Celt
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Member since 4/08 7758 total posts
Name:
colette
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Baby Shane's birth story - 9/10/08
OK I promised my birth story and here it is! My whole labor and delivery was pretty ‘textbook’ … This story is long, but I tried to make it entertaining, so if you have the time to read the whole bloody thing, maybe you’ll have a laugh or two, or learn something that helps you!
A few weeks prior to delivery a BPP (BioPhysical Profile) showed that my amnio fluid was borderline high. So I had weekly sonos to keep an eye on it. On Sep 4 (Thurs) I lost my mucus plug and figured, great(!) baby boy is making his way out to us the old fashioned way… But at my OB appt that day, I was still only 1 cm dilated and OB stated that if nothing happened by Tuesday Sep. 9 they’ll induce me. Sure enough, nothing happened by Tuesday so off we went to Mt. Sinai (NYC) for my induction.
*Induction and dilation
Arrived 9:30pm, they got me suited up and settled in the labor and delivery room on what may be the most uncomfortable bed in the world. I brought my NYT crossword puzzle to stave off the boredom, but after about 1am it was thrown to the side along with my novel and ipod!!
They stuck the monitors on my belly, one for monitoring contractions and another for baby’s heartbeat. These were a pain, as everytime baby kicked or moved, the nurse would have to come in and reposition them, they kept “losing the munchkin” as my nurse, Chetra, said.
11:30pm, first internal exam – still 1 cm dilated and cervix soft, and now they need 20 straight minutes of baby’s HB so I had to lie as still as possible which was harder than it sounds!
1:00AM Wed (Sept 10) – So it took 1.5 hours to get 20 mins of baby HBs, he’s having a party in his womb. I have now had 4 contractions, 5 minutes apart. Not ‘painful’ just kind of lower back ach-y… Eventually they gave up on the external monitor and went with an internal one, but having seen the “Laugh and Learn about Childbirth” dvd I knew all about this and it didn’t freak me out.
1:30am, They hook up my IV to a Pitocin drip on the lowest dosage possible.
3am – They insert a “foley balloon” to encourage dilation, this should get me to 3-4 cms. The balloon is inserted and I had to lie as still as possible again flat on my back, until it falls out on its own in about 2 hours.
6am – Balloon is out and I’m definitely having stronger contractions now, 3cm dilated but that’s about it. By 9:30am, they decide to break my water. They use a long stick thing to do the job, and it was followed by the biggest GUSH of fluid! Doc leaves and nurse 2 is still there -- at this point my entire lower half is SOAKING, sheets, mattress pad, even my cute fuzzy socks. This nurse was TOTALLY unhelpful, I mentioned it was so cold sitting in this fluid, and she literally said, “Yeah, you’re basically going to be wet from this point forward” as she waltzes out the door. I say out loud: “the HELL I will” and point DH to the supply cabinet to get new chuck pads, sheets, etc, as well as another pair of socks from my bag. He was a good nurse, and I was better once I was dry.. Fluid still leaked but much less than the initial waterfall.
11am, and contractions are intense, but dilation is still only 3/3.5cm. I’m crying as contractions start now, and decided to go for the epidural. As much as I didn’t want to get one, I knew this was going to get much worse if I did indeed deliver vaginally so that thought spurred me to get the epi. Embarassingly, I’ll admit I thought an epi was just a shot (ok, a BIG shot) to the back – turns out its more like a full on spinal tap, so the procedure takes about 20 minutes! The anesthesiologist was a dreamboat, very calming and very funny--as they got the medication in, he told DH to start timing this “because in 7 minutes your whole life is gonna change”! Wow he was right, I never expected it to work so well and so fast. I told DH I wanted to marry the anesthesiologist. The rest of the afternoon is kind of a blur of boredom and internals, dilation didn’t progress much beyond 4cm, I was comfortable but just irritable from lying on that dam bed.
3pm Wednesday Sep 9: THE FIRST OF 2 MOMENTS WHEN I ALMOST CALLED A DIVORCE LAWYER: Once you get to the hospital for an induction, you’re fasting, as some people have bad reactions to anesthesia & meds so you have to have an empty stomach. (So I’ve now been fasting 22 hours, since my last meal was at 5pm on Tuesday evening). DH leaves the room to take a walk and make some phone calls, since nothing is happening with my cervix… Well lo and behold, he comes back in plops down in his chair and opens up a SNICKERS BAR right in front of me and starts eating it. I tossed a few colorful epithets in his direction, he left the room to finish his Snickers, but by that point the whole room smelled of peanuts and I made a mental note to start divorce proceedings as soon as I got home.
4:30pm, decision time. With no further dilation, doc calls for a c-section. I had a feeling it would go this way, only because it seemed like in my research a high # of inductions end up turning into C’s so this wasn’t a huge shock. They wheeled me into the OR, prepped me and started anesthesia (which took a while because I could still feel pinpricks on my belly even after a large dose). DH came into the OR and it was GO TIME- Shane arrived at 5:37pm, weighing in at 7lbs 8ozs and GORGEOUS. All I really remember during the C Section is toward the end, when they were ready to get the baby out, 2 or maybe 3 people were pushing just under my ribcage, tremendous pressure (not pain) but it literally took my breath away while they did that!! I felt the baby coming out, they got off my midsection, and I waited those eternal few seconds for his first cry – and once he cried so did I, just from the relief of knowing he was here and breathing!!! They did their bit cleaning weighing and swaddling him, then hand him to DH who was so choked up and overwhelmed I cried just watching him. They sewed me up in about 40 minutes and then it was on to recovery room for 2 hours.
*The best "PUSH PRESENT". Ever.
While in recovery we were told only semi private rooms were available. At this point I felt like id been hit by a mac truck, and the thought of spending 4 nights in a shared room was not very appealing. So DH went and got us a private room. It was a whopping $700 per night, but I am SO GLAD we went for it, I could eat/sleep/rest/have visitors whenever I wanted and with 4 days and nights ahead of us, it was the best decision we made!! So ladies, I heartily recommend skipping the jewels and baubles and just put the money toward a private room, if your insurance doesn’t cover it. You will not be sorry!!!
C-SECTION RECOVERY
Once in our room, I felt much better, the baby was with us, and I could rest comfortably. Granted I was tired, achy, and starving, but the bed was nice and cushy so overall it was good to be there. Around 8pm DH leaves us briefly to make phone calls etc. I had been drinking water and tolerating it well, so I asked him to bring some chicken broth back, no noodles or chicken, just the broth. And herewith is the
2nd MOMENT WHEN I ALMOST CALLED A DIVORCE LAWYER:
DH returns with my broth, then sits down and tucks into a huge, beautiful, and cheesy Chicken Parm hero. I literally scraped my chin off the floor and said W*T*F, YOU ARE NOT EATING THAT HERE IN FRONT OF ME, RIGHT???? DIDN’T WE COVER THIS WITH THE ‘SNICKERS INCIDENT’???? I recall giving him a few choice words again, pointing out that he’s the ONLY MAN in the world who would do that in front of his starving wife, blahblahblah. I could barely control my rage at this point, and DH is irritable now, and tries to go eat in the bathroom, my voice is quaking with anger and tears, and a nurse walks in on this lovely scene. I can barely get the words out through tears but I ask her… “Is… there… a lounge… or somewhere… that HE…. Can eat THAT??” She says “Sure right down the hall blahblahblah”… DH scoots out with his hero, I literally look at the nurse and cry, shaking my head, and ask: “Who DOES THAT????” She smiled, chuckled, and rolled her eyes and said “Sweetie, they ALLL do that.”. Oy vey. Turns out DH thought it was critically important that he be WITH us, so he deliberately brought the food back versus eating in a remote location. Men! If your hubby is like mine, you may want to have this chat BEFORE delivery, trust me on that!!
Here are just a few things that may help if you have a C, both in the hospital and at home:
* Walking REALLY helps get things moving, and you just feel so much better to be able to go to the bathroom, wear your own clothes, etc, so definitely get up and about as soon as possible.
* One thing I didn’t expect -- the SWELLING on Day 2 was incredible! Check out my hobbit feet, and I had no swelling at all during my pregnancy so this was pretty interesting. It actually took about a week for that to settle down, so I’m enjoying my ankles again now.
*Painkillers are a godsend, but take them BEFORE your pain climaxes, don’t try to tough it out; you want the medication to “peak” as your pain does, so taking them earlier rather than later was very helpful.
We were discharged on Sunday 9/14 and were so happy to get home to our comfy bed!!!
Then, on Monday 9/15, I got hit with a HEADACHE OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS. Now this was a concern to me, as the same thing happened to a cousin of mine a few years back, she actually had toxemia after delivering her baby and could have DIED if she hadn’t gotten to the hospital in time. So…. After Tylenol and resting didn’t help one bit, I got a nurse buddy to visit me and take my BP, which was elevated but still in a normal range (140/80 or thereabouts). The headache stayed with me all day and night; I finally called my OB that evening, and he wasn’t terribly helpful, but suggested I go to the ER to get my BP checked (after I’d given him my friend’s measurement of my BP).
*Epidurals - AND WHAT TO DO AFTER DELIVERY IF YOU HAVE ONE(!) -- a/k/a why I'm firing my OB
Well at this point I was desperate to avoid an ER visit (with a 4 day old baby who I am breastfeeding in tow, thanks very much), so I ignored my doc (as my BP had been in the normal range) and called my nurse friend again. She came back and did my BP again, it was the same, but she called a doctor relative of hers who asked “Did she have an epidural?” – upon hearing that I did she pinpointed that as the cause of the headache. She told me to drink some Gatorade, which I did and a couple of hours later, I was a NEW WOMAN, it completely cured me. Turns out the epidurals mess with your electrolytes, and often the headache doesn’t start until a few days after delivery once you’re moving around more. Do you think my OB could have suggested this?
It makes me so mad that he’d urge me to go to the ER without even mentioning this, that I will NOT be going back to this guy. Sooooo if you have an epidural and/or spinal block, PLEASE have Dh bring you some Gatorade even before you leave the hospital, it just might help ward off the headache, and an unnecessary ER visit for you!!
OK we’re in the home stretch now…
Being home with Shane has been amaaaaaazing, he’s 2 weeks now and we’re really starting to “get” each other. My only real complaint has been the BF’ing, boy o boy I knew it would be challenging but SERIOUSLY I had a few days there where I was brought to tears with the pain and frustration of trying to do this. I’ve had to supplement with a small bottle of formula each day, usually late at night when I’m just roughed up from 10-12 feedings per day. It DEFINITELY takes some getting used to, but I’m hanging in there, determined to give BFing my best shot! Hopefully we’ve got our technique down now, but I’m not sure baby is getting enough milk this way so I’m open minded about switching to formula if the pediatrician recommends it…
* “There Will Be Hormones"
Congrats if you’ve read this far!
So its all true what they say, once that baby is in your arms, and once you’re home together, your whole LIFE is just different!! Its amazing, scary, joyous, painful, and awesome all at the same time. I’m not really a ‘crier’ by nature but my 1st week was really just a crying festival, sometimes I’d have to leave DH with the baby and step outside just to have a good cry. I attribute it to a combination of hormones, sleep deprivation, and sore boobs. The “overwhelmed” feeling was pretty wild that first week, so just know you’re normal if you get the weepies on a daily basis! Just reach out to DH and especially to all the mommies you know, they were my BEST support during that first week and I seriously don’t know what I would’ve done without them!
OK I’ll end it here, as I’m now typing with one hand while Shane nurses, and its not easy to do this!!!
Best of luck to all of the future mommies to be, I hope your deliveries are as smooth as mine, and that your little bundles of joy make you as happy as ours has!!!
MUAH!!!! 
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and shane is the cutest lil boy ever.
