Labor Story

Note: there are a lot of details about my labor in this email - if you get grossed out easily you may not want to read.

So I believe all or at least most of the people that read this also follow me on facebook and know when she was born and have seen all of the pictures - but this blog would not be complete without going over all of the details of the labor and delivery of my little girl.

After a good check up on Wednesday and as the weekend approached I was ready to try a few tricks to see if we could bring labor on a little sooner. I read a few things that said that some food and or activities could that if you are already dilated (I was already 3 cm) so I figure no harm in trying... right? I didn't really think they would work, and no one will ever know if any of these things worked or if it was just her time but at 2:42 am on Sunday I woke up to some pain and quickly realized my water had broken.

Things I tried.

Friday I printed off this recipe and made this as it said to only making a smaller batch and using plain tomato sauce as a base to the sauce rather than tomatoes. This took more than 2 hours to make so it's possible making this could induce labor! But we ate this Friday night and then again Saturday night - it's a very good recipe, especially with some angel hair pasta.

I also drank a lot of prune juice friday night and on Saturday. I know a lot of people have issues from drinking prune juice and I was warned about this, but I didn't feel like this had any effect on me. I read anything that gets your bowels going could induce labor. It didn't have that effect on me so... it is what it is. I also stayed very active. Going up and down the stairs at every chance I could, laundry, dishes, I even pulled some weeds. Last but not least Saturday me and G had some close time... I heard it can induce labor.

So that was my cocktail of labor inducing tricks. I'd love to know if any worked... all I know is I went into labor. :)

So, back to the labor. I woke up and quickly realized I was wet, but just starting. I yelled at G to turn on a light and then ran to the bathroom because it was coming hard and fast. I sat on the toilet for a good 15 minutes freaking out a little and waiting for the fluid to stop so that I could get ready and go. We called the doctors office and was told to go straight to the hospital. G took a shower and we tried to remember what was packed and what was not considering we've been living out of our toiletries bag for about 2 weeks. I tried twice to put on a pad and stand up to get dressed and both times my cup runneth over as soon as I stood up. Finally a third time was a charm, at least for a while and by that time the contractions had started and boy did they hurt. They were only 2 minutes apart, but only lasted about 30 seconds each. They were very painful though.

We got all packed up and decided to call our parents as we were going out the door - around 3:20 am. Mom and dad were in Nashville which worked out really well because they were only 2 hours away as oppose to the usual 5. G's parents were home and it took them around 4 hours to get here. We got to the hospital and as I stepped out of the car at the front door my cup ranneth over again and I was wet through my pants. Oh well - it's a hospital. After I checked in me and G went up to L&D and as soon as I walked in they looked at me and asked if my water had broken... "yes" had the contractions started "yes!". This pretty much made triage unnecessary except for a quick strip test they pushed into my pad that proved it was amniotic fluid and not urine. We were walked back to our room where I lived for the next couple days. Being on the weekend the on call doctor was there and they introduced us to him but we told them that our doctor had told us to have him called if I went into labor over the weekend. So the plan was to call him once I was all hooked up and they knew how far along I was.

I was hooked up to the iv pretty quickly and since I was getting an epidural they went ahead and started giving me fluid. They never technically asked if I was ready for my epidural. They just asked if I was having one and around 5 am, the nurse anesthetist was in the room reviewing things with me. I'm not sure if it was how close they were together or if she just figured - I'm in pain - bring on the epidural but initially I had wanted to wait a little while before getting one. Once I realized the steps were in place though I did not argue. I had felt that pain enough and considering I was only 4 cm dilated I knew it would be a while. They decided to wait until 7 to call the doctor since it was technically his day off. I'm terrified of needles and was dreading the epidural more than the labor itself so getting through that was the worse part. Luckly they let G be in there and he stood in front of me as I curled up and tried my best to be completely still considering the contractions were coming hard and fast.

As I laid back after being all taped up the nurse asked me how that one was. "That what?" I had had a contraction and did not feel a thing - amazing! I loved it. I also liked the fact that I could still move my left leg. My right though was completely numb. I didn't like that feeling - really freaky. Anyway I stayed at 4 for a couple hours and around 7 the nurse came in and told me that our doctor had just gotten on the road with his family for a family birthday party in Birmingham (about 2 hours away). But that he would be back around 6. I think if they had contacted him before he left he would have stayed but it is what it is and I really didn't care who delivered this girl. I trusted all of the doctors in this group and knew it would be fine.

So also around 7 some things started acting up. I generally have low blood pressure but the fluid that they give you is suppose to help keep your blood pressure at a good rate while the epidural tends to drop it. Mine was dropping low, very low. They were trying to get one of the anesthesiologist to come back to my room but it took a while and when the guy who originally put it in had got there he thought the other one had already been there. When he realized that nothing had been done about my state he quickly gave me a shot of ephedrine in my iv which burned really bad and I learned later he did something to push it into my system super fast because my BP was so low. It was also around this time that 4 nurses walked in, threw an oxygen mask on me and started turning me to the side. Once my BP rose - the babies heart beat dropped. Luckily a change in position took care of that and I was able to take off the mask after a while.

I was starting to make progress and the on call doctor came by to check me and we chatted with him for a minute. We all bonded over some tech. stuff which was nice considering he was a stranger to us. And it was around this time that my parents got there and then soon after that G's parents got there. It was nice to sit around the hospital room chatting while I was in labor. Considering that we had another BP episode and oxygen mask episode I made a rule that if there was more than 1 nurse and or doctor in the room - I wanted everyone to leave except G. It was a bit too much to deal with when there were people trying to get either my vitals or the babies vitals under control to have people around. I ended up getting a second shot of ephedrine which then put my pulse high. It hung around 120-150 for the rest of the labor with occasional shots up to 180.

The nurse was predicting around 2 pm would be when she got here at the rate I was progressing. So late morning/over lunch we tried to take a nap for a couple hours. They came and checked me after one hour and I was at 8. I was still at 8 after my nap and since I had been at 8 for almost 3 hours the doctor wanted me to have some pitocine. I really did not want any but I wasn't going to argue with a professional. Especially since my vitals were all over the place. After and hour of pitocine things were progressing quickly and before I knew it all that was left was a lip on my right side of my cervix. The doctor wanted me to lay on my right side but that made me have pain on my left considering I already had some feeling there. The nurse anesthetist wanted me on my left side but the doctor won and I got a little more epidural to numb my left. This put me in a completely numb state and I could no longer move or feel either leg.

Shortly after that while the nurse was checking me she said "give me a push" and before I knew it I was pushing. She kept grabbing her little cordless phone and asking for the doctor and was irritated because she didn't know where he was. Kept pushing I did though. Soon the cart was rolled in, the doctor was getting into his gear and the team came in from the nursery and I knew we were close. We knew that from our birthing class that when she was born the room would be full with the teams and not to freak out by the 10 staff people in the room.

We pushed with the doctor for about 15 minutes and a couple times he put a towel on my belly and pushed her down from the top - from the outside of my belly. I've never heard of this technique but G said that when ever he did that he could see lots of progress was made. At some point during this time my mouth got incredibly dry and I asked for some ice. Literally as G was holding out the spoon of ice my mouth filled up with water and I felt sick. They got a bucket to me in time but throwing up while laying down is hard to do so it went spewing everywhere. G was still in his regular clothes and was wearing a very nice new button up shirt and I almost got it - he took it off right after that episode. The doc asked if it was okay to cut me a little since I was tearing and he wanted to control it - fine by me. I was not aiming for an all natural experience so whatever the doctor thought was best, I went with. It was somewhere during this time that I was pushing and was starting to feel like I was hyperventilating and made a comment about being surprised to need an inhaler for labor. The doctor quickly asked if I had asthma and G said just exercise induced, and doc was like - "this is exercise". I was fine as long as I could have a few breaths in between pushes so we continued and before I knew it she was out.

I remember first seeing her as she was out and the doc was holding her up how wrinkled she looked and being surprised she was my daughter. G cut the cord and then she went to the little table next to us to be measured and all that jazz. Apparently the placenta followed quickly - I heard G say something about that not taking long to come out and I was a little overwhelmed by it all being done and had a little cry. I also started shaking pretty badly and could not control it. Towards the end of the labor I had started shaking but if I relaxed it stopped - these shakes could not be controlled and I did not like how I felt. I wanted to feel relaxed and relieved but I felt jittery and overwhelmed. I also remember about this time I commented on how the light that was directly above me looked like a robot on the show "dr. who". I was surprised that the doctor (who was sewing me up at this point) commented and knew the show as well. It's a European show that G & I found via netflix and enjoyed for a while. Again - it was nice to bond over something with this doctor. When it was all said and done we were really happy with this doc and would recommend him to anyone.

They handed her to me and it was the strangest thing to look at this little baby and know it was yours. I think I expected to recognize her so when she looked like a stranger I was surprised. I held her for a while - or should I say shook her for a while considering I still had uncontrollable shakes and I was sad because I wanted to bond with her more calmly than I could at the moment. G held her for a while as little by little the shaking got better and my feeling started to come back to my legs. I remember the sweet nurse who brought me a coke immediately afterwards held me as they took out my epidural from my spine and when I said I was scared she put her arm around me and held me close. All of the nurses and staff there we so wonderful.

After about an hour I felt better and asked when I should try to feed her. The nurse advised I do it then before we let any family in. So we did and she actually latched for a while so I was happy. After that we let the family come in and they were so excited. By this time I was feeling a lot better too.

It was about 7 that our doctor stopped in and apologized for missing things. He was hoping that I would hold out until he got back but this was not something we could control. :) It was nice that he came by and even though I wished he could have delivered her we were happy with how things worked out.

That's about it. We are home now and doing well. Nursing took about 5 days before we got it down pat but we did and I'm so happy. She had a great check up and is only 3 ounces below her birth weight so the doc thinks we are doing well.

I feel like this is the last entry to a journal and in a way it is. Overall I had a very good pregnancy and delivery and have a beautiful daughter now that I love more than I can describe.

We'll do it again some day. :)

38 weeks and 3 days.

My daughter came to our world.

Ella Grey

Born 7.19.09

7 lb. 5 oz. 20" long

38 weeks and PHOTOS!

Sorry for the delay on the photos but here they are. Had a check up this morning and I'm 3 cm and between 80 and 90% effaced and she's dropped down pretty low. We are ready to go at any time and I hope it's sooner rather than later! :)

Mommy - please don't go away and have a baby. I'm all you need!!

Me and my big belly.

I hope she's not too big to come out. :)

We have much love for this little girl - just can't wait to meet her.

I have some other silhouette photos that are quite beautiful but too revealing to post publicly. I think some of you might enjoy seeing them... if you are interested let me know and I'll find a private way to show those.

I'll post nursery photos soon. I have those too. Overall I'm feeling pretty good. I have a lot less pain than I did last week so since she's taking a little longer than we thought last week at least I'm in a place where I can tolerate it.

Till next time.

37 weeks and in a holding pattern

Just thought I'd update everyone. I went to the doctor today and have not dilated any more than I was on Monday & Tuesday. I'm a bit more effaced - between 70 and 80% and she's moved down lower which explains a lot of the pressure I'm feeling. Since I had not made any progress the doctor did not induce - he thinks I'll probably make it through the weekend and if not he told me who the on-call doctor would be. His best estimate is that things will happen next week. He does not think I'll make it to 39 weeks and that most likely next week will be when we meet her. We talked a little about when it's time for me to go to the hospital since I've had so many contractions and can go hours with them but them not being labor contractions. I'm to look for intense contractions that take my breath away and he wants me to head in after only an hour of them because I'm so thinned out.

I'm working from home tomorrow and the plan is to stay on this couch with my feet up until Tuesday when I'll start doing all in my power to get her to come.

If you all wouldn't mind - I am showing some slight signs that pre-eclampsia could be right around the corner, so please pray that is not the case. I'm a little swollen, have had a jump in my weight gain and my blood pressure was pretty high for me. Not too high, but for someone with low blood pressure the nurse was definitely a little concerned.

We took belly pictures last night so I'll get those on here soon.

till later.

First Trip to the hospital... and back again.

Well the contractions lasted all night and morning and I started to develop lots of pain - to the point where I could barely walk. I woke G up in the middle of the night and told him we should decide if I should go in. We called the docs number and the answering service said a nurse would call us right back, but no one did. I was keeping track of contractions and they pretty much were the same every time I kept track. They lasted about 30 seconds and were around 3 minutes apart. The pain got a little better so rather than call back we tried to get some sleep. We were up most of the night. I think we may have gotten about 2 hours of sleep. We called again at 7 this morning and the nurse thought I should come in and at least be checked.

At this point we were pretty sure I was in labor. G finished packing his bag around 3 am and when 6 came around we both showered and ate some breakfast knowing we may not have a chance for a while. Around 8 or so we headed in fully intending to come home with a baby.

I was very surprise to find out I was not any more dilated than yesterday - maybe a tad but not much nor was I more effaced. So after the hour of full medical history they took and watching my contractions and the baby's heart rate we were starting to think it was a false alarm. She checked me again around 9:45 and there was no change. Since technically I am not full term yet - not until Thursday they were happy that it wasn't the real deal. I just didn't want to feel the way I felt anymore so I was relieved but disappointed.

After coming home and napping for a few hours the contractions have stopped. The pain is more of a constant ache at this point and I wonder if my hips are moving..? Does that happen? I told G it feels like my hips are on fire. Anyway it looks to be a false alarm.

Will keep you posted.

37 weeks... or will be Thursday.

So first things first. My best friend in the whole world came to visit me last week. She flew in Wednesday and stayed until Sunday. We had such a nice time. We shopped, ate, watched tv, shopped some more, ate more, and watched movies... you get the idea. She did help me wash all of the baby clothes so that was a huge help, especially considering all that's going on. I won't go into the details of her visit, but it was really, really nice. I'm so glad she came and that we got a few days to be together without family responsibilities or anything else we usually do when we get together. Plus the weather was nice too. Thanks J for coming to see me - it meant a lot.

Thursday I had a day of contractions. Nothing painful and whenever I stood up and walked around they went away - all to be expected at this stage. Saturday night we went downtown and watched the fireworks. On the drive home I started having very painful contractions - not really to be expected, but again as soon as I got out of the car and walked around they stopped. Sunday I didn't feel good. Nothing really wrong, just didn't feel great and had intermittent contractions. Then today I had a few in the morning but nothing intense or painful.

We had our doc apt today at 1. I had an ultrasound and was so excited to find out that she had turned! She was head down in my pelvis - very good news!!! I was really scared to go into labor knowing she was breech. I'm not sure when she turned, but she did! Good girl.

She measured in at 7 lb. 3 oz. which is a good size. It put her at 37 weeks 1 day as oppose to 36 weeks 4 days. All within the margin of error. Everything else looked good too. Her breathing, fluid and all that looked good.

Then we went to see doctor and found out I was dilated to 2 cm and was between 60 and 70% thinned out. The doctor was just telling us that he will be out of town this next weekend and that we should come back friday since he won't be available next monday - then after he checked me he said he'd prefer to see me on Thursday in case I'm very dilated and he can induce me so that he could deliver me rather than me go into labor when he's gone. Sounds good to us. I would much rather him than a stranger deliver her. I'm okay with anyone making sure this girl gets out okay - but I would definitely prefer him. We also talked about what to do in case I go into labor before Thursday so he really thinks it will be soon.

Then, the contractions started, and got stronger, and would not stop whether I walked or sat. I went back to work and gave my boss a heads up. I stayed late to update my job status spreadsheet that we have at work and even wrote a few post-its on things in case I don't go in tomorrow - that's how bad the contractions were getting. As soon as I got home G installed the car seat and I started packing our bag. It's pretty much packed now and the contractions have slowed to almost a stop. If I don't get up they are only every once in a while. If I get up then it feels like a 20 lb weight falls on my hip bones and I start contracting. I've not had any really painful one's, but I really feel like things will happen soon.

At this point I'm really tired. We both kind of had an adrenaline rush after the apt. and I think we both have crashed. I'm excited, but terrified. My plan is to chill on this couch for the evening and we'll see how things go.

And because I don't want to post without photos here's a photo of the super cool pedicure I had when J was here. I picked a pattern and it's not quite like the template I picked from. It looked more like a plant coming out of the corner and G thinks this looks like a skelaton. The background is gunmetal gray - not black like the photo looks like. I love them despite the crazy pattern. All in honor of our little girl's middle name. :)