Ok, I've totally been slacking on this... it's hard to find time, but I really want to at least type up my labor and birth story. I can't believe our beautiful girl is already almost 3 months old! The time just flies right by and she is growing and learning and changing so fast! I'm amazed by her every day and feel so lucky. :) Pretty much at least once every day I get all misty eyed when I'm looking at her.
Here is what I wrote in my journal about my labor and birth. It's pretty long so be prepared! :) **Stuff in parentheses is added by me now, after the fact)
Saturday, 7/9/11 - Our Birth Story
I'm going to write everything I can remember - details like exact times, etc. may be hazy but hopefully we'll get a copy of the nurses notes or something which would have that. (that didn't happen... but I never asked). Tuesday 7/5 I had my 41 week appointment at 1:30pm. They did an ultrasound and found that I had no fluid left. This made everyone nervous. They said we should head to the hospital for induction. A quick monitor at the doc's office showed good heartbeat but we couldn't let Audrey stay in with no fluid for too long - risks are umbilical cord prolapse because there's no buoyancy.
We stopped home to get our bags. Called people to tell them what was going on. I was quite nervous but keeping calm pretty well. We got to the hospital around 2:30pm and got set up with the monitor on my belly. I wasn't feeling any real contractions. Heartbeat was sounding good. A little fast at times around 170. Around 4 or 4:30, Cindy, my midwife, came in to start induction. Oh, at doc's office she had checked me and I was about 1-2 cm 50% effaced, I think. We talked about induction. She suggested misoprostol - a little prostaglandin tablet inserted to ripen cervix. She also said we could break the water but the only next step from there would be pitocin and we really wanted to avoid that. The "miso" is a more slow and gentle way to get started. 1st dose was given at 4:30pm. They give it in 4 hr increments up to 6 times. They said this would most likely be a slow process - probably would take a day or two. We were prepped for the long haul. We had lots of visitors - Mary, Melissa, Kathy, Dad, Pat, Dan....
I didn't get much progression - actually nothing. Was feeling fine except for nerves and being confined to reclined position for several hours to let the pill set. After 2 or 3 hours they let me get up and walk around. They found a wireless monitor to use on my belly. I walked a bit around the halls. Had some alarms go off on the HB rate - I think it dipped low a few times. They had me lay down again with the regular monitor. We were all having a pretty good time talking and laughing - to keep me from thinking too much and getting scared. There was a joke with the nurse about tube tops because I had the monitor attached with a belly band thing instead of the velcro straps and Brian made mention of having his own tube top once, lol. The nurse thought it was funny. :)
The ward was pretty empty so they said we could move to a regular room. Rm 272. It was nice - bigger, had a couch, a mini fridge, better bed. I can't remember what time we moved there - before or after the 8:30 dose of miso... ? I think after... We got to the new room and they were encouraging me to sleep as much as possible because tomorrow would be a long day. They had said they were going to continue the miso thru the night but changed their mind so I could get some rest.
Sometime later, maybe around 1am - the baby's HB dropped very low - in the 60's. They came in to get me to change positions to see if it would help. It didn't. I ended up on all fours and they gave me oxygen. Stayed that way for a bit until HB went back to normal. (They were also pumping me full of fluids in my IV - I think I mention this later on in the journal entry...) Definitely scary. Brian was asleep until this whole ordeal. I had been trying to sleep but wasn't very successful.
7/10/11 ... continued ...
The only time I really slept had been when I was listening to my hypnobirthing cd. I woke up drooling - that's how I know I was asleep, but it was probably only for a half hour or so. I'm not sure what time, but there was a second time I needed to have oxygen because her pulse slowed. That's when they said they'd like to put in an internal monitor because it was hard to keep track of her with the external one. When they did it, they broke my membranes. I think it was around 2 or 2:30am. Then they left, telling me to get as much sleep as possible. Oh yeah, sometime around when I had oxygen, they were pumping me full of fluids in my IV. I was getting very shivery.
Ok, shortly after the water breaking, I was starting to feel more intense contractions about 2 minutes apart. I was trying to use my breathing technique and it was working pretty well. I probably had 4 or 5 (no idea how accurate that is) and they came back in to check on me I think. This gets a little fuzzy... I was shivery and feeling kinda pukey. (At the height of each contraction I would feel like I was going to vomit. I remember laying on my right side with Brian there, with an oxygen mask on my face and a puke bag in my hand, thinking, if I vomit, this could be very messy....)
I mentioned needing to go to the bathroom. They unhooked me and I got to the toilet - at this point, contractions were pretty intense. I remember thinking, "Wow, I am already considering pain meds..." and I was totally against that. But I was thinking this was early and I'd have hours to go still. (I wasn't sure I could take the intensity for too long without losing all my energy really fast.) Honestly, I think at that point I was already in transition. My uterus was involuntarily pushing with some of the contractions on the toilet. I was 2-3 cm when the internal monitor was put in. At this point it was getting harder to do the breathing techniques but I did my best. (I had my wonderful husband helping me through it and it was nice to have his reminders and reassurance.) I started using vocalization to cope. I really think it helped.
After we got off the toilet - which I didn't want to do because I was "comfortable" there, compared to laying down - they hooked me back up to the monitors. They offered the birthing ball, but with the internal monitor coming out of me, the pressure was too much when I was sitting. They offered me the birthing stool. That was much better. Once I was sitting on that, my contractions were pretty intense and the involuntary pushing was getting stronger. I mentioned to the nurse, Kara, that my mom went from 3-7cm in 30 min after her water was broken. She said, "Oh and you just tell us now??" :) I told her I wanted to push. She said, "Ok, well when that urge intensifies, you tell us." I said, "No, I am pushing already. It's just happening by itself!" She went to get help.
While she was gone, it just kept happening fast and furious. I remember telling Brian as I'm grunting through the automatic pushes that I thought it was time, I can't stop pushing! The midwife, Cindy, and others (??) rush in and get suited up. She comes over and crouches at the stool to look and says, "Yup, I think this baby is coming!" I could feel the pressure of her head coming down. I started to feel a bit of burning and stretching. Cindy told me I could bear down with the surges if I wanted, so I did. (I really don't think I needed to, it probably wasn't really necessary, my body was doing it all on it's own.) I didn't really have to do anything extra but I put a little muscle into it. Her head crowned and Cindy asked if I'd like to feel it. I reached down and remember thinking, "Wow, it's so soft! (and gooey, lol)". Then, I felt her head come out, and then (a few surges later) her shoulders and whoosh! There she was in my arms! :) Love at first sight.
The cord was kinda short so I had to hold her a little low on my belly. When I saw her face I thought of the newborn photo of me and that she looked kinda like me. She cried really well. Brian cut the cord. She was born 7/6/11 at 5:21am - only 16 minutes of stage 2 labor!
I had a 3rd, almost 4th, degree tear. They said, "Well, we have some work to do, honey. You blew out your bum." :( (sorry for the TMI!) They waited for the placenta but it didn't come out on it's own, (they manually took it out) so they asked if I'd like to be put under and go into the operating room for my repair - or I could just get numbed and have some pain meds. I opted for that. I was holding Audrey and feeling pretty good. They gave me morphine I think. I felt pretty out of it for a few minutes just after they gave it. The numbing injections were pinchy with needle pricks but wasn't bad. I had to get more fluids and antibiotics (because of the placenta needing to be manually removed, and the repair being near my bum).
Once she was sewing me up, she said my rectum was actually intact (yay!) so it wasn't quite as bad as they thought. They said they needed stitching music so we listened to MJ and they were dancing around. (Kind of like a scene out of Scrubs! lol)
The sun was just rising out the window and the sky was pink and pretty. :)
I ruined my yellow shirt and purple fuzzy socks. Oh well.
It took them a while to do the repair and I don't know how many stitches it was. I'm guessing quite a few. But it's healing great (no problems now!) and not as bad as I was afraid it would be.
She weighed 7lbs 0.6oz. She was 19". Head and chest 13". Cobalt blue eyes, light brown hair. She has Brian's chin divet. :) I think she has my nose and lips. Long toes like me and long fingers.
Breastfeeding has been a little tough. I have flat nipples (again, sorry for tmi!) so she has a hard time latching. I'm using a nipple shield now and that helps a lot, but I have to pump too - which is a bit of a pain. We are making progress though.
After the repair the nurses tried to get me up for a shower. I made it to the toilet and fainted twice. I had to stay in bed for the day unless there was a nurse to help me. My BP was low. (Didn't end up getting a shower until the next day...)
We had lots of visitors at the hospital. The second night was tough because Audrey wanted to cluster feed. I don't think I've had more than a 3hr stretch of solid sleep since she was born. But I feel fine. A little sleepy but not as bad as you would think. (The exhaustion really kicked in after a couple weeks...)
We've been home for a couple days now. Some highlights - we were doing baby situps with her and she let out a loud fart right in my face. Boy did we crack up laughing! She farts all the time!
She weighed 6lbs 10oz when we left the hospital and now is 6lbs 14oz. Good gain! I'm anemic, I guess... Stitches look great, no swelling (nurse came today) - belly is good. Very swollen feet. Milk coming in. Talk about huge boobs! lol....
Brian and I are being a really good team and splitting responsibilities. The nurses loved him and said it was great to see an involved Dad. We love our little Audgie Podge so much! She's beautiful and perfect. I get all emotional and weepy with happy tears when I think about it. When she is eating and looking up at me with those gorgeous eyes - I could just melt!
Dan (and Mary!) was able to be here and meet her. Unfortunately she had to go back home yesterday. Made me sad.
Oh I had a few crying moments where I got all choked up right after she was born. The nurse saw me and said "Happy tears?" and I nodded. My little love.
During labor and birth I let out long, low, loud moans - like a primal cave woman. I was thinking I may have scared people out in the Birth Center! lol... The nurses made a few comments about how awesome I was. :) (and that I seemed to be very in tune with my body, which may have been why it all progressed so quickly).
I am the happiest, luckiest person on the planet. I love my amazing husband and daughter so much I could burst. Sunrises will now always remind me of the birth of my Super Bean and that's pretty darn cool.
Oh - I also forgot to mention how much I was burping during labor. I kept feeling like I would vomit at the height of contractions but I never did. I just burped like crazy. The nurse thought it was funny. :)
When she was born she still had her monitor stuck to her head like an antenna, but we didn't even realize it for several minutes. :)
Phew!! There it is, finally! I have a list of lots of little milestones too and I've tracked her weight gain. She's doing great with the nursing now and we are pretty much done using the shield. Every now and then in the middle of the night or if she is really upset, we still use it, but that's all.
I have hundreds of pictures and tons of videos. I have video from the days in the hospital, but it's from our camcorder and harder to edit and upload so that isn't online yet... I really wish we had been able to record the labor and birth but everything happened so quickly, we didn't have anyone around to video because we sent them all home, thinking it wouldn't happen until the next day. *sigh* Oh well. I also had this whole plan in my head where I could use the jacuzzi during labor and have a water birth... but because of the circumstances, I needed an IV and constant monitoring so those weren't options. BUT - I still am very proud of my birth story and how it all went. I think it was perfect and amazing. Even if it wasn't what I had imagined it would be. I wouldn't want it any other way. :) It was still an unmedicated birth, as far as I'm concerned. I only had 2 doses of the miso for induction and I'm convinced that it probably wasn't even necessary. I bet all they had to do was break my water from the beginning and I wouldn't have needed anything. They told me that for baby #2, I better get to the hospital fast if I go into labor on my own!
Here is what I wrote in my journal about my labor and birth. It's pretty long so be prepared! :) **Stuff in parentheses is added by me now, after the fact)
Saturday, 7/9/11 - Our Birth Story
I'm going to write everything I can remember - details like exact times, etc. may be hazy but hopefully we'll get a copy of the nurses notes or something which would have that. (that didn't happen... but I never asked). Tuesday 7/5 I had my 41 week appointment at 1:30pm. They did an ultrasound and found that I had no fluid left. This made everyone nervous. They said we should head to the hospital for induction. A quick monitor at the doc's office showed good heartbeat but we couldn't let Audrey stay in with no fluid for too long - risks are umbilical cord prolapse because there's no buoyancy.
We stopped home to get our bags. Called people to tell them what was going on. I was quite nervous but keeping calm pretty well. We got to the hospital around 2:30pm and got set up with the monitor on my belly. I wasn't feeling any real contractions. Heartbeat was sounding good. A little fast at times around 170. Around 4 or 4:30, Cindy, my midwife, came in to start induction. Oh, at doc's office she had checked me and I was about 1-2 cm 50% effaced, I think. We talked about induction. She suggested misoprostol - a little prostaglandin tablet inserted to ripen cervix. She also said we could break the water but the only next step from there would be pitocin and we really wanted to avoid that. The "miso" is a more slow and gentle way to get started. 1st dose was given at 4:30pm. They give it in 4 hr increments up to 6 times. They said this would most likely be a slow process - probably would take a day or two. We were prepped for the long haul. We had lots of visitors - Mary, Melissa, Kathy, Dad, Pat, Dan....
I didn't get much progression - actually nothing. Was feeling fine except for nerves and being confined to reclined position for several hours to let the pill set. After 2 or 3 hours they let me get up and walk around. They found a wireless monitor to use on my belly. I walked a bit around the halls. Had some alarms go off on the HB rate - I think it dipped low a few times. They had me lay down again with the regular monitor. We were all having a pretty good time talking and laughing - to keep me from thinking too much and getting scared. There was a joke with the nurse about tube tops because I had the monitor attached with a belly band thing instead of the velcro straps and Brian made mention of having his own tube top once, lol. The nurse thought it was funny. :)
The ward was pretty empty so they said we could move to a regular room. Rm 272. It was nice - bigger, had a couch, a mini fridge, better bed. I can't remember what time we moved there - before or after the 8:30 dose of miso... ? I think after... We got to the new room and they were encouraging me to sleep as much as possible because tomorrow would be a long day. They had said they were going to continue the miso thru the night but changed their mind so I could get some rest.
Sometime later, maybe around 1am - the baby's HB dropped very low - in the 60's. They came in to get me to change positions to see if it would help. It didn't. I ended up on all fours and they gave me oxygen. Stayed that way for a bit until HB went back to normal. (They were also pumping me full of fluids in my IV - I think I mention this later on in the journal entry...) Definitely scary. Brian was asleep until this whole ordeal. I had been trying to sleep but wasn't very successful.
7/10/11 ... continued ...
The only time I really slept had been when I was listening to my hypnobirthing cd. I woke up drooling - that's how I know I was asleep, but it was probably only for a half hour or so. I'm not sure what time, but there was a second time I needed to have oxygen because her pulse slowed. That's when they said they'd like to put in an internal monitor because it was hard to keep track of her with the external one. When they did it, they broke my membranes. I think it was around 2 or 2:30am. Then they left, telling me to get as much sleep as possible. Oh yeah, sometime around when I had oxygen, they were pumping me full of fluids in my IV. I was getting very shivery.
Ok, shortly after the water breaking, I was starting to feel more intense contractions about 2 minutes apart. I was trying to use my breathing technique and it was working pretty well. I probably had 4 or 5 (no idea how accurate that is) and they came back in to check on me I think. This gets a little fuzzy... I was shivery and feeling kinda pukey. (At the height of each contraction I would feel like I was going to vomit. I remember laying on my right side with Brian there, with an oxygen mask on my face and a puke bag in my hand, thinking, if I vomit, this could be very messy....)
I mentioned needing to go to the bathroom. They unhooked me and I got to the toilet - at this point, contractions were pretty intense. I remember thinking, "Wow, I am already considering pain meds..." and I was totally against that. But I was thinking this was early and I'd have hours to go still. (I wasn't sure I could take the intensity for too long without losing all my energy really fast.) Honestly, I think at that point I was already in transition. My uterus was involuntarily pushing with some of the contractions on the toilet. I was 2-3 cm when the internal monitor was put in. At this point it was getting harder to do the breathing techniques but I did my best. (I had my wonderful husband helping me through it and it was nice to have his reminders and reassurance.) I started using vocalization to cope. I really think it helped.
After we got off the toilet - which I didn't want to do because I was "comfortable" there, compared to laying down - they hooked me back up to the monitors. They offered the birthing ball, but with the internal monitor coming out of me, the pressure was too much when I was sitting. They offered me the birthing stool. That was much better. Once I was sitting on that, my contractions were pretty intense and the involuntary pushing was getting stronger. I mentioned to the nurse, Kara, that my mom went from 3-7cm in 30 min after her water was broken. She said, "Oh and you just tell us now??" :) I told her I wanted to push. She said, "Ok, well when that urge intensifies, you tell us." I said, "No, I am pushing already. It's just happening by itself!" She went to get help.
While she was gone, it just kept happening fast and furious. I remember telling Brian as I'm grunting through the automatic pushes that I thought it was time, I can't stop pushing! The midwife, Cindy, and others (??) rush in and get suited up. She comes over and crouches at the stool to look and says, "Yup, I think this baby is coming!" I could feel the pressure of her head coming down. I started to feel a bit of burning and stretching. Cindy told me I could bear down with the surges if I wanted, so I did. (I really don't think I needed to, it probably wasn't really necessary, my body was doing it all on it's own.) I didn't really have to do anything extra but I put a little muscle into it. Her head crowned and Cindy asked if I'd like to feel it. I reached down and remember thinking, "Wow, it's so soft! (and gooey, lol)". Then, I felt her head come out, and then (a few surges later) her shoulders and whoosh! There she was in my arms! :) Love at first sight.
The cord was kinda short so I had to hold her a little low on my belly. When I saw her face I thought of the newborn photo of me and that she looked kinda like me. She cried really well. Brian cut the cord. She was born 7/6/11 at 5:21am - only 16 minutes of stage 2 labor!
I had a 3rd, almost 4th, degree tear. They said, "Well, we have some work to do, honey. You blew out your bum." :( (sorry for the TMI!) They waited for the placenta but it didn't come out on it's own, (they manually took it out) so they asked if I'd like to be put under and go into the operating room for my repair - or I could just get numbed and have some pain meds. I opted for that. I was holding Audrey and feeling pretty good. They gave me morphine I think. I felt pretty out of it for a few minutes just after they gave it. The numbing injections were pinchy with needle pricks but wasn't bad. I had to get more fluids and antibiotics (because of the placenta needing to be manually removed, and the repair being near my bum).
Once she was sewing me up, she said my rectum was actually intact (yay!) so it wasn't quite as bad as they thought. They said they needed stitching music so we listened to MJ and they were dancing around. (Kind of like a scene out of Scrubs! lol)
The sun was just rising out the window and the sky was pink and pretty. :)
I ruined my yellow shirt and purple fuzzy socks. Oh well.
It took them a while to do the repair and I don't know how many stitches it was. I'm guessing quite a few. But it's healing great (no problems now!) and not as bad as I was afraid it would be.
She weighed 7lbs 0.6oz. She was 19". Head and chest 13". Cobalt blue eyes, light brown hair. She has Brian's chin divet. :) I think she has my nose and lips. Long toes like me and long fingers.
Breastfeeding has been a little tough. I have flat nipples (again, sorry for tmi!) so she has a hard time latching. I'm using a nipple shield now and that helps a lot, but I have to pump too - which is a bit of a pain. We are making progress though.
After the repair the nurses tried to get me up for a shower. I made it to the toilet and fainted twice. I had to stay in bed for the day unless there was a nurse to help me. My BP was low. (Didn't end up getting a shower until the next day...)
We had lots of visitors at the hospital. The second night was tough because Audrey wanted to cluster feed. I don't think I've had more than a 3hr stretch of solid sleep since she was born. But I feel fine. A little sleepy but not as bad as you would think. (The exhaustion really kicked in after a couple weeks...)
We've been home for a couple days now. Some highlights - we were doing baby situps with her and she let out a loud fart right in my face. Boy did we crack up laughing! She farts all the time!
She weighed 6lbs 10oz when we left the hospital and now is 6lbs 14oz. Good gain! I'm anemic, I guess... Stitches look great, no swelling (nurse came today) - belly is good. Very swollen feet. Milk coming in. Talk about huge boobs! lol....
Brian and I are being a really good team and splitting responsibilities. The nurses loved him and said it was great to see an involved Dad. We love our little Audgie Podge so much! She's beautiful and perfect. I get all emotional and weepy with happy tears when I think about it. When she is eating and looking up at me with those gorgeous eyes - I could just melt!
Dan (and Mary!) was able to be here and meet her. Unfortunately she had to go back home yesterday. Made me sad.
Oh I had a few crying moments where I got all choked up right after she was born. The nurse saw me and said "Happy tears?" and I nodded. My little love.
During labor and birth I let out long, low, loud moans - like a primal cave woman. I was thinking I may have scared people out in the Birth Center! lol... The nurses made a few comments about how awesome I was. :) (and that I seemed to be very in tune with my body, which may have been why it all progressed so quickly).
I am the happiest, luckiest person on the planet. I love my amazing husband and daughter so much I could burst. Sunrises will now always remind me of the birth of my Super Bean and that's pretty darn cool.
Oh - I also forgot to mention how much I was burping during labor. I kept feeling like I would vomit at the height of contractions but I never did. I just burped like crazy. The nurse thought it was funny. :)
When she was born she still had her monitor stuck to her head like an antenna, but we didn't even realize it for several minutes. :)
Phew!! There it is, finally! I have a list of lots of little milestones too and I've tracked her weight gain. She's doing great with the nursing now and we are pretty much done using the shield. Every now and then in the middle of the night or if she is really upset, we still use it, but that's all.
I have hundreds of pictures and tons of videos. I have video from the days in the hospital, but it's from our camcorder and harder to edit and upload so that isn't online yet... I really wish we had been able to record the labor and birth but everything happened so quickly, we didn't have anyone around to video because we sent them all home, thinking it wouldn't happen until the next day. *sigh* Oh well. I also had this whole plan in my head where I could use the jacuzzi during labor and have a water birth... but because of the circumstances, I needed an IV and constant monitoring so those weren't options. BUT - I still am very proud of my birth story and how it all went. I think it was perfect and amazing. Even if it wasn't what I had imagined it would be. I wouldn't want it any other way. :) It was still an unmedicated birth, as far as I'm concerned. I only had 2 doses of the miso for induction and I'm convinced that it probably wasn't even necessary. I bet all they had to do was break my water from the beginning and I wouldn't have needed anything. They told me that for baby #2, I better get to the hospital fast if I go into labor on my own!
Ok, that took forever to type so I'm going to wrap it up for now. Here's a pic for fun!
What a great job you did on that Jaie! It sure brought back memories, and not all of the good, lol. You write really well, maybe??? Won't Audrey love to read this some day. With the videos and photos, it would make a fantastic continuing book for all of you. Goood Yob!
ReplyDeleteNana
Thanks, Nana! :). It could certainly be written better - it's all choppy. But it was a journal entry and I was just trying to write as many details as I could remember. Of course I keep remembering more stuff that I didn't mention, like the fact that they blew out two veins before they got the IV in sucessfully. Lol.
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