Birth Story

May 1st

1:30 am - Woke to a puking Madison. Had to clean her up in a tub & get her back to bed.
After she was back asleep I couldn't fall asleep for the life of me. I knew something was up, but didn't know what.
4:30 am went potty & found blood in toilet. Called L&D as I had not experienced that before. Nurse informed me it was bloody show & that they would probably see me later.Talked to Dan & he decided not to go to work just in case.
5:30 called my mom to let her know what was going on.
9:15 am Went into Dr appt & explained what I was feeling & what happened. I was check & was still 2 cm, but contracting every 30 mins. She told me she thought I would be in later in the day to have baby, but set up an NST for Friday & induction for May 8.
Called my mom & told her what the Dr said. Mom decided to drive out (4 hour drive).
4:00 pm We went for a long walk after Mom got to me. (1.6 miles) I started contracting pretty good, but they died. I started to feel that it just wasn't meant to be.
8:00 pm. We put Madison to bed
9:08 pm I started contracting & timing them.
9:45 pm Dan tells me he is going to bed. I told him what was happening & that I'd be talking to him in about 20 mins as so far my contractions were 5 mins apart for a minute or more in length (needed an hour before going in)
10:30 pm I was still contracting 5 mins apart, so I went to the bedroom to talk to Dan. We decided to have my mom take me in & he would stay with Madison until I was admitted so we didn't wake Madison for nothing.
11 pm I got to the hospital & hooked up. We had issues getting the contractions to show up on screen so the nurse was palpitating for contractions. I was 3 cm at that point & contracting every 3-5 mins.
Midnight the On-call Dr decided to admit me, so we were taken to a room to get gowned & put back on the monitors. I called Dan to tell him to wake up & get moving.
12:15 am Dr comes in to talk to me about Paityn. It turns out the monitors were showing her heart rate was decelerating with my contractions, so she wanted to break my water & put the internal monitors on as they are a little more reliable. She also mentioned that if this kept up we were looking at an emergency c-section.
I called Dan & asked how long he was going to be & he told me 1 hour, so I consented to the water break right away.
12:30 am they broke my water & found that we had a little meconium in it. So they tried to prepare me for what may happen after delivery. From suctioning & her crying - therefore being fine to the worst possible. So freak out!
1:30 am Contractions were getting to be about 2-3 mins apart so I jumped on a birthing ball because laying in bed was hurting in my hips. Birthing ball was heaven. It made them feel like they were nothing. However, it only lasted 15 mins as her heart rate started to decelerate again with contractions. So back to bed & on my side I had to go.
1:45 am I got the news that I need to be put on pitocin as apparently I rocked my contractions to sleep on the ball & they were back to 5-7 mins apart. I about cried. I begged & pleaded to let it be for a while, but the Dr insisted on it because of the meconium & the heart rate decelerations. So IV was given & pitocin administered.
3 am It was time for an epidural. I couldn't take it anymore. Dan had been trying to soothe me through contractions. The nurse coached me through breathing & my mom rubbed my lower back/hips during them & it was still just too much. Almost immediately after the Epidural was put in my blood pressure dropped! It was scary for me laying there shaking & being nauseous to see the anesthesiology jump up & administer a medicine into my IV without out even talking to me. My nurse had to fill me in as he was trying to avoid issues. Which is fine at least someone was telling us what was going on. They had to work for about 30 mins to get my blood pressure back up & they gave me a dose of Zofran to help with the nausea.
4 am I got checked & was at 5 cm! Pitocin was still only at 3! I was estatic to find my body was actually doing the work!
6 am I started to feel pressure in my butt with every contraction. She was moving down!
6:30 am They checked me & was 8 cm
 7 am I decided it was time to call my Grandma to let her know since I knew she would be awake at that point.
7:15 am I hung up with my Grandma & the Dr walked into the room to check me. She didn't have to look hard. She said "Oh yeah, the head is right there! You can see her hair!" The room became a flury of activity - breaking down the bed, turning the warmer on - gowning up. There were extra nurses for baby just in case, extra for me too! Dan grabbed one leg & my mom the other. I started to push. We got in 1 push & then had to wait about a minute for another contraction to push again. Her head was out & they suctioned & suctioned her. I waited & waited anxiously & straining to hear her cry. She cried! I cried! 1 more push & she was out & on me. Dan cut her cord. She scored 9 on her apgars. When pushing I could feel the contractions & her crowning & all, but it was a dulled version. I felt when the stitched my tear up. I was still numb just not a lot.

She was born at 7:22 am weighing 8 lbs 11 oz & 20 inches long.

Despite having the pitocin & all the scares we had though common they were still scary when it happens, this labor is one that I have no regrets over. Nothing to say I wish I didn't have x,y or z. I'm pretty proud of myself for holding off & letting my body do the work that I know it was capable of & for making sure I knew what was going &  the reasons for things.