Connor's Birth Story (Baby katietopaz)
May 21, 2015 20:11:53 GMT -5
Post by katietopaz on May 21, 2015 20:11:53 GMT -5
This is very much on the long side, but here's Connor Isa.iah's birth story:
Saturday at 3am, after a week of on-and-off contractions, they became regular and intense enough that I called my doctor who told us to come in. They checked me and I was at 2cm, 80% effaced. After two hours of monitoring, I'd hit 3cm, 90% effaced. They said it could still be awhile, and gave me the option of being admitted to the hospital or going home to labor until things had progressed. We decided to go home where we could be more comfortable, and I'm so glad we did - it helped immensely to be in our own space and be able to move around however was comfortable.
After 7-8 hours of laboring at home, the contractions had gotten significantly more intense and were under 3 min apart, so we decided to head back in. I was discouraged to hear that I was only at 3.5cm and still 90% effaced, but was glad they decided to go ahead and admit me. Baby's heart rate kept decelerating so they wanted me in bed for monitoring as much as possible. Unfortunately, laying down was the absolute worst position for me - contractions felt especially painful and intense that way. After a few hours of laboring this way, the back labor had escalated to the point that during contractions, all of the relaxation and pain management techniques I had practiced felt useless and I was nonfunctional. I begged and they let me get out of bed to try laboring in positions that had worked for me earlier like standing and squatting, but nothing I tried made it any more manageable.
After those 4-5 hours of increasingly excruciating contractions only to find I was still not quite at 4cm, I started crying. I hadn't slept for 36 hours and it was looking like I had a long way to go, and I didn't know how I would make it to pushing, let alone have the energy to push at that rate. While I didn't have my heart set on a med-free birth, I had hoped to try, and initially thought I would be able to manage the pain. When DH asked if I wanted to consider an epidural (all props to him for not pushing it, he was an incredible coach) and I talked through my fears and reasons for not getting one, I realized that getting one was the right call.
It was the perfect epidural. The anesthesiologist was fantastic and it was nowhere near as painful being administered as I'd expected it to be. I almost cried from relief when that next contraction hit and I felt no pain, just mild pressure. Without a doubt, the epi was the right decision for me. It let me rest - I slept for almost two hours and recuped some much-needed energy. It let my body relax and progress so quickly - they checked me an hour after the epi went in, and I'd already progressed to 5cm and fully effaced. Two hours later they checked and my water had broken on its own and I was at 6-7cm.
An hour and a half later (10:00pm) they decided to start a low dose of Pitocin since my contractions had spaced out to 5-6 min apart. It did the trick and things picked up, and when they checked me an hour later, I was shocked when the nurse said, "It's time to push this baby out! I'll start getting things set up." The epi was perfect again - I felt the muscles I needed to push and could somewhat feel him moving down, but I had no pain whatsoever. After 15-20 minutes of pushing, Connor Isaiah was born at 11:35pm, weighing 5lbs 11oz and measuring at 19.5in.
There was some drama and fear from almost the moment he was born. The OB showed him to us and then almost immediately asked, "When did you say your due date was?" I was terrified, we were just 6 days prior to my EDD (10 days if looking at when I know I ovulated). I asked why, and they said he looked small, and he was coated in a lot of vernix. He also had some trouble breathing well. He was grunting a lot, and his oxygen levels weren't great - the cord was around his neck at birth. Instead of the immediate skin-to-skin I had been expecting and so excited for, Connor was quickly moved over to the infant unit in the room. They were suctioning his nose and mouth and talked about calling down someone from the NICU.
Most of that time was a blur. The OB was stitching me up (I had 2nd degree tears, I didn't ask how many) and I was just trying to see Connor and desperately wanting to hold him. Someone from the NICU came in to evaluate him and decided to have him try skin-to-skin with me for 45 minutes. Connor's levels improved immediately, and it was the most incredible feeling in the world to finally have him in my arms. Since his levels ended up in the normal range, they decided not to take him to the NICU. They then went ahead with the normal first tests and bath, let us initiate BFing, and moved us to our post-LDR room.
Connor has been doing great since. He lost around 5% of his birth weight, and has been feeding and dirtying diapers pretty well (aside from some latch and position issues we needed help with from an LC).
TL;DR: Drama and all, we are just so thankful to have our Connor healthy and happy, settling in at home with us. He's perfect in every way and we are so smitten.
Saturday at 3am, after a week of on-and-off contractions, they became regular and intense enough that I called my doctor who told us to come in. They checked me and I was at 2cm, 80% effaced. After two hours of monitoring, I'd hit 3cm, 90% effaced. They said it could still be awhile, and gave me the option of being admitted to the hospital or going home to labor until things had progressed. We decided to go home where we could be more comfortable, and I'm so glad we did - it helped immensely to be in our own space and be able to move around however was comfortable.
After 7-8 hours of laboring at home, the contractions had gotten significantly more intense and were under 3 min apart, so we decided to head back in. I was discouraged to hear that I was only at 3.5cm and still 90% effaced, but was glad they decided to go ahead and admit me. Baby's heart rate kept decelerating so they wanted me in bed for monitoring as much as possible. Unfortunately, laying down was the absolute worst position for me - contractions felt especially painful and intense that way. After a few hours of laboring this way, the back labor had escalated to the point that during contractions, all of the relaxation and pain management techniques I had practiced felt useless and I was nonfunctional. I begged and they let me get out of bed to try laboring in positions that had worked for me earlier like standing and squatting, but nothing I tried made it any more manageable.
After those 4-5 hours of increasingly excruciating contractions only to find I was still not quite at 4cm, I started crying. I hadn't slept for 36 hours and it was looking like I had a long way to go, and I didn't know how I would make it to pushing, let alone have the energy to push at that rate. While I didn't have my heart set on a med-free birth, I had hoped to try, and initially thought I would be able to manage the pain. When DH asked if I wanted to consider an epidural (all props to him for not pushing it, he was an incredible coach) and I talked through my fears and reasons for not getting one, I realized that getting one was the right call.
It was the perfect epidural. The anesthesiologist was fantastic and it was nowhere near as painful being administered as I'd expected it to be. I almost cried from relief when that next contraction hit and I felt no pain, just mild pressure. Without a doubt, the epi was the right decision for me. It let me rest - I slept for almost two hours and recuped some much-needed energy. It let my body relax and progress so quickly - they checked me an hour after the epi went in, and I'd already progressed to 5cm and fully effaced. Two hours later they checked and my water had broken on its own and I was at 6-7cm.
An hour and a half later (10:00pm) they decided to start a low dose of Pitocin since my contractions had spaced out to 5-6 min apart. It did the trick and things picked up, and when they checked me an hour later, I was shocked when the nurse said, "It's time to push this baby out! I'll start getting things set up." The epi was perfect again - I felt the muscles I needed to push and could somewhat feel him moving down, but I had no pain whatsoever. After 15-20 minutes of pushing, Connor Isaiah was born at 11:35pm, weighing 5lbs 11oz and measuring at 19.5in.
There was some drama and fear from almost the moment he was born. The OB showed him to us and then almost immediately asked, "When did you say your due date was?" I was terrified, we were just 6 days prior to my EDD (10 days if looking at when I know I ovulated). I asked why, and they said he looked small, and he was coated in a lot of vernix. He also had some trouble breathing well. He was grunting a lot, and his oxygen levels weren't great - the cord was around his neck at birth. Instead of the immediate skin-to-skin I had been expecting and so excited for, Connor was quickly moved over to the infant unit in the room. They were suctioning his nose and mouth and talked about calling down someone from the NICU.
Most of that time was a blur. The OB was stitching me up (I had 2nd degree tears, I didn't ask how many) and I was just trying to see Connor and desperately wanting to hold him. Someone from the NICU came in to evaluate him and decided to have him try skin-to-skin with me for 45 minutes. Connor's levels improved immediately, and it was the most incredible feeling in the world to finally have him in my arms. Since his levels ended up in the normal range, they decided not to take him to the NICU. They then went ahead with the normal first tests and bath, let us initiate BFing, and moved us to our post-LDR room.
Connor has been doing great since. He lost around 5% of his birth weight, and has been feeding and dirtying diapers pretty well (aside from some latch and position issues we needed help with from an LC).
TL;DR: Drama and all, we are just so thankful to have our Connor healthy and happy, settling in at home with us. He's perfect in every way and we are so smitten.
