Baby DeMilo's Belated Birth Novel
Oct 20, 2016 12:59:12 GMT -5
Post by Martinis&Medicine on Oct 20, 2016 12:59:12 GMT -5
I was scheduled to start Cervadil on Thursday night at 10:30pm. When we went in I was already experiencing false labor, with pretty strong contractions 2-3 minutes apart, but with no cervical change. They inserted the Cervadil and left me on the monitors to sleep, but with the contractions it was pretty difficult. The Cervadil was scheduled to be removed at 1pm the next day and then we would hopefully start Pitocin and get things moving. I was really sensitive from the meds so my cervical check hurt SO bad. I asked the nurse to stop for a second so I could relax and instead she pushed harder and I screamed for her to stop but she wouldn't. Then she took her hand out and said, "Well I don't know, I can't check you when you won't sit still." They decided to start another Cervadil and would remove it at 1am. When it came time to insert the next Cervadil the same nurse came in but brought two others with her to hold my legs and hips down. I told her I just needed her to stop when I said stop so I could relax, because I couldn't relax with her just forcing her way in. She started inserting the medicine and I asked her to wait a second and instead the nurses holding my legs held tighter while the other nurse just shoved as hard as she could. Half the L&D floor came running in when they heard me screaming and I'm pretty sure H almost punched her in the face. The second Cervadil put me into early labor. When the shift change came H and I were walking the floor. Cervical Check Nurse didn't realize we were behind her and was filling in the night nurse and said, "Yeah, she's really difficult. You're gonna need some other nurses to hold her down."
Luckily the night shift nurses, Erika and Jared, were awesome and even let me pull it out myself after such a horrible experience earlier. When I told Erika what had happened she was horrified and said, "Honey, I can't do ANYTHING you don't want me to. If you say stop I stop for as long as you need." Surprise, surprise, every other check went just fine.
My contractions started getting pretty strong and I realized I was having bad back labor (is there any other kind?). Things were moving a little slow, though, so we started the Pitocin around 3am. I went two hours on the Pitocin with overlapping contractions and then got an epidural. The first epidural didn't work and it had to be redone. Thankfully the second worked and I was able to get some sleep. At 9:30am I was a 4 1/2, and then after an hour and a half nap I had dilated to a 9! I dilated to a 10 by my next check but during that time my epidural stopped working again. To be honest I don't remember much until the epidural started working again. I labored the rest of the time with on and off pain management. When I was finally ready to push the on call doctor was delivering another baby and was worried she wouldn't be able to get to me in time, so she instructed the nurse to TURN OFF MY PITOCIN. For two hours! I was vomiting and out of it and didn't even realize it had been turned off.
Skipping to the end...they finally let me start pushing around 4:30. My epidural was still only working off and on but I think that actually helped me push a little harder. After 3 1/2 hours the nurse said she could start to see his head when I gave a strong push, but he had been in that position for awhile and wasn't making a lot of progress. The doctor came in and told me that it was time for a C-section. I asked her if Cal was ok and she said his heart rate looked awesome. I asked for a little more time and she gave me thirty minutes to get him out while they prepped the OR.
My night nurse, Jared, had been working with women with epidurals on different positioning that you can do with numb legs to help optimize pushing and pelvic position. He had already had four patients that were told they were having sections go on to deliver vaginally. We got the back of the bed into a vertical position and he and H lifted me up so I could support myself with my upper body and bear down better. We made a ton of progress during this time and now I could feel his head even when I wasn't pushing. When the doctor came in the put me back on my back and Erika said, "Ok girl, show her what you can do!" H held my oxygen, my friends held my legs, and Jared held a rope toy (like...from the pet store lol) for me to push/pull against. The doctor watched me push for a few minutes and then said to cancel the OR. "We're having a baby!"
It took another thirty minutes of pushing but his head finally came out. He was posterior with the cord wrapped around his neck once and fists by his face. The doctor panicked a little when she thought his shoulder was stuck and yanked him out really fast, and it was the weirdest feeling ever! But it was finally over. They checked his vitals right away since he was in the birth canal for so long and then laid him on my chest. He was 6lbs 15oz and 18 inches long, with a ton of hair.
TLdr: Calvin Joshua was born October 15th after 47 hours of labor and 5 hours of pushing. He was 6lbs 15oz and 18 inches long.
Photos!
Luckily the night shift nurses, Erika and Jared, were awesome and even let me pull it out myself after such a horrible experience earlier. When I told Erika what had happened she was horrified and said, "Honey, I can't do ANYTHING you don't want me to. If you say stop I stop for as long as you need." Surprise, surprise, every other check went just fine.
My contractions started getting pretty strong and I realized I was having bad back labor (is there any other kind?). Things were moving a little slow, though, so we started the Pitocin around 3am. I went two hours on the Pitocin with overlapping contractions and then got an epidural. The first epidural didn't work and it had to be redone. Thankfully the second worked and I was able to get some sleep. At 9:30am I was a 4 1/2, and then after an hour and a half nap I had dilated to a 9! I dilated to a 10 by my next check but during that time my epidural stopped working again. To be honest I don't remember much until the epidural started working again. I labored the rest of the time with on and off pain management. When I was finally ready to push the on call doctor was delivering another baby and was worried she wouldn't be able to get to me in time, so she instructed the nurse to TURN OFF MY PITOCIN. For two hours! I was vomiting and out of it and didn't even realize it had been turned off.
Skipping to the end...they finally let me start pushing around 4:30. My epidural was still only working off and on but I think that actually helped me push a little harder. After 3 1/2 hours the nurse said she could start to see his head when I gave a strong push, but he had been in that position for awhile and wasn't making a lot of progress. The doctor came in and told me that it was time for a C-section. I asked her if Cal was ok and she said his heart rate looked awesome. I asked for a little more time and she gave me thirty minutes to get him out while they prepped the OR.
My night nurse, Jared, had been working with women with epidurals on different positioning that you can do with numb legs to help optimize pushing and pelvic position. He had already had four patients that were told they were having sections go on to deliver vaginally. We got the back of the bed into a vertical position and he and H lifted me up so I could support myself with my upper body and bear down better. We made a ton of progress during this time and now I could feel his head even when I wasn't pushing. When the doctor came in the put me back on my back and Erika said, "Ok girl, show her what you can do!" H held my oxygen, my friends held my legs, and Jared held a rope toy (like...from the pet store lol) for me to push/pull against. The doctor watched me push for a few minutes and then said to cancel the OR. "We're having a baby!"
It took another thirty minutes of pushing but his head finally came out. He was posterior with the cord wrapped around his neck once and fists by his face. The doctor panicked a little when she thought his shoulder was stuck and yanked him out really fast, and it was the weirdest feeling ever! But it was finally over. They checked his vitals right away since he was in the birth canal for so long and then laid him on my chest. He was 6lbs 15oz and 18 inches long, with a ton of hair.
TLdr: Calvin Joshua was born October 15th after 47 hours of labor and 5 hours of pushing. He was 6lbs 15oz and 18 inches long.
Photos!
thank goodness for those other nurses!
