Birth Stories Thread

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I know we had a post like this at WC. Thought it might be good to start it up again as even though I already have my DS I still enjoy reading them and I am sure many other expectant moms may like to read them.

Please make sure that if your birth story was scary, or had a lot of problems, that you add that into the title of your post so people can choose if they want to read them. Thanks!

Enjoy! :D

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I guess I will start with mine...

9/20/04

I got up as normal on this Monday at 6:00am to go to work. I got ready as normal and left the house at 7am. I got to work around 7:30am and started working. I had some really tight deadlines that I had to meet that week. Around 12:30pm or so I had to go to the bathroom. I decided at the same time to take a belly shot since I though you may have dropped down a little. I went to the bathroom, took a few pictures in the mirror using work’s digital camera. At that point I went to the bathroom. As soon as I sat down on the toilet, I felt a gush. I thought it was strange, but figured I was just leaking some urine. So I proceeded to finish peeing, and went back to the office. As soon as I sat down in my chair I felt a gush, then another, and another. I grabbed my keys and rushed to the bathroom as I thought I was peeing in my pants. I got there and was on the toilet and I gushed some more fluid again. Also, my pants were soaking wet. Oh my god, I think my water broke. It took a minute or so for the fact to sink in. I got up and went back into the office. I walked straight to Dorothy, all the time leaking more fluid, told her I think my water broke and asked if she had any towels. She just looked at me in shock and grabbed some towels for me. I put them between my legs and went back to my office. I called Dan and told him I think my water broke. He said “Are you serious”? I of course said yes, I was going to call the doctor and told him I would call back as soon as I knew.

I got onto the phone with the doctors office, told them I was only 34.5 weeks and that I think my water broke. They took my information and said a nurse would call me back in less than 5 minutes. In the meantime I called my mom and told her I think my water broke to give them a heads up. She couldn’t believe it and was very worried. I told her I would callback when I got more information. The nurse called me back in about 5 min and told me to come in right away. I called Dan and told him to come pick me up and bring a change of clothing for me as well as a pad. I then called my mom and told her what was happening, and I would call back as soon as I knew more information.

I then got online and told my WC buddies that my water may have broken. I told my boss at work what was happening and finished up a few things at work really quick. I then went outside to wait for Dan, and Dorothy accompanies me to keep me calm. I was extremely nervous at this stage. Dan came and picked me up about 20 min later. We went directly to the Doctors office. It was about 1pm by the time we got there and most of the doctors were still at lunch. We waited for a little bit, I got weighed, blood pressure taken and peed in a cup. I then went into a room and waited there completely undressed from the waist down. There was an ultrasound machine in the room. After about 5 minutes or so, the doctor came in. Dr. Hansen used the ultrasound machine to look at the baby and told us immediately that my sac had burst completely. I just was in shock and disbelief because you were still so young and we were not at all prepared for this, mentally or house wise. I just moaned and said oh no. She then wanted to take a sample of the amniotic fluid to see if the baby’s lungs were mature. She had me lay back and took a look and used a syringe to get a sample. It would take 3-4 hrs to get the results back. She also took a quick peek at my cervix and told me I still looked pretty closed up.

At this point she told me we would be heading to the hospital. I checked out at the office, and we made our way to the hospital, about 2 min away. We parked in the parking garage and then walked to the front entrance. It was about 1:30 - 1:45 pm or so at this time. I went to the front desk and said I have to go up to labor & delivery. They called up, got approval and gave me an escort up. I was offered a wheelchair, but declined, as I wanted to walk. We got up to the 8th floor and went to the nurses desk. They took me into a temporary room to get monitored. I had to get fully undressed and put on a gown. Once this was done, my blood pressure and temperature was taken. I also had to answer a bunch of questions for some forms. At that point the nurse told me that I would be getting antibiotics and would have to have an IV and that I would get a steroid shot, one right now and one 24 hrs later if necessary. I was told that if your lungs were not matured enough, this would help and if they were fine, it would not cause problems. I then got put onto the monitors for your heartbeat and a contraction monitor. I was extremely hungry at this point as I had not eaten since breakfast. I asked if I could get some food, they called the doctor and told me I could have something to eat. Dan was given a $12 pass to go downstairs and get some food. He came back with some pizza, which tasted fabulous! During the time that Dan was gone, I had the IV put in and that was quite painful. It was the 1st time I had ever had an IV. She got me all hooked up to some fluids and started me on the antibiotics. The antibiotics really stung going into the IV. About 15 min later, she came in with the steroid shot. The shot had to be given in the buttocks and it was also quite painful. The shot burned a lot. I was on continuous monitoring for the rest of the period I was in the room.

After a few more hours of watching TV the results of the amnio came in, one result was + for lung maturity, one was negative, so the results were borderline. The decision was made to wait until Wednesday the 22nd to induce and get me the last steroid shot over the next day. The benefits of waiting outweighed the risks at that point. I was moved from the Labor and Delivery floor to the high risk OBGYN floor where I would spend the remaining time until I was induced. I told the doctor I was nervous about the induction as I had heard stories, and she said that statistically they found no difference between an induced labor and a natural labor. I just said OK, but didn’t really believe her.

Once we got settled into the room, Dan left to go home to get dinner and get some of my items together from the list I had made him. I was on bedrest for the next 2 days until labor, I could only get up for a shower and to use the bathroom. I just decided to watch TV and eat some dinner. Dan came back a few hours later with my stuff and kept me company for an hour or so. At that point he left for the night. One of the shift nurses came in shortly to do some monitoring to check if I was having any contractions. When I was laying on my back I was having a few contractions, spaced out unevenly, which I could not feel. The nurse came back in and gave me a pill to help me sleep and to help ease the contractions. They did not want me going into labor yet. At this point I fell asleep.

September 21, 2004

I woke up several times during the night due to the continuous monitoring that was necessary and the antibiotics in my IV. I was also very nervous about you coming into the world so soon. So many thoughts going through my head, would you be OK, would you need to stay at the hospital, etc. Once morning came and I got my breakfast, I decided to watch TV again. I then took a shower, which was interesting because I had to have the nurse cover my IV. I watched TV for most of the day with Dan coming by to visit in the afternoon until the evening. Around lunchtime I also had a visitor from work. She also brought some flowers, which just cheered me right up. She was telling me what was going on at work and what some of the single guys were thinking as my water had broken in my office while I was sitting down. I guess some of the women were teasing the single guys for not wanting to go into my office and sit in the chair, even though my water did not really touch the chair. It also helped cheer me up.

I found out from the doctor today that both of the lung maturity tests came back negative. I am not sure why there was a discepency, but it made me worry all the more.

About 4:30 pm I got my 2nd steroid shot. This one didn’t hurt as much going in, but really stung afterwards. The anticipation of the shot was really horrible that day and I was happy just to get it over. Now I could mentally prepare for being induced the next morning. I was told that the tentative time for me being brought up to the labor and delivery ward would be around 6:30 to 7:00 am depending on how busy they were. I started getting extremely nervous and was glad that Dan was there to talk to.

Dan left that evening and I told him I would call him the next morning as soon as I knew the time. I was still really nervous about the upcoming induction. Once evening came I decided to get some sleep as I figured I would probably need it. Again I was being monitored every shift and had antibiotics every 6 hours.

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September 22, 2004

I slept quite poorly last night due to the anticipation of having you. I was up at 5 am and the induction was still on for that morning. I was going to be picked up around 7:00am or so. I decided to try and sleep a little more. I just ended up laying in bed and after about 45 minutes of this I decided I would take a shower. I called the nurse, got my IV taped up, and took a shower. I also blow dried my hair as I figured I wanted to at least look a little decent for the labor. I then called Dan at 6am to tell him to go ahead and come up. Everything was on schedule. After this I asked the nurse if I could eat something. She called the doctor and they said no as I was to only be on clear liquids from now on. I was very hungry and groaned at the thought of not being able to eat anything solid. I asked for some jello and they were all out at that time and said I would need to wait until a tray came up. I then decided to pack up my items as I wasn’t sure Dan would make it in time. There wasn’t much so it didn’t take long. After this I laid back in bed and watched some more TV. I just kept watching the clock, 1st 6:30 passed then 7:00 passed and I was getting even more nervous. At 7:30 the nurse came with the wheelchair to bring me to the labor and delivery floor. Dan had not yet made it so the nurse said they would redirect him to the appropriate floor.

I got into the wheelchair and was brought up. I was wheeled into the very last delivery room on the floor. At that point I met my nurse for the morning and she got me comfortable. I found out that the doctor on call for the day would be Dr. McDonald. Another doctor was still there that morning and he would be checking me 1st. The nurse checked my IV to make sure it would still work. They had a few issues with it, but decided that it would be OK. I chose to keep my hand a certain way. At that point I also got the blood pressure cuff, which would go off every ½ hour, continuous monitoring, and fluids.

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The doctor came in and checked me out. I was a fingertip to 1cm dilated, 90% effaced. I asked if I could just have intermittent monitoring and was told no. Anytime someone is induced with Pitocin, they have to be on continuous monitoring. I was disappointed, but understood. At 8:30 am they started the Pitocin. They started at a very low level and would be increasing the amount every 45 minutes.

Dan finally arrived shortly after the pitocin had been started. I remember turning on the TV and watching a movie. I was bored as I had to stay in bed and could only move as far as the wires would allow me to. I was allowed to unhook everything to go to the bathroom though. I did have to stay in bed until I had started moving along. Breakfast was brought in, jello, broth and some juices.

My contractions were very irregular throughout the morning. Around 11am I decided to sit in the rocking chair for a while as I hoped it would be more comfortable. The contractions did not hurt and there was only pressure. The contractions were still very irregular. After a bit, I went back to the bed to try and take a nap. I didn’t end up napping, just resting. Around noon, lunch was brought in, the same thing as breakfast, yuk!

I was checked again around 1pm and had dilated to 2cm. The doctor decided to try and stretch my cervix out. This was extremely painful and I lay in bed crying while he did this. He stretched me from 2 cm to 3 cm. I was 100% effaced at this point. The doctor hoped I would make more progress. Up till this point the contractions did not hurt and there was only pressure. If the pitocin didn’t start making my contractions more regular soon, they would bring the amount down again and ramp me back up. I was told by the nurse that this sometimes help bring people into more active labor.

Once 2pm came along, the contractions started to get more painful and I was getting more uncomfortable. I decided to go back to the rocking chair as it was nice and comfortable. As my contractions were becoming more regular the pitocin was left at the highest level. I stayed in the rocking chair for quite a while. The doctor came in around dinner, 5:30pm or so. He checked me again and I was at a good 3cm, almost 4 and very soft. I was making progress, just very slowly. He told me I could get an epidural if I wanted, but declined and told him I wanted to do this naturally. Dinner was brought in after and it was the same as breakfast and lunch again. I asked for more jello and ate that. I was very bloated from all the fluids.

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After being checked again the doctor told the nurse to put me back in the rocking chair as that really seemed to be helping me dilate. I asked instead to use the birthing ball. The nurse brought it in and I got on it. I tried it out for a while, but I did not find it comfortable. I had issues with my IV and it seemed to really make the contractions more intense. I was on the ball for about ½ hour before I decided to move back to the rocking chair. Dan had to physically help me onto the chair as I did not have anymore energy. I stayed there for most of the rest of my labor.

The pain started to get more and more intense. By 8pm I had to start breathing through the contractions. It felt as though my back and front we aching quite badly. I just breathed through the contractions. By around 9:30 to 10:00pm the contractions were extremely intense. It felt as though I was tearing up the middle, from front to back. I was also shaking quite a bit due to the stress. I could not take the pain anymore and the contractions at this time were 1-2 minutes apart, with each contraction lasting about 1 min. I talked to Dan and we decided to call the nurse to talk to her about an epidural. She said that we could talk to the anesthesiologist if we wanted and we decided that would be a good idea. In the meantime she would call the doctor and ask if it was OK and start the bag of fluid I would need.

A few minutes later she came in to talk to us. We asked he all the hard questions and were happy with what she told us. I could only talk to her during the times I had no contractions as it took all my effort and concentration to get through each one. I was worried about my blood pressure as it was on the low side and I knew an epidural would lower it even more. She said they could always give me something to raise it. I was in the unnper 90's to lower 100's for the top number and in the lower 70's, upper 60's for the lower # even with all the fluids. We decided to talk about it and get back to her. I got through another set of contractions and the nurse suggested she check to see how far dilated I was. Dan helped me move from the rocking chair to the bed. The nurse checked and I was only 4cm dilated. I decided at this point that I couldn’t take 6 more hours of this and decided to go ahead and get the epidural. They got all the trays into the room for the epidural. I already had some fluids and they were waiting for that to go into my system. The anesthesiologist got called to another room for an epidural. The doctor came into the room and gave me a shot of Demerol to help take the edge off until I could get the epidural. This made me feel loopy for about 5 min but did not help take the pain away or even make me care less. The doctor then checked me again as I was shaking and having a hard time getting though the contractions. At this point I was 6-7cm and this was about 10 minutes from the time I was at 4cm. They sat me at the edge of the bed to get me ready for the epidural. I had several contractions during this time that were extremely painful. I then found out that the anesthesiologist had an emergency. She would be back as soon as possible.

After another 5 minutes or so I had a very intense contraction and toward the end of it felt some intense rectal pressure. I told the nurse who called the doctor. After the next contraction I was checked again and was at 10cm with a lip. The doctor told me to push a little. I did as he asked and I was complete. I think he may have helped move the lip of cervix out of the way. I was told I would not be getting the epidural and that I was going to be able to do this naturally. I went from 4cm to 10cm in ½ hour. The doctor turned off the pitocin so I could get a little relief.

All the nurses in the room started getting ready and moving the epidural trays out of the room. The doctor then came to let me know that he had an emergency c-section and one of the midwives associated with the practice would be delivering me. He figured since I wanted to go naturally anyway that this would work out great.

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She introduced herself to me. She had very kind eyes and I liked her immediately. I felt a great connection with her. She told me what I would need to do and when. During the next contraction I pushed with everything I had. I was extremely tired, but managed to get 3 pushes for 5-8 seconds a piece in. I felt lots of pressure, but was pushing correctly. While I pushed she helped stretch out my perineum area. This was quite painful and I wanted her to stop, but I figured it would only help me later. My contractions had slowed to one every 5 minutes and I did not really feel the urge to push, but did anyway. Dan helped hold up one of my legs. I pushed for an hour and it felt like my hips were spreading apart. With each push he came further and further down, slipping back until finally he didn’t slip back anymore. At this point I started to feel the burning pressure. It felt like I was on fire from my urethra to my rectum. The midwife called in the respiratory specialist and other nurses as he was a preemie. There was quite a few people in the room. I asked the midwife if it was possible to leave him attached to his cord as long as possible. She talked to the specialist and they said that they would need him right away so this was not possible.

From this point I pushed through three contractions until he finally came out. Everyone in the room kept urging me to push him out. I saw his head come out, I then pushed a little more and his shoulders came out. The rest of his body then slipped right out of me. Dan was right there next to me and saw him come out of me. He was born on 9/23 at 12:27am. He was 5lb 6 oz and 19” long.

He was placed on my belly and I was warned not to grab him to me as he was still attached to the cord. I just looked in awe at this being on my stomach. He immediately started turning pink and started yelling. It was amazing. I just felt his hands and looked at him in awe. I remember faintly the midwife telling Dan where to cut the cord and that it would not hurt him. Dan did this and they took the baby away to the attached baby room to check him out. I told Dan to follow him and take lots of pictures. I found out that he scored a 9,9 on his apgars and they actually said he was a 10, but they don’t give 10’s.

The midwife started checking me out and waiting for the placenta to come out. As my contractions were spaced so far apart they restarted the pitocin to help out. After 20 minutes or so the midwife started pulling on the placenta a bit. They like for it to be delivered within 30 minutes. I saw Dan off to the side holding onto the baby and couldn’t wait to see him again.

The midwife told me that if it didn’t come soon she would have to go in and get it. Finally about 5 minutes later I felt an intense contraction, told the midwife that, and she said the placenta was coming. I felt it coming and pushed it out. I was surprised as to how big it felt. She got it out and looked at it carefully. She noticed something on it and decided to send it off for pathology. I asked if I could see it and she showed me what it looked like. It was kinda neat to see, but also gross.
At this point she checked me over and noticed a spot that was bleeding. She said I had 2 skin separations (skid marks) and that I may need a stitch. One stopped bleeding but the other didn’t. She decided that I would need one stitch to help the bleeding stop. We decided to do the stitch without the numbing agent as that would probably hurt worse than the stitch. She did spray some numbing agent on the area to try and help a little. I felt both pokes and it was painful, but not to bad. I was happy that I only needed one stitch.

Once this was done they washed me down with some really nice warm water and then gave me an ice pack. Then everyone left the room so we could spend about an hour with our son. Dan gave him to me and I just couldn’t believe it. We created this tiny being. I tried to breastfeed him a little but he wasn’t interested. I just kept him to that general area. He was very alert. We decided that the name Joseph suited him and went with that.

We took lots of pictures. After an hours of bonding time, they came and took Joseph to the nursery for a bath and warming.

The nurse came for me and helped me walk to the bathroom. She wanted to make sure I could go pee. I did and she also helped me change my gown. After that Dan started getting all of our stuff together and I was put into a wheelchair. She wheeled us over to the recovery room and the room I would spend the rest of my time in. The baby would be in the nursery for 2-hrs.

I met the nurse that would take care of me that night. Once she showed me some of the stuff I could use to take care of myself, I decided I needed some food. Dh went and got some pizza, which I wolfed down very quickly almost making myself sick. After eating I decided I wanted to go for a walk and see Joseph. I got on another gown and went to the nursery to se him. He was under the warming lamps and looked so cute!

We took some more pictures and then headed back. On the way back I asked for some breast pads as I was starting to leak. Then DH and I tried to get some sleep until Joseph was brought to us.

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Sorry this was sooo long :).

[ajlanden]

I love reading birth stories! So here is mine!

Birth Story:
I was induced on my due date. I felt a little guilty about being induced because I only did it because I was so impatient to meet my little one! (Patience isn’t my strength) Luckily my doctor was also pg and very understanding.

DH and I left our house at 7:00 am on December 14. I was a nervous wreck. I couldn’t even talk. It was so hard to believe that when we returned, we were going to be parents! Once we checked into the hospital, I calmed down. My mom and DH’s mom joined us shortly after. (We both have really great close families. I wanted everyone, who was comfortable doing so, to witness the birth of our little girl!).

My doctor came and inserted the gel (cervadil?) into my cervix and told me I would have to lay flat for two hours. Shortly after she left I started to get these feelings like I had to go #2 REALLY bad. I was paranoid about going while I was pushing, so I was upset that I didn’t get it out before we had got to the hospital. Later I realized these were my contractions. I started feel a dull ache in my back (again, contractions). After the two hours had passed, DH and I walked the halls like there was no tomorrow! They then checked me and was at 2.5 cm. I had been 2 when I came in. So more gel and more walking. I was having regular contractions by then, but nothing I couldn’t manage.

My doctor came back around noon and wanted to check me again. Unfortunately, there was a resident that asked me if it was okay if she checked me instead. OMG, talk about pain! I was crying and I thought DH was going to punch her. My cervix was still very high, but I was almost at 3. My doctor said she was going to try break my water. I think she knew I didn’t want that resident anywhere near me again. I said that was fine, but I wanted my epidural right after she broke my water, because I just knew that the contractions would get more intense and I wanted to as pain free as possible. Well, she broke it and of course the contractions got much worse!!! I didn’t want to feel that much pain. It was bad luck that all the anesthesiologists were busy. At that moment I was so mad because I had warned them that I wanted on right after my water was broken. About two hours later the anesthesiologist came in (about 5 pm). I had never been so happy to see someone in my life! It didn’t hurt a bit and everyone laughed at me because I was thanking him for his generous donation to the non-profit organization that I work, while he was sticking me with the needle!

After that I felt wonderful! I told my family that I hadn’t been that comfortable in months. Unfortunately it totally stopped my contractions. They waited for awhile before giving me pitocin. After the pitocin, my blood pressure started dropping pretty dramatically. They had to shoot me up with speed (don’t really know what it was called) three times. It was scary and I was just waiting to be wheeled in to do a c/s. Things started to pick up quickly after that. They checked me at I was at 7 at about 11:30 pm. About 1 hour later I started to feel like I was going to have a bm. I had heard that that is a signal for being ready to push. I couldn’t believe I went 3 cm in an hour, but the checked me and sure enough I was ready to push. The whole family came in, my mom, dad and sister and MIL and FIL. The doctor came in about 1 am and I started the pushing. I was in real pain, but could definitely feel when I was contracting.

After half an hour of pushing our little girl popped out at 1:31 am on 12/15/2004. Everyone in the room screamed! Our little girl was placed on my belly and I looked right into her eyes. I remember DH just yelling, Oh my god, Oh my god! It was the most amazing moment of our lives. I LOVED that she was surrounded by all the people that loved her at her birth.

Danielle Judith
7 lbs 0.5 oz
20 ¼ inches

It much actually much easier than I thought. The recovery was more difficult than I had anticipated, but worth every second!

[SaphirimalMei]

Act I: The routine Dr appt becomes not so routine

Since I was past my due date, the docs wanted to make sure I was fully monitored to be certain Girlbito wasn’t running out of fluid or room. So, when I went in for the appointment at 8:50am on Monday the 31st, they checked my amniotic fluid level via ultrasound and hooked me up to the NST machine. I had been having contractions that morning (and the night before), but they were totally irregular so I didn’t think anything of it. During the NST, however, they started coming every 3.5 minutes…weird!

Next up was the doctor’s exam to see if I was dilating at all. Doc had good news…I was at 1cm! Whoopee! As she was finishing up the exam, I felt a warm rush of fluid down there. The doc sounded confused, “ I think your water just broke.” “Or my bladder!, I said (I really needed to pee). To be certain, the doc tested the fluid, and sure enough…my water had broken! “Go to the hospital,” the doc said, “I’ll call ahead to let them know you are on the way.”

Act II: Holy Crap! This is it!!!

Luckily Phil and I had already packed the bags and put them in the trunk, but we still had to go back to the house to be sure that Sainty had enough food and water, and to grab the cameras. Sadly the whole “broken water” issue made the trip a little bit more interesting. As soon as I got out of the car to go inside, the dam officially gave way, completely drenching every piece of clothing I had on below the waist. (Ew!) This made us step up the pace of our efforts. I changed, we grabbed the stuff, and we were out of the house and on the road again in record time.

The morning had started out pretty snowy, but the sun had come out by this time and the roads were mostly dry. My new, fave CD (Hot Fuss, by the Killers) was on the stereo as we were cruising towards the hospital in the warm sunshine. Everything seemed so normal that I had to keep reminding myself that the moment I was waiting for had finally arrived. Surreal as it seemed, this was really it!!! Holy Crap! Yay!

Act III: Welcome to the Jungle

We arrived at the hospital around 11am. Phil dropped me off at the entrance, and he went off to park the car. A lady met me just inside the doors and asked me in an unlikely southern accent if she could help me find anything. “No,” I told her, “I’m in labor and heading up to L&D…I know where it is.” “OK, Darlin’,” she drawled, walking away. (Funny that she didn’t offer me a wheelchair, but…anyways) I kept on movin, made my way to the 3rd floor and rang the bell to get in. A nurse appeared, looked me up and down and asked me who I was there to see. “Um, I’m here for me…I’m in labor,” I told her, unable to keep the “Hello, you Idiot!” tone out of my voice. I mean, seriously, I’m hugely pregnant, carrying bags, and looking at least a little bit anxious…”who am I there to see…” duh!!!

So, I was checked in and given a gown. As soon as I was changed and back in bed, they hooked my up to what was to become the banes of my existence at the hospital…the blood pressure cuff and the fetal monitor. They just wanted to keep me on there for 30 minutes, they said, to make sure the baby was doing well before I could walk around and get things movin’!

Act IV: Failure to Progress

Well, they came back 45 minutes later to look at the strip of monitor paper, and decided that they needed to monitor me further. OK…fine. An hour later they came back and told me it looked like Girlbito’s heart was doing little mini-dips (variations, they called them) with my contractions and they needed to keep me on the monitor full time. I was so upset. Already, I was more a patient than anything else, and now I wasn’t even going to be allowed to leave my bed. Arg!

Most of my time after that was spent visiting with people who’d come to see me, and watching TV. My friend, Sara, was really awesome and gave me foot and back rubs. A few hours later at around 4pm they came to check my cervix and I found out that I was still at 1cm!!!!!!! They put me on pitocin. I was devastated. I REALLY did not want pitocin. But, pitocin I got.

Time went by very slowly after that. My contractions were getting more and more painful all the while. The stupid blood pressure cuff thingy kept going off every half-hour and it was awful. The cuff they were using was too tight and sometimes the damn thing wouldn’t release causing my arm to turn all kinds of purple. Lovely. Like I said before…bane of my existence. Also, in my efforts to get more comfy in bed, I tried to shift about, but every time I did, the sucky Girlbito monitors would slip off of my enormously round belly. So, I was just generally getting more and more irritated. And more and more in pain.

At 10pm, when they came in to turn up my pitocin for the millionth time, athe doctor also came in to check me. Still at 1 FREAKIN CM! By that time, I had been in labor for 12 hours, and I was totally unable to relax during contractions. When I found out that I was still 1cm, I gave in to the relief that drugs had to offer. If I knew that the pain I was in was allowing me to progress, I may have been able to stick it out, but I was feeling like the pain was worthless, so what’s the dang point. Since I didn’t want to run the risk of an epidural “stalling out” whatever labor I had going, I opted for the smallest shot of Stadol to see where that got me.

Well, turns out that it got me dizzy, but in an increasing amount of pain, and the pitocin kept going up. “That’s it!” I said and told them to go get the anesthesiologist. He came in at 11:30pm and was super nice. The procedure seemed to take forever though, I had 5 contractions while the epi was getting put in and I cannot even tell you how much that sucked. The pain I was feeling was so intense by that point that I was shaking from the exertion of trying to cope. Shortly thereafter, though…sweet relief. Like many women…I truly could have kissed the epi doc.

I could still feel the pressure of the contractions, but none of the pain. Thank god.

Act V: I use the Jedi Mind Trick on my cervix to great effect

The hours from 11:30pm to 4am were kind of a blur. I was half-dozing in between the times when my blood pressure cuff would go off (still every 30 minutes) but this time when it went off, the alarm would also go off. My blood pressure was getting way too low. Sometimes it went as low as 90/40. Kinda scary, but if the nurses weren’t that concerned, I decided that I wasn’t going to be too troubled about it either. However, this did not stop them from leaving the dang alarm on. So every time it went off, I had to buzz a nurse to turn it off. :rolleyes:

At 4am, I decided that I was not going to get any real sleep, so I decided to use that time to talk to my cervix. Not out loud, mind you, but I kept up a steady running dialogue in my head telling it to open up and let that baby out!

The doc came back to check me at 5am. Lo and behold…I was 4cm! Woo hoo! Checked me again at 6am and I was 6cm! Up til now, Phil had been snoozing away on the couch/bed…lucky lucky man. I woke him up and told him that things were really starting to happen. At 7:30am, they checked and I was complete!!!! The Jedi Mind Trick had worked!

Act VI: A labor of Love

Girlbito was still riding a little high (-1 station) so the nurse had me do some practice pushes to see what happened. At this time, they turned off the epidural to give me a chance to un-numb so I could push effectively. When I did my practice pushes, the nurse said it seemed that I was still a little to anesthetized, and we’d wait 30 min or so before really getting down to business. In the meantime, I was to do little one second mini-pushes to try to see if she’d move down a bit into my pelvis.

Move down, she did! The pressure was amazing. After the 30 minutes were up, it became almost impossible NOT to push. Finally the nurse came back at about 10 after 8am, she said that Girlbito had moved down to +1 station and that it was time to push for real. Everyone but Phil and the medical staff was ushered out of the room and we got down to business.

We started pushing and at 8:52am, my little girl came into this world. I cannot effectively describe the sensation of pushing, but I will never forget what it felt like. It was tough, but it was a release as well. I felt so powerful.

The first time I heard my little girl cry, I just broke down crying. I was finally a mommy.

Unfortunately I could not hold her right away because they were having trouble getting my placenta to detach from the top of my uterus. I guess when I finally got a sticky baby, it REALLY stuck! They ended up having to go in and yank it out. It was not especially fun, but I will not go into further detail. I ended up with only a small internal tear. 4 stitches put me back together just fine.

My emotions are still pretty close to the surface these days. I am super sentimental and cry at the drop of a hat. The picture I posted below, makes me tear up every time I look at it. The love and amazement I felt at that moment are forever recorded in that photograph.

I am so so so in love with this precious little girl. I'm still in awe that my husband and I could have created this special being.

Obviously the Defcon 5 level Sap-factor from pregnancy is still lingering, but I have the funny feeling that it will never really leave me.

http://im1per.shutterfly.com/procserv?si=00004759836920050210160807594.JPG&cb=13031133&ph=56785&cr=0.0,0.026315749,1.0,0.97368425&r=0&sc=1&sar=1.3333333730697632&p=1&pa=0.5&b=1&bw=0.2&po=0&sa=0&ps=2&g=2.2&rx=96&ry=96

written 2-10-2005

[SiValleySteph]

These are from my WC posts when DS was born. :D I was induced at 41 weeks.

9-26-04

I have to get to bed early tonight. I might have to go in at 6:30 AM tomorrow!!
I had my prostoglandin gel today. No biggie. I was hooked up to the monitors for like 4 hours. While I was on my back, I could feel and see on the monitor contractions like every 10 minutes. Cool. Now that I've been busy the rest of the day, I haven't really noticed too much going on. I'm top of the queue for induction tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes.
I'm hoping, hoping, hoping that this baby comes the usual way with no problems. Figers crossed!

9-27-04

Hello! I'm sneaking a post in from the hospital while DH gets some food and DS gets some shut eye.

We had such a good labor experience. It was so speedy!

I got to the hospital a little past 7:30. We got the pitocin hooked up around 8am and my doctor showed up around then. He checked and I was 1cm dialated - I was estatic about this since I wasn't really dilated at all the day before. I had some contraction overnight, so maybe this helped. He tried to break my water, but wasn't sure if he got it or not. After he left, I started gushing a lot with each contraction, so it was a success! The first couple of hours were not too bad, we even started watching a movie - Office Space - (we brought our Playstation 2), but then it got bad. The nurse had really upped the pitocin. I labored some on my knees leaning over a stool and then in a rocking chair. I did a good job managing the pain for the most part, just trying to keep relaxed and breathing. The nurse warned me that if I wanted an epi I would have to wait until after a c-section that would be from 12:30 to 1:30. She also wouldn't check me since my water was broken. I decided that I would wait for my dr. to come during lunch to see and then decide if I wanted to get one or not. When he came around 1, he said I was 4cm and he wouldn't be surprised if I had the baby before office hours were up. What?? We were totally thinking it would be late that night if not the next morning. Well, after he left, the pain was just really intense. The nurse came back at 1:15 and said the anetheselogist was available if I wanted anything and I decided to go ahead and get the epi. He was so good! I laid on my side and he had it in before I knew it. But... it still hurt!?!?! I was confused. He asked if I was feeling it down low. I said it felt like I really had to go to the bathroom - a ton of pressure. He told the nurse she'd better check me again. So she did and I was already 8 cm!!! And it had only been about 30min since I was 4cm. By 2pm, I was already pushing. My contractions were spaced pretty far apart (2 minutes), so I would do my 3 sets of pushes for about 20-30 seconds and then get to rest until the next contraction, so I didn't get too tired. It also didn't really hurt and I could tell exactly when I was having a contraction. Since I wasn't contracting that much, it took about 2 hours of pushing. Baby Lucas arrived at 4:16pm... very cute! And my husband never got to finish his Playstation Football game he starting playing when I couldn't focus on the movie anymore.

I did have a (gasp) 4th degree episiostomy. Ack!

My mom came, too, and she was a big help also. She held one of my legs up for pushing and counted along. DH was awesome - he gave great counter pressure and massages and encouragement.

I think the reason I neaded the episiostomy was due to the wait between pushes, but I'm not sure. I'll take it though because we had such a great experience. Only 8 hours really!!! And so little pain. The epidural was great because it never really had a chance to kick in all the way, so I could feel my legs and everything.

Breastfeeding is going super well. Lucas is doing great! I'm in totally mommy mode already because I know he's had 2 poo diapers and 4 wet diapers already and he's only 28 hours old.

Okay, I should really go now... I have to roll the bassinett into the bathroom so I can go. The hazards of being alone in the hospital room! Can't leave the baby unattended!!!

Here's a first picture from DH's camera phone!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4d706b3127cceb727676650a60000001610

[BooeyJ2]

Here's mine (copied from my LJ) :)






Monday - 3/14/05 - Went to work as usual and was feeling fine. A little crampy
here and there, but pretty darn good. Later that night I started having some
contractions. They felt like really bad period cramps……quite painful, but managable.
Throughout the night I got them sporadically…..2:10 AM, 3:00 AM, etc. Didn't get much sleep.






Tuesday - 3/15/05 - I was nicely awoken at 6:56 AM with pretty bad contractions.
They were coming more frequently, so I started timing them…..10 minutes, 8
minutes, 14, minutes…….just irregular. Of course I didn't go into work since I
hadn't gotten much sleep and was in pain with contractions, but I told Mark to
go ahead and that I would call if they started getting closer. I decided to jump
in the shower. The contractions got closer….even as close as 4 minutes. Next
thing I know Mark calls and says he's on his way back home…which is good because I figured
we should head down since my doctor had told me to head there when my
contractions were 5-7 minutes apart. We get to the hospital and they send me to
the triage department (for those who don't know, this is where they check you
first to see if you are really in labor and need to be admitted). Anyhoo, we get
there and they send us to a room. A few minutes later this “nice” (not)
nurse comes in and hooks up the monitors that read the baby's heartbeat and the
contractions. At this point they are still anywhere between 4-7 minutes apart.
She does a internal exam (ouch) and tells me that by cervix has thinned, but I'm
only dilated to ONE!?! WTF? Are you kidding me?? My doctor told me I was 1-2 cm dilated at my last appointment!? Whatever. She tells us to go home and
come back when the contractions are between 2-3 minutes apart. Uhhhh…..ok lady,
some of these are only 4 minutes apart….we're pretty darn close….and plus these
contractions are painful as hell. So whatever……we leave and go meet my sisters
for lunch (they were already on the way to the hospital) since we're all down
this way (keep in mind the hospital is about 25-30 minutes from our house
(without traffic)....so we really didn't want to drive all the way home and have to turn back around and risk getting caught in rush hour traffic). We grab lunch and I'm still having painful contractions. Keep
in mind that I'm NOT a wuss and have had HORRIBLE period cramps my whole life
(TMI - the kind that make you have diarrhea and vomit)…..so yeah….i'm in pain.
We decide to go walk around the mall hoping that maybe that will help me
dilate. We're walking around the mall and I'm stopping every few minutes because
of the contractions. I'm literally holding onto shelves every time I have a contraction. A few hours go by and I'm in PAIN. The contractions are now
2-5 minutes apart….close enough for us. We head back to the hospital and are
sent back up to triage. Arrgghh….we get the SAME nurse again. She does the whole
thing over again and says I'm still at 1 cm dilated. She says that since the
contractions are so close she's going to call the doctor and see what he says.
The doctor says for me to stay at the hospital but to walk around for a few
hours and come back. So we do that. At this point I'm practically dying every
time I have a contraction. For those of you who don't know what they feel
like….imagine the WORST period cramps EVER along with really bad “sh*t your
pants” diarrhea cramps. I literally felt like I was going to just crap myself
and just wanted to curl up in a ball and die. Finally 2 hours have passed and
i'm about to die. We head back up….same routine….but different nurse (thank god!) and
whattya know….all the sudden I'm magically dilated to 2 - 3 cm! I'm finally
admitted to the hospital and they get me a room. At this point I'm damn near in
tears because of the contractions. Seriously…..the worst pain ever. My sisters
and everyone else who was lucky enough to be dilated more than they had
contractions are soooo lucky. My body was doing it backwards for some reason.
Basically I was having contractions of someone who was already dilated to
8+cm…..it was ridiculous. Finally they gave me an epidural and contraction-wise I
was fine about 20 minutes later. Phew! Just when you think things are going to
get speedy and better…..they don't. Hours upon hours, upon hours pass. My water broke around 2:45am (about 5 hours after they gave me my epidural). It was SO gross/weird. All the sudden I just felt this gush of fluid (imagine filling up a plastic grocery bag with water kinda loose and then it slighty bursting all the sudden...it was SO weird). Luckily it happened RIGHT when the nurse walked in and I turned to say something to her LOL.









Wednesday - 3-16-05 (Paige's Birthday!!) - My body is nicely dilating on it's own (no pitocin)……… but not fast enough for myself and
especially not fast enough for Mark and my sisters who never left my side. The
next thing I know, I have a horrible migraine and feel nauseaus. My head is
pounding so bad that I can't even keep my eyes open because any bit of light
makes it worse. To make a long story a tiny bit shorter…..I ended up throwing up
about 3 times (luckily only fluids/stomach acid since I hadn't eaten since lunch
earlier that day. So just as a recap….I was having contractions since 6:50am
that morning, finally got admitted to a room around 9:30pm and now it was around
5:00am the next day (3/15) and i'm nauseaus and have a migraine (apparently pretty common in labor). Finally around 9:00am they give me pitocin
(uhhh…..why couldn't they have done that waaaaay earlier?) to help speed up the
labor. My head is still throbbing and I'm still nauseaus. At this point I have
ZERO energy since I hadn't gotten any sleep. I finally sleep for a few hours
(since my head feels like someone threw a bowling ball at it) and next thing I
know I wake up and they say that I'm pretty much ready to go. The nurse suggests
that we wait a little longer and see if Paige drops down into the birth canal a
little bit more. Apparently she does and they have me start pushing at 12:10pm.
I really didn't have to push too much….and next thing I know the doctor comes in
and I start giving a few really good pushes (which doesn't hurt at all, just
feels like I'm taking a HUGE crap) and Paige's head is out! All I hear is the
doctor, Mark and my sisters commenting on how much hair she has haha. Totally
from Mark's side of the family….not mine since my sisters and I were all pretty
bald. The doctor suctions her nose and mouth and then the rest of my my little girl comes out no
problem. Everyone is in awe….especially Mark who just keeps saying “Oh my god,
she's so beautiful”. My sister comments “Awww…she's like a little porcelain
doll!”. My other sister says “Oh my gosh Julie, she looks just like you!”. They clean her off and hand her to me…..and sure enough, she looks
totally like me when I was a newborn (super chinese!) haha. Anyhoo, the labor (contractions and
waiting around) was by far the worse part for me. The delivery (birth) was a
breeze. Mark is still amazed that when I was pushing my face was
normal….nothing like what he's seen on TV and such haha (yes, that epidural was
awesome).







Paige looks SO chinese.......it's hilarious! It's crazy how different they look in just days or months. She already looks different than when she was born. I can't wait to see what she'll look like in a few months (since they almost never look the same).





Without further ado........


I would like to introduce you to my little "porcelain doll"................


*Paige Jamieson*
Born on 3/16/05 @ 12:50pm
7 lbs 12 oz
20 1/2 " long


Right after birth (with the newborn eye ointment in her eyes)..........
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v716/Booey143598/49.jpg

[tray622]

I had been suffering from Pregnancy-Induced-Hypertension and mild Preeclampsia since 20 weeks. I had been on monitoring since 28 weeks and admitted 4 times to labor and delivery during my last month. Twice was for blood pressure that wouldn’t go down and twice was for low amniotic fluid. I was scheduled to see my doctor on Friday and schedule an induction.

Tuesday, October 5 (39 weeks)
I had an NST appointment at 10:30. I had been going twice a week since 28 weeks, so I figured it would be another routine day. I was running a bit behind, so I skipped breakfast and planned on getting lunch on the way home. I get to my appointment and am hooked up to the machine. Everything is perfect as always. Now it is time for the protein test. It is +4. I normally have trace to +1. The ultrasound came back good. I have had low amniotic fluid levels due to my continuous high blood pressure and the results this day were pretty routine. My blood pressure was next and was high… again. I lie down… still very high. The nurse decides I should have labs done again. It had been a week since my last draw. I figure it is another trip to L&D for stabilization. She paged the doctor to check and the doctor calls back with the message that I have had enough and today was the day. I was to go down stairs for my induction. I go down stairs and call my DH and my mom. I tell them that I will call them after I go to L&D and make sure that it is really happening today. I made my first HUGE mistake… I go to L&D without stopping to get food in the cafeteria or vending machines!! I will regret this later… big time.

11:30 - Downstairs I go. My nurse is awesome and she gets my IV going and starts up the Pitocin. She hangs out with me almost the whole day watching Opera. She was off at 4 and when she left I hadn’t made any cervical changes. I wasn’t feeling PAIN. I think I thought I was but nothing like what was coming. From 4-9:30 I labored some more. I am checked by my midwife and again no change. I send my mom home and my DH to do some errands. I WAS STARVING AND SNUCK A RICE KRISPY TREAT FROM MY DH’S SNACKS =) I couldn’t help it!! At 9:45 the midwife gives me an option. She could break my water or I could go with Pitocin until midnight, turn it off, and insert gel until 6am when Pitocin would start again. She breaks my water. DH and mom come back. The next 5 hours were misery. I was in a delirious pain and was not prepared. Second mistake, we had never taken labor classes. Good one. My nurse now was not so nice and would never take me seriously when asking for meds. Finally the midwife comes in and sees slight progress. She has the nurse give me nubane which completely knocks me out for the next 4 hours.

Wednesday, October 6
I awake at 3am with the worst pains ever. My back felt like it was splitting open and breaking my hips in the process. My cousin shows up at 6am and I am finally checked again. I am now 5cm. Yippee… epidural. Yeah right. My nurse was not really hearing me. She kept giving me excuse and telling me to breathe. This goes on until 9 when there is a shift change. New nurse comes on and I ask for my epidural. She starts the fluids. Finally. The anesthesiologist is in surgery, so I have to wait awhile. It comes at about 11am. It wasn’t so bad, just hard to stay still with the contractions. Things feel pretty good. It didn’t wear all the way on my right side but I could stand it. This good lasted all of 3 hours. Then the pain hit hard again. The nurse never took me seriously and I labored hard. At 2 I was checked with no progress. I was told I had two hours to see progress or it is in for surgery. 2 hours later I was at 6cm. The doctor struggled with the decision but extended my time one more hour. In that hour I was fully dilated and ready to push. It was at this time the nurse came in and I was standing next to the bed. She tries to tell me I couldn’t do that with and epidural and I said with what epidural. Then she had to admit it had not worked. Again, the anesthesiologist was busy so we gave up and started pushing at 5:50pm. I don’t remember much except I spiked a fever and all of a sudden an oxygen mask is out on and antibiotics are being pumped into my IV. I felt delirious. Zoey was born at 6:22. It was a 31 hour labor. 21 hours of my water being broke. Before I got much of a chance to hold her she was taken to the NICU. She was born with a fever due to my water being broke for so long and was very lethargic. She was there for 3 hours and I was going crazy. I couldn’t go and see her because I was catheterized and couldn’t urinate on my own. They brought her in around 10pm. She was beautiful and I was exhausted. Finally we were taken to the mother/baby center. It was over and I was awestruck and very overwhelmed.
Zoey Suzanne
8lbs 1oz / 21 in.

[cantwait]

I have actually never written my birth story down, although I remember it like it was yesterday. I guess I figured it was time to document what happened.

Tuesday, June 1, 2004
It was my first day of a 2-week vacation from work. My plan was to take the 2 weeks off, then go back to work and (hopefully) deliver the next day. That way I would get the maximum time off that I was allotted. I was almost 36 weeks at this point and David was doing well. We were told he was going to be a fairly big baby. We were so excited.

I had been having contractions on-and-off since 28 weeks, but nothing that alarmed the doctors to the point of putting me on bedrest. That Tuesday, my mom and her 2 best friends took me to lunch in a nearby town. We chatted and laughed and they toasted to my new baby who we would be meeting in another month. ;) I felt fine that day.

That evening around 7:00, I started having diarrhea (sorry if TMI) and I went ahead and took some Imodium for it (duh, had no idea I was in labor). I also felt some increased discharge. I knew that increased discharge was standard at the end of PG and I honestly didn't feel alarmed, but since I had an appt. first thing the next morning I went to bed and figured I would see what happened tomorrow. I had some back pain but I always have back pain so that wasn't really a reliable labor symptom for me!

Wednesday, June 2, 2004
DH and I went to the doctor at 9 a.m. but took separate cars (he had to work afterwards but I wanted him at the appt.) The bags were in the car and the carseat was installed the previous weekend (I am always hyper-prepared). I had previously been dilated to 1 cm and the doctor checked me - I was at 2.5 cm! I told her about the extra discharge and she swabbed me, looked at the swab through the microscope and said the now-famous words:

"Well, you're having a baby today."

DH and I looked at each other in shock and excitement. It wasn't supposed to be for another month! But David had other plans for us.

The doctor wrote me an order for delivery and sent me downstairs to L&D. DH went to his car to get his phone. I thought that's all he was doing. I waited in the waiting room for half an hour for that man! I was so P-Oed. Turns out he was calling everyone we knew to tell them (including my mom, who was on her way). I was irritated because I wanted to be the one to tell her, but Mike was just so excited to share.

Anyway, we got checked in around 10:00 a.m. and I peed in a cup, changed into the gown, and put my clothes in the lovely plastic bag they give you. I was so nervous I was practically shaking. It was all happening so quickly and I thought I would have more time to prepare! I went out to the bed and they hooked me up to the external fetal heartbeat monitor and another to monitor my heart rate and BP. That thing was SO annoying - someone had it set to take my BP every 5 minutes and it did that for 6 hours! The 2nd shift nurse finally figured out that it was set wrong. Ugh.

At this point, my mom's best friend Pam (who had gone to lunch with us the previous day!) showed up and I was so happy to see her. She had been in the area and actually beat my mom there. Mom showed up a few minutes later. After a few minutes of visiting, Mike left with Pam to get his bag and return his car home (since he wouldn't be working today). She would drive him back after he packed.

The anesthesiologist was available at that time so they came in and asked if I wanted my epi then. I said, "Hell yeah!" I honestly thought at that point I had it made - a completely pain-free labor. They hadn't yet started my pitocin and I had yet to feel a single painful contraction. Little did I know...

The epi was a breeze. I barely felt anything and I was in a great mood after that. They started my pitocin drip, as well as an antibiotic since my water had ruptured the previous day. Although it had broken, it was just a trickle, not a burst. That's why I didn't know I was in labor. They inserted a catheter and left me alone to watch the contractions on the monitor.

I hate this picture of me, but I wanted to post it here for the new mommies who might not know what kind of stuff they have you hooked up to. My hand, wrist and forearm look so swollen from the IV fluids.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4d824b3127cce9ebfafb3260a00000016108AbMm7do1aM-

As you can see, I was in good spirits and not feelin' a thing:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4d824b3127cce9ebfafbea73700000016108AbMm7do1aM-

Mike and Pam came back and after a bit, Mom and Pam left to go shopping for a special outfit for Davey's hospital picture. We were going to need a preemie size, which I hadn't purchased, thinking my baby was going to be so huge.

Here's a picture of the contraction monitor - DH and I loved just looking at it and listening to Davey's heart beat.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4d824b3127cce9ebfafbf260600000016108AbMm7do1aM-

However, that heartbeat was behaving very erratically. It fluctuated and dropped suddenly. We became alarmed and the nurse inserted an internal monitor for a more accurate reading. At this point I had so many tubes and wires coming out of my hooha it was ridiculous. David's heartbeat seemed to calm down a little so we were reassured.

The day wore on. I dilated to 3 cm and stayed there for 2 hours. The doctor broke the rest of my amniotic sac (only a portion had leaked). Rumblings of c-section talk started (I had a very crabby unsupportive nurse on that shift). Mom and Pam came back. My dad showed up. We all chatted and watched TV. I was checked again and I was 6 cm. Woo!

It was about 9 p.m. and I was starting to get very uncomfortable. I had the strongest urge to pee, which I knew was odd because I had a catheter. I also felt a lot of pressure and I could barely sit still. I had Mike go get my doctor and sent the family out of the room.

What the doctor did was so uncomfortable! Basically, the catheter had been inserted wrong and my epi was starting to wear off, so I could feel the sensation of having to pee. In addition, they had to reinsert the internal monitor because it was getting caught in David's hair (funny, in hindsight) and reinsert the cath with no anesthesia. Ugh, I felt like I was going to vomit. They were futzing around down there for what seemed like hours, but finally the pee urge passed and everything was A-OK. However, I was still at 6 cm and had been for 2 hours. We had a frank conversation with the doctor about a c-section. David was not dropping and it seemed like he might not be able to fit under my pelvic bone (even 4 weeks early, he was good sized). We agreed to give it another hour and if I hadn't made progress we would go ahead with the operation. Since my water had been ruptured for over 24 hours they wanted the baby out ASAP.

I waited for the doctor to come with another dose of epi. At this point it was just me and Mike. I couldn't bear to be around other people. He helped me though each contraction, which I felt before it showed up on the monitor. I hadn't planned on a natural birth so I was pretty unprepared with relaxation techniques, but I had a focal point (kinda gross) - there was a dead fly in the flourescent light fixture above my bed and I would just stare at that, squeeze Mike's hand and breathe through it. It hurt, but I don't remember it much for the pain. I felt very close to my husband and I know he felt good that he seemed to be comforting me somewhat. The doctor came after 45 of the longest minutes of my life and gave me a booster of my epi. Relief. My OB came after the prescribed hour and POOF! I was completely dilated. I had gone through transition epi-free and dilated 4 cm in an hour!

[cantwait]

Mike was elated and RAN to the waiting room, shouted "she's 10 cm and going to start pushing!" and ran back. Mom, Dad, and Pam just cracked up. It was a long wait for them - my dad ended up going to get Krispy Kreme donuts, which were a lifesaver to me later.

There was quite a bit of down time between complete dilation and beginning to push. The nurse (I loved this one - I ended up having 3 over my 15 hour labor) told me how to push and I started around 11:30 p.m. I pushed with every contraction and it felt GREAT. Like someone else said, I just felt so powerful and after sitting in a bed for 13 hours, I was DOING something. After about half an hour, my doctor came to check on me and helped with the process. They brought in a mirror because they thought it would help me (I was only pushing properly about 1/2 the time). The thought of it skeeved me out, but once I took a look at my bits with all the wires coming out, I was fine. It did actually help with my progress.

After about 1.5 hours of pushing with each contraction, I had a BIG push and his head crowned. The doctor yelled "STOP PUSHING!" and I said "What???" because it's really hard to stop at that point! Then about 10 people flooded into the room with equipment and the doc gowned up and put the face shield on and I just said, OMG this is really happening. And with one more push David Manning was born at 1:01 a.m., June 3, 2004. He was laid on my stomach and I just looked at him and he was so beautiful. He had the most gorgeous blond curly hair. He weighed 7 lbs, 10.5 oz (a month early!) and was 19.5 inches long.

Mike cut the cord and they took David to evaluate him. Here's his first pic:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4d824b3127cce9ebfafbd260400000016108AbMm7do1aM-

They were working inside me and I had no care or concept of what the doctor was doing. I didn't realize that I was bleeding profusely and then she had to massage my uterus internally - OUCH!! Can't imagine how much that would hurt without drugs. They stitched me up, just a small 2nd degree tear and no other problems.

They cleaned David up and weighed him. People started leaving the room and Mike went to get my family (and Pam, who had waited until after 1 a.m. to see him! She's such a great friend).

WE had 10 blissful minutes with him before they had to take him up to the nursery for a full evaluation (since he was early). He was having a few wheezy breathing episodes so they didn't want me to attempt nursing.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4d824b3127cce9ebfafab261200000016108AbMm7do1aM-
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4d824b3127cce9ebfaf94a71d00000016108AbMm7do1aM-
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4d824b3127cce9ebfaf95262c00000016108AbMm7do1aM-

Mike went up to the nursery with David, Dad and Pam left, and Mom kept me company until Mike got back. The delivery was perfect until then, but David started having breathing problems and I didn't get to see him for another 12 hours. I had a panic attack around 5 a.m. because I wanted to see my baby so badly. Fortunately, all's well that end's well and we left the hospital together a few days later, although he had a nasty bout with jaundice. Today he is a happy, healthy toddler. I loved reliving this! Good luck to all the future mommies. However your babies arrive, birth is absolute magic.

[kimthebride]

Friday June 3rd was the due date for my for child, and a day I will never forget.

I woke up around 7:30am and went to pee (of course). When I got off the bed I noticed I had left a little wet spot on the sheet, and by the time I got into the bathroom I had soaked through my panties. I changed into a fresh pair before using the bathroom, and by the time I walked out I had soaked through those too. So I changed into a 3rd pair, put on a pad, and went upstairs for breakfast.

As I sat on the couch with bowl of cereal in hand, I gushed a bit into my pad and realized that could be The Day. I told Tom what happened and asked him to keep his cell handy just in case.

He left for work, and I started cleaning up the house to be prepared in case something happened: ran the dishwasher, put the laundry in the laundry room, got the stuff together to change the cat litter, etc.

At 10am my good friend Tracy called from Chicago to see what was going on, and when I told her what happened she was beside herself that I hadn’t told my OB yet (ok, she was likely right). She said it would be funny and “so you” to deliver on my due on since I am so organized, and we laughed about that. Finally we had to get off, so I said that was fine since I wasn’t sure if I had to go to the bathroom or was having labor pains….”ha ha ha”.

I head downstairs to use the bathroom, figuring that was what was going on. By the time I got off the toilet (loose BM) and to the sink I had a horrible contraction that stopped me in my tracks. It was 10:30am. I called Tom to tell him “Can you come home right away please, I just had my first contraction and it really really hurts”. Then I got right into the shower.

I dressed and got my suitcase ready, then ate a yogurt and a mini whole wheat bagel with peanut butter in case I was about to have a long day and miss out on lunch. My next contraction was just as strong and hit at 10:55am. I called my OB’s office to ask reception what to do, and she said to go to the hospital to be monitored.

Tom got home around 11:30am while I was eating and text-messaging my OB what was going on. I ordered him to change right away, and I told him that it seemed like the contractions were getting closer and either lasting longer or having two phases. My OB called and suggested I come to the office 1st, but I was getting confused about describing my contractions: were they lingering and lasting a long time, or were they just coming REALLY fast? I was doubling over with pain and had one more loose BM before we RAN out of the door to get into the car.

By the time I buckled up, I told Tom “Go straight to the hospital”. I had the hot water bottle on my belly and the seat heater on to help with the pain while we made the drive into the city to the hospital. I could barely speak, I was concentrating so hard on making it through the pain of each contraction. Tom was pretty calm, until he asked me whether or not I was timing them and I replied : “I think they are already 5 minutes apart”. And we both got very quiet, because it was only 12noon and traffic slowed down in the city.

A few blocks from the hospital Tom asked me which lot to park in and I said him I had to be dropped off at the door and would run up to the labor triage while he parked – I just knew I couldn’t wait. He got upset, but when I was really moaning and breathing through a very bad contraction as we approached the hospital he realized I was right and he pulled up to the door to get me a wheelchair and into the hospital.

The concierge helped Tom get me into the wheelchair and let him leave the truck in front while he brought me up to the 12th floor Labor Unit. As he wheeled me in there were nurses all around but no one approached me so I caught someone’s eye and said “I think they are 5 minutes apart already and my 1st one was only at 10:30am – this is moving VERY FAST. What do we do?”

We were brought into the closest maternity triage room for me to get monitored to see how I was doing. The nurse handed me a gown and a cup to pee in, and sent me to the bathroom. I was having bad contractions the whole time, but I rushed as fast as I could to finish and get back to the room.

The contractions were coming so fast and hard that they were disrupting my being monitored: the nurses can’t put an IV in or strap monitors on me or do anything else to me during a contraction. However, the more I was held up the more likely I’d miss my chance for an epidural – which I kept asking them to prevent from happening.

Things were moving so fast, but we had to park the car. Tom asked me if I thought he should park it then or wait – I told him to run down and get back right away. As he stepped out of the room I had a big painful contraction so he came back in and asked again – so I yelled “JUST RUN!”

Once he left the doctor came in to check me out. Her manual exam really hurt! I was already 8cm (it was about 12:45pm by then), she could see the head, and my waters broke fully open when she was digging around in there. She basically RAN out of the room to get things moving for me to be put in a delivery room and get the anesthesiologist in the asap while the nurse got fluids into me.

Tom got back and before he stepped into my triage room he asked a nurse how I was doing. She said “She’s having this baby in about 10 minutes”. Then he came into the room and another nurse soon followed with a wheelchair to bring me into the delivery room. Again I asked her to rush me in so we could make sure I got the epidural!

We enter the delivery room and I was having a bad contraction so had to wait before jumping up onto the table. Tom was so good by my side, staying calm even though I could talk with him since I was breathing through all the contractions and staying focused.

I again asked for the Drug Guy – when is he coming? PLEASE make sure I get an epidural!!! And she eventually came in while everyone was rushing around me. She had to do some paperwork before she could do anything, but the doctor said it was unlikely she had time to give the epi, considering how far along I was. Tom & I were answering her questions FAST while the rest of the delivery team ran around me in a frenzy.

Suddenly it got really quiet, just Tom answering her questions while I breathed through bad contractions…and a nurse showed up at my side and said: “You’ve been getting the urge to push, haven’t you?” And I had to admit it: “I think I’ve been having that feeling since right before I left the triage room”. So she said I had NO CHOICE but push, even though the team wasn’t even in the room yet. So with no doctor in the room, I started to Officially Push” at 1pm.

The anesthesiologist was kicked out, the doctor ran in with her team, and she broke the news that I had no option for any drugs – which upset me, so I said “I can’t do this without any pain medicine!” to which she essentially replied “Sorry, nothing we can do – SO PUSH.”

[kimthebride]

The contractions were very, very painful. The nurses said that I had been doing really well controlling my pain with the breathing I had been doing the whole time so told me to keep doing that, and NOT to yell. They showed Tom how to hold my leg for me, he kept reassuring me being really positive while the labor nurse (who was WONDERFUL) stayed right in my face coaching me when and how to push.

They had me push at each contraction, said to wrap my arms around my thighs, tuck my chin into my chest, take a deep breath & hold it while pushing. They were getting really painful, a hardening and tightening that was all-consuming, along with the feeling like I had a hard ball that I had to poop out. I didn’t feel anything vaginally at all, which was strange to me.

After about 10 minutes, I had a very hard and painful contraction and swore loudly, and the doctor told me I needed to calm down and focus. Then the next one was so painful that I SCREAMED and shuddered (I literally saw black for a second it hurt so badly, like a searing hot pain in my groin), and the doctor yelled at me. She stopped everything and told me that if I didn’t get myself under control I would tear and hurt myself or the baby.

(I later was told by Tom that the reason that hurt so badly was that when I was pushing, the doctor put HER WHOLE HAND in me and yanked down on my perineum. No WONDER I screamed!)

Anyway, I pushed again after that nightmare, and the nurse said that the doctor was getting ready to catch the baby: it was time. The labor nurse made me open my eyes and she told me that I only had a couple pushes left, and that if I pushed exactly how and when she says I wouldn’t feel any pain pushing the baby out.

A BIG one came and I pushed soooo hard, and after a few seconds everyone got all excited and the doctor told me to open my eyes because his head was out! However, they had bundled my gown on my chest and I couldn’t see anything! I almost didn’t believe them since I hadn’t felt it pop out and my vagina didn’t hurt (I just felt like I really really had to poop)

Then it was time for another push. I bore down when the labor nurse said so, everyone started yelling and encouraging me and saying “He’s coming, he’s coming!” and I felt him slither out of me then finally they yelled “He’s here! It’s a boy!” and plopped him on my chest before I could even open my eyes. It was 1:13pm.

They were all congratulating us, saying he looked great, cleaning me and the baby up. All this was buzzing around us, and all I could do was look at our son…he was so beautiful. It was amazing to see him after all this time. And he looked exactly like Tom. Tom was kissing me on the head, telling me he loved me, touching Thomas and we just stayed there staring at him for a very long time. They left him on my chest the entire time they were cleaning us all up. Tom took pictures of us and we checked out every part of our new baby.

Eventually the baby nurse had to weigh him and check him out while I got my stitches. The doctor and nurses were surprised I hadn’t torn much – only needed 2 stitches inside and 1 outside. Apparently the exercises I had been doing on the big ball with my trainer stretched me all out!

We ended up hanging out for a while in the room while the baby nurse took some info, kept checking my temperature and blood pressure, making sure I was stable. Tom, Thomas and I just relaxed and waited to be moved into a recovery room.

Little did I know that by the time I was wheeled out of the room, I would be The Talk Of The Labor Unit.

[saathei]

April 23, 2005

I had had my 2nd baby shower that afternoon, and we had Passover in the evening. Despite having spent a long time (2-3 hours) in bed beforehand, I still felt exhausted. I was lying on the couch and everyone else was sittingaround the tables. I enjoyed our Seder, but I had a hard time hearing what they were all saying. The dinner was good, though i couldn't eat it all. I was starting to feel crampy, and by the time we drank the last cup and recited the Hillel I was not pating attention at all. My friend Misty helped me time the contractions; they were about 10 minutes apart. So we called the doctor, and naturally he had us head to the hospital. Our friends were all concerned, but I didn't think it was a big deal - I'd already been to the hospital 5 times for preterm labor.

So, we checked in and got all hooked up. The first thing they did was to check my cervix. I was at a 4! This definitely freaked us out, and I was given a shot of terbutaline (which has worked perfectly every other time). I calmed down for about 10 minutes, and then the contractions returned! And with a vengeance - they hurt and took my breath away (but the contractometer didn't register them). The nurse called the doctor, and I called Misty and asked her to finish preparing my hospital bag and bring it. I didn't know if I was going to have the babies, but it was sure looking likely! They even had an ultrasound guy come to check the babies' positions - and unfortunately, Baby A had scooted her butt back over the cervix. O and I prepared ourselves for the news of a C section.

The nurse came back and said we would put me on a mag sulfate IV to try to stop the contractions. I kind of lost it then - I had heard that mag sulfate was decidedly unfun, and at that point I was ready to see my daughters and was dismayed at the idea of yet another heavily medicated, unproductive hospital visit. Orion said a prayer for me, and I felt so much calmer about the mag sulfate, so I agreed to it.

After they hooked me up, I was so exhausted that I fell asleep. They thought this meant that they were calming down... but in reality I'm just a heavy sleeper, even through pain! When I woke up at 6 in the morning, they still hurt and took my breath away, and when they checked me I was dialated to 5. The doc scheduled my C section for 10AM. We let our friends and families know. I was excited, but so scared! Scared of the surgery, scared of getting the epidural (the reason I tried hypnobirthing in the first place), scared to realize I only had a few hours left before I became a mother!!

As the time drew near, they brought Orion some scrubs (he looke like a HazMat remover, haha), and then they walked me to the OR. It was kind of weird to be walking, since I had been primarily in bed for the last month. They got me there and helped me up on the table, and the anesthesiologist washed the small of my back. Then he put the needle in - more painful than a blood draw, but not that bad. Icy heat spread out from the spot. I wasn't really aware of going numb - I thought I was a lot more aware of my body than I really was. There were so many people in the room! Nurses there for each of the babies, the anesthesiologist, Dr. Parker, a midwife, and a couple of nurses just for the surgery. But not my husband. They laid me down and gave me an oxygen mask, and put up the curtain, but he wasn't in there yet. I was scared - where could he be? I asked over and over about him, and finally they ushered him in.

The doctor had already started cutting me open. I couldn'tt feel anything, not even pressure. Orion held my hand and was peering over the curtain, watching everything. He tried to tell me what was going on, but the idea of seeing anyone cut open, let alone myself, was enough to make me sick. He told me when the Thalia had been pulled out, and shortly thereafter I heard her cry. Then I felt a tugging sensation, and Orion told me they had pulled Michaya out. He told me what the nurses were doing. Then he told me what they each weighed, and I gasped and felt tears spring to my eyes. Each about 4.5 pounds - a whole pound more than what we had been expecting from the ultrasound. The midwife brought the babies to Orion once they had been swaddled, and they were beautiful. She took a picture of all of us together, and then Orion carried the girls off to the nursery.

But I wasn't done yet. They took out the placenta and started stitching me up. I couldn't feel anything - I couldn't really tell what was going on. I just was alone, and cold. It was quieter, too, now that the babies' nurses were gone. Eventually, they finished, and took down the curtain. It was so weird - all of a sudden I didn't have a big ballooning belly anymore. They brought a hospital bed and moved me onto it - it was bizarre to see them shifting my lower body around and not being able to feel it.

After puking a couple times and calling my parents to share the news, Orion came in with Thalia. It was so magical to hold her for the first time. Michaya, however, was having problems breathing, and she had to be taken in an ambulance to a larger hospital an hour away. I only got to touch her through the box while she was hooked up to a bunch of monitors. I didn't get to see her again until I was released from the hospital later that week.

[jess&dan]

It's so great to hear everyone's stories!

Nathan's birth story is rather short becuase it was a relatively short labor and pretty easy on me. I really cannot complain at all and was very lucky to have such a wonderful experience!

It started on Sunday, January 30th (one week before my due date) when I woke up early in the morning with lower back cramps. It went away, so I thought it was just braxton hicks and ignored it. Throughout the morning they came and went, but nothing strong and no pattern. We went out to lunch with my FIL for this birthday and I had them throughout that, but again, nothing uncomfortable. We also went and got Dan's hair cut and my eyebrows waxed. We stopped at Bed, Bath, & Beyond and Petco to buy dog food. Dan gave our dog a bath and he vacuumed the entire house while I did some laundry...so we were pretty prepared without knowing it. Around 7:00 I noticed the cramps a bit stronger and more often, so I decided to time them. They were anywhere from 5 to 12 minutes apart, so I again just blew them off as false labor. Well, around 10:45 they were getting really strong, so I had Dan time them with me. For an hour and a half they were anywhere from 3 minutes to 8 minutes apart. They weren't really painful, just uncomfortable. So we were really confused as to whether it was real or not, so Dan called the doctor and he said wait until they were consistently 5 minutes apart for an hour. We timed 2 more that were 6 and 7 minutes apart and decided to just try and go to sleep. I then had one very very strong contraction that I couldn't even speak through and then my water broke! So I told Dan that was our answer. And the amazing part is that I did not get anything on the bed! :D

We arrived at the hospital around 1:00 AM on January 31 and got settled in our delivery room.
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The nurse I started off with was so great and I really liked her! I was contracting pretty well, but I never once had a pattern! I was 3 1/2 cm dilated upon arrival. So she sent in my labs right away and within 45 minutes I was getting my epidural! Unfortunately, that took 3 tries to get it right. The first two times I would get the "funny bone" feeling they tell you to inform them about (meaning it's not in right spot). So he had to put it up higher. The process itself did not hurt, but I had 2 really strong contractions during it, which was tough. But the nurse said that she was amazed as to how quiet I was and impressed that I was actually using the breathing techniques. That really did help with getting through them. She was also impressed with how I didn't think they were too painful because they were pretty high according to the monitor. After I got the epidural I was in heaven! I probably could have gone natural, but just was too wimpy I guess. We slept and just relaxed until about 7:00 AM when I was already at 10 cm and ready to push! Unfortunately my first nurse had to leave, but the new one was very good and great for helping me along with the pushing! She was too funny, though. They told me to grab under my thighs each time I would push and since I had the epidural I could not feel the complete amount of pressure I was using to do this. She was so worried I was going to dig my finger nails so hard into my legs and bruise them, so she put cloths under each of my hands. It was very sweet of her to be concerned about something simple like that. Side Note: It was only Dan and I in the room. We had decided we only wanted it to be an experience shared by just the two of us.

We had a scare at first when my doctor asked me to do a test push. I did so as he was examining me and Nathan's heart rate dropped to about 60. This really scared Dan. They had me roll over on my left side and wear and oxygen mask for a while. He heart rate climbed back up to where it should have been and we didn't have another scare after that. I pushed for 50 minutes, so not too long. I did have to get an episiotomy becuase I started to tear. Once I had that, Nathan came right out. Pushing was nothing like I imagined and there were points where I swore my head was going to explode (Dan said I turned purple) but I didn't have to do it for long, thankfully.

At 8:02 AM on January 31, our beautiful son Joseph Nathaniel made his debut. He was 7lbs. 14oz. and 21 inches long and just perfect. And the very first thing I said when I held him for the first time was "Honey, he looks like you!" :p

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I have no clue what happened to me after that because all I could focus on was Nathan. I have no clue when the placenta came out or anything. I just stared at Nathan while he was getting weighed and assessed. I got a few stitches, only about 3 I think.

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The one thing that I couldn't stand throughout those days after was how the nurses would take Nathan to the nursery for various thing, promising to bring him back in a certain amount of time, then not doing it. I can't tell you how many time I sent Dan down the hall to bring him back! I couldn't get enough of my little guy and I still can't!

[Jen1098]

Hopefully I can type this up before Josh wakes from his nap.

His due date was July 10th 2004


July 2nd(friday) went to work felt fine. DH and I were supposed to go to a friends house for dinner that evening but those plans were canceled. The two of us were still going to go out since we knew pretty soon we wouldn't have many date nights.
I felt fine at work, one of the Dr.'s I worked for brought me a gift and she was so sure I was going to have the baby that weekend.
Well towards the end of the day I started feeling blah, real achey and tired, my back hurt. I got out of work early b/c of the holiday weekend and went and picked dh up from work. I had him drive home b/c by then I felt like crap. Of course we were sitting in traffic and I just felt so awful. We finally get home and I go to the bathroom-had some bloody show. Wasn't nervous b/c I've read this is normal. DH and I decided to stay home and order a pizza. I still felt like crap and couldn't even eat the pizza which I love. I went and took a two hour nap. WOke up and had even more bloody show so I called my OB about 9 pm. I was so happy that my favorite Dr. was on call. He asked if I was having any contractions-I wasn't. Said bloody show was normal etc. and if I were to have any contractions to call him or if the bleeding is worse.
I went to bed soon afterwards and I slept great.

Sat July 3rd-woke up around 6:30 ish to pee. Didn't have any more bloddy show this time. So after peeing I went and laid on the couch and had to rush back to the bathroom b/c I thought I wasn't done peeing. So tried to pee and not much came out, went back and laid on the couch-again same thing happened. Went back to bed but didn't happen this time. I woke DH up and told him what was going on but I wasn't sure if my water broke or not. I still wasn't having contractions. Called the Dr. around 7ish and he said it sounded like my water broke and to head to the hospital.
So as we're getting our stuff together I kept telling dh that it's probably just my water leaking and they'll probably send us home blah blah. He was so cute he couldn't keep the smile off his face the whole time.
I finally had my first contraction as I was entering the guest room to put more stuff in my bag. I had to grab the doorway, I was always afraid I wouldn't know if I was having a contraction or not-there was no doubting what that was.
I had another one on the way to the hosptial.

DH dropped me off in front of the ER. The recptionist was checking someone else in but took me in front of them. She called a resident to come get me and we waited for dh before being brought upstairs. We were taken into triage to get checked by Amy(loved her) she gave me a cup to pee in and a gown. Well when I came into the room it was just dh and there was no doubt my water broke b/c I ended up leaivng a puddle on the floor.
She checked me and I was already at 4 centimters-I couldn't believe it we were going to have our baby today!

So we went into our room and got hooked up to the monitor and got some fluids so I could get the epidural soon. I also got some pitocin to help regulate my contractions.
I got my epidural just in time b/c the few contractions I had while waiting hurt pretty bad.
Dr. D showed up,checked me and chatted with us while I got the epidural. Once I had the epidural everything was great. We hung out watching TV-poor DH wanted to practice all the relaxation tips he learned in Lamaze but I didn't need anything. I did let him feed me ice chips though.

I was Dr. D's only patient that day so we got lots of attention which was nice b/c he's so cool. Him and Amy had a great rapport so it was funny listening to them.

[Jen1098]

Continue

A little before 1 I was feeling pressure "down there" and felt I needed to push. Amy checked me and I was at 10 so she got the room ready and Dr. D came in. It was funny b/c we were watching ESPN's best sport movies and Dr. sat at the end of the bed and watched the end with us. He joked you can't push until we know what #1 is. (it was Hoosiers)
So finally at 1:00 it was time to push. They left the epi on b/c I was still able to feel the urge to push. It wasn't pain just a lot of pressure. We missed a couple of contractions b/c I was laughing so we'd have to wait for the next one.
Paul held one leg and Amy held the other and I'd pull my head up and bear down when it was time to push. Paul would count for me.
Towards the end Dr. D said he might have to give me an episotomy-I looked up and said nooo. I don't know what I was thinking but after that I pushed really hard and that's probably when I got my tear.
DH saw the head and a couple more pushes and he was out! I couldn't believe it.
He was beautiful and had a great set of lungs!

He was born at 1:38 and I pushed for 38 minutes.

Soon after the epidural took effect
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meeting Joshua for the first time
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Proud papa
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[albuquerque]

BUMP!

This has become my new favorite thread, and I want it to stay on the first page so that hopefully more moms will post their stories. The stories so far are fascinating, I can't get enough. Thanks so much to all the moms who have posted the stories of their very personal miracles. It's hard for me to believe that sometime in November I'll have my own birth story to tell, I have trouble imagining something so magical happening to me.

[kerrykate]

Thursday Oct 2nd
Dh and I went out to eat for the last time, just us. Dinner was good and we were actually pretty calm. Afterwards we went to the hospital to start the induction. We got there about 8:10pm and I changed into my hospital gown and got into bed. My nurse, Sue went through a bunch of questions then checked to see if I was dialted anymore, and I was still at a loose one...
She put the fetal heart monitor on my belly and a monitor to track my contractions. Next she inserted a gel on my cervix to help thin it out. Dh and I just sat around and watched Extreme Makeover and talked. He offered to stay the night but I told him to go home and get some sleep. I watched TV and tried to sleep but it's very difficult with 2 monitors on and blood pressure cuff on your arm going off every 45 minutes, plus my mind was racing. The nurse came in again around 1:30am to put the gel on my cervix for the second time. At that point I still hadn't gotten any sleep and Sue offered to give me and Ambien to help, I accepted since I knew I would need lots of energy the following day.

FRIDAY OCT 3rd
The next thing I knew it was about 6:45 am and the nurse was in my room getting my IV and pitocin ready. Sue's shift was over at 7:00 am and she said in a nice way that she hoped she wouldn't see me when her shift started again at 7pm. Nancy was my new nurse. Just as Nancy put the IV in and started the pitocin dh showed up. I was waiting for contractions to start booming but nothing seemed to be happening so after a couple hours Nancy turned to the pitocin up. My doctor came in and we talked with him for awhile. There are 5 doctors in my practice and I had only seen this one, one time but he is very nice, professional, and funny so I was happy to get him. Around 11:00 my parents showed up and hung out for a couple hours and dh's parents showed up too. Around noon I started to actually start feeling the contractions but they were still tolerable. Dh really enjoyed watching them go up and down on the monitor. The nurse came in and checked to see how much I was dialated and I was only at 2 I started feeling like it was going to be a very long day. I got up to go to the bathroom and when I got back into bed the contractions became a lot more painful. And I was starving. I wasn't allowed to eat anything besides jello, juice, and water. I had already eaten 2 cups of jello and was sick of it! The contractions were getting very, very, very painful. It's really a pain you can't even describe. To be honest I have no idea why anyone would want to do it without an epidural. I became miserable but I couldn't get an epidural because I was only dialated to 2 and they want you to be at least 3 before you get one. I was becoming desperate and grouchy and I was in so much pain that I started throwing up so the nurse offered nubane and I accepted. She put it in my IV and it took affect immediately. It didn't take the pain away completely but took the edge off and made me tired and loopy. A few minutes later my best friend walked in with a big bouquet of flowers for me. I tried to talk to her but I was mostly in la la land from the nubane. She got the point and only stayed a little while. About an hour later the nubane started wearing off and I could feel the contractions at full throttle, they hurt so bad I couldn't even talk.
The nurse checked me again to see if I was at 3 yet and could get the epidural but I was at a loose 2 still. She said she would talk to my doctor and see if she could get me the epidural anyway. Thank God he said it was ok and they called for the anestheologist. When I saw her I could have kissed her! She was great when she put it in and told me everything she was going to do before she did it. It really didn't hurt and it was instant relief. The doctor came in again and we talked and he decided to break my water to see if that would speed things up. They took the fetal monitor off my belly and inserted one vaginally and put it on the baby's head, a string hung out of me and they taped it to my leg. I was happy again but still a little tired from the nubane and still starving. Most of the day had gone by and it was 7:00pm and Sue was back on her shift. She said she really wasn't surprised to still see me there. Sue was ready to get things going and I was too. I really like Nancy the nurse but Sue was so much more aggressive. She cranked up the pitocin checked to see how much I was dialted, I was at 3 and I kid you not she put 7 pillows in between my legs and laid me on my side. She said with my legs being spread so far apart it will be easier for the baby to move down the birth canal and she was going to flip me from one side to the other every 30 minutes to an hour. It was around 8 or 9 and my parents had shown back up, dh's parents were there and my sister, brother, and sil were all in my room. I was tired and wanted to rest but I didn't want to be rude and throw everyone out, although I should have. They finally got the point when they kept having to leave the room so Sue could flip me. We promised to call as soon as something started happening. Around 11pm dh laid down started falling asleep. I of course couldn't sleep I had to hear the baby's heartbeat. Ever since the doctor had broken my water I had become paranoid and had to hear the baby's heartbeat. I would start to fall asleep then wake right up as soon as I would realize I couldn't hear the heartbeat. Plus Sue was till coming in flipping me from side to side and cranking up the pitocin plus the blood pressure cuff was still going off every 45 minutes.

cont.

[kerrykate]

SATURDAY OCT 4th
Sue came into check me and flip me around 1am and I was dialated to a loose 5 and 75% effaced. We were very happy that things were starting to go somewhere. I was finally able to dose off for about a half hour then Sue would come back in. She was back in at 1:45am I was at 6! All the flipping me from side to side with a million pillows between my legs was working! Sue was great she would get so excited when I started to progress, I really wanted to have the baby before 7am while she was still there. she came back in at 2:30am and I was at 8 centimeters 85% effaced. DH woke up to go to the bathroom and was thrilled with my progress. I told him to go ahead and go back to sleep and we would wake him when I was ready.
She checked again at 3:30am and I was dialated to 9 and 95% effaced. I woke up dh and told him to get ready and he called both of our parents and told them to come down to the hospital(they stayed in the waiting room when they got there). I was so excited, scared, and nervous. The nurse started getting things ready and checked me again at 4am and I was ready to start pushing. It was 4:15am and she had me start practicing a few pushes while she called the doctor at home, I started to not feel good and threw up, dh told me later that he almost got sick when I got sick. They brought in the warmer and anther table with all of the doctor's "tools". Dh had planned on staying up at my head but Sue had him right down there front and center holding one of my legs. Sue turned down my epidural so I could feel my contractions a little more and know when to push. Pushing is difficult, I had to learn how to do it right! I would pull up my on the back of my thighs and dh would push on one of my legs in the stirrups and another nurse would push on the other one. I had been pushing for about 30 minutes and the baby hadn't really moved down at all. So Sue grabbed another gown and had me and dh play tug of war with it when it was time to push. This seemed to be working much better and the baby moved down some. An hour of this had already gone by and I was getting so tired. And because my stomach was so empty when I was curl up to push I would get a bunch of acid coming up from my stomach and get heartburn, plus that damn blood pressure cuff would kept going off and cutting off the circulation in my arm when I was pushing and I also had an oxygen mask on because the baby's heart rate had accelerated. We decided to go back to regular pushing with out the tug of war and things really starting moving.
You could see the baby's head and Sue called the doctor in and put a blanket on my belly. Suddenly there were a lot more people in the room. Since I had been pushing for so long and the baby's heart rate was up Sue called in someone from the Intensive Care Nursery and a Respitory therapist for the baby, "just in case". The urge to push was incredible and when I had a contraction it was even worse, not painful but the pressure was unbelievable. It really felt like you have to take a huge poo. The contractions were one right after the other and they would make me rest in between. The doctor could tell I was going to tear and gave me a small episiotomy. He told me I was doing great and I needed one more big push, I gave it everything I had and the baby's head was out but so was a bunch of meconium(sp?) and the cord was wrapped around her neck. He told me to stop pushing so he could unwrap the cord. He got that undone and said he needed another big push to get the shoulders out. I gave another big push and the baby was out(6:02am). I thought he would lay her on my stomach but he gave her to the ICN nurse and the respitory therapist. I was waiting to hear a big cry but the doctor told me we don't want her to cry because she'll suck in the meconium. DH gave me a big hug and kiss. I couldn't really see the baby but the 2 ladies were talking very intensely and that made me very nervous. They worked on her for 20 minutes straight while the doctor delivered the placenta (I had him show it to me, it was really neat/gross) and he gave me 1 or 2 stitches. I was trying not to worry and I could see her chest going up and down but I wanted to hear that cry.
Finally they swaddled her up and brought her over to me I thought the lady was handing her to me but she was just showing her to me and let me give her a kiss and they had to take her away to the ICN for observation. DH went with them. The doctor finished up, told me congratulations several times and left and the next thing I know I'm in my room completely alone. I don't know how I didn't break down and cry, I think I was in shock. My baby was supposed to be in my arms nursing and she was in the ICN. I think things were worse with the baby then doctor and nurses led on. Her apgar scores were only 2 and 3. My parents and IL's came in and told me congrats and gave hugs and kisses and Sue came in. She told them they could go to the nursery and see the baby, I told my dad to take pictures with the digital camera so I could at least see her again. So they left. Sue came over and gave me a big hug and told me I did a great job. I said thank you and asked her if I could get some food! She brought me some crackers and chicken noodle soup, it was around 7am and Sues shift was over I thanked her for everything she did. Dh came back in showed me some pictures of my beautiful baby girl and my parents came for a little and my dad showed me more pictures. My parents and IL's left and dh and I talked for awhile.
I wanted to get out of bed and walk around since I had been stuck there since the day before plus I wanted to try and pee. DH and the nurse helped me out of bed, my right leg was still a little week from the epidural but I made it to the bathroom. The nurse helped me change my gown, and I asked her when I could go to my recovery room she said now was fine and called for a wheel chair. On the way to my recovery room we stopped in the ICN. Lauren was sleeping and looked perfect. Her pediatrician had just checked her out and said everything was fine but she had to stay in the ICN for another 3-4 hours so they could observe her. I got to my room and I told dh I wanted to try and sleep so he could go ahead and go home and shower and change. I actually fell asleep pretty easily and woke up about 3 hours later at noon. I was surprised the baby still wasn't in my room and got up to go to the bathroom then I was going to call for a nurse and find out where my baby was. When I came out of the bathroom dh and the baby were both there. Dh wasn't holding her, he said I deserved to be the first one to get to. I finally got to hold my baby 4 hours after she was born. It was heavenly, instant love.
Lauren Marie
10-04-03
born at 6:02am
7.3 lbs
20 inches long

[Kanga]

I just wanted to stop in here to say that I love hearing these stories. It's still so surreal to me that I'll have my own birth story in October! :D

[Kanga]

*bump

[tgray99]

I had mine all typed up nicely in my journal at the other site and now I can't get to it. Grr! :mad:

Oh well, here we go again...I hope I remember all of the details!

The Friday before Mother's Day, May 8, I went to the OB for my weekly appointment. I was due May 3 so I was getting really anxious to have my baby. I was originally due May 8th but it was adjusted after a few ultrasounds where the baby was measuring large. Anyway, the OB appointment was disappointing, only 1 cm dilated, where I had been for 3 weeks. We scheduled an appointment to begin inducing me. I was supposed to come back to the OB on Monday, May 9, for a cervical exam and then check into the hospital that night for Cervidil and then begin induction Tuesday morning.

Sunday, May 8th, Mother's Day rolled around. I was awakened to a call from my grandmother telling me that my cousin had her baby that morning. I was seriously jealous. DH and I went to his grandmother's church that morning. The pastor had all of the greatgrandmothers, grandmothers, grandmothers to be, mothers and mothers to be stand up to be honored. So, the whole church got to see me in all of my 9 months pregnant hugeness. ;) After church we went to my mom's house for dinner. When we got over there she was preparing a Mexican dinner to "smoke that baby out" as she put it. She made chipotle pepper queso, poblano pepper chicken and ceviche. I was seriously doubtful that the hot food would work to make me go into labor. I'd been eating tobasco and 3-Mile Island hot wings and jalapenos my whole pregnancy!

On our way home, DH commented that he was sort of sad that we never got to experience the whole "it's time!" moment since we were being induced. I agreed that it would've been nice but it was time to get that baby out so I didn't really care how we did it. We got home, did a few things around the house and then climbed into bed around 10:30. We laid in bed talking and at 11:36pm (weird how I remember that time so clearly) I had a really strong cramping sensation. I was holding DH's hand at the time and I told him, "I don't know what this is but it does not feel good." I told him to look at the clock and start timing just in case it was contractions. About 8 minutes later I had another and they just kept on coming. They were never more than 10 minutes apart. My lamaze class sucked so I had no idea how to breathe through the contractions. I made up a chant to help myself relax starting at my feet and going up to my face. It worked, somewhat. After about an hour and a half, DH called my mom and told her, "I don't know what you put in that food but it worked, we think we've started labor." I got into a hot bath to try to relax while he called my OBs office. When the OB on call called me back I described what I was feeling and she told me to get out of the tub and get to the hospital. We were so excited! We got the "it's time moment" we were both hoping for!

We got all of our stuff together (we forgot the babybook which I hate because I didn't get DD's footprints in the book) and headed over the the hospital. It was only 5 minutes away but oy vey it felt like the longest trip ever. Ryan rolled me up to the labor and delivery floor and the nurses were expecting me since the OB called ahead. They got me checked into a room and started an IV. They were trying to ask me questions while I was having some pretty strong contractions. The nurse was sweet though and would wait until the worst part was over. At one point I threw up which apparently was a good thing because it signaled that I was really in labor. Occasionally she would ask if I wanted something for the pain. I knew I wanted an epidural but I wanted to try to hold out (who the heck knows why?!?). Finally I had them give me something to take the edge off. By this time my mom was there. Now, my mom is a hoss. She had 2 babies and several fillings done, all with no pain meds at all. I am, on the other hand, a big wuss. I can't stand pain. I want drugs for an eyebrow wax! She kept telling me things like "don't close your eyes." I love my mother but I told her that if she said that one more time I was going to go over there and punch her out. Yeah, like I could've or would've done that!

Anyway, I got a shot of phenegrin and stadol in my IV. It didn't do much for my contractions, just made me loopy. At one point I had a really bad contraction and crawled down to the end of my bed and asked for a birthing ball. I was convinced at that moment that a birthing ball would help relieve some of my pain. Who the heck knows why!?!? It was then that I asked for "the man with the drugs."

The anesthesiologist on call came in and was fan-freaking-tastic. He was so talented that I didn't even feel the local anesthetic that he used to numb me up for the big needle. It was really hard to stay still during my contractions but man was it worth it!! When he finished I told him that I was in love with him. I bet he hears that a lot. Hospital policy was to kick my mom and DH out of the room during the administration of the epidural so I was hanging out with my nurse for about an hour. It was so cool to know that I was having a contraction but not feel it.

After I got my epidural I was able to get a few hours of sleep. I'm a very hard sleeper so I slept through a few cervical exams and many, many blood pressure checks. I awoke around 5 or 6am to my OB coming in to talk with me. She decided to up my pit drip and break my water to speed things along. I'm not really sure of dilation measurements, it's been too long, they're all in my old journal. I do know that I was at 10 by 7am because my nurse said I might have my baby before 8am. That got me really excited!

Apparently, a lot of women went into labor at the same time as me because my OB came in and said that she had 3 other moms in labor. I told her I'd volunteer to go last since I was feeling no pain.

Finally it was my turn to start pushing. My mom was holding a foot, DH was up by my head to help me curl into a c and my nurse was holding my other foot. They put me on supplemental oxygen just to help me push but I didn't like it because I didn't feel like I could get enough air with it on (ironic, huh?) so they let me wear it between pushes and not during. My epi was perfect, I could feel when to push but none of the pain of the pushing. I was carrying on a conversation between pushes with everyone in the room.

[tgray99]

So, after 11 hours of labor, I pushed for 2 hours. I bled a lot and everything down there was really swollen and angry looking (based on what my mom and DH said). After 2 hours of pushing and the baby's head never fully engaging under my pelvic bone we started talking C-section. My OB was afraid that her head was too big to fit and even if it did fit, they'd probably have to break her shoulder to get her out. At that point I demanded a c-section. I'd rather be cut up than my beautiful daughter be born with a broken bone. My OB wanted me to push one more time to make sure and on that push, DD's heartrate skyrocketted which clinched it. I was having an emergency C-section.

Let me interject here for a moment. My whole pregnancy I was never afraid of the idea of a section. For some reason (we now know the reason), I was calm and fine with the idea. I wrote in my journal long before I went into labor that I "knew" that I was going to have to get a section after pushing. Call it mother's intuition, call it divine intervention, call it whatever you want. All I know is, I was fine with it and it made the process a lot easier and smoother since I didn't have to be calmed down or reasoned with or convinced of it's need.

Back to the story. Another anesthesiologist came into put the surgery drugs into my epidural catheter. He was such a cool and funny guy (and good looking if I remember correctly). I asked him if it was the good stuff and he said it was about 5 times stronger than what I was getting. Wow, hook me up!! They topped off my epi, shaved me, put DH into his "doctor gear" and then we took off to the OR. I was nearly completely numb so it took a few people to get me onto the operating room table. After they strapped me in (yes they strap you to the table!), I fell asleep. They added a few more drugs to my epi so I was REALLY relaxed! I slept through the whole experience until I heard DH say, "Did you hear that?" My eyes snapped open and I heard my beautiful baby girl crying. I can't remember if I cried or not, I think I did but I'm not sure. I do remember telling DH to take pictures. He's a stickler for following rules so he wasn't sure where he could and couldn't go so he was hesitant to get up and start taking pictures. My fabulous anesthesiologist jumped in and said "Is that a digital? I know how to work those, lemme have it." So, he took our camera and took lots of pictures for us.

Our beautiful daughter, Aidan Christine, was born Monday, May 9, 2005, at 12:34pm. She weighed 8 lbs, 3 ozs and was 20 inches long.

As it turned out, DD's head was cocked to one side and she was trying to come out side-of-the-head first. We think it's because of my curved cervix but who knows?

[albuquerque]

I hope nobody minds, I asked a moderator to move this thread to the Parenting section. I did this with selfish motives, I'm hoping that in Parenting there will be more stories--I love reading them! But also, I do think that for anyone having a rough time TTC, this thread might be a bit tormenting to read.

[MrsTazlvr]

Moved. :)

[mel7dog]

bump!

[daisysue62]

Friday morning July 29th I woke up to find bloody show when I went to the bathroom, and it continued all day (and night!). I had started losing my mucous plulg the afternoon before so I figured I'd probably go into labor sometime that weekend even though I wasn't feeling any contractions yet other then the occasional braxton hicks. I got some errands done that day and even drove 30 minutes south to Albany to meet and pick out our pediatrician, nothing like leaving something like that to the last minute! Dh and I were planning on seeing a movie that evening and wound up making plans with some friends to go to dinner and then see The Wedding Crashers. Right before we went to dinner with Matt, Lauren, and Lauren's mom I started feeling "real" contractions so I brought Dh's pocket watch and some scratch paper to try to time them. They were 20 minutes or so apart at the beginning of dinner and 10 minutes apart after. I only ate a small salad so I wouldn't have a lot in my belly in case it turned out to be the real thing. At that point I still wasn't sure how long the beginning stage of labor would last...it could be days for all we knew! During the movie the contractions quickly got closer together and were about 5 minutes apart when it was over around 9:30pm. They still weren't very paintful but I had a pretty good idea that we'd be going to the hospital sometime that night.

We got home and I thought I'd try to rest in bed and possibly nap some since I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me. The nap idea didn't pan out since contractions woke me up every 5 minutes so I gave up the idea around 10:30 and just tried to rest. I took a bath at 11:30 and stayed in there until around midnight. After my bath I came out and sat with David on the living room couch and told him to start timing the contractions again because they were starting to hurt more. They were around 3 minutes apart but only lasted 30 seconds so we decided to wait to go to the hospital until the contractions lasted closer to a minute long. By 1am they were every 2 minutes and 45 seconds apart and I wasn't able to talk through them anymore. So at 1:30am we decided it was time to leave for the hospital. David got our things together and loaded the car while I looked around the apartment wondering what kind of mess we'd be coming home to with a new baby a few days later. I grabbed a few last things and had one contraction at the bottom of the stairs before I got in the car. David RACED to the hospital even though I was no where near pushing the baby out and at 1:30am the streets were deserted. We live 5 minutes from the hospital so the speed racing wasn't exactly neccessary! We got great front row parking at the hospital at that time of night so I only had one contraction in the parking lot. Thank goodness for lamp posts! We got to the admissions desk and had to wait a while since an emergency patient was brought in and they were trying to get her admitted while she was in the operating room already. They eventually got to us by 2am and we were taken to the triage room to be assessed. I was 3cm dilated and 90% effaced when she checked me. They had me on the fetal monitor for 30 minutes and checked me again, and I was 3+ cm and was having regular contractions every 2 minutes still so I was admitted at 2:45am. At this point David called my parents to have them drive down from Portland and his Mom to let her know we were having the baby.

They brought me to a labor/delivering room and had me on the fetal monitor again for another 45 minutes and it was excrutiating. I just couldn't deal with the pain very well laying in the bed. I started shaking and could NOT relax for the life of me. At 3:30am they let me off the monitor and I got in the jacuzzi tub. Talk about relief! The contractions were much more managable and I felt able to relax through them in the warm water and the jets. I wound up turning the jets on during contractions and off in between. My parents arrived around 4am and I stayed in the tub until close to 5am when they had me get out and get back on the fetal monitor. They checked me and I was 5cm dilated and the baby was at -1 station. I was having some rough contractions and had a hard time relaxing through them and David did a GREAT job reminding me to relax. I tensed my shoulders a lot which I was trying not to do. Being back on the bed wasn't helping any and I felt worse. It was around this point I was asking for an epidural and David and my nurse talked me out of it. She told me to put it out of my mind and I could do it without. I was exhausted so I insisted on some kind of pain medication and got some drug like Stadol but it started with a P. Can't remember the name of it. Phentenol? It did the trick, I was able to relax and even slept through a couple of contractions. At 5:45am they checked me again and I was 7.5 cm dilated and the baby was at +1 station. At that point I knew I could finish labor without the epidural, especially when my midwife told me I would be pushing soon!

I went back in the tub after they checked me and I stayed in there another hour until 6:45am when I started pushing. My midwife had me switch to my hands and knees and lean over the shower seat while she put the shower head right on my lower back where it hurt the most. That got me through the last hard contractions and I have no idea how else I would have done it! She checked me at 6:45 and I was 9.5 cm dilated and she had me get ready to push. I never really got the urge to push so I pushed until I ran out of energy, rested, and pushed again when I could. I was just really ready to be done with laboring and I knew I was close to the end! David surprised me by getting really excited about watching the baby's head coming out. He originally siad he didn't want to be anywhere near that end but he was holding one of my legs and talked me into getting the mirror so I could see her head too! Once the midwife had the bed set up for birth and had the baby nurses called in I knew I was close. Plus I could see in the mirror that her head wasn't going anywhere inbetw