got in the shower at one point, and got a dose of fentanyl so I could rest a little (hadn't slept in over 24 hours by then). The fentanyl barely did anything, but it did allow me to relax for about an hour.
After 7 hours of these really intense, frequent contractions, the midwife checked me again and I was 5+cm dilated and 100% effaced. After some discussion, I decided that an epidural was probably a good idea, as I was on to 30+ hours of no sleep and desperately needed rest. The midwife assured me that starting the epidural at that point wouldn't slow my progress much, and that it would be a fine time to get it started. And let me say, the epidural was magical. From about 1-3pm, I rested (didn't really sleep), and just hung out with my husband, sister, and MIL.
At around 3:15, I noticed I was feeling a lot more pressure, so we called the midwife in to check me. Turns out I was already at 10cm, so it was time to start pushing. I was really surprised I progressed 5cm in two hours, especially with the epidural!
Obviously I was confined to the bed because of the epidural, but the MW got out the squat bar and tied a sheet around it so I could do a modified squat. Did that for a while, but it became clear that the baby's head was a stuck behind my pubic bone. Baby's heart rate was a little bit high, and the MW knew we needed to try to get him out sooner rather than later. After 1.5 hours of pushing, the MW called the OB in for a consult. The OB was not confident the vacuum suction would work, and she began discussing foreceps and the possibility of a c-section. She said we could try pushing for ten more minutes without intervention before we needed to decide on next steps.
I was SO drained by then, I wasn't sure I could even do it. They had me get flat on my back (counter-intuitive but given the baby's position they thought it was the best way to get him past my pubic bone). With H and my sister helping me pull my knees and two nurses pushing on my feet, I finally had the leverage I needed. Three contractions later, baby was out and immediately screaming!
I soon found out that I had a third degree tear (ouch) and minor hemmorhaging. My ladybits are really swollen, and I have a bunch of stitches, but otherwise I'm feeling pretty good.
H and I are thrilled to be parents. Baby Teddy is, in our biased opinions, the best baby ever.
Re: Madamerwin's Birth Thread
First BFP: 12/16/13
EDD: 08/23/14
Baby BOY born: 08/29/14
We were fully expecting an 8+ pound baby, so we barely got any NB clothes - H is actually out at the store now getting a few more onesies. Teddy was down to 6lb 15oz yesterday (still in the normal weight loss range), but clearly he'll be in NB clothes for a while...
@kswiger06 I have the dermaplast and witch hazel pads and peri bottle, plus a few perineal ice packs they sent me home with - really don't know what I'd do without them! The MW also told me to soak in the tub with Epsom salts twice a day... Obviously it's all super uncomfortable, but I trust that the OB and MW who got him out thought that a 3rd degree tear was preferable to foreceps or an emergency c-section. Seems like the swelling is starting to go down a little, but I think I'll be sitting on the doughnut cushion for a while...
Wishing you a speedy recovery and lots of sweet baby snuggles!
Married: 9/2013
Love my LEO!!
TTC #1: 9/2015
BFP: 2/1/16 MC 2/8/16 @ 5wks
BFP: 5/22/16 RAINBOW BABY
EDD: 1/30/2017 *IT'S A GIRL!!!!*
Kirsten Grace 1/20/17
In regards to diapers, we were lucky so many people bought NB diapers for my baby shower. Before DD was born, I thought we would be exchanging a lot of the NBs for bigger sizes, but we actually have 1 pack of NB left over and used the rest without buying any extras. She's also finally in size 1!