frank "the tornado" peter 9/17/10

the day before frankie was born a tornado hit queens! it ripped right through my neighborhood. of course i did not have on the news or any local station that wouldve warned me about a "tornado watch" so when i saw the sky turn black i decided to take my dog out for a walk before it rained. DUHH!!! anyway - i completely got caught in this tornado. it was probably the scariest experience of my life. i was trying to run (not very successful 9 months pregnant) but i have to say if i wasnt a giant preggo house i really think the wind would've picked me up. branches knocked into me ~ i had wet leaves sticking to my face ~ the rain was pouring ~ the sky was black. when i made it to my front door- the wind was whipping so hard i couldnt get the door open. when i finally did my dogs leash was stuck on the railing so we sat in the vestibule as i watched the trees snap off like toothpicks. i cried like a maniac for hours - i was in complete hysterics - i just couldnt calm down. my dh couldnt get home because so many trees were down. he ended up parking over a mile away and just walking home. i was lucky with my car - i was one of 2 cars on my block that didnt have a tree slam into it. my street was blocked off in both directions by fallen trees. so many of the apts here had major damage - roofs ripped off (or trees slammed through them) windows blown out, some people were trapped in their apts because trees blocked the door ways. seriously - it was like a movie set - i couldnt believe what just happened.

so friday morning (the next day) i woke multiple times during the night with pains in my stomach. @ 4 am i realized i was having cramps that felt like period cramps. i wasnt sure if i was in labor or just still hysterical over the night before but i started tracking. i got a cramp approx every 10 mins. on this particular day i was going for a sonogram anyway. the appt was 11am. i decided to wait it out and go to that appointment and let them tell me if i was in true labor or not. by the time i got to that appointment i KNEW i was in labor and they pretty much sent me right to the hospital. i wont lie - the contractions HURT but i didnt feel like the pain was unmanageable.

my doctor was on vacation so i had some random resident at the hospital check me. she said i was only 1cm dilated. i dont know if it was hormones or fear of being sent back home (the one place i didnt want to go because of the chaos) but i freaked out on her and told her she didnt know what she was doing i wanted someone else to check me. about 20 mins later another resident comes in and checks and says im about 2 cm and she would get a delivery doctor to come and check me. 20 mins after that a doc came in and said i was @ 3 cm and i could be admitted. i was happy i seemed to be progressing quickly. he wanted me to walk for 2 hrs to keep me progressing. by the time they put me in a delivery room it was too painful to walk. i ended up standing and holding on to the bed doing the hip sway motion i learned @ lamaze. 1 1/2 hrs into it i was EXHAUSTED! i climbed onto the bed on all 4's and just kept begging for a nap! i finally decided i wanted an epidural - i was just too tired to continue. i have to say - once i got that epidural - it was like the sun was shining and the birds were singing - it is a helluva drug! at this point it was about 5:30 -6pm and i was 6 cm dilated.

also - im not sure when but at some point my mom came to the hospital. around the time i was getting the epidural my dh went to make phone calls to tell everyone i was at the hospital having the baby. he asked my parents to take care of our dog while we were in the hospital but they would have to meet him at the hospital to pick up a key. they do not allow visitors in delivery but i was allowed 2 delivery coaches - so my mom came up w/ some food for dh and to give him a break so he could eat. it ended up that my mom stayed for the birth. it was pretty cool and a really unexpected surprise. i really thought i wanted it to be a personal experience w/ just me & dh but i have to say i was really happy to have her there.

everything was going great until suddenly the babys heart rate plummets. they came down on my room like a swat team complete w/ gurney to wheel me off to get an emergency c-section. as soon as the contraction ended - his hr jumped right back up. this continued through out the rest of my labor. they determined somehow the baby was pinching his umbilical cord with each contraction. they turned me every which way. i had so many monitors attached to me and they ran a saline thing up into my uterus trying to put the water back into create padding - but nothing worked. i really think i was only allowed to go naturally because i continued progressing at about 1cm an hour and because my doctor wasnt there. i think having a strange doc that didnt know me worked to my advantage.

what the nurse did find out was that the hr didnt drop as low when i layed on my left side rather than my right. so i was only allowed to lay on my left. so much laying on the left caused the epidural medicine to drain from my right side. i began to feel EVERY contraction on my whole right side. i really thought my right hip was on FIRE! the contractions were coming so quickly too. than the epidural began to wear off completely. my head began to spin like the exorcist. i was BEGGING for more epidural. i think i was even more unable to handle it at this point because i didnt build up to this kind of pain & contractions - it was so suddenly that i felt this excruciating pain. the nurse explained that they didnt want to give me more epidural because it could effect my blood pressure and with the baby already distressed they didnt want to take the risk. i was heaving and throwing up from the pain. the babys hr rate dropped scarily low while i was heaving - they determined this was putting more stress on the baby. the doc came in and said i was 9 1/2 cm and they were going to give me another epi shot but i had to start pushing now.

well - the 2nd epidural was great but for some reason never numbed my right hip. which i guess was good because i knew exactly when to push! my mom was sitting there watching the national geographic view of this birth and described the head as coming out and getting sucked right back in. i was getting frustrated because i felt like i was doing everything correctly but no baby was coming out. i was also so focused. my dh said he never heard me so quiet! haha finally the doc decided to use the vacuum and had to do an episotomy. at that point he was finally able to see that the cord was wrapped around this baby like a toga - the cord was literally keeping him stuck inside. so they pulled him out up until just below his shoulders and the doc had to hold him there and have the nurse cut the cord to free him. he was literally 1/2 inside & 1/2 out at this point. his eyes were WIDE open and looking around the room. i said "hey baby" and grabbed his one little free hand. he looked right at me. it was amazing - it was the one moment where i felt like time stood still just for that second.
i hadnt realized a peditrician was in the room. i thought once the baby was born they were going to give him to me to do the skin to skin but instead he got whisked across the room to get examined because he had been under such stress. i feel like the moments after were just chaotic. i couldnt move - the doc was trying to pass my afterbirth - my dh was emotional - i was trying to see the baby - my mom was taking pictures - i was like - what just happened here? LOL but then they handed me my baby and he was just perfect and healthy. someone was watching over me because only now that it is over do i realize how scary a situation we were in.

anyway - frank peter was born on 9/17 @ 11:14pm and ive pretty much been in love ever since! i cant get enough of this baby. i absolutely love being his mom. i feel like i have a new best friend - he is just a joy. i cant explain how i feel - when i look at him - its like i want to SING or something!

so that is my birth story! hope you enjoy!

Message edited 11/9/2010 3:13:37 PM.

Re: frank "the tornado" peter

That is an incredible birth story! Congrats and welcome to the "other side"!!

Re: frank "the tornado" peter

wow, what a birth story!! Congratulations!!!

Re: frank "the tornado" peter 9/17/10

Sounds a lot like my birth.

Anyway,

Re: frank "the tornado" peter 9/17/10

Amazing story. Wow! You got through it though with superhuman power called being a Mom! Congratulations!