Hi Ladies... no rush- keep these LOs cooking, but one of our PGAL ladies is at risk for being our first delivery this week... so we probably should start this thread.
Stolen from another BMB. Post your announcements here! PLEASE do not comment here unless it's an announcement, LOVE-ITs are a great way to say congrats without clogging up this post.
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Hello again, been a while since I've posted but I'm excited to share that Archer Matthew was born 6.5.18! He was 2 weeks early but still weighing in at an even 7lbs and is 19.5" long. I was much more active at the start of this group and it really helped me get through my first and second trimesters hearing everyone's stories and experiences. Thank you all so much for the support and good luck with your deliveries and babies!
26 y/o FTM (biologically)
1 Child - Son - 9 y/o Married - DH 27 y/o BFP: 10/13/17 EDD: 6/22/18
Came back to look at everyone’s babies! And I thought I would actually be a July mom based on my changed due date-boy was I wrong. Anna Lily was born June 13th 5lbs 7oz 20 inches - 3 weeks early.
I promised my TTGP family that I would come back and update - I apologize that it's taken me this long!
Evelyn Lisbeth greeted the world the morning of June 6th
after a whirlwind last-minute induction the previous evening. She has DH’s eyes
and ears, my body hair and long fingers, and a birth mark on her forehead I’m
grateful for because it means I’ll never have to worry someone accidentally
swapped her in the hospital. Ultimately, we couldn’t have asked for a better experience,
though I admit induction was not what I thought I wanted. Full story in the
spoiler below (it is very long)!
What I wanted was to go spontaneously into labor, labor at
home as long as possible and then walk the two blocks from our apt to the
hospital. My birth wish list was to do everything I could to increase the chances
of a vaginal birth, so I wanted to go as long as I could without an epidural,
but I wasn’t 100% opposed to one – I just didn’t want to get it too early. But
I was going to labor at home where an epidural wasn’t even an option, so no
worries there, right?
Well, you know what they say
about plans – ha.
But I didn’t even have a plan; I had a wish list. Because I
was going to be really chill about this whole birth thing. Our friends joked
that I was studying to become an obstetrician in the timespan of my pregnancy,
but I was going to be really chill. Super
relaxed. Easy breezy. I 100% was not going to lose it if things didn’t go
according to plan the wish list.
And if you think it’s impossible to be “really chill” while
simultaneously identifying every possible scenario that could throw a wrench in
said plan wish list – well, you’re right; it turns out I’m not a very
chill person. But honestly, I didn’t think I had to be. At 26 weeks I was
diagnosed with symphysis pubis dysfunction (SPD) due to hypermobility.
SPD is a condition that causes excessive movement of the
pubic bone which results in an unstable pelvis, and, for me, a cascade of
misalignment throughout my body that even weekly osteopathic treatments could
barely dent. By 30 weeks I was essentially chained to my heating pad from muscle
spasms up and down the right side of my spine and severe sciatic pain down both
legs (but the worst was the nearly unbearable rib pain).
The upside of all this was that everyone kept saying I would
go into labor early. My pelvis was essentially falling apart, and all the
ligaments in my body were loosening so drastically that toward the end I really
worried my right leg was going to fall out of socket – so the baby was going to
just fall out, right? My pelvis might split irreparably in half, but no worries
on the labor front.
So when Saturday, June 2nd (my due date) rolled
around, and I still had an inside baby, I low key panicked. Acupuncture,
acupressure, reflexology, spicy food, long walks, aromatherapy, red raspberry
leaf tea – you name it, I tried it. I didn’t want to end up being induced and
wonder if a particular old wives’ tale would have worked for me if only I tried
it.
TUESDAY, JUNE 5TH: I
didn’t know it yet, but it was induction day.
9AM: I emailed my OB. I was 40+3 and absolutely desperate to
go into spontaneous labor before 41+0 when my OB had tentatively scheduled my
induction “if needed.” She would let me go until 42+0 (and would not induce me
before 41 weeks), but she was concerned about my day-to-day pain level and
diminished mobility. She knew I wanted to go into labor spontaneously, though, so
we agreed another OB would do a membrane sweep that afternoon on her day off,
and she’d do another on Thursday if necessary.
12:00PM: DH came with me for the membrane sweep. When the
doctor entered the exam room, the first thing he asked me was why I had an
induction on the books – you’re 29 and low risk, why are you getting induced
before 42 weeks? We discussed it, and
I immediately felt a wave of relief at the thought of pushing back the “deadline”
another week. He then did the sweep (I was 1 cm dilated, 30% effaced and -2
station) which hurt a little but not as much as I thought it would.
1:45PM: I went to acupuncture for my third round of
“induction points,” riding the high of the removal of my deadline.
4PM: DH and I trekked the two blocks back to the OB’s office
to get a routine ultrasound with MFM to check my amniotic fluid levels and get
an NST. I knew the MFM doctors might be sensitive to borderline low fluid levels,
so I had been chugging water the 24 hours prior to rule out dehydration as a
variable. A tech did the scan and seemed a little concerned – she told us my
fluid levels looked low, so she wanted to get the MFM doctor to take a look
himself. I rolled my eyes and mentally prepared myself to stand my ground with
the doctor on what I expected were borderline levels.
4:45PM: the MFM doctor came in, repeated the scan, setup the
NST and then calmly and kindly informed us that I did appear to have low fluid levels,
so he would recommend immediate induction. I told him I could feel the baby
kicking like crazy (like always; she never stopped), so I knew she was fine,
and I asked if the NST scan was showing any issues. He admitted that she did
appear to be fine based on the NST, but he was nervous that might not continue.
He said he needed to escort us immediately up to L&D. I laughed – that
wasn’t happening.
Could I go home and chug water all night and repeat the scan
tomorrow morning first thing? That was when we found out that this was, in
fact, not an arbitrary, borderline decision. The doctor informed us that a
fluid level of less than 10cm would be considered low, and at less than 5cm
(5th percentile), he would generally recommend induction; my fluid levels were
0.6cm. So, no, drinking water wouldn’t help, and at this point he pressed
harder and said he really was worried that the baby could die if I went home
because more than likely this was caused by my placenta no longer functioning.
5:45PM: Thankfully, the OB on call was one of my favorites
from our practice, and also one of the most flexible. She greeted us very
kindly and acknowledged that she knew this wasn’t what we wanted, but she’d
actually never seen fluid levels this low before, and we really needed to get
baby girl out. The plan would be for Cervadil to be inserted that night for 12
hours with constant monitoring, but I could opt out of constant IV fluid (with
a saline lock) if I agreed to one liter of IV fluid prior to Cervadil and
promised to drink plenty of fluids by mouth throughout the night. If the
Cervadil could get me from 1cm to 2cm, that would be considered good progress –
3cm would be fantastic. In the morning, after the Cervadil, I would get a one-hour
break to eat a real meal, shower and be monitor-free before starting Pitocin. The expectation was that
the 12 hours of Cervadil would be extremely boring, and we would sleep through
the night. The fun would begin with Pitocin.
After we discussed the plan for induction, I asked if I
could go home for one hour to get our hospital bags and eat dinner. She
hesitated – did I promise I could feel the baby kicking constantly? Yes. It
would be only one hour? Yes. Truly two blocks away? Yes. She agreed as long as
we promised to be back by 6:45pm.
6:45PM: Our assigned L&D room was actually really nice –
it was typically used by the in-hospital birth center, so it was relatively
new, overlooked the Brooklyn Bridge and had a giant jacuzzi tub I was told I
was not allowed to use because I was not a birth center patient – sigh. The
nurse who did our intake told us she was leaving in 30 min, but she’d get us
setup. After a number of questions, she got the materials to start my IV. I
asked if I could have it in my forearm, and she said – and I quote – “I can try
if you’re fine with me attempting 17 times and putting it in your hand anyway?”
Uh, no thanks. The nurse on the next shift could switch it before I fell
asleep, right?
7:30PM: The nurse shifts changed, and our new nurse and PA
were really nice and accommodating. We got monitors hooked up, and I
immediately hated them; they weren’t wireless, and I’m not sure I’ve ever
encountered a piece of technology less competent or more aggravating. I
reminded our team that I wasn’t going to have any further IV fluids until the
Pitocin, but they were taken aback because it was against protocol. They said
they’d check with the OB, but they weren’t optimistic. The OB told them it was
fine, though.
9:40PM: the liter of IV fluid was complete, the Cervadil was
inserted, and the PA confirmed I was still at 1cm, 30% effaced, -2 station –
same as earlier that afternoon.
I couldn’t get up for any reason (even to use the bathroom)
until the Cervadil had been in for at least two hours so we started killing
time: we joked with the PA and nurse about all of our bets on when the baby
would be born – all of us agreed sometime the following evening. We texted my mom and made plans for breakfast
the next day at 9:40am – she was going to bring us bagels for my hour reprieve,
and broth, coconut water and apple sauce for the dreaded Pitocin phase. We
talked with our doula and decided she should come in the morning, probably
shortly after we started Pitocin, since more than likely it would be a boring
night.
10:30PM: We started listening to a podcast, and I started to
get what I’d describe as moderate menstrual cramps. We’d downloaded a
contraction timer app weeks before, and although it was unnecessary given all
the monitors, we started timing them “for fun.”
11:30PM: The
contractions increased in intensity and frequency, and baby girl moved so often
that it was impossible to keep track of her, so nurses were constantly coming
in to adjust the monitors. I was extremely frustrated. I felt like I could deal
with the pain of the contractions if I were allowed to remove the monitors – I
could still feel her kicking like crazy, so wasn’t I a better monitor than
these stupid devices that barely worked? Apparently not. Eventually the nurses had
to strap the monitors to me as tightly and painfully as they could which made
it nearly impossible to ignore the contraction pain. Even then, they had to keep
adjusting the monitors and me every two minutes, so I couldn’t find or keep a
comfortable position. I was allowed to
take them off to use the bathroom, so I kept extending my bathroom trips so I
could be free of them, but eventually an alarm would go off and someone would
rush in to strap me back up.
12:00AM: the contractions were lasting more than a minute
every three minutes, and I was serious. My SPD pain was increasing, and I was
getting pretty worried that my right leg was going to fall out of its socket
based on how it felt when I moved it. DH tried hip squeezes, acupressure,
verbal encouragement, but nothing helped, and I was getting less and less time
between contractions to regroup. I tried different pitches and volumes for
moaning/screaming, which I can’t say helped either, but it did make me feel
like everyone else was also being tortured, and I found comfort in that.
1:30AM: DH texted our doula to update her that things were
not “boring” and that maybe this wouldn’t be a tomorrow thing, but he wasn’t
sure if she should come down yet or not.
Simultaneously, I started negotiating with the PA between
contractions – a difficult task because they were coming every 2-3 minutes at that
point. She told me that an epidural was not an option on Cervadil alone, so my
options were as follows: 1) keep the Cervadil in until 9:40am and tolerate the
pain, or 2) remove the Cervadil (the contractions would likely stop soon after)
and start Pitocin immediately.
I reiterated that I wanted to delay an epidural as long as
possible, but I was concerned I was too tired to tolerate Pitocin contractions
without some rest first – could I have the Cervadil removed and take a break
from everything (monitors, IVs, drugs of any kind) for three hours so I could
nap? No. Can you ask the OB on call? Fine, but she’s going to say the same
thing.
But she didn’t! The OB on call agreed to remove the
Cervadil, give me one hour without anything
and then two more hours with only the monitors. After that we’d start Pitocin.
2:30AM: PA removed the Cervadil and excitedly told me I was
3-4 cm dilated, 60% effaced, -1 station. That was great, but I was way more
excited to remove the monitors and for the contractions to slow down and stop.
But the contractions didn’t slow
down and stop; they got stronger and more frequent.
2:50AM: Our doula was on her way downtown, and I was no
longer in any way able to breathe through the contractions.
3AM: I asked if I could
pre-consent to the epidural so if I truly needed it, I could get it quickly.
3:20AM: My scream-moans swapped from “OHHHH” to “EPIDURAL
EPIDURAL!!!” DH was really supportive,
and I could tell he wasn’t sure if I’d be more upset about getting the epidural
or not getting the epidural. I was concerned it was too early for the epidural,
and it would slow everything down too far. I didn’t want to have an epidural
for 36 hours. If this was what 3-4cm felt like, how would I handle what I still
expected would be at least another 12 hours of increasing pain?
So, self-doubt, but also certainty: another contraction hit,
and I knew it was time to tap out. It felt like my hips were shattering from
the contractions and falling apart from the SPD. Even without the monitors, I
couldn’t get into any position other than standing and clutching DH. I was
barely getting a 30 second break in between contractions, and the SPD pain
obviously didn’t stop during those breaks. So, yeah, definitely epidural time.
Fuck it.
3:30AM: the anesthesiologist came in to get setup, and DH
got kicked out because the room had to be sterile. Our doula arrived at the
hospital but wasn’t allowed in either. Sitting still for the epidural was
excruciating, and the anesthesiologist was kind of an asshole, but at least he
was a very competent asshole.
4AM: DH and our doula were allowed in, and my pain level was
brought down to what I had previously assumed it would be during early/active
labor – I was still breathing through contractions, but it was manageable. Our
doula helped me get on my side with the peanut ball, and I clicked the epidural
button a few times to up the medication. Our doula wanted us to try to get some
sleep, so DH got out the cot, but he was a little wired from all my screaming. (Note: no one re-checked my cervix because we assumed it wouldn't have changed much in 90 minutes)
5:15AM: DH fell asleep. I tried to sleep, but the
contractions were still very frequent and reasonably painful, and the issues
with the monitors were still a constant – baby girl would move, someone would
come in to adjust the monitors, and I would inevitably have to switch my own
position – except now it was more complicated because with the epidural I
couldn’t move myself; a whole team of people had to come in to help maneuver
me.
5:40AM: the PA came in and said that she wanted to do a
cervical exam because the monitors were showing some weird things with baby’s
heart, and she wanted to see what was going on. I will never forget her shocked
face when she put her hand up there and said I was 10 cm, +2 station and 100%
ready to push.
What? Excuse me?
She told me I could labor down while they brought in all the
equipment and my epidural wore off a bit, in hopes that I could feel the urge to
push – it was extra important that my epidural wore off enough for me to feel
pain to reduce the chances I seriously screwed up my unstable pelvis. Our doula
sat me up in “throne” position, which was a bit challenging since we had to
keep my right leg in line with my body, but with enough pillows to barricade it
worked well.
6AM: we woke up DH to tell him, and he nearly had a heart
attack. I think he and I must have said “what the fuck” 100 times that morning.
6:30AM: we tried some practice pushes with the PA, which
went pretty well, but she wanted me to hold my breath more when we did it for
real – I was annoyed by this because I felt like I could maintain the same
level of abdominal pressure with or without holding my breath. I also ignored
her instructions to “push like I needed to poop” and instead pushed with the
top of my abs (sort of like rolling through certain moves in a Pilates class?),
which turned out to be way more effective. I was starting to struggle with low
blood sugar, so DH got me some apple juice, which I chugged. A lot of people
came in with a ton of equipment.
7AM: the PA came back and said baby’s heart is having some
decels they were worried about, so we couldn’t labor down much longer. The
epidural wore off enough that I could feel the contractions rather
strongly/painfully (and move my legs a bit), but mercifully the pain did not
linger in between contractions so I felt pretty calm.
7:30AM: the OB came in, and it was time to start pushing for
real. I pushed on my right side to reduce the risk of doing permanent damage to
my unstable pelvis. I led when to push, and in between we all talked about TV shows
we liked, and DH made sure I drank more apple juice and water because if my
stomach got too empty I found that stomach acid would get forced into my esophagus
while I pushed.
8:15AM: DH laughed and said, “You know it’s real because
everyone is putting the real surgical gowns on now!”
8:28AM: Evelyn was born! We did immediate skin-to-skin while
DH sobbed – I did not cry; instead I felt very calm and relaxed. I had a second degree tear which took a bit to stitch up, and the hemmies were... impressive (later, DH very excitedly told me about how much pooping I did )
The nurses removed the god-awful monitors, and they
reluctantly took out the saline lock in my hand. And best of all – we got a
private post-partum room! (For those who don’t know, private rooms are
difficult – and costly – to come by in NYC, so it’s practically a miracle we
got one.)
We called my mom and asked if she wanted to bring breakfast
earlier than 9:40am – oh, and also meet her granddaughter.
If you’ve made it to the end of this story, you deserve a
gold star!
Congratulations @doxiemoxie212 That was an incredible story! It scared the shit out of me, but it was so beautiful. You're an amazing mama already!
People think we become mothers when we give birth but the truth is we become mothers the moment we start calling our babies to us in our thoughts, dreams and prayers. Some paths are short and some are so long that you can easily forget where you were headed.
How I feel all of the time. My 7 Year Journey ***Tw in spoiler***
IVF IVF #1 - September 2018; Follistim, Menopur, Cetrotide & Lupron/HCG combo trigger; PGS; ICSI Back on Levothyroxine FET #1 - October 2018; cancelled, all PGS aneuploid FET #1 - November 30th, transferred anyway Wondfo BFP 5dp5dt, CB Digi 6dpt, 1st Beta on 7dpt 93 2nd Beta on 10dpt 510!
TTC #1 since 2011. Tried for 5 years before we knew there was a one year rule. Diag w/MS 2016; w/PCOS & IF 2017 New RE 2018; PCOS diagnosis taken away, IF due to ovary adhesions, but prev. RE insists PCOS IF
IUI IUI #1 July 2017 w/100mg Clo+trigger; BFN; benched w/big cysts IUI #2 October 2017 w/50mg Clo+trigger; BFN; benched w/big cysts IUI #3 February 2018 w/5mg Femara+trigger; low P BFP February; mc March; Subclinical hypothyroid started Levothyroxine IUI #4 March 2018 w/7.5mg Femara+trigger; BFN Medicated cycle & TI April 2018 w/7.5mg Femara+trigger; BFN Tried several cycles on our own; all BFN
Ivan graced us with his presence on June 21st at 12:22 am via last minute cesarean due to nonprogressing labour!
8 lb 2 oz of pure perfection!
Suuuuper long birth story!
I went in for my last OB appt on June 19th, set to be induced that night because of GD (I was 39+3). We checked in at 6 PM and got set up with the cervidil for an overnight cervix ripening.
At 3:30 am on June 20th I woke up to a gush of fluid, and it took me a minute to realize I didn't, in fact, pee myself, lol. Nurse confirmed it was my bag of waters, and also confirmed there was meconium present, so LO was ahead of the game. I had a feeling this would happen because he had a lot of poop on the ultrasound the week before and not nearly as much on that last ultrasound. He was already a poop machine!
I was allowed to sleep some more, had no contractions, and then they started Pitocin at 8 am the morning of the 22nd. Contractions started instantly, but weren't too bad. I was checked and was 1 cm, 40 or 50% effaced, and my cervix was still posterior - so the cervidil did nothing for my cervix, really.
I slept some more that morning, but then they increased the pitocin and i couldn't sleep anymore. Contractions were worse, but my blood pressure was getting higher so they were concerned about pre-e. I was allowed to get up to pee, but I was told I couldn't go for a walk. I was told I couldn't use the birthing ball because they were having trouble keeping Ivan on the monitor. I was stuck in bed all day.
I was checked again that afternoon and I was 3 or 4 cm and no real progression with effacement, still relatively posterior.
They put an internal monitor in so I could get up since my cervix was dilated enough and my BP was coming back down. I was almost topped out on pitocin at this point and contractions were regular, but once I got up on the birthing ball, they wouldn't let me move around much... because of the internal monitor. Cue eye roll.
Peanut was no help either, but I finally took a dose of Fentanyl in the hopes it would relax me enough for me to get some rest and my cervix to dilate more. I slept for a good hour or so before the contractions got uncomfortable again.
At this point it was about 11PM, and I was checked again with zero progression on the cervix front. We were almost to the 24 hour mark for a required delivery thanks to the meconium, and I knew that getting an epidural or taking more pain killers wouldn't help in time. So we had to go for a c section.
It sucked, but I was at the point I just wanted to meet my son. After 15 hours of labor, I was ready for the end!
I met the anesthesiologist, and he was hilarious and made me feel good about everything. Because FFFC, I'm terrified of epidurals and spinals and I wanted nothing to do with them at all!
He explained everything to me and then lo and behold the first anesthesiologist on call came in (apparently the one I met was the second on call) and wanted to take over! Also super fun, he apparently does things differently and wanted me on my left side lying down and trying to arch my back that way.
He stuck me six times before he finally got the spinal done!! Each time was extremely uncomfortable, almost worse than the labour was! On the last time he told me if he didn't get it he'd be putting me under general anesthesia. I was almost ready to beg for it at that point!
Once that was all done and I got on the table, I was prepped and DH was let in the room. The drape went up and Ivan was out within minutes. He had a nice loud, long cry and wouldn't stop until H got to hold him!
H went with Ivan and I got closed up (which I fell asleep for) and wheeled in to recovery. They brought Ivan in and we were able to do skin to skin and he latched amazingly for BFing for what seemed like forever. Then he was taken for his first bath with H and we all met up in our room.
Now he's doing amazing and keeping me on my toes already! I didn't get the birth that I wanted, but I don't regret anything. He's here and healthy and that's all that matters in the end!
Another TTGP grad with a long ass birth story. The basics; team green turned blue on Friday June 1st at 37+5 at 10:27 am, baby boy (D) weighing 4lbs 11oz after 36 hour induction.
At my 36 week appointment my fundal height was measuing 34. I had been dead on with my measurements for the whole pregnancy so to be safe they scheduled a growth ultrasound for the next week at 37+3 followed by my regular midwife appointment. At the growth ultrasound they found that D was only measuring at 4lbs 7oz, the 3rd percentile. The tech told us this at the scan which I'm sure she wasn't supposed to do and then we went to our regular appointment already expecting the worst.
At our appointment my blood pressure was high, rightfully so. I didn't have any other symptoms but they said I had mild pre-e and that is what might have caused the baby to be small. They diagnosed him with intrauterine growth restriction and said we could go to the perinatologist for another ultrasound but they recommended that we induce. This was my worst fear because my birth plan wish list was basically identical to @doxiemoxie212 We did a NST and they said that if the baby passed the NST that we could go home and come back at 8pm but if not we would have to go to L&D immediately. He was fine on the NST so we went home, well actually we went to work first to wrap things up. Then we went home and got the house ready because we were not expecting to have the baby 2.5 weeks early. I was a FTM and they always go over, right?
So 8pm that night we check into the hospital, I am 1 cm dilated and my cervix is favorable. They start with cervidil for 12 hours. Didn't sleep much that night but didn't have much for contractions yet. The next morning they checked and I was at 2 and they moved on to a cook catheter, basically a bulb filled with saline on both sides of your cervix. It is supposed to dilate you to 4-5 cm and then fall out. I had an hour of really intense contractions after that was placed but they went away almost immediately after I got on all fours. I spent the day walking the halls and bouncing on the ball without much for contractions. At about 9 pm they were ready to take the catheter out because it never fell out. The midwife that did that said that it would never have fallen out because they over filled it. I was at 4-5 cm and +2 station and we started pitocin.
They put the peanut ball between my legs to rest and help encourage baby down. Couldn't sleep at all and by about 1 am the contractions started getting more intense. MH and I started to really try to labor though them. I was using the nitrous but it was pretty intense. At 6 am they said that the midwife would be in to check me again soon. I told my husband that if I wasn't ready to go or at least close when they checked me that I was going to get the epi. They came to check me at 8 am and I was still at 5 cm and 0 station. When she said that I just said "F*** give me the epidural."
It took an hour or so for the anesthesiologist to get there and get set up. I was that crazy lady in L&D yelling "make it stop!" and "just cut it out of me." The anesthesiologist was my favorite person ever because he placed the epi so quickly in between contractions so I never had to sit still through one. It took about 45 mins for the epi to get going and to settle in, the plan was to just rest for a little while and get the baby to drop more so I was back on the peanut ball. The baby's heart rate kept dropping which they said is common with the epi but they wanted to check me again to see how baby was doing. Well I was at 10 cm and his heart rate was dropping because his head was going through the cervix. She broke my water and said we were going to labor down (still not exactly sure what that means) so they turned off my pit. Shortly after that she said that we were actually going to push. Because they had turned off the pit I was barely having contractions and because the epi was just placed I couldn't feel anything so the nurse felt my uterus for contractions and we waited for awhile in between. After about three pushes baby was out.
He was immediately taken to the special care nursery, which we knew was going to happen based on his size. He was doing well but having trouble maintaining his temp and blood sugar so they put him on the warmer and started giving him donor milk through a feeding tube.
All through labor my BP was being monitored hourly and towards the end every 15 mins and it was all over the place. We kept trying to play games with it to keep it down, like if I was on all fours it went down. I was actually restricted to my bed and the bathroom for most of labor to keep my BP down. After delivery my BP was still high so I was now severely pre-eclamptic and had to be placed on magnesium sulfate for 24 hours. That was the worst part of everything. I was in my PP room trying to rest while D was in the nursery. I was not able to nurse him but started pumping right away.
I had been visiting D in the nursery and at one of my visits he stopped breathing while I was holding him. The nurse came over and said it was normal newborn apnea. We came back to the nursery a few hours later and the nurse said he had stopped breathing a few more times and was displaying seizure like activity. They advised us to transfer him to the NICU at the children's hospital and he was transferred via ambulance at about 8 pm. I was still on mag so I had to stay at the hospital we delivered at while my husband went to the children's hospital.
That night D had seizures every 20 mins. They hooked him up to an EEG with video monitoring and did an ultrasound and MRI. They found blood in his brain that they believe caused the seizures. They loaded him with quite a bit of phenobarbital, basically a sedative which made him very sleepy. He was hooked up to the EEG for 48 hours so I only held him 4 times in his first 4 days. We just had to wait it out for the phenobarb to wear off and for the blood to dissipate. As he became more awake we were trying to nurse but he was just too sleepy and small to get the hang of it. They said that in order to be discharged he had to be eating on his own without the feeding tube for 24 hours. So in an effort to get out of there as quickly as possible we started bottle feeding and decided to try nursing later. He wasn't really gaining weight though so we started fortifying BM with formula to get him extra calories.
He will be 2 months tomorrow and he is about 8 1/2 lbs! He has been doing great and hasn't had another seizure. His last brain ultrasound was perfectly normal. I have been EP the whole time which has it's own set of challenges.
If you made it through all of that you get a cookie.
*TW LC*
Me & MH: 32 DS: 6/1/18 (Pre-E; IUGR; seizures; NICU) TTC #2: 12/2019 Sept 2020: HSG possible blocked right tube Nov 2020: Letrozole + TI - BFN Dec 2020: Letrozole + TI - BFP!!! EDD 9/18
I stopped being active here months ago but wanted to post my birth story because I would stalk the other boards for them when I was pregnant.
I started feeling contractions early Thursday morning around 2am at 40+5. They were every 20 minutes or so and uncomfortable enough that I couldn’t sleep through them but not painful. By noon I was feeling them more and they were every 4-5 minutes so I went to the hospital. I was 1 cm dilated so they sent me home. Contractions stayed at 4 minutes but got much more painful, to the point I couldn’t talk through them. So that evening I went back to the hospital. 2 cm.
They told me to walk around the hospital for an hour to try to get to 4cm. My contractions were almost on top of each other and so painful I couldn’t walk through them. After the hour, I was 3cm. They checked me in even though I wasn’t technically far enough along because of my pain level. Because I hadn’t slept or eaten in 2 days at this point, I opted for a morphine sleep that night that was supposed to get me 6 hours of sleep. It got me 2.
By that afternoon I was 4cm and I’m so much pain I didn’t know what to do. They said my options were to go home or get pitocin. I opted for the pitocin and an epidural (a life saver!) 6 hours later I was ready to push. I pushed for 3.5 hours, had second degree tears, and my beautiful baby boy was born.
I wanted to go med free but it didn’t happen and I’m ok with it. The epidural Was amazing and let me recover enough strength that I was able to push. In all I had 48 hours of labor and 3.5 hours of pushing.
He was born 6-16-18, 8 pounds and 20.5 inches long. I am in love.
Me: 32 | DH: 36
Married June 2005
1/2016 - TTC#1
4/2017 - Initial RE visit, Dx: Severe MFI (Varicocele, 14% motility, 3% progression, but normal count)
7/2017 - Stage 3 endometriosis discovered during laparoscopic removal of ovarian cyst
9/27/2017 - BFP at 10dpo (cycle 22), baby boy due June 9, 2018
Re: June 2018 Birth Announcements
ETA: +1 for sticky @BumpAdmin
@everyone else - Keep those babies cooking!
Me: 30 | DH: 34 | DSS: 14 | DS: 4
PG #2, EDD 10/12/2023
In all seriousness if you think you are in labor, especially preterm labor, you should call your doctor.
DS: 6/1/18 (Pre-E; IUGR; seizures; NICU)
TTC #2: 12/2019
Sept 2020: HSG possible blocked right tube
Nov 2020: Letrozole + TI - BFN
Dec 2020: Letrozole + TI - BFP!!! EDD 9/18
Caragh Imogen Gioconda (4 lbs. 6 oz.)
Tennessee Ruslan Pesah (5 lbs. 2 oz.)
&
Traveller Wellesley (4 lbs. 8 oz.)
- 6/1/18 -
Thank you to everyone for all of your love, support and helpful tips! I couldn't have done this without you!
single momma of 8
- Aliviyah (21) - Aemilia (21) - Silas Charlie Flynn (9) - Posie Breeze (5) - Jack Archie Liam (5) -
- Caragh Imogen Gioconda - Tennessee Ruslan Pesah - Traveller Wellesley -
- you don't always need a plan. sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go and see what happens -
Married - DH 27 y/o
BFP: 10/13/17
EDD: 6/22/18
7 lbs 15oz (just like her brother!) 20.25 inches
i was at 40+3
June 16th 2018
3:51am
7lb 14oz
June 23rd, 2018 at 9:18pm
8 lbs 6 oz
20 1/2 inches long
June 20, 2018
8 lbs 6 oz
20 inches long
Evelyn Lisbeth greeted the world the morning of June 6th after a whirlwind last-minute induction the previous evening. She has DH’s eyes and ears, my body hair and long fingers, and a birth mark on her forehead I’m grateful for because it means I’ll never have to worry someone accidentally swapped her in the hospital. Ultimately, we couldn’t have asked for a better experience, though I admit induction was not what I thought I wanted. Full story in the spoiler below (it is very long)!
Well, you know what they say about plans – ha.
But I didn’t even have a plan; I had a wish list. Because I was going to be really chill about this whole birth thing. Our friends joked that I was studying to become an obstetrician in the timespan of my pregnancy, but I was going to be really chill. Super relaxed. Easy breezy. I 100% was not going to lose it if things didn’t go according to plan the wish list.
And if you think it’s impossible to be “really chill” while simultaneously identifying every possible scenario that could throw a wrench in said plan wish list – well, you’re right; it turns out I’m not a very chill person. But honestly, I didn’t think I had to be. At 26 weeks I was diagnosed with symphysis pubis dysfunction (SPD) due to hypermobility.
SPD is a condition that causes excessive movement of the pubic bone which results in an unstable pelvis, and, for me, a cascade of misalignment throughout my body that even weekly osteopathic treatments could barely dent. By 30 weeks I was essentially chained to my heating pad from muscle spasms up and down the right side of my spine and severe sciatic pain down both legs (but the worst was the nearly unbearable rib pain).
The upside of all this was that everyone kept saying I would go into labor early. My pelvis was essentially falling apart, and all the ligaments in my body were loosening so drastically that toward the end I really worried my right leg was going to fall out of socket – so the baby was going to just fall out, right? My pelvis might split irreparably in half, but no worries on the labor front.
So when Saturday, June 2nd (my due date) rolled around, and I still had an inside baby, I low key panicked. Acupuncture, acupressure, reflexology, spicy food, long walks, aromatherapy, red raspberry leaf tea – you name it, I tried it. I didn’t want to end up being induced and wonder if a particular old wives’ tale would have worked for me if only I tried it.
TUESDAY, JUNE 5TH: I didn’t know it yet, but it was induction day.
9AM: I emailed my OB. I was 40+3 and absolutely desperate to go into spontaneous labor before 41+0 when my OB had tentatively scheduled my induction “if needed.” She would let me go until 42+0 (and would not induce me before 41 weeks), but she was concerned about my day-to-day pain level and diminished mobility. She knew I wanted to go into labor spontaneously, though, so we agreed another OB would do a membrane sweep that afternoon on her day off, and she’d do another on Thursday if necessary.
12:00PM: DH came with me for the membrane sweep. When the doctor entered the exam room, the first thing he asked me was why I had an induction on the books – you’re 29 and low risk, why are you getting induced before 42 weeks? We discussed it, and I immediately felt a wave of relief at the thought of pushing back the “deadline” another week. He then did the sweep (I was 1 cm dilated, 30% effaced and -2 station) which hurt a little but not as much as I thought it would.
1:45PM: I went to acupuncture for my third round of “induction points,” riding the high of the removal of my deadline.
4PM: DH and I trekked the two blocks back to the OB’s office to get a routine ultrasound with MFM to check my amniotic fluid levels and get an NST. I knew the MFM doctors might be sensitive to borderline low fluid levels, so I had been chugging water the 24 hours prior to rule out dehydration as a variable. A tech did the scan and seemed a little concerned – she told us my fluid levels looked low, so she wanted to get the MFM doctor to take a look himself. I rolled my eyes and mentally prepared myself to stand my ground with the doctor on what I expected were borderline levels.
4:45PM: the MFM doctor came in, repeated the scan, setup the NST and then calmly and kindly informed us that I did appear to have low fluid levels, so he would recommend immediate induction. I told him I could feel the baby kicking like crazy (like always; she never stopped), so I knew she was fine, and I asked if the NST scan was showing any issues. He admitted that she did appear to be fine based on the NST, but he was nervous that might not continue. He said he needed to escort us immediately up to L&D. I laughed – that wasn’t happening.
Could I go home and chug water all night and repeat the scan tomorrow morning first thing? That was when we found out that this was, in fact, not an arbitrary, borderline decision. The doctor informed us that a fluid level of less than 10cm would be considered low, and at less than 5cm (5th percentile), he would generally recommend induction; my fluid levels were 0.6cm. So, no, drinking water wouldn’t help, and at this point he pressed harder and said he really was worried that the baby could die if I went home because more than likely this was caused by my placenta no longer functioning.
5:45PM: Thankfully, the OB on call was one of my favorites from our practice, and also one of the most flexible. She greeted us very kindly and acknowledged that she knew this wasn’t what we wanted, but she’d actually never seen fluid levels this low before, and we really needed to get baby girl out. The plan would be for Cervadil to be inserted that night for 12 hours with constant monitoring, but I could opt out of constant IV fluid (with a saline lock) if I agreed to one liter of IV fluid prior to Cervadil and promised to drink plenty of fluids by mouth throughout the night. If the Cervadil could get me from 1cm to 2cm, that would be considered good progress – 3cm would be fantastic. In the morning, after the Cervadil, I would get a one-hour break to eat a real meal, shower and be monitor-free before starting Pitocin. The expectation was that the 12 hours of Cervadil would be extremely boring, and we would sleep through the night. The fun would begin with Pitocin.
After we discussed the plan for induction, I asked if I could go home for one hour to get our hospital bags and eat dinner. She hesitated – did I promise I could feel the baby kicking constantly? Yes. It would be only one hour? Yes. Truly two blocks away? Yes. She agreed as long as we promised to be back by 6:45pm.
6:45PM: Our assigned L&D room was actually really nice – it was typically used by the in-hospital birth center, so it was relatively new, overlooked the Brooklyn Bridge and had a giant jacuzzi tub I was told I was not allowed to use because I was not a birth center patient – sigh. The nurse who did our intake told us she was leaving in 30 min, but she’d get us setup. After a number of questions, she got the materials to start my IV. I asked if I could have it in my forearm, and she said – and I quote – “I can try if you’re fine with me attempting 17 times and putting it in your hand anyway?” Uh, no thanks. The nurse on the next shift could switch it before I fell asleep, right?
7:30PM: The nurse shifts changed, and our new nurse and PA were really nice and accommodating. We got monitors hooked up, and I immediately hated them; they weren’t wireless, and I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered a piece of technology less competent or more aggravating. I reminded our team that I wasn’t going to have any further IV fluids until the Pitocin, but they were taken aback because it was against protocol. They said they’d check with the OB, but they weren’t optimistic. The OB told them it was fine, though.
9:40PM: the liter of IV fluid was complete, the Cervadil was inserted, and the PA confirmed I was still at 1cm, 30% effaced, -2 station – same as earlier that afternoon.
I couldn’t get up for any reason (even to use the bathroom) until the Cervadil had been in for at least two hours so we started killing time: we joked with the PA and nurse about all of our bets on when the baby would be born – all of us agreed sometime the following evening. We texted my mom and made plans for breakfast the next day at 9:40am – she was going to bring us bagels for my hour reprieve, and broth, coconut water and apple sauce for the dreaded Pitocin phase. We talked with our doula and decided she should come in the morning, probably shortly after we started Pitocin, since more than likely it would be a boring night.
10:30PM: We started listening to a podcast, and I started to get what I’d describe as moderate menstrual cramps. We’d downloaded a contraction timer app weeks before, and although it was unnecessary given all the monitors, we started timing them “for fun.”
11:30PM: The contractions increased in intensity and frequency, and baby girl moved so often that it was impossible to keep track of her, so nurses were constantly coming in to adjust the monitors. I was extremely frustrated. I felt like I could deal with the pain of the contractions if I were allowed to remove the monitors – I could still feel her kicking like crazy, so wasn’t I a better monitor than these stupid devices that barely worked? Apparently not. Eventually the nurses had to strap the monitors to me as tightly and painfully as they could which made it nearly impossible to ignore the contraction pain. Even then, they had to keep adjusting the monitors and me every two minutes, so I couldn’t find or keep a comfortable position. I was allowed to take them off to use the bathroom, so I kept extending my bathroom trips so I could be free of them, but eventually an alarm would go off and someone would rush in to strap me back up.
12:00AM: the contractions were lasting more than a minute every three minutes, and I was serious. My SPD pain was increasing, and I was getting pretty worried that my right leg was going to fall out of its socket based on how it felt when I moved it. DH tried hip squeezes, acupressure, verbal encouragement, but nothing helped, and I was getting less and less time between contractions to regroup. I tried different pitches and volumes for moaning/screaming, which I can’t say helped either, but it did make me feel like everyone else was also being tortured, and I found comfort in that.
1:30AM: DH texted our doula to update her that things were not “boring” and that maybe this wouldn’t be a tomorrow thing, but he wasn’t sure if she should come down yet or not.
Simultaneously, I started negotiating with the PA between contractions – a difficult task because they were coming every 2-3 minutes at that point. She told me that an epidural was not an option on Cervadil alone, so my options were as follows: 1) keep the Cervadil in until 9:40am and tolerate the pain, or 2) remove the Cervadil (the contractions would likely stop soon after) and start Pitocin immediately.
I reiterated that I wanted to delay an epidural as long as possible, but I was concerned I was too tired to tolerate Pitocin contractions without some rest first – could I have the Cervadil removed and take a break from everything (monitors, IVs, drugs of any kind) for three hours so I could nap? No. Can you ask the OB on call? Fine, but she’s going to say the same thing.
But she didn’t! The OB on call agreed to remove the Cervadil, give me one hour without anything and then two more hours with only the monitors. After that we’d start Pitocin.
2:30AM: PA removed the Cervadil and excitedly told me I was 3-4 cm dilated, 60% effaced, -1 station. That was great, but I was way more excited to remove the monitors and for the contractions to slow down and stop.
But the contractions didn’t slow down and stop; they got stronger and more frequent.
2:50AM: Our doula was on her way downtown, and I was no longer in any way able to breathe through the contractions.
3AM: I asked if I could pre-consent to the epidural so if I truly needed it, I could get it quickly.
3:20AM: My scream-moans swapped from “OHHHH” to “EPIDURAL EPIDURAL!!!” DH was really supportive, and I could tell he wasn’t sure if I’d be more upset about getting the epidural or not getting the epidural. I was concerned it was too early for the epidural, and it would slow everything down too far. I didn’t want to have an epidural for 36 hours. If this was what 3-4cm felt like, how would I handle what I still expected would be at least another 12 hours of increasing pain?
So, self-doubt, but also certainty: another contraction hit, and I knew it was time to tap out. It felt like my hips were shattering from the contractions and falling apart from the SPD. Even without the monitors, I couldn’t get into any position other than standing and clutching DH. I was barely getting a 30 second break in between contractions, and the SPD pain obviously didn’t stop during those breaks. So, yeah, definitely epidural time. Fuck it.
3:30AM: the anesthesiologist came in to get setup, and DH got kicked out because the room had to be sterile. Our doula arrived at the hospital but wasn’t allowed in either. Sitting still for the epidural was excruciating, and the anesthesiologist was kind of an asshole, but at least he was a very competent asshole.
4AM: DH and our doula were allowed in, and my pain level was brought down to what I had previously assumed it would be during early/active labor – I was still breathing through contractions, but it was manageable. Our doula helped me get on my side with the peanut ball, and I clicked the epidural button a few times to up the medication. Our doula wanted us to try to get some sleep, so DH got out the cot, but he was a little wired from all my screaming. (Note: no one re-checked my cervix because we assumed it wouldn't have changed much in 90 minutes)
5:15AM: DH fell asleep. I tried to sleep, but the contractions were still very frequent and reasonably painful, and the issues with the monitors were still a constant – baby girl would move, someone would come in to adjust the monitors, and I would inevitably have to switch my own position – except now it was more complicated because with the epidural I couldn’t move myself; a whole team of people had to come in to help maneuver me.
5:40AM: the PA came in and said that she wanted to do a cervical exam because the monitors were showing some weird things with baby’s heart, and she wanted to see what was going on. I will never forget her shocked face when she put her hand up there and said I was 10 cm, +2 station and 100% ready to push.
What? Excuse me?
She told me I could labor down while they brought in all the equipment and my epidural wore off a bit, in hopes that I could feel the urge to push – it was extra important that my epidural wore off enough for me to feel pain to reduce the chances I seriously screwed up my unstable pelvis. Our doula sat me up in “throne” position, which was a bit challenging since we had to keep my right leg in line with my body, but with enough pillows to barricade it worked well.
6AM: we woke up DH to tell him, and he nearly had a heart attack. I think he and I must have said “what the fuck” 100 times that morning.
6:30AM: we tried some practice pushes with the PA, which went pretty well, but she wanted me to hold my breath more when we did it for real – I was annoyed by this because I felt like I could maintain the same level of abdominal pressure with or without holding my breath. I also ignored her instructions to “push like I needed to poop” and instead pushed with the top of my abs (sort of like rolling through certain moves in a Pilates class?), which turned out to be way more effective. I was starting to struggle with low blood sugar, so DH got me some apple juice, which I chugged. A lot of people came in with a ton of equipment.
7AM: the PA came back and said baby’s heart is having some decels they were worried about, so we couldn’t labor down much longer. The epidural wore off enough that I could feel the contractions rather strongly/painfully (and move my legs a bit), but mercifully the pain did not linger in between contractions so I felt pretty calm.
7:30AM: the OB came in, and it was time to start pushing for real. I pushed on my right side to reduce the risk of doing permanent damage to my unstable pelvis. I led when to push, and in between we all talked about TV shows we liked, and DH made sure I drank more apple juice and water because if my stomach got too empty I found that stomach acid would get forced into my esophagus while I pushed.
8:15AM: DH laughed and said, “You know it’s real because everyone is putting the real surgical gowns on now!”
8:28AM: Evelyn was born! We did immediate skin-to-skin while DH sobbed – I did not cry; instead I felt very calm and relaxed. I had a second degree tear which took a bit to stitch up, and the hemmies were... impressive (later, DH very excitedly told me about how much pooping I did )
The nurses removed the god-awful monitors, and they reluctantly took out the saline lock in my hand. And best of all – we got a private post-partum room! (For those who don’t know, private rooms are difficult – and costly – to come by in NYC, so it’s practically a miracle we got one.)
We called my mom and asked if she wanted to bring breakfast earlier than 9:40am – oh, and also meet her granddaughter.
If you’ve made it to the end of this story, you deserve a gold star!
Congratulations @doxiemoxie212 That was an incredible story! It scared the shit out of me, but it was so beautiful. You're an amazing mama already!
My 7 Year Journey ***Tw in spoiler***
IVF #1 - September 2018; Follistim, Menopur, Cetrotide & Lupron/HCG combo trigger; PGS; ICSI
Back on Levothyroxine
FET #1 - October 2018; cancelled, all PGS aneuploid
FET #1 - November 30th, transferred anyway
Wondfo BFP 5dp5dt, CB Digi 6dpt,
1st Beta on 7dpt 93
2nd Beta on 10dpt 510!
TTC #1 since 2011. Tried for 5 years before we knew there was a one year rule.
Diag w/MS 2016; w/PCOS & IF 2017
New RE 2018; PCOS diagnosis taken away, IF due to ovary adhesions, but prev. RE insists PCOS IF
IUI
IUI #1 July 2017 w/100mg Clo+trigger; BFN; benched w/big cysts
IUI #2 October 2017 w/50mg Clo+trigger; BFN; benched w/big cysts
IUI #3 February 2018 w/5mg Femara+trigger; low P
BFP February; mc March; Subclinical hypothyroid started Levothyroxine
IUI #4 March 2018 w/7.5mg Femara+trigger; BFN
Medicated cycle & TI April 2018 w/7.5mg Femara+trigger; BFN
Tried several cycles on our own; all BFN
8 lb 2 oz of pure perfection!
Suuuuper long birth story!
At 3:30 am on June 20th I woke up to a gush of fluid, and it took me a minute to realize I didn't, in fact, pee myself, lol.
Nurse confirmed it was my bag of waters, and also confirmed there was meconium present, so LO was ahead of the game. I had a feeling this would happen because he had a lot of poop on the ultrasound the week before and not nearly as much on that last ultrasound. He was already a poop machine!
I was allowed to sleep some more, had no contractions, and then they started Pitocin at 8 am the morning of the 22nd.
Contractions started instantly, but weren't too bad. I was checked and was 1 cm, 40 or 50% effaced, and my cervix was still posterior - so the cervidil did nothing for my cervix, really.
I slept some more that morning, but then they increased the pitocin and i couldn't sleep anymore. Contractions were worse, but my blood pressure was getting higher so they were concerned about pre-e. I was allowed to get up to pee, but I was told I couldn't go for a walk. I was told I couldn't use the birthing ball because they were having trouble keeping Ivan on the monitor. I was stuck in bed all day.
I was checked again that afternoon and I was 3 or 4 cm and no real progression with effacement, still relatively posterior.
They put an internal monitor in so I could get up since my cervix was dilated enough and my BP was coming back down. I was almost topped out on pitocin at this point and contractions were regular, but once I got up on the birthing ball, they wouldn't let me move around much... because of the internal monitor. Cue eye roll.
Peanut was no help either, but I finally took a dose of Fentanyl in the hopes it would relax me enough for me to get some rest and my cervix to dilate more.
I slept for a good hour or so before the contractions got uncomfortable again.
At this point it was about 11PM, and I was checked again with zero progression on the cervix front.
We were almost to the 24 hour mark for a required delivery thanks to the meconium, and I knew that getting an epidural or taking more pain killers wouldn't help in time. So we had to go for a c section.
It sucked, but I was at the point I just wanted to meet my son. After 15 hours of labor, I was ready for the end!
I met the anesthesiologist, and he was hilarious and made me feel good about everything. Because FFFC, I'm terrified of epidurals and spinals and I wanted nothing to do with them at all!
He explained everything to me and then lo and behold the first anesthesiologist on call came in (apparently the one I met was the second on call) and wanted to take over! Also super fun, he apparently does things differently and wanted me on my left side lying down and trying to arch my back that way.
He stuck me six times before he finally got the spinal done!! Each time was extremely uncomfortable, almost worse than the labour was! On the last time he told me if he didn't get it he'd be putting me under general anesthesia. I was almost ready to beg for it at that point!
Once that was all done and I got on the table, I was prepped and DH was let in the room. The drape went up and Ivan was out within minutes. He had a nice loud, long cry and wouldn't stop until H got to hold him!
H went with Ivan and I got closed up (which I fell asleep for) and wheeled in to recovery. They brought Ivan in and we were able to do skin to skin and he latched amazingly for BFing for what seemed like forever. Then he was taken for his first bath with H and we all met up in our room.
Now he's doing amazing and keeping me on my toes already! I didn't get the birth that I wanted, but I don't regret anything. He's here and healthy and that's all that matters in the end!
Me: 30 | DH: 34 | DSS: 14 | DS: 4
PG #2, EDD 10/12/2023
At my 36 week appointment my fundal height was measuing 34. I had been dead on with my measurements for the whole pregnancy so to be safe they scheduled a growth ultrasound for the next week at 37+3 followed by my regular midwife appointment. At the growth ultrasound they found that D was only measuring at 4lbs 7oz, the 3rd percentile. The tech told us this at the scan which I'm sure she wasn't supposed to do and then we went to our regular appointment already expecting the worst.
At our appointment my blood pressure was high, rightfully so. I didn't have any other symptoms but they said I had mild pre-e and that is what might have caused the baby to be small. They diagnosed him with intrauterine growth restriction and said we could go to the perinatologist for another ultrasound but they recommended that we induce. This was my worst fear because my birth plan wish list was basically identical to @doxiemoxie212 We did a NST and they said that if the baby passed the NST that we could go home and come back at 8pm but if not we would have to go to L&D immediately. He was fine on the NST so we went home, well actually we went to work first to wrap things up. Then we went home and got the house ready because we were not expecting to have the baby 2.5 weeks early. I was a FTM and they always go over, right?
So 8pm that night we check into the hospital, I am 1 cm dilated and my cervix is favorable. They start with cervidil for 12 hours. Didn't sleep much that night but didn't have much for contractions yet. The next morning they checked and I was at 2 and they moved on to a cook catheter, basically a bulb filled with saline on both sides of your cervix. It is supposed to dilate you to 4-5 cm and then fall out. I had an hour of really intense contractions after that was placed but they went away almost immediately after I got on all fours. I spent the day walking the halls and bouncing on the ball without much for contractions. At about 9 pm they were ready to take the catheter out because it never fell out. The midwife that did that said that it would never have fallen out because they over filled it. I was at 4-5 cm and +2 station and we started pitocin.
They put the peanut ball between my legs to rest and help encourage baby down. Couldn't sleep at all and by about 1 am the contractions started getting more intense. MH and I started to really try to labor though them. I was using the nitrous but it was pretty intense. At 6 am they said that the midwife would be in to check me again soon. I told my husband that if I wasn't ready to go or at least close when they checked me that I was going to get the epi. They came to check me at 8 am and I was still at 5 cm and 0 station. When she said that I just said "F*** give me the epidural."
It took an hour or so for the anesthesiologist to get there and get set up. I was that crazy lady in L&D yelling "make it stop!" and "just cut it out of me." The anesthesiologist was my favorite person ever because he placed the epi so quickly in between contractions so I never had to sit still through one. It took about 45 mins for the epi to get going and to settle in, the plan was to just rest for a little while and get the baby to drop more so I was back on the peanut ball. The baby's heart rate kept dropping which they said is common with the epi but they wanted to check me again to see how baby was doing. Well I was at 10 cm and his heart rate was dropping because his head was going through the cervix. She broke my water and said we were going to labor down (still not exactly sure what that means) so they turned off my pit. Shortly after that she said that we were actually going to push. Because they had turned off the pit I was barely having contractions and because the epi was just placed I couldn't feel anything so the nurse felt my uterus for contractions and we waited for awhile in between. After about three pushes baby was out.
He was immediately taken to the special care nursery, which we knew was going to happen based on his size. He was doing well but having trouble maintaining his temp and blood sugar so they put him on the warmer and started giving him donor milk through a feeding tube.
All through labor my BP was being monitored hourly and towards the end every 15 mins and it was all over the place. We kept trying to play games with it to keep it down, like if I was on all fours it went down. I was actually restricted to my bed and the bathroom for most of labor to keep my BP down. After delivery my BP was still high so I was now severely pre-eclamptic and had to be placed on magnesium sulfate for 24 hours. That was the worst part of everything. I was in my PP room trying to rest while D was in the nursery. I was not able to nurse him but started pumping right away.
I had been visiting D in the nursery and at one of my visits he stopped breathing while I was holding him. The nurse came over and said it was normal newborn apnea. We came back to the nursery a few hours later and the nurse said he had stopped breathing a few more times and was displaying seizure like activity. They advised us to transfer him to the NICU at the children's hospital and he was transferred via ambulance at about 8 pm. I was still on mag so I had to stay at the hospital we delivered at while my husband went to the children's hospital.
That night D had seizures every 20 mins. They hooked him up to an EEG with video monitoring and did an ultrasound and MRI. They found blood in his brain that they believe caused the seizures. They loaded him with quite a bit of phenobarbital, basically a sedative which made him very sleepy. He was hooked up to the EEG for 48 hours so I only held him 4 times in his first 4 days. We just had to wait it out for the phenobarb to wear off and for the blood to dissipate. As he became more awake we were trying to nurse but he was just too sleepy and small to get the hang of it. They said that in order to be discharged he had to be eating on his own without the feeding tube for 24 hours. So in an effort to get out of there as quickly as possible we started bottle feeding and decided to try nursing later. He wasn't really gaining weight though so we started fortifying BM with formula to get him extra calories.
He will be 2 months tomorrow and he is about 8 1/2 lbs! He has been doing great and hasn't had another seizure. His last brain ultrasound was perfectly normal. I have been EP the whole time which has it's own set of challenges.
If you made it through all of that you get a cookie.
DS: 6/1/18 (Pre-E; IUGR; seizures; NICU)
TTC #2: 12/2019
Sept 2020: HSG possible blocked right tube
Nov 2020: Letrozole + TI - BFN
Dec 2020: Letrozole + TI - BFP!!! EDD 9/18
June 19th, 2018
8lbs, 3oz, 21 inches
She was 2 days overdue and we had a difficult delivery but she is my heart!
I started feeling contractions early Thursday morning around 2am at 40+5. They were every 20 minutes or so and uncomfortable enough that I couldn’t sleep through them but not painful. By noon I was feeling them more and they were every 4-5 minutes so I went to the hospital. I was 1 cm dilated so they sent me home. Contractions stayed at 4 minutes but got much more painful, to the point I couldn’t talk through them. So that evening I went back to the hospital. 2 cm.
They told me to walk around the hospital for an hour to try to get to 4cm. My contractions were almost on top of each other and so painful I couldn’t walk through them. After the hour, I was 3cm. They checked me in even though I wasn’t technically far enough along because of my pain level. Because I hadn’t slept or eaten in 2 days at this point, I opted for a morphine sleep that night that was supposed to get me 6 hours of sleep. It got me 2.
By that afternoon I was 4cm and I’m so much pain I didn’t know what to do. They said my options were to go home or get pitocin. I opted for the pitocin and an epidural (a life saver!) 6 hours later I was ready to push. I pushed for 3.5 hours, had second degree tears, and my beautiful baby boy was born.
I wanted to go med free but it didn’t happen and I’m ok with it. The epidural Was amazing and let me recover enough strength that I was able to push. In all I had 48 hours of labor and 3.5 hours of pushing.
He was born 6-16-18, 8 pounds and 20.5 inches long. I am in love.
Me: 32 | DH: 36
Married June 2005
1/2016 - TTC#1
4/2017 - Initial RE visit, Dx: Severe MFI (Varicocele, 14% motility, 3% progression, but normal count)
7/2017 - Stage 3 endometriosis discovered during laparoscopic removal of ovarian cyst
9/27/2017 - BFP at 10dpo (cycle 22), baby boy due June 9, 2018