February 2017 Moms
LivingLaVidaGinger
member
Baby LivingLaVidaGinger is here! ***UPDATED***
LivingLaVidaGinger
member
Scarlett Elizabeth was born 2/21/17 at 2:33am after 20 long hours of labor. She's a teensy 5lb 8oz but came out eyes wide open and alert and a great set of lungs! I'll update with more details and the labor story later on, but for now, it's looking like we have a mini Puerto Rican ginger on our hands. We are so in love. 
Re: Baby LivingLaVidaGinger is here! ***UPDATED***
First BFP: 12/16/13
EDD: 08/23/14
Baby BOY born: 08/29/14
Ben and Maggie - 4/10/09
Mia - 6/16/11
Surprise! due 2/23/17
FTM, 2 Furbabies
married 03/17/07
lived in Houston, Austin, Los Angeles and NYC
due: 2/15/17
So here's my extremely and shamelessly lengthy labor/birth story! I always love reading all the little details, the longer the better! So if you don't, sorrynotsorry.
After weeks of prodromal labor and painful braxton hicks, I was feeling like I'd never go into labor. A week before my water broke, I had a membrane sweep that caused me to have a bloody show. I bounced on the ball incessantly, walked up and down my stairs sideways, walked every day, and nothing. Two days before I went into labor, all my prodromal labor and BH came to a screeching halt. I had zero indication that I'd be going into labor anytime soon. Feeling disheartened and sad, I decided I'd start packing up for my move. I packed all the baby things into the car and H and I drove them to the new house. We sat at our table and had our first dinner in the new house and H set up the pack n play. Still no contractions, even after all that moving we went home and I immediately crashed on the couch. H brought me up to bed and I slept the most restful, deepest sleep I'd had the entire pregnancy.
I woke up at 6:45 exactly to a weird trickle that went over my thigh. I was pretty hot bundled under my blankets and wrapped up in my pregnancy pillow so I figured it was just sweat. Then I had another trickle. I immediately opened my eyes and thought "what if this is my water?" Then I felt more trickles and got up to see if I felt any more. I stood there for a second but didn't feel anything so I went to go pee. It felt like there was more than just pee coming out, I looked down and noticed my underwear was soaked through. Then I felt more leaking while I was sitting there. I stood up and water ran down my legs. I waddled to the bedroom and woke H up, he overslept and had to be at work in 15 minutes so he jolts awake cursing that he'd overslept. I told him "don't worry about being late, you're not going in at all. My water just broke." He froze, asked me if I was sure, and called out of work. I called my mom to tell her my water had broken. I hopped in the shower because I hadn't felt any contractions yet and as I bent over to grab the soap I had a huge theatrical gush like on tv. I was so thankful it happened in the shower and I didn't have to clean that up. H got ready, packed the car and I took my time calling the OB.They told me to come into the office so they could test the fluid to make sure it was indeed water. We stopped and got breakfast and arrived at the OB office at 10:00.
We get to the office and the OB notices that I still have a lot of water so she thinks my water hadn't really broken. I was only dilated 1cm and 70% effaced, as I had been for three weeks. She comes back with the test strip and says "yep, there's no doubt that's water! If you have all your stuff, head to the hospital!"
We get to the hospital at 10:45 and we get checked in. They bring me to my room and hook me up to a fluid drip immediately. They originally planned to start pitocin immediately, but the doctor came in, checked me, did a sweep, and encouraged me to walk the halls and try to get labor going on my own. H and I walked the halls for two hours but I still had no regular contractions, just sporadic BH. My water had stopped leaking and the doctor came back in to check again. I was still at a 1, but my cervix had softened a little more. The OB said baby's head had resealed the water and she broke my forebag. I thought I had a lot of water in the shower, but this was a lot of water! It kept pouring. It was like someone opened up Hoover Dam and let that water gush. I soaked through four sets of bedding and pads within the next 15 minutes of lying there. My mom shows up and she walks with me for another hour. I started having real contractions then. They weren't super painful, but they were getting closer together and I'd have to stop walking to get through them. I went back to the room and bounced on the ball. I don't remember how long I was on that ball, but it was day light outside when I started and it was getting dark when I stopped. At one point, the OB wasn't able to accurately monitor my contractions so she made me lie in bed for an hour. It was absolutely miserable. Not being able to move through contractions and lying flat through back labor was the worst. The nurse took pity on me and put the wireless monitors on me so I could get back on the ball. It was the only relief I had. My MIL tried to video chat me and kept messaging me asking for updates. She was so annoying the entire time and begged to come visit as if my being in labor was some exhibit for her to watch at a museum. I ignored her completely, I didn't have time for that shit. I got checked again at 7pm and I was at a 3. Feeling really discouraged from all the labor I'd been through to only be a 3, I decided to get into the bathtub and try to relax. The water feels great at first, but I started getting the most miserable contractions I'd ever had. I couldn't get into a comfortable position in the tub and I only became more miserable. H got into the tub with me for support so I'd have something to hold on to and I just sunk in between his legs and rested my head on his chest. I just wilted over him and he held me up. I stared off into space in between a contraction and said "I don't think I can do this anymore." I was exhausted and miserable and getting weaker as time went on. I didn't realize I was in transition while I was in the tub, I thought I had another 9 hours of this getting worse and worse. I whimpered something about an epidural and H told me there was no shame in an epidural. He reminded me there was no extra prize for those who don't get one, we all get babies in the end. My mom went to call the nurse and tell them I was ready for an epidural because they told me to expect a 30-40 minute wait for the anesthesiologist to come in. I was hard to get out of the bath because my contractions were coming on hard and fast. I was vocalizing like a mofo and didn't care in the whole hospital heard my deep, guttural groaning. My mom and H both worked together to dry me off as a stood there wailing, I couldn't move. They worked so fast to get me dry, dressed, and walking back to the bed as quickly as possible. We open the bathroom door and the anesthesiologist was there smiling. "Wow! I thought I'd be seeing you a lot earlier than this! You're a trooper!" he said as he gloved up. It had been less than ten minutes since my mom called for the epidural. I was super nervous to get the epi. I was shaking and absolutely terrified. My mom, husband, and my nurse all stood around me and encouraged me. They reminded me to breathe, H helped me imagine how much better I'll feel, and the nurse told me about her epidural and this very anesthesiologist did hers and that he was the best. The anesthesiologist talked me through the entire thing and told me every movement he was making and how it may or may not make me feel so I'd be prepared. We did the test dose and I didn't feel much, but then he put the real dose in and the warm tingle just ran down my legs. I went to lie down and I felt instant relief. I was so happy. The epidural was the best decision I'd made the entire night! They decided to do an internal contraction monitor and measure those contractions for a while. They decided those contractions weren't strong enough and started me on a minimal dose of Pitocin.
They checked me again and I was at a 6. They told me to plan for a long night and that I may be able to deliver by 6am. It was around 11 or 12, so the OB decided to go try and sleep for a while because we thought we had time. H went to sleep to try and build up some energy for delivery. My mom stayed up by my side the entire time. She fed me ice chips constantly and never left. Things moved quickly after that. 45 minutes after they checked me at a 6, I asked to be checked again because I was feeling tons of pressure and pain, I was at a 9! I was so nervous I started shaking like crazy. My epidural dosage was minimal, but I didn't want to up my dose because the pain wasn't excruciating and I felt I could work with what felt like "muffled" contractions. The pressure only got worse and I told the nurse I felt the urge to push. She checked me one more time and I was at a 10. She told me to hold baby in there for just a few more minutes while she woke up the doctor. They were getting all set up for delivery and the pressure was getting so intense I was really fighting the urge to push. They lie me absolutely flat on my back which was frustrating because I felt like I couldn't efficiently push. But the doctor liked me flat better so her way was what we went with. I began developing a fever over the previous few hours and by the time I was pushing I was at 101 and baby's heart rate was elevated. I was beginning to get an infection from my water being broken so long but they weren't worried since I was so close to delivery and the issue would resolve once she was out.
I pushed for thirty minutes and out came my sweet little Scarlett, 20 hours after my water broke. She came out eyes wide open and alert, and boy was she screaming! She had the cord wrapped around her neck three times, once around her torso, and there was still plenty left over. The OB said there was enough cord there for three babies and that it was the longest cord she'd ever seen. H got to cut it and they placed my wiggling (super sticky cheesy) baby on my chest. She calmed down immediately and looked around. I couldn't believe what I had just done, but I was so in love with her from the first second I saw her. She was gorgeous. I was able to breastfeed and do skin to skin immediately. They didn't take her away to weigh her until we had bonded for over two hours. They didn't bathe her until she was over 24 hours old so she was able to absorb all her vernix. She was little, 5lbs 8oz, and was 5lbs 3oz when we left the hospital, but she's almost a week old now and she's breastfeeding like a champ! H and I are in awe of her and my entire family is in love. Shit hit the fan with my in laws over the past week, but I'll save that drama for another post because this one is long enough. But rest assured, it's juicy.
And if you made it this far, here's some cute pictures from the hospital!
*edited to remove pictures*
PS- Can't wait to hear the inlaw drama!
Also looking forward to hearing the in law drama! Lol