Well I have been missing in the blogosphere for about a week or two now. I swear I had a good reason! My son Jake was born on March 20, 2010 at 1:35pm. He was born at 37 weeks and 5 days old, almost 2 weeks early. Here is his birth story....
On Thursday March 18th I worked a full day at school and headed out to a doctors appointment. At the appointment my blood pressure was high as usual and my midwife was preparing me for what was likely to be an induction in the near future. I was sent to the hospital to have an NST (where they hook you up to the fetal monitor and watch the babies heart-rate), along with bloodwork and an ultrasound. All was well after being monitored and I was sent home. While I was there I noticed that I lost my mucous plug which made me excited to think that labor might be soon (within the next few weeks at most), and I was also having some contractions on the monitor. I went home and went about my business as usual until I got up to use the bathroom around midnight on Friday March 19th, 2010. My water broke as I was getting up. Boy that is an interesting sensation let me tell you! You cant stop the flow, and it will just gush at inopportune times. So the rest of the night was not a comfortable one let me tell you. There was NO way I was going back to sleep after that! The contractions started soon after my water broke, they werent too strong and they werent in any predictable pattern. So I slept fitfully all night on and off maybe getting a few hours here and there.
Friday rolls around and my contractions are still not getting any closer together, although they are getting more painful. They were coming every 2-3 minutes and lasting around 1 minute long. But very irregular. Aaron and I walked at the advice of our doula to try and get them to start getting more regular. She arrived soon after at around 11am. At this point I had been in labor for almost 12 hours. After calling my doctor to inform them that my water had broken I was advised to go directly to the hospital. We refused, since we wanted to labor at home for as long as possible. But around 12pm we decided that we would head out to an area near the hospital and try to walk around and get my contractions going before heading over to the hospital. At this point it had been 12 hours since my water had broken. During the drive there I had a huge gush of fluid which changed our plans due to the whole "I dont want to walk around in wet pants" thing. So instead we just chose to go to the hospital. Total running time at this point was 13 hours from my water breaking.
We got into the hospital and settled in. I was checked and was 2cm dilated, 80% effaced, and he was at 3 station. Uneventful afternoon ensued with contractions continuing to come every 2-4 minutes without regularity. They intensified a bit but not much. So after much walking the hallways and sitting on the birth ball we met with my midwife at around 9pm that night. At this point my water had been broken and labor ongoing for 21 hours. After checking me I was 3cm, 80% effaced, and 3 station. So almost no progress in around 10 hours. My midwife recommended that we start Pitocin to improve my contractions and get them coming stronger and making more progress. As much as I didnt want to, I agreed. Because my water had already been broken for almost an entire day the risk of infection was high, and I knew that they were only going to allow me to labor for so long without any progress. So the Pitocin was started around 9:30pm on Friday night.
After that things get blurry....
The contractions got a LOT stronger and more frequent very quickly. But I wasnt making enough progress so they continued to turn the Pitocin up every hour. I started out at 2 w/ the Pitocin and was soon up to 8. When I reached 8 I was a mess. The contractions were more than I could handle, and I was starting to vomit. I realized pretty quickly that I didnt have enough energy to continue laboring like this. I was literally trying (without success) to fall asleep between each contraction. At this point nothing I did was helping with the contractions, and I was losing my focus and crying with each contraction. After a lot of thought, and the realization that they were going to continue to turn up the Pitocin with each hour I agreed to an Epidural. As much as it hurts me to admit I just couldnt handle the pain. It was too much, and I was too exhausted. So after about 26 hours of labor, at around 2am I was given the epidural.
After the epidural I was in heaven. Let me tell you that is the strangest sensation I have ever felt. To be able to feel my lower body, but it was tingling all over. And being able to see my contractions on the monitor but not feel them. After I had my epidural I was given a catheter and rested steadily for the rest of the night. My midwife came in the next morning and checked me for progress. I believe I was dilated only to a 4-5 at this point which was very disappointing. So I continued to labor on. Around 11:45 they checked me again and I was almost completely dilated, but his head was still a bit high. So they wanted me to wait a little longer to allow his head time to move down on its own. My midwife came in at around 12pm on Saturday and we decided it was time to start pushing. Luckily I could feel my contractions at this point (although not a lot) as a pressure down low. So I knew when to start pushing and didnt have to be told. Pushing is the strangest thing. You truly do feel like you are trying to have a bowel movement in front of all these people. My midwife wanted to check to see if he had hair, so she did and announced that he had blonde hair. I of course told her she was crazy and continued to push. After about 1 1/2 hours of pushing John "Jake" Aaron was born at 1:35pm on Saturday March 2oth, 2010 after 37 hours of labor. He was 8lbs 2oz and 21 inches long. They were slightly concerned because I had registered a slight temperature (a sign of possible infection) right before delivery. He was placed on my chest but wasnt crying, so unfortunately we were not able to delay cord cutting, nor to do the Apgars on my chest as desired. After some rubbing he began to cry, but not vigorously. He only scored a 6 on his first Apgar because of this. Eventually he was handed back to me and we got to see that indeed he was a blondie with dark blue eyes. He was absolutely perfect and we were in love.
Due to the elevated temperature were had to stay in the hospital to be monitored for signs of infection for 4 days. But it did give us a chance to meet with the lactation consultant and get comfortable with each other before heading home. The staff in the hospital we used were amazing and we could not have asked for a better experience. They allowed us to labor for about 15 hours without an IV, and to only be on the fetal monitors every hour or so. This allowed us to walk around and move around to attempt to get labor going (which didnt really work but still). They were amazing and we were so blessed to have the experience we did. It could easily have turned into a C-section if we didnt have such a strong boy, the nurses commented to my husband that they didnt even think he knew he was being born his heart rate was so steady.
So that's my story. And God bless you if you read it all! The written story was just about as long as the real thing!
On Thursday March 18th I worked a full day at school and headed out to a doctors appointment. At the appointment my blood pressure was high as usual and my midwife was preparing me for what was likely to be an induction in the near future. I was sent to the hospital to have an NST (where they hook you up to the fetal monitor and watch the babies heart-rate), along with bloodwork and an ultrasound. All was well after being monitored and I was sent home. While I was there I noticed that I lost my mucous plug which made me excited to think that labor might be soon (within the next few weeks at most), and I was also having some contractions on the monitor. I went home and went about my business as usual until I got up to use the bathroom around midnight on Friday March 19th, 2010. My water broke as I was getting up. Boy that is an interesting sensation let me tell you! You cant stop the flow, and it will just gush at inopportune times. So the rest of the night was not a comfortable one let me tell you. There was NO way I was going back to sleep after that! The contractions started soon after my water broke, they werent too strong and they werent in any predictable pattern. So I slept fitfully all night on and off maybe getting a few hours here and there.
Friday rolls around and my contractions are still not getting any closer together, although they are getting more painful. They were coming every 2-3 minutes and lasting around 1 minute long. But very irregular. Aaron and I walked at the advice of our doula to try and get them to start getting more regular. She arrived soon after at around 11am. At this point I had been in labor for almost 12 hours. After calling my doctor to inform them that my water had broken I was advised to go directly to the hospital. We refused, since we wanted to labor at home for as long as possible. But around 12pm we decided that we would head out to an area near the hospital and try to walk around and get my contractions going before heading over to the hospital. At this point it had been 12 hours since my water had broken. During the drive there I had a huge gush of fluid which changed our plans due to the whole "I dont want to walk around in wet pants" thing. So instead we just chose to go to the hospital. Total running time at this point was 13 hours from my water breaking.
We got into the hospital and settled in. I was checked and was 2cm dilated, 80% effaced, and he was at 3 station. Uneventful afternoon ensued with contractions continuing to come every 2-4 minutes without regularity. They intensified a bit but not much. So after much walking the hallways and sitting on the birth ball we met with my midwife at around 9pm that night. At this point my water had been broken and labor ongoing for 21 hours. After checking me I was 3cm, 80% effaced, and 3 station. So almost no progress in around 10 hours. My midwife recommended that we start Pitocin to improve my contractions and get them coming stronger and making more progress. As much as I didnt want to, I agreed. Because my water had already been broken for almost an entire day the risk of infection was high, and I knew that they were only going to allow me to labor for so long without any progress. So the Pitocin was started around 9:30pm on Friday night.
After that things get blurry....
The contractions got a LOT stronger and more frequent very quickly. But I wasnt making enough progress so they continued to turn the Pitocin up every hour. I started out at 2 w/ the Pitocin and was soon up to 8. When I reached 8 I was a mess. The contractions were more than I could handle, and I was starting to vomit. I realized pretty quickly that I didnt have enough energy to continue laboring like this. I was literally trying (without success) to fall asleep between each contraction. At this point nothing I did was helping with the contractions, and I was losing my focus and crying with each contraction. After a lot of thought, and the realization that they were going to continue to turn up the Pitocin with each hour I agreed to an Epidural. As much as it hurts me to admit I just couldnt handle the pain. It was too much, and I was too exhausted. So after about 26 hours of labor, at around 2am I was given the epidural.
After the epidural I was in heaven. Let me tell you that is the strangest sensation I have ever felt. To be able to feel my lower body, but it was tingling all over. And being able to see my contractions on the monitor but not feel them. After I had my epidural I was given a catheter and rested steadily for the rest of the night. My midwife came in the next morning and checked me for progress. I believe I was dilated only to a 4-5 at this point which was very disappointing. So I continued to labor on. Around 11:45 they checked me again and I was almost completely dilated, but his head was still a bit high. So they wanted me to wait a little longer to allow his head time to move down on its own. My midwife came in at around 12pm on Saturday and we decided it was time to start pushing. Luckily I could feel my contractions at this point (although not a lot) as a pressure down low. So I knew when to start pushing and didnt have to be told. Pushing is the strangest thing. You truly do feel like you are trying to have a bowel movement in front of all these people. My midwife wanted to check to see if he had hair, so she did and announced that he had blonde hair. I of course told her she was crazy and continued to push. After about 1 1/2 hours of pushing John "Jake" Aaron was born at 1:35pm on Saturday March 2oth, 2010 after 37 hours of labor. He was 8lbs 2oz and 21 inches long. They were slightly concerned because I had registered a slight temperature (a sign of possible infection) right before delivery. He was placed on my chest but wasnt crying, so unfortunately we were not able to delay cord cutting, nor to do the Apgars on my chest as desired. After some rubbing he began to cry, but not vigorously. He only scored a 6 on his first Apgar because of this. Eventually he was handed back to me and we got to see that indeed he was a blondie with dark blue eyes. He was absolutely perfect and we were in love.
Due to the elevated temperature were had to stay in the hospital to be monitored for signs of infection for 4 days. But it did give us a chance to meet with the lactation consultant and get comfortable with each other before heading home. The staff in the hospital we used were amazing and we could not have asked for a better experience. They allowed us to labor for about 15 hours without an IV, and to only be on the fetal monitors every hour or so. This allowed us to walk around and move around to attempt to get labor going (which didnt really work but still). They were amazing and we were so blessed to have the experience we did. It could easily have turned into a C-section if we didnt have such a strong boy, the nurses commented to my husband that they didnt even think he knew he was being born his heart rate was so steady.
So that's my story. And God bless you if you read it all! The written story was just about as long as the real thing!
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1 comments:
Congrats my friend! You are a strong woman. You now have a beautiful family and I can't wait to meet your little angel!
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