Linzee636
LIF Toddler
Member since 2/11 454 total posts
Name:
L
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My Team Green Birth Story - Successful induction at 38 weeks!
My birth story starts on Thursday November 14th, when DH and I went to my 37+ week appointment - my final sono and first internal exam. At my 30 week appt, my baby was measuring LFD ("large for dates"), so we expected to hear that the baby was still on the bigger side this time around. And sure enough, he was. 8lbs 7oz was the estimate that the doctors gave us on his weight. Eek!
I've heard many, many times that these weight estimates can be drastically off and not to be scared off by what the doctor was telling us. But the fact of the matter is, the doctor expressed that we should consider intervening based on the size of the baby if we wanted any chance at a vaginal birth. We definitely did want to try to go that route, but the only caveat was that because it was before 39 weeks, they would not do an induction without an amniocentesis to ensure the lungs were fully developed. My doctor said she could have us in as early as the next morning for the procedure but we decided to take the weekend to think it through.
I posted my concerns here on LIF to an overwhelming number of comments saying that they would NOT go the amnio/induction route. I felt truly torn. While I did not prefer to go that way, I would've felt equally disappointed if I waited to go into labor naturally only for my dr. to tell us that she wouldn't let me labor (because of the size) and go straight to c-section.
We decided to believe in our doctors and go ahead with the intervention. I was terrified of the amnio, but ultimately, the anxiety leading up to it was far worse than the actual procedure, which was done on Monday November 18th at 11am. And then it was time to wait. I went home and packed my hospital bag and then went for one last mani/pedi to relax and keep my mind calm. On the drive home from getting my nails done, the doctor called: "your results are in! the lungs are mature, so we are all set for you to come in tonight for induction!"
Oh. My. God. This was really happening.
DH and I drove to the hospital, excited about meeting out little one, yet so in the dark about the course our night was about to take. The strategy was to have cervadil inserted and allow it to soften my cervix over the course of the night (12 hours max). After the cervadil, we would start pitocin to induce contractions and then baby time.
We arrived at around 5:45pm and by 6:15pm I was hooked up to the IV and the cervadil was inserted. I couldn't eat or stand up for two hours, so DH and I just hung out and watched TV for a bit, passing the time and keeping casual conversation. We started watching Monday night football around 8:30pm. Since I was GBS positive, I needed to be on an antibiotic, which they started around that time as well. I have some antibiotic allergies, so the dr's chose an alternate to the standard penicillin. Except after an hour on the antibiotic, I started furiously scratching my head. At first it didn't occur to me that I was having a reaction to the antibiotic, but DH was quick to recognize what was going on. My back and chest were beat red, so the nurses pulled the medicine and started me on some Benadryl to soothe the itching.
By this time, things start to get a little blurry, mostly because the Benadryl made me so sleepy. But I never really fell asleep. Based on what the doctors told us, I thought we would be able to sleep through the night and save up my energy for the next morning. Instead, around 10pm-ish, through my sleepy daze, I started feeling a lot of discomfort in my lower abdomen. I moved onto my left side, where I would stay essentially until I gave birth. The only semi-comfortable place I could lay. I was hooked up to a blood pressure monitor on my right arm, which was going off every 15 minutes, since I had elevated blood pressure after the allergic reaction. I had the fetal monitor and heart rate monitor strapped around my belly and then my IV in the left arm. Going to the bathroom was a 15 minute process just to pee, and due to my discomfort, I was getting up often.
I felt so bad for my poor DH. My complaints just kept coming, keeping him from sleeping. And whenever the nurses would come to check on me, they would comment about how early it was for me to be experiencing the pain I was feeling. (After all, this was just the cervadil - we hadn't even gotten to the piton part of the program!) I apologized up and down for "being such a wimp and a wuss." I didn't want to be one of those women moaning and groaning in pain, and yet I was only 2cm dilated when they checked me. At one point, I even threw up after an intense contraction kicked in. They reiterated that I wouldn't be able to get an epidural until I was at least 4cm, but they were kind enough to give me an IV pain killer in the meantime. Except now I was so loopy and out of it, yet I could still feel my contractions. I could hardly follow directions, I was nauseous, moaning in pain and scaring the crap out of my husband.
One of the nurses decided to check me again to see if I was progressing and the next thing you know, she's telling us, "you're 5cm! we can get the anesthesiologist here and start your epidural!" I couldn't believe I was already 5cm dilated but I was so relieved that I could finally get the epidural and get some relief from the pain.
Let me say now… I never got the epidural.
This is when things really amped up. I have no idea what time it was throughout this whole process because time felt so slow with the pain but it was really flying by so quickly when I look at everything. The anesthesiologist was no where in sight and when they checked me mere minutes later, I was up to 7cm! I knew it. It was just progressing way too quickly. I wouldn't be able to get the epidural. I was delirious with pain but at this point, I just hoped that it would all be over soon and that our baby would be here. From what DH tells me, the nurses called the doctor to let them know that we had a "semi-imminent birth" situation on hand. I didn't read up too much on labor and delivery prior to giving birth simply because I didn't want to scare myself about the experience. But when the nurses were telling me, "do not bear down!" I knew exactly what they meant. I truly thought the dr might not make the birth at the rate things were going.
The next thing I knew, my doctor was in the room and it was time to push. Like a well oiled machine, the nurses and doctor took their positions, and DH was right by my side helping encourage me and getting in on the action. It took three contractions to get him out; I really thought I wouldn't be able to do it. The told me to look, but I was too scared and losing energy. I didn't know it until afterwards, but poor baby love's shoulder got a little bit stuck on the way out, so it was just as traumatic for him as it was for me. Yet all of the sudden I remember the doctor saying, "Dad, do you want to tell her the gender??" And all of the sudden DH said, "oh my god, it's a boy, it's a boy!" It was the most amazing, overwhelming feeling ever. He was here. Our beautiful miracle Christian Matthew arrived at 3:49am on November 19th (just under 10 hours from the time the cervadil was inserted.)
After he was delivered, it took a minute for our little love to give that telltale cry that every new parent begs to hear, but sure enough, he cried out and we were elated. I was relieved that he was here, but the doctor still had to work on stitching me back up and sadly, I was still in pain. Finally the anesthesiologist arrived (ummm hello what took you so long?) and he administered something through my IV to knock me out again. At this point, DH had the pleasure of going out to the waiting area, where he had told my parents the great news of our bundle of joy! He texted them about 40 minutes before the baby arrived, so they were there by the time I was being sutured back together.
I am still in awe at how fast and furious our delivery experience was. I went from being the wimpy girl on cervadil to being the heroic woman giving a fully natural delivery. Nurses stopped into my room over the next day, checking my vitals and going over routine postpartum care, but many times I was complimented on what I great job I did. I don't know if nurses are trained to tell all new moms how brave they were, but it certainly did make me feel like a hero and infinitely proud for bringing our beautiful son into the world.
Now we can't wait to cherish every precious moment with the new love of our lives!
Christian Matthew
8lbs 1oz ~ 20"
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