On August 10th it was decided that the 18th would be my last day of pregnancy, a total of 41 weeks on the dot. I had two Non-Stress Tests prior to the 18th and all was well. In fact I had so much amniotic fluid, that it was if he were alone in a public pool! On their scale if 0 was no fluid and 10 were the most, I fell in around 10! No wonder his movements hadn’t slowed down or lessened in intensity, like everyone kept telling it would.
We were just deciding on what to have for dinner, a last meal before delivery, when we received the call from the labor and delivery unit to come to the hospital, it was around 6pm. So we made a quick decision to head to Woody’s. I ate my double cheese burger ketchup/lettuce only on the short drive to Intermountain Medical Center. Actually I stuffed my face!
Upon arrival they checked me in and took me to my labor room with a giant widow that overlooked the mountains. I was asked about my delivery plan and medical history while being hooked up to the heart and contraction monitors. I was quickly given the medication to ripen my cervix for delivery and then left to hangout. The nurse continually checked on me and was constantly adjusting the stupid monitors because I would adjust or he would move and the monitors would freak out! We watched TV and played cards (Gin) to pass the time. Colby was tired, so that didn’t last long.
Thursday August 19th…
I had received 3 doses of the ripening meds up to this point and around 4:30am I woke up and shifted positions. When I moved, I thought oh my goodness I just wet myself how pathetic. But when I shifted to get out of the bed I knew my bladder wasn’t that big! I said Colby’s name to wake him up…he shot up from the bench he was sleeping on and was immediately alert. I called the nurse in and told her I thought my water just broke. She reassured me that that’s what was happening. I made my way to the bathroom straddling a blanket held by the nurse and Colby while following a blanket lined path. What a mess!!! Colby helped the nurse cleanup and replace the soaked bedding while I hung out on the toilet.
Contractions started almost immediately once I was settled back in bed. I tried the breathing exercises I was taught in class and realized I hadn't practiced them enough with prior to this point...mostly I hadn't practiced and was regretting this decision. I can't believe how painful each contraction was, and they seemed so close together, but they were not close at all, 5 minutes. Colby says I lasted about 6 contractions when I accepted the offer from the nurse for an epidural. Partially I accepted because the contractions were so much more painful then I had imagined and they wanted to get the epidural going before they started the Pitocin drip, which I had been warned makes the contractions that much more intense. I thought I would be tougher, that I might pull of a natural delivery, I thought I had a high pain tolerance, I was wrong. Although, I might have been able to do it, if I had prepared myself better, but I hadn't so I caved.
The anesthesiologist started the epidural but it wasn't really working on my right side and I couldn't feel my left leg at all. I asked him to come back and adjust the placement...instead of adjusting it he just injected more meds. I was so mad, not only did not do what I asked but now I couldn't even move my left leg let alone wiggle my toes! I fell asleep around 7am and woke up a little bit later shivering, but I wasn't cold. Sometime after that I woke up again and was so itchy, they gave me some sort of medication to stop the itching sensation. These symptoms were all due to the epidural and Pitocin, at that point I wished that I had really practiced the breathing.
After all that excitement I fell asleep again around 9am. From then on, every hour or so the nurse would come in and check my cervix and then Colby would help turn me onto a different side. Because i was so numb they had to use this orange plastic thing with handles to rotate me. Colby would also have to arrange my hips and legs so that one leg hung over the other one otherwise I would just drift back onto my back. It was I am sure an embarrassing picture. At noon I was dilated to a 5 and received more meds via the epidural. Around 3:45pm the nurse came in to do the same routine as she had for the previous 8 hours, but found that I was at a 10! She told me to relax and not push while she went to get Dr. Ponder.
Dr. Ponder checked on my progress and decided to push back her scheduled C-section. At this point I had been told that my birthing plan was being tossed out the window because there had been so much meconium in the amniotic fluid. My requests were small...wait till the umbilical cord stopped pulsing before cutting it, hold him immediately after, watch the birth in a mirror and nurse him. My doctor didn't want him to breath in any of the meconium so he would need to be attended to immediately. Everyone prepared for delivery and the NICU team was called to the scene.
I started pushing around 4:10pm, but I was struggling since my epidural was put on overkill by the anesthesiologist, I couldn't fell where to push. So my doctor turned it off and some sensation started to comeback, well at least enough to feel how and where to push. After pushing for quite some time with not much more progress Dr. Ponder gave me a pep talk about how if his heartbeat started to drop or in the next several pushes I wasn't able to deliver him then she would have to resort to suction or forceps and finally a C-section. I was so not about to have any of those things...especially the slicing of the belly. So I gave it all my strength, at this point I was pushing every 2 minutes with oxygen. Colby says I would fall asleep in-between pushes and they were all laughing...it is hard work and it’s not like pregnancy was a cakewalk!
At the second to last push I was threatened again that I had one more chance or it was on to plan B. I was motivated and one more push is all it took.
At 6:06pm Grey was born. Colby cut the cord and Grey was whisked away to the corner of the room by the NICU team. They intubated and suction him...poor guy! I delivered the placenta about 15 minutes later and then was stitched up. Greys temperature was not coming down so he was taken to the NICU. My doctor left abruptly because she had to deliver another doctors patient. The announcement was made to family and friends that he had arrived while the nurse was getting me situated. Grey was finally brought back to me so that I could nurse him, he didn't do so well, not that they let me try for more than a minute before they got all uptight. Since his blood sugar was really low I was given two options, a bottle of formula or he could be admitted to the NICU for a week with an IV, well that wasn't a hard choice. Of course the bottle because I wanted him to go home with me! Looking back I should have made a stand and requested a breast pump and then given him the colostrum by other means, I didn't because I didn't know and I was really flustered. Guess I will know better for future children.
I finally got settled in my room around 8:30pm, with no baby. I was brought a turkey sandwich and some other food, which was such a delight since I hadn't had a sandwich for 9 months! I asked the nurse what was going on with Grey since I had had no updates, she went to find out. He was finally brought to me at 9:30pm. My parents arrived 15 minutes later. Grey was taken to the nursery to do footprints and vitals...it took forever and after asking about when he would be back they said that he wasn't keeping his pulse/oxygen level up, well thanks for letting me know! The on call pediatrician was called in to do some tests, including a chest x-ray, because the nursery was worried about him. Grey was kept in the nursery that first night, but was brought to me for feedings throughout the night. Feedings that we are still working on making successful, that’s a whole other blog post.
