August 2017 Moms
bumpybump
member
***TW in Siggy***
Me: 34 / DH: 33
Married: Nov 2011
TTC #1: Jan 2013, BFP Sept 2013, DD: June 2014
TTC #2: Aug 2016, BFP Nov 2016, DS: August 2017
Birth Stories
bumpybump
member
Feel free to share your birth story here!
Note: I do not plan to have this post pinned. We have enough up there already.
Note: I do not plan to have this post pinned. We have enough up there already.
***TW in Siggy***
Me: 34 / DH: 33
Married: Nov 2011
TTC #1: Jan 2013, BFP Sept 2013, DD: June 2014
TTC #2: Aug 2016, BFP Nov 2016, DS: August 2017
Re: Birth Stories
Hi Bump friends!
Here's Lily's birth story. I found it really helpful writing this out as I start to process the past week. It was definitely a whirlwind. Fair warning..this is super long.
So, I went in last Wednesday for my regular 35 week appointment. The doctor took my BP which was high (per usual) and sent me for an NST. I gave a urine sample and they took a few BP's as I was laying there. Baby sounded awesome, but my blood pressure wouldn't come down and my urine came back with over double the protein from two days ago. OB came in and told me I officially wasn't leaving without a baby! The preeclampsia had gotten too severe. At 6pm I got started on IV fluids and magnesium due to risk of seizures with pre-e. The doctor checked me thinking my cervix would be closed but it was already 2.5/3 cm dilated and 50% effaced! That was a surprise, especially since I'm a FTM. Because the hospital I was planning to deliver at didn't have a NICU, DH and I decided it was best to transfer to another hospital with NICU just in case. Had a fun ambulance ride and arrived around 9 at the new hospital.
Got started on pitocin around 10 pm. Since I had the magnesium IV, that meant I couldn't walk around and essentially had to labor in bed which was absolutely horrible. The contractions started off bearable and then came strong every 2 mins or so. DH was amazing- I'd squeeze his hand every time a contraction came because I basically couldn't do anything else. My water broke naturally around 3 cm which I was happy about. I made it to 5 cm without pain meds- then tried nitrus oxide but didn't like how it made me feel. I finally asked for the epidural and the guy came about an hour later. Epidural was pure magic. He inserted it perfectly- I could move my legs and feet by myself but could only feel some pressure during contractions. A few hours later I was feeling a ton of pressure and the nurse checked me and I was already at a 10! I think the epi helped me relax and my body progressed the rest of the way. I started pushing which went great- no real pain and I could feel just enough to know what to do. I pushed for just under an hour and out she came weighing 4 lbs 13 oz and measuring 18 inches. Had a minor first degree tear that needed one stitch.
Luckily she came out crying and we got to do skin to skin right away which is just what I wanted. DH cut the cord, too.
An hour later the nurse suggested we try breastfeeding, warning me that she probably wouldn't latch on bc she was so small. Well, she latched right away and has been breastfeeding amazingly ever since! Ive been pumping after each feeding to supplement just a little more. Thankfully my milk came in a few days after delivery.
Despite the scary start and fact that Lily was born at just 35 weeks, I had an amazing delivery experience. I'm so grateful everything turned out okay. Loving these early days with her!
PS If you've read this far you're amazing.
***TW in Siggy***
Me: 34 / DH: 33
Married: Nov 2011
TTC #1: Jan 2013, BFP Sept 2013, DD: June 2014
TTC #2: Aug 2016, BFP Nov 2016, DS: August 2017
Absolutely beautiful! Aside from a few minor details, your story sounds identical to my DD birth story....so much so, I almost forgot it wasn't my writing! So happy for you.
Married: June 2015
TTC #1: June 2016
BFP: 11-24-16 ~ EDD 8-9-17
IT'S A BOY!
@bumpybump We had a new one... Thank God she was awesome because that made me super nervous. So much for our hospital tour!
I started to notice decrease fetal movement Sunday evening. Around 7 I decided to lie down and do a kick count. After only getting 5 kicks in the hour called the hospital OB floor. The nurse on duty told me to try again and come in for monitoring if it didn't get to 10. After only having 3 movements in 40 minutes we headed in.
After getting admitted around 9:30, the nurse asked about any other issues, I told her I had just started to notice moisture down there recently but thought I was just having urinary incontinence. She checked it and it turns out it was amniotic fluid and I started having regular contractions at 7 minutes apart shortly after.
Around 4 am the doctor ordered pitocin as my water had been leaking for some time, they wanted to progress as quickly as possible. I was able to get some rest and around 9 am, the contractions were pretty bad. Knowing I would eventually get an epidural, I asked for that. They suggested Newbane instead as I was only dilated to a 2. I took that and was able to sleep for about an hour or so. Woke up to a gush of my water fully breaking. From there I was hoping things would progress more quickly.
The contractions got bad again so I requested an epidural around 12 pm. As the epidural was going in, the anesthesiologist said everything went well. Almost immediately after the test dose, I developed a bad headache and was so numb I couldn't swallow. My blood pressure dropped and baby's heart rate plummeted. They set up for an emergency c-section but after getting my blood pressure back and turning off the epidural decided I would be fine.
Turns out, I am extremely sensitive to the drug and the test dose was too much for me, at less than half the test I was numb (fully on right side, partially on left) and was able to start the pitocin again. Baby however did not like the pitocin and his heart rate began to drop at every contraction. The doctor would shut off the pitocin and give him a break and try again while constantly monitoring his heart rate via a scalp electrode. This went on for about 4 or 5 hours and by about 10 I had finally hit 9 cm. The doctor got things ready for us to start pushing.
I started pushing and pushed for 2 and a half hours without being able to get him past my pelvic bone. Finally the doctor said it wasn't going to happen and we would have to do a c section after all (turns out I have an odd pelvic bone and it would have never happened). They had to be very careful with my drugs as I hadn't handled it well through the epidural so I was just basically on epidural throughout the sections. They got him out and I finally got to hold him in my arms. No greater feeling.
In the two days after I developed a severe spinal leak and ended up having a have another epidural to do a blood patch to repair.
What an experience for a FTM but oh so worth it to be able to have this guy in my arms.
Long story short, a traumatic birth for me and Grant but just know that it will all be worth it in the end. Good luck to all you mommas in the upcoming months!
On Wednesday morning I woke up and the headache still wasn't gone, so different doctor on call called me in so fiorciet and said if it didn't work within a hour we were inducing. They went ahead and checked my cervix just in case and I was already dilated to a 2. The medicine once again didn't touch the headache. We moved over to labor and delivery at 3 pm and started mag and pitocion at the same time. At 9 pm, I was dilated to a 3, so they broke my water and gave me my epidural. Baby Jayton didn't like the pitocion, it caused him to have dips so we would have to stop and start the pitocion several times during the night.
Around 5 am Thursday morning we started the pit again and was able to maintain baby's heart rate while on it. I was dilated to a 10 by 4 pm. I started pushing at 4 and we delivered Jayton at 4:17. They said for a first time mom they hadn't seen someone push for that short of
amount of time! I had very little tearing and we are all doing well and bonding!
Diagnosed with PCOS: January 2009
1st D&C: Janaury 2009
Dating: March 18, 2009
Married: June 12, 2010
TTC: January 1, 2011
2nd D&C: June 5, 2011
3rd D&C: August 3, 2011
Dec 2016: BFP (due 8/5/2017)
The night of Father's Day I got up just before midnight to pee, as usual. But as I sat down on the toilet, I felt a pop and a gush of warm liquid that just didn't stop. I was 30 weeks and 6 days pregnant, so naturally I freaked out. I started repeating 'no no no, it's too early...' over and over. I apparently woke my husband (with my breathing, he says) and I told him I thought my water broke as I dialed my OB's office. The doctor on call told me to lay down for an hour and see if the liquid continued - if it did, come to the ER. After 10 minutes of continued gushing, and DH very calmly packing bags for us, we headed to the hospital. Luckily the hospital where I was set to deliver has a level 3 NICU that also has the best outcome for premature infants in the state of FL (this was super important for us, since multiples are so often premature).
After I was brought into OB triage, they tested me to make sure my water broke (uh, yeah, pretty sure...) which came back positive. The doctor then came in to explain that I was going to be admitted, and that I wouldn't be leaving the hospital until the twins were born. He explained that it could be 2 days, or as much as 3 weeks as they wouldn't deliver past 34 weeks with PPROM. Unfortunately another mother was giving birth across the hall, so it ended up taking more than an hour for me to be brought to the L&D ward, and I was having pretty painful contractions less than 5 mins apart at this point.
Once in L&D, they administered magnesium sulfate and antibiotics. The nurse warned me that she was going to give me a steroid shot to help the babies' lungs develop and that it would hurt. I have a very high pain tolerance - and honestly, I hardly felt the shot, which shocked her. She promised that the magnesium would relax all my muscles, so the contractions would slow and get less painful. My DH tried to sleep on the cot in the room, and I laid there in bed waiting for the contractions to get less painful. Instead, they got more intense and as I was twisting myself up on the bed in pain, I called the nurse to ask for some kind of pain relief. She called my doctor to get the order and gave me some drugs (hallelujah!). After 30 more minutes, the contractions were still increasing and by then I was writhing on the bed in pain. Nobody at the hospital had checked my cervix by this point - but the nurse decided to, considering my pain level. She checks, and says "Okay, change of plans, I am getting your doctor here now - I'm touching Baby A's head." So now I am both totally terrified and overwhelmed with emotion about meeting my baby girls, and am being wheeled down to the OR for an emergency C-section (Baby B was breech and doc felt uncomfortable with vaginal delivery) while holding my legs together and trying to hold in a baby! Which BTW, totally doesn't work!! I heard my nurse from L&D telling everyone in the room 'seriously, I think we might have to push the baby back in to get her out' and the anesthesia team talking to me, and then my doctor's voice... then I was out, and the twins were born at 6:43 and 6:44 am. Rosalie was 3 lbs 10 oz, and Lilah was 3 lbs 9 oz.
Though I was still under anesthesia, I know now that the girls were both immediately rushed to separate teams to admit them into the NICU. They didn't cry or make any noises. They were intubated and given oxygen and put into their separate isolettes to keep their body temperatures up. My poor DH was so overwhelmed but he dealt with it amazingly while I recovered. I couldn't leave my bed for 12 hours, so I pumped and counted the hours until I was able to go up and meet them (though we couldn't hold them until they were 4 & 5 days old)! I had some consolation in the fact that I was the first to touch the babies - I guess DH, his mom, and my mom hadn't thought to ask! Luckily I recovered from the C-section really well, and I was discharged from the hospital after 3 days, with no driving restrictions. Since then, I have been visiting the NICU twice a day and pumping round the clock.
Today is my girls' 29th day in the NICU and they are doing SO well. They're both 4 lbs 12 oz, and just need to grow and learn to eat from bottle/breast in order to be discharged. They passed the big scary tests already (tests of their brains, hearts, and hearing) and have been moved into open bassinets. They are so sweet and wonderful, I just can't wait until we can take them home to love on them without any tubes or wires or monitors! They came into our world before we were ready, but these girls are going to take the world by storm!
1 infant loss
8/17: Our daughter was born
8/18: Our daughter kicked open heart surgery ass
2/19: We lost our son to Prader-Willi/Paradoxical Vocal Cord/ Noonans at 6wks old
4/26/2020: EDD for baby #3!!!
@smallbutmighty77 There's not a day when someone here doesn't call my girls feisty - I know I am in trouble when they get home!!
I'm still shocked and elated its over. I am thankful for no tearing. She's been a champion at the breast and I've been spending all night getting to know every fingernail and hair. Completely in love.
Contractions started at 10am, by 11:30, I was in L&D, delivered the baby 20 min later - DD.
Easy peasy.
1 infant loss
8/17: Our daughter was born
8/18: Our daughter kicked open heart surgery ass
2/19: We lost our son to Prader-Willi/Paradoxical Vocal Cord/ Noonans at 6wks old
4/26/2020: EDD for baby #3!!!
We got there around 3:30am and my contractions were 3 minutes apart. When we walked up to the door that we thought we were supposed to enter at, it was locked. Fortunately, some nurses were exiting and saw me going through a contraction and let us in haha. When we were checking in, you could tell that the nurses were skeptical that my water actually broke so they were moving slowly. They put me in an L&D triage room and hooked me up to the monitor and I waited about 7-10 minutes for the doctor to come to do the cervical check. I was already 6cm and fully effaced so they said I had to be emitted right away. When in the room, I asked for the blood test in order to get an epidural. About 10 minutes later my contractions were 1 min apart and I felt a strong desire to push. The nurse checked and I was already 9.5cm dilated and ready to go. She called for the doctor and they quickly ran in and my next contraction I started pushing. At 4:45am I was pushing and at 5:06am Stella was out!
It was all very crazy and fast but it went well all things considered! By the time she was out, they still hadn't gotten the blood results back if I could get an epidural or not haha
We are so in love and our families are so happy since this is the first granddaughter on each side!
***TW in Siggy***
Me: 34 / DH: 33
Married: Nov 2011
TTC #1: Jan 2013, BFP Sept 2013, DD: June 2014
TTC #2: Aug 2016, BFP Nov 2016, DS: August 2017
The l following day we went in bright and early. They checked LO's positioning one more time and he was still breech. So I was wheeled into surgery as soon as they were ready. The anesthesiologist gave me my epidural. It went in easily and painlessly despite me having slight sculeosis in my lower back. I had never been in surgery (of any sort) before so it all felt suddenly scary and I started weeping. My surgery team was amazing though. They were encouraging and funny. DH was let in once they had me on the table and curtained.
Everything happened so fast. It felt like DH had just gotten there when the surgeon announced that they had made the incision and were ready to deliver the baby. DH worked with the anesthesiologist to keep me calm. Minutes later they were applying pressure to my stomach. There was talk about LO being bigger than they thought, and they had to make an extra incision to get his butt out. More pressure on my stomach. Then they said it was time. DH got to look over the curtain as they pulled him out of me.
I waited anxiously to hear LOs first cries and it felt like ages until I did. I found out much later that was because he wasnt breathing right away and they called for the emergency NICU team. But as the NICU team was coming in, LO started breathing. Kind of glad I did not know about that until afterwards.
Deacon Clarke was born at 11:17am on July 27th weighing 8lbs and 10oz! DH brought him over to me when he was clean. He started rooting on my face! He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen!
The team got me closed up within the next 20 mins and my surgeon kept going on about how proud she was of her stitch job. It did/does look great.
Deacon breastfed right away while I was under 1 hour observation in recovery. We were only in hospital 2 days. Deacon passed all of his screenings and tests with flying colors. He is now a week old and is doing very well! I'm on the mend too, but it has not been easy for me. It was worth having this little boy in my arms to kiss and snuggle though!