Protect the Past: Repost Your Birth Story

[chiawombat]

I think a lot of us want to make sure we keep these. Additionally, I would actually like to reread now that I know you all even better now. So whenever you can, go to your created discussions, find your birth story and bring them
over here (if you like, of course).

[chiawombat]

Sorry that I'm so late in getting this up. The last week has been so crazy that I am just now sitting down to a laptop for the first time.

I spent the three days prior to labor with unproductive contractions. Tuesday night, they started at 15 minutes apart and were moderately painful. We started counting. By 2 AM, they went from every 7 minutes down to every 3-4. It was the middle of a snowstorm, so we didn't wait for an hour, we just called to tell them we were coming and left the house. It took us twice as long to get there as it normally would because the plows couldn't keep up with the snow output. I'm pretty sure by the time she's 20, this snowstorm will be an epic blizzard that shut down all of Chicagoland.

We got to the hospital around 3 and they took us to the L&D triage and I was already at 5cm, so they admitted us. We were shown to our room and had a super nice nurse who we loved. She called the anesthesiologist who was there within 20 minutes. Receiving the epi was not my favorite part of the birthing process. But it stopped the pain dead in its tracks initially.

By 6, we were to 8cm and my water broke. It apparently was a really light green, which means there was some meconium. Our nurse consulted the charge nurse and they called our OB to see if she wanted the NICU staff on hand. Based on how light it was, she decided she felt comfortable without them there.

After that, I could start to feel pain and started self-administering additional doses of anesthesia to my epi. I let the nurse know it was starting to wear off and she had the anesthesiologist come back to adjust. It never really worked after that point.

A little later, I had a nursing shift change. I let her know the pain situation was getting increasingly terrible and she checked me. I was at 10, so she called the OB to let her know that I was in a lot of pain and that I was at a 10. They gave me some IV-administered pain killers to take the edge off. Not as helpful as one would hope.

At this point, the OB who was following me was about to go off and the new one was about to come on. This is the one OB in my practice I'd never managed to see. There was a bit of back and forth about whether she'd handle it or hand me off to the next one. My body was NOT waiting anymore, so the one who was about to go off came in. She got all set up and it was push time. I felt a really huge contraction and pushed as hard as I could. I never felt pain like that and I told DH I didn't know if I could do this for another hour. He told me the head was already crowning. Oh. They had me hold, then push again and she was out.

They brought her to me and I looked at DH and I just lost it. We both did. Tears all over. It was love at first sight. They took her, cleaned her up and brought her back and we did two hours of skin to skin.

Mallory Wombat was born on 2/5/14 at 7:55 AM, 17" (little peanut), 6lb 4oz.

A week later and we are so in love with this little girl. She's so sweet and I have a hard time not holding her or staring at her. And I have to resist nomming on her chubby cheeks.

I appreciate everyone's support these last eight+ months. I can't wait to go on the next stage of this crazy baby journey with all of you fantastic ladies.

[cd7211]

Just want to start off by saying I love you ladies for the encouragement. I had an excruciatingly long labor and I would read your comments when I needed a little pick me up, even "Good Luck" worked wonders. Gonna try and keep this short because I wrote it once and was like yeah, no too long.

Labor started at 3:30 am on Wednesday. Labored throughout the morning and daytime. Midwife came to my home periodically to check to see how I was doing. After texting her around 8pm that night that I was having a hard time dealing with contractions and was shaking violently she came over to stay. Her and her amazing assistant were great at becoming part of my home. They never seemed out of place or awkward. They blended into the background and just let me labor and do my thing, I didnt feel the need to entertain them and neither did DH. They knew where drinks and food were. So I labored throughout the night and was checked around 7am the next morning. Well past 24 hours of being in labor. Not much progression and I was getting extremely discouraged. We decided to see if a new day would help with her saying 'Today is the day don't get discouraged' so I labored on. I did have a birth pool but it made my contractions so intense that I hated being in it. So much for that $150. She checked again around 12pm and still not much progression. We decided to let her break my water since she though baby's head would help things progress, but was great and making it clear about being on a 24 hour time crunch after that and letting it be totally my choice but I needed anything that would help at that point. After much help from my midwife and getting me progressed I started to push around 3:30 and I don't know what I thought pushing would be like but it was by far much more intense than I had thought it would be. My body started pushing on its own which was crazy and hard because I was just exhausted and when I wanted to stop pushing my body would do it anyway. BUT after an hour and a half of pushing. Ava Ann was born at 5pm on the dot. Weighing 8lbs 4oz. 21 inches long. I am sore but luckily no tearing that required any stitches. Peeing hurts more than I thought haha Also Earth Mama Baby Angel New Mama Bottom Spray.....AMAZING!!!! Really, just get it now if you haven't had baby yet!

[jammersc]

On Wednesday, February 12, I woke up at 6:30am with some mild contractions. They weren't very painful and were every 10-15 minutes apart, so I got up and went about my morning. While my contractions slowly increased in intensity during the day, they were very irregular and were significantly slowing down by mid-afternoon. I decided to take a nap in case things picked back up that night so I laid down on the couch around 4pm.

I woke up at 5:05pm to a pop and a gush of fluid ... My water broke! At that point I jumped up and called my husband to tell him to come home from work. My mom had just arrived the day before and was at the house with DD1 and I, while DD2 was out with MIL and on their way back home. So we had to wait roughly 25 minutes for everybody to get to the house so that MIL could stay with the kids while DH, my mom and I went to the hospital. From the moment my water broke, my contractions were coming every 2-4 minutes and increasing in intensity.

We arrived at the hospital at 6:00pm and were taken to triage. I could barely get undressed my contractions were so strong and close together. I think it kind of freaked out DH because he quickly went to find a nurse. The nurse came in and checked me and I was 6cm. Then she went to leave the room to go get something and I screamed that I had to push. She checked me again and I was complete and baby was coming. They raced me out of triage and down the hall to a delivery room. We barely got in the door and the baby was crowning and another minute later, Fiona Grace was born (at 6:14pm). So, a mere 69 minutes after my water broke at home, Fiona was here! The doctor never even made it to the delivery ... the nurses delivered the baby and then a resident got there at the end to deliver the placenta and stitch me up (I had a second degree tear). Needless to say, I had no epidural or meds of any kind (which was not at all my plan) because of how fast everything happened. Despite the chaos though, everything went well with no complications and a healthy baby at the end!

[blondemum]

Short Story - Xander Richard arrived Monday 2/17 at 8:32pm via emergency c-section. 9 lbs even, 21.5" long.
Long Story - I was brought in Sunday with 16th at 7:30pm to start the inducing process. By 9 I had gotten the cervadil. Within a few hours I began having irratic, strong contractions but wasn't dilating at all yet. Each time I sat up or got out of bed LO's heart rate would drop. Soon they said I had to stay in bed laying down but the contractions kept getting stronger but again, still no dialation. By 3am Monday they took out the cervadil and said we'd see how I progressed with out it.

The contractions stopped and by 7am I was doing better, LO's heart rate was ok and I had progressed on my own to 3cm. Things were looking up and they decided to start the Pitocin. All Monday I was making good progress and soon was having steady contractions. I got the epi at 5cm (around 2pm).

At 6pm my doctor came back to check and I was up to 8cm however each time I contracted Lo's heart rate would drop again. They took me off the pitocin and hoped that would help, but it didn't. By 7pm his heart rate was so sporadic that the doctor said that he was not comfortable letting me go any further into labor and it would be best to do a c-section right away before LO got any more stressed. We did and at 8:32, Xander arrived.

We are so in love. He is the most amazing thing I've ever seen and I am so happy to be home snuggling with my LO.

[noethola]

Short: Chester Michael arrived at 8:48 pm Feb 15th. 8lb, 8oz and 20in long.

Longer: Really wanted to go natural and med free. So three days before the scheduled induction, I tried to prep my body to go into labor (no castor oil). Tried a massage and acupressure, ate lots of pineapple and eggplant, etc. Couldn't tell you if they worked or not.

Induced with pitocin on Feb 15th. We went in contracting, but not regularly. I could hardly feel them. However, I was at 5 cm, so thought it could be a short day, though also ok with things taking longer (my sis was induced and went 36hrs). Labored for 10hrs, and was told I was at 6cm (though I felt I was transitioning.) I wanted to punch the nurse... We decided to let the doctor break my water, and then the lovely nurse told us to expect another 4 hours.

Breaking the water instantly changed the way the contractions felt and it was INTENSE. About three contractions later (5 minutes), and my body started bearing down. I absolutely could do nothing about it, though everyone was telling me not to push. I told her to check me again, and I was complete. The doctor and nurses were running around to prep the room, and he was crowning before the Dr could get into a good position. The contractions were very intense, and it was like a freight train coming out of my body. He could not be stopped. Chet came out beautiful and screaming. It was a gorgeous sound. Latched on about 20 min after birth and eating like a champ. Decided against pain meds and epidural, and it was worth it, though challenging (not going to lie to anyone still out there deciding.) Thanks for all the support Feb 14. You have been fantastic!

[adinashoshana]

So glad that this is here. Because, goldfish memory (on the details, not the pain)


February 4th-5th 2014
____________________
"Had my regular NST this morning. Fluids are up but the tracing was unfavorable so they admitted me for induction at 12. Was checked at 1:30pm at 2.5 and 50% effaced. Started me on antibiotics. Lo's heart dipped, so they waited to start pitocin at 3:30pm. Hoping our little girl will arrive without further complication sometime tonight or early morning!

Eta: fat fingers make typos

Around 8pm - Update 1: No change in dilation. Happy to have gotten that glorious epi and water broken. Keeping my fingers crossed that my body/baby will do their thing so we can deliver in the morning.

Update 2: Checked around 5am. 4 and 70%. Slow progress, but happy at least something is happening! Wanting lo out so badly...hopefully my next update has my squishy pics in it!

Update 3: After a lot of laboring, finally got to a 10 around 12pm. I felt lots of pressure and was ready to push at 2:15. She was out at 2:33pm with a second degree tear. Sofia Elena is 7 pounds 2 ounces and 19 inches long. Quickly latched and she has already had two diaper changes! Such a little lady champ "

[Charlys Mom aka NBeaut]

i actually never got to share my birth stories with you all since i had faded away! so here goes!

Short: Charly was delivered on Feb 12th at 7:51pm 8lbs 7oz 20" long. I was induced and i got an epidural and asked the doctor for one for the road. LO was in distress but not enough to get too scared over. we were able to push him quickly and things were good

long story:
So my due date came and went, doctor scheduled my induction for the 10th. The hospital didn't have any room in L&D for inductions until tuesday at 2pm. So the bf and i got to the hospital, checked in and started the process. by 5pm i had the cervadil in place. no real progress with it. by 9pm i was 1cm. at 5am they put another dose in my cervix, hoping for more progress. About two minutes after the nurse left my room i felt (what i thought was) a major kung fu chuck noris kick from LO. and then i felt the gush. oh the gush. for me, that was the worst feeling in the world laying in a bed feeling like i peed myself x1000 and had no control over it!
so got that situation cleaned up, and waited the hours i needed to wait for the creedal to do its work.

about 9am on the 12th they started the pitocen. i got to about 4cm at 1130 when i got my epi. Well it didn't work. no numbness, no tingly, no nothing. and of course my nurse was on lunch so i was dealing with the charge nurse who wasn't very nice. I asked her if there was anything we could do because the pain was still too much for me to handle because the epidural didn't take. she asked me what my pain was on a scale of 1-10. i said a 9. she gave me the most patronizing look I've ever had in my life and said "now sweetie, a 9 is like someone is bashing your head in with a baseball bat" in the way one would talk to a one year old. so i said, in the same voice, "well then its an 8 1/2"
she just left the room after that. and about 10mins later the anesthesiologist came back and said he can up the medication or redo the epidural. i asked for another epidural. Oh glory glory glory. within seconds i felt that tingling sensation and the pain faded away.

okay jump to about 3 and i still wasn't dilating very much. i was at 6cm and my nurses weren't happy with LOs heartbeat. they put me on oxygen and i tried to rest. at 5 they came back and i was only 6cm. at that time my mom was getting ready to leave since none of us thought anything was going to happen that night. About 6pm the nurse came by because the shift change was about to happen. the nurse checks my crevix and i was only 8cm. she checked my chart and left the room and came back with two more nurses. one who left a few mins later, and the other started to prep the area where LO goes after birth. i didn't pay much attention and figured they were just getting things ready for the shift change.
So then the nurse asks me to "just try a push, see if we can get the baby to open the cervix" hmm. okay sure. jump to, my doctor coming in out of no where and says "you're doing great, keep pushing!" and goes and looks at my chart and says "I'm going to dress, ill be right back" WHAT? dress? i thought we were just TRYING a few pushes!? no one said anything about the baby coming yet. I'm not ready to deliver. am i?

well baby was going into distress with every contraction i was having and his heart rate was dropping really low. the nurse that had left the room called my doctor, told him the situation and he came right away. The doctor came in a few times to check on me but the nurse did all the work. Oh! and they had a shift change in the middle of me pushing, so i met the new nurse with my legs up in the air she looked at me said "hi I'm julie! I'm the night nurse....now give me a good push!" the BF almost passed out and they made him sit down so he didn't fall and hurt himself. i even chuckled at that (that epidural was just heaven)

Charly Joe was born Wednesday night at 7:51pm after almost 2 hours of pushing. 8lbs 7oz 20' long. 10 fingers, 10 toes, and dimples!! (neither I nor the bf have dimples)

[jackiep1023]

Kinleigh Marie was born this morning at 3:30am. She weighed 7lb 14oz, 20 inches long. We're both doing great-I'll update with birth story once I have time! And, a pic because I can't resist sharing!

Birth Story:
I will try to keep this relatively short! I went in at 6pm on Feb 2 for induction. I was 39w4d, being induced due to GD. By 7pm, they started the first dose of cytotec (similar to cervadil i believe). At the time of placement, I was 1.5-2cm dilated. At 11pm, I was 3cm, and contracting quite a bit, so they decided not to place another dose of cytotec. The plan at that point was to break my water at 4am (if favorable) and start pitocin.

Around 12:30, I was in enough pain, I asked for pain meds. The nurse suggested maybe some IV meds, as I presumably still had a long night ahead. She checked me, and said I was 5cm, 70%, and since I was progressing so quickly, she would go ahead with the epidural. They called in anesthesiology, and he finally got there around 1:45. The epi took about an hour to get placed and working effectively, and shortly after the anesthesiologist left, my water broke. (2:45ish) I was checked again at that point, and was 10cm, 100%. We held off on pushing until 3am, and I only pushed through about 6 contractions. I was doing well, so nurse had me skip a contraction, and push again. Then, she said stop pushing-she is about to crown and the doctor isn't here. About 5-10 minutes past that point, she looked at me weird, asked if i was pushing (i wasn't!) and got the other nurses jumping into action-baby was coming, whether dr was there or not!

DH watched the whole process (nurse had baby's head when dr walked in and took over). Kinleigh was born with a set of lungs on her-SIL and FIL could hear her from the waiting room 3 rooms down the hall!

We were able to nurse almost a full hour (which helped her blood sugar). The process went fast... But we think it's because of my cervical issues. I had a cerclage placed this pregnancy at 13w, and the dr said likely the only thing holding me was scar tissue. Once the cytotec started dilating me beyond scar tissue, it didn't take much else!

[mevaroo]

Everett Was born at 7:50 a.m., 8 lbs, 11oz. 22 inches long.

We had a great RCS, joking around with the nurses and anesthesiologist before starting the procedure. Everything went really well, and I'm glad that our hospital doesn't do VBACs because it this case it would have been nearly impossible. Everett was still pretty high up and transverse, so I felt a LOT of pressure and tugging as they were trying to scoot him down and flip him so they could get a good hold on him. He also took some convincing to take his first breaths and had to be "bagged" twice which was super scary, but he's doing great now.

It was really cool to get to "watch" a lot of the procedure (including him getting taken out) because the reflection in the light above the table was at just the right angle.

So far everything is going well and Everett went right to the nipple and latched. I also got to do skin to skin for the rest of the time I was in the OR and in the recovery unit u til they transferred me to Post Partum.

Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers this morning!

[bluedot]

Found mine!

Thanks to everyone for the good vibes for a quick easy delivery! They worked!

Short Version: Theodore Athens was born 2/13, at 11:42am, 8lbs, 21inches long, 12 days early

Longer Version: I had been feeling kinda sick on Wednesday evening and had quite the eventful few bathroom trips. Around 11pm I finally got into bed and DH and I joked about how funny it would be to have a Valentines baby... Who we were naming Teddy. We laughed it off bc the Dr. Had just told me to expect to be pregnant a while longer.

Just about to fall asleep I felt the famous POP and got myself out of bed to feel a gush. In complete shock I didn't know if it was my water or if I pee'd. DH totally thought I was joking! We did some quick research on water breaking and when we were pretty certain that was the case, I put the call into my Dr. And he told me to get going to the hospital.

I got checked in and was back in triage really fast! It was right around midnight at this point. Found out I was only 1cm, but water had broken for sure so that meant go time!

I was able to labor on my own for a while, but when the next check showed no progress my Dr. Ordered pitocin. Things got intense rather fast, and me being a scaredy cat freaked about the epi, and held off until my contractions were too much to handle.

Epi was placed, and was so easy. Barely a pinch felt while placing it and within 20 min I was pain free. At this next check I was 5cm and it was about 8am. I decided to send DH home really quick to feed and walk the dog, and pick up a few things.

Shortly after he left I got another check in hopes of placing an internal monitor. That didn't happen though bc I was already 8cm! Luckily we live only 7 minutes from the hospital and DH got back quickly.

I was 10 cm by 10am, and pushing started at 11:00am. It took 42 minutes and my little Teddy was here. Came out yelling, but has been a really calm LO since then. I did tear, 2nd degree so that has been the worst part. Worth every stitch though!

He is the most beautiful thing DH and I have ever laid eyes on. I still can't believe we made that!

Sorry for the length! Thank you to all of F14 for the last 8.5 months! From BFP to birth you've all helped me so much! Can't wait to continue this journey with you all!

[ivedonethisb4]

I feel a little bad that I never posted mine officially just talked about it here and there..I couldn't bring myself to write it out...it was too scary..

I could only think about it for a long time in parts.

[ramfan05]

I went in last Thursday, 2/20 for my RCS. I was extremely nervous about it, but everything went great! We were team green, and my OB told DH to look over the curtain right before she pulled the baby out. My favorite memory is when he stood up to look and then quickly looked back at me and told me "It's a girl!" right before I heard the OB announce it to the room. It was really special to me that he was the one who told me. Team green turned team pink!

She was 8lb, 4 oz and 21 1/4 inches long! Long and skinny, just like DS. He is such a proud big brother and we are all just so in love with our sweet little girl! We are going home today and I am really excited to have my whole family together

Thanks for all of the support these last 9 months! I'm looking forward to the next stages of mommyhood, F14!

[mosaicmoscato]

Short version: Elias Lee was born Feb 5th at 5:16 pm. He was 7lbs 2oz and was 19.5 inches long!

Long version: I'll keep it short since I'm mobile, lazy, and sleep deprived I started having back labor about 1:30am. I labored at home for awhile, but it got pretty intense by 3. I called my Doula to come over, and I kept laboring at the house until about 7am when the pain was unbearable and my contractions were about 3 mins apart and 2 mins long. I got the hospital and had to wait 30 mins before I was seen. I definitely caused a scene in the lobby. I was sobbing in pain, and everyone in the lobby was getting mad the nurses wouldn't take me back (they didn't think I was in true labor because I was unsure if my water broke). Finally a security guard actually had to go get someone to take me back he felt so bad. Anyways got back and I was 5cm. I wanted an epi so bad and it took another 2 hours before I got one. I was 7cm by then. After that I felt so much better but my contractions started slowing down and then LOs heart rate started dropping at each contraction too. It was really scary, and talk of an emergency cs started. I got some oxygen, move postions, and he started getting his heart rate back up. Finally after 16 hours of labor I got some piticion and contractions got back up. I pushed for like 30 mins and he was born!! We're so in love

[katybriggs]

I looked mine up last night. What a wild 3 days that was. I can't wait to go reread others today too. Grab the kleenex!!


--
Birthstory: there's no long version! I was induced, Pitocin started @ 7am & doc broke water. I labored on my own for 3 hours, got to 4cm. Got the epi @ 10am (and benadryl!) I was 9cm by 11:30. Dr checked me at 12, told me I could push. 7 pushes later our sweet Aaron Michael was born at 12:20pm 7lbs 9oz 20in and he is gorgeous! I had a lightening speed labor & I feel like it was much easier than I prepared for, I know I'm incredibly lucky. I have a mild 1st degree tear & it is very manageable.




Update - this is the long part: Since he's been out he's given us some trouble. Breastfeeding started out really poorly. Through the AMAZING help of my hospital's nurses and lactation consultants that has gotten 1000% better. If you are having any problems ask for help, and ask for assistance with EVERY feeding while you're in the hospital. It made a world of difference! Just don't get discouraged, because there's a lot you can do to make improvements even if your baby winds up on supplementation for a little bit.




Saturday night at his 36 hour blood test he came back with really high billirubin levels. They brought the billi lights to our room and started him on phototherapy. The lights do not provide heat though, so 2 hours later we noticed his hands, feet, and lips were blue. They rushed him to the nursery to get his temperature back up while DH and I sobbed at the nursery window out of stress. A number of factors lead to his jaundice, 1 being his poor feeding in the first 24 hours - there was no food/ fluids to flush his system. Also I'm A- and he's A+ blood type, and jaundice is very common. Plus all the regular things like being an infant, la la la. It's really common, it sucks, but it's common. His 48 hour levels came back even higher, so they discharged me and kept him yesterday.




Cue massive meltdown. Even though it's a relatively mild condition that is totally temporary and fixable, DH & I had never felt such pain in our lives as leaving him at the hospital yesterday. Neither of us have ever hurt that way before. But we came home, got some rest, took the best showers of our lives, had dinner, and went back up to the hospital last night to see him. He already is looking better, and he nursed like a champ, and he's on formula supplementation as well until we can get the whole breastfeeding thing going strong. He's sucking well and is not having any nipple confusion whatsoever. I pumped an AMAZING 6mL of colostrum while typing the first part of this, hooray! His overnight levels showed a lot of improvement, they will check him again at noon today.




DH is still asleep, and I'm going back to bed, but I wanted to give everyone an update since I've been radiosilent. We're hopeful that Aaron will come home today, and if not today, very likely tomorrow. Being home without him is awful, but leaving him last night was completely different than earlier in the day. We had such a good visit and made such good progress that leaving last night was all smiles because we knew he is in such good care. My nurses were (and still are) the most amazing people I've ever come in contact with. One in particular made a world of difference to all 3 of us, and we tracked her down last night just to hug her.




I can't wait to catch up on all the other beautiful outside babies, and congrats to all the new mommas I've missed out on. Huge hugs to any of the mommas going through any difficulties, I know what it's like and it will get better. Stay strong and remember that you have to take care of you too! Love to my F14 family!

[bepandnick]

I love this thread chiawombat!!!


Short Version:
I woke up at 1:45 am to my water breaking and headed into the hospital. I was fully ruptured and at 1 cm. Things progressed pretty fast and I was ready to push around 10:15. Emmett was born at 10:41, 5 lbs 4 oz and 18.5" long.

Long Version:
I woke up around 1:45 am, thinking I had to pee but when I got to the bathroom I started gushing and the tp was pinkish when I wiped. I woke up the husband and called the doctor. I didn't have any cramps or contractions, so I figured we were in for a long wait. I decided to have a shower while I was waiting for the doctor to call back. We headed into the hospital, in the snow, about around 2:15 or so.

Once I was checked in and poked and prodded, they did a cervical check and I was only at 1 cm. Since nothing was happening the doctor decided to give me cervadil to jump start labor. The goal was to have me deliver within 18-24 hours.
I went from a 1 to a 4 pretty quickly, at some point the cervadil fell out but the doctor felt like it had done it's job and didn't re-insert it. My contractions were long and right on top of each other, so I got my epidural. After that I took a short nap.

About an hour later the nurses were having trouble finding his heartbeat on the monitor so they checked me again and I was at 10 and ready to go. My doctor came back, I pushed for maybe 20 minutes and Emmett was here. They got him measured and cleaned up and my hubs went with him to the NICU while I stayed in recovery.

I have 2 1st degree tears and am really sore, but other than that am doing ok.

I've been able to pump and they have given Emmett the little bit I am producing right now. It's frustrating to pump and get nothing but it's stimulating my supply and at 34 weeks, any little but he gets helps.

Despite being early he scored 9 on the apgar and is doing really well. We started supplementing with formula late last night and are trying to breastfeed when he's giving the cues to help with my supply and nipple confusion. Feeding and bowel movements are what the NICU doctors are concentrating on right now, so hopefully his stay will be shorter than 2 weeks.

We are totally in love with this little guy and can't wait until we get him home

[utpony]

Love this thread!! (holy shit mine was long)

Short version: Annalise Emma was born 2/18 at 5:53 pm. She weight 7lb 3oz and is 19.5 inches long. She made her arrival after 10.5 hours of pitocin and only 40 minutes of pushing. She was ready!

Long LONG LONG version: I’ve been hesitating writing this because it was honestly a scary experience for both me and DH. When the pediatrician asked me about the birth I completely broke down in her office. But maybe it will help to write it all out.

I had to be induced because of high blood pressure. My original birth plan months ago was a total med free birth, and the farther along I got in the pregnancy the more I realized that was not going to happen. Anyway, my doctor tried to get me to as close to 40 weeks as possible, but it got to the point where she was worried about my health.

We checked into the hospital on Monday night after a last lovely meal of Waffle House (chocolate chip waffles…it had to happen). They started with cervidil as soon as we got checked in and settled. I didn’t feel a thing from that. They offered me ambien to help me sleep, and that did nothing either. They wanted me to stay on my left side because of my blood pressure, and my hips were killing me. And I swear they had us in the sauna room.

Tuesday morning around 7:30 they started the pitocin and broke my water. This was the drug I really really didn’t want. Not long after I started having pretty strong contractions. What sucked was I wanted out of bed BAD. I wanted to sit, rock on my birthing ball, something. But because my blood pressure was out of control they wouldn’t let me out. My doula was amazing with helping me through the contractions, and helping my husband cope with seeing me in that much pain.

After 4 hours of what can only be described as whale talk (think Dory talking whale in Finding Nemo) I finally begged for the epidural. My doula actually wanted to hear my safe word that I had set up, and could I remember it? Nope. Cause I picked Hefeweizen. Dumb idea.

The epidural was really rather painless. Uncomfortable and weird definitely, but it didn’t hurt like I had thought. And the catheter, I actually liked that! It was really nice not having to get up to pee. Once that kicked in it was smooth sailing. I got to visit people, tell stories, it was fun.

My doula started noticing I was having trouble with contractions again, so she went and got the nurses and kicked everyone out the room. The nurses checked me, and LO was right there! Doula and DH got to have a looksie and see her dark hair. They called the doc, and the pushing began. With the epidural I didn’t feel a thing, and the nurses were amazing. Annalise was born after about 10 contractions in 40 minutes!

This is where the fun began. I got to hold her right away. There were tears of course. They took her over to get cleaned up, and I started getting dizzy. I remember very little from this point on. They were trying to deliver my placenta, but my uterus refused to contract. They upped the pitocin, and nothing. At this point I was in and out of consciousness for the next 2 hours. Apparently I started hemorrhaging, bad. DH held Annalise while my doula tried to keep him calm and find out what was happening. In between the placenta not delivering and the massive 4th degree tear I had, I was losing a lot of blood very quickly and my blood pressure was so high they were concerned I was going to have a stroke. The OR was being set up, they were ready for a blood transfusion, and I’m pretty sure I was given every kind of drug known to man.

At some point I came to begging for water. My doula fed me ice chips for what seemed like forever. I remember looking around and there must have been 15 people in that room and DH was crying in the corner holding our daughter. By this time they had stopped the hemorrhaging and were repairing my tear. It was a long night after that with all the pain and trying to wrap my head around what happened.

We are home now, and I’m still in insane amounts of pain. But with such a cutie to take care of I’m dealing. My milk supply was delayed due to the blood loss, so she has some jaundice that we’re keeping a close eye on. 30 stitches inside and out makes me cry myself to sleep every night, but I think it’s getting better.

So there’s my novel. Here’s some pictures if you managed to make it through all that (or if you just skipped to the bottom…because damn that was long.)

[hammysmommy]

Garrett Andrew was born at 3:14pm on March 10, 2014.
I've been hibernating a bit since Garrett was born, trying to get used to this new little person.
On Wednesday 3/5 (40w5d), I went to my appointment after having been awake for >24hrs and having had 30-45s contractions every 8minutes for >12 hrs. I was still at 0cm, so we talked induction. Unfortunately, I'd thought we'd be getting in by the weekend, but they couldn't schedule me until Sunday. Wed-Sunday I had terrible back pains and slept less than 1h per night in 1-4m stretches. Sunday I called to confirm our induction, and after being told to call back later, we were confirmed and planned to head to the hospital for the night. They told us to take our time and have dinner on the way.
We checked into the hospital around 9:30/10pm, only to be told that I was 3cm and therefore couldn't get the cervadil and insurance wouldn't cover the night so we should go home. It turns out that the 4 days of back pains were actual contractions (back labor) but they just weren't following a timetable. H and I decided to stay anyhow (they wanted us back at 6am and that just wouldn't happen where we live an hour away from the hospital). They brought me an Ambien (the plan was to sleep through the cervadil and in my deprived state that part was still valid), and we settled in for the night. I went to the bathroom only to have my water break - let the fun begin!
After a few hours, I had sterile water injections in my back for the back labor, which were ah-maze-ing! I was falling asleep standing up in between contractions and but the pain was manageable so we didn't go for an epidural. My midwives came in around 8am (I think) at which point I was 9/9.5cm. I never quite made it to 10 cm though... There was one little section of my cervix which wasn't getting out of the way... They tried moving it during contractions, and while pushing but it never moved. We pushed, in so many different positions, for 5 hours and they brought in an OB/Gyn for a consult. They weren't seeing the progression that they wanted and his head wasn't getting through. She suggested that we consider vacuum assistance and/or going for a c-section. She said they could only try the vacuum once, if it was going to work it would work otherwise... So we pushed for another 45min or so, just to be certain we'd given it our all, and then the room was full of what seemed like a million people for the vacuum attempt. They lost suction on the first contraction, so they gave it one more contraction to see if it would work. It didn't.
Everyone cleared out, and they brought H some scrubs. I asked H if he thought we should tell our folks that we were going for a c-section, and he got really flustered (headed to the bathroom with tears in his eyes). We decided not to and I was wheeled over to the OR for prep - H to come in shortly. The anesthesiologist started to put my spinal in - well he tried. And tried. And tried. 16 attempts later, he was flummoxed and said I'd have to go under general I was so worried about H having to sit in another room waiting without any idea what was going on. They helped me lay down, and then I woke up in post-op care. After sleeping off the drugs a bit, they took me back upstairs and to my room - no one was there. I was scared having no idea where my family was... H just hadn't come down from the nursery yet (gabbing and showing Garrett off to the nurses).
It wasn't our ideal birth experience, but our only "plan" had been to have Garrett delivered safely, so it was still a success
Since then we've been dealing with some supply issues (apparently I have tubular breasts which aren't as good at making milk) jaundice and too much weight loss (>10.5%). We've been trying to adjust at home since we were discharged the Friday after Garrett was born. H is getting over a nasty cold which has wiped him out for the past week+ so it hasn't been exactly as we'd hoped...
I'm struggling with feelings of inadequacy over the milk issue, as well as the general I just had a baby issues (exhaustion, pain, emotions etc), but I love my son and I wouldn't trade a minute of it.
Thanks for reading!

[innanni]

Baxter Cornelius arrived on January 23rd at 8:04 am by c section. He is 6lbs 6oz and 17 3/4 inches long. We are home now and doing great. I'll post a birth story on this thread later when I'm feeling up to it.

Feeling much better today ladies. Thank you for all the well wishes. Baxter and I are doing great so far. He was born at 38 weeks 2 days. On Tuesday the 21st we began my scheduled induction at 2pm that afternoon. We did 12 hours of cervidil. It made for an exhausting night of monitoring, but no contractions and no change by the morning. Then 12 hours of Pitocin which got me contracting every three minutes, but they were mild and never progressed. At 3pm Wednesday the doctor checked my cervix and I was still completely closed up. I then knew the c section I had been hoping to avoid was now a reality. With my diabetes it was much safer for him to go ahead and come out. I had expected to be terrified of the surgery, but I surprised myself by feeling incedibly calm and focused like a laser on getting my son here as safely as possible. We were sent home to eat and sleep. I had to fast after midnight and be back at the hospital by 5:30am to start the prep. I expect my surgery was much like any c section. If anyone wants more details because they are expecting their own, I'll be happy to answer any questions about what mine was like. But, I will say the surgery itself was very fast from the time they started prepping me until I was out of recovery. Everyone was very prepared and even though it was all new to me the surgical team was very used to the surgery and knew exactly how to reassure and direct me so that everything went smoothly. He was born at 8:04. My husband was sitting and holding my hand for the whole surgery, but was allowed to stand and look over the drape as he was born. I will never forget the look of wonder on his face, or hearing my son's cry for the first time. Instead of the surgery being the terrifying experience I had feared, I ended up feeling overwhelmed with love. (Next time, I'll know the part to be nervous about is recovering from the c section! Ha, yeah this is not fun, but husband is here taking care of me for the next week and a half.). Pictures below are me finally holding him for the first time once I was out of recovery, and him posed on the quilt my husband made for him wearing a shirt my brother bought to the hospital as a present. I think his little worried face is so adorable. He really prefers to be held at all times. That is a preference his dad and I are happy to help with!

[versed2]

Birth story

So, after 5 weeks of contractions due to my "irritable uterus," they decided to finally become productive.

I had spent the past week timing a lot of contractions that seemed to have gotten closer, but Monday, January 20th, I decided to clear the contraction counter app and just let my body trust that it would know when the real thing would happen. I guess that finally letting go allowed it to happen: the real contractions started about 5pm. By 6, contractions were averaging 6min. Since Adam came so quickly, we were advised not to wait too long to head in. I called my sister to head over to stay with Adam, and she was at the house by 7 so we were at the hospital by 7:30.

Hooked up to the monitors, contractions were strong but irregular, ranging from 2-6min. I was measured at 2cm, which was the same I was last Thursday. After arriving at the hospital at 8cm with Adam, the "2" was very disappointing. We walked around for an hour and then got measured at 4, so we got to stay. We called my parents and mil about coming by since they wanted to be in the waiting room. We walked for another hour, and then I headed into the tub to labor after getting measured at a 6 - woohoo! The tub was magical for a good 45min.

After leaving the tub, the dr offered to break my water to speed things up. I decided to go for it. Once that happened, shit got real. Contractions intensified tenfold and sped way up. I retreated to the bed and labored on my side, holding DH's hands during contractions. I progressed very quickly, but needed to empty my bladder in order for the baby to make the complete decent. Enter quick cath - awful! But it helped.

Once the bladder was emptied, it was time to push. The pushing was intense but felt great (compared to the contractions). He was born in about eight pushes - 20 min vs the hour for Adam. Turns out the little guy was sunny-side-up, which contributed to the pain of labor. So anyways, 8 pushes and the little guy was on my belly! I did it without meds and didn't even tear!!

He nursed right away before getting his measurements and blood sugar measurements. He weighed in at 9lb 3oz and was measured at 22 1/4 long - No wonder I was so big! He did great and is a very laid-back guy.

Big brother came to visit this afternoon and he did amazing. He seemed to know right away that this was Sammy. He showed us "gentle" by patting baby's belly. He then proceeded to point out that the baby had a nose, eyes, mouth, and ears. A was psyched that Sammy had a Grover doll for him, too. He wanted to hold the baby so A sat on my lap, and we held the baby. Sammy got lots of kisses from A The novelty did wear off, and Grover did great entertaining Adam for a good hour before they left for a cafeteria dinner.

So in love with this little guy!

[marajadeskywalker]

Short version: Alexander James - born 12/21/13 at 10:22am 5 lbs, 4oz and 19 in

Long version: I work about an hour away from where I live, but in the same town that my parents live in. I closed up that night around 9:30pm, and had to open the building the following day first thing in the morning, so I planned on staying with my parents. There was also a huge ice storm heading our way, so I didn't want to drive in that either.

I had an OB appointment that morning and everything was looking fine and it was an easy night at work. I was having trouble getting comfortable while sitting down, so I spent a lot of time walking around talking to clients. After my shift, as I was walking into my parents house, my water broke. I honestly didn't realize what had happened at first and thought I had peed myself without realizing it.

Once I realized what was actually happening (and it probably took me longer to figure it out than it should have), I yelled for my mom, who proceeded to panic.... really helpful lol. My brother and his family were home visiting from Texas (we are in Ontario) and were staying at my parents for the Christmas holidays and he took charge. He and my SIL had a baby in October so he 'knew what to do' lol.

We called H, who was at home after a work party an was in no condition to drive to let him know what was happening, and then my mom took me to the hospital while Brother #1 went to pick up H, and my dad put brother #2 to bed (he has angelman's syndrome so is developmentally around 2 years old), and then Dad left sil with Bro #2 and joined us at the hospital.

Once we got to the ER, I was taken immediately to L&D who did an exam and an ultrasound to see what was happening. They were hoping they could stop the labour, but I had lost too much fluid. H finally arrived and then nothing. The hospital we were at wasn't equipped to handle a preemie, so we had to wait around there (for about 5 hours) until they found one that could take us. While we waited, I was given a steroid shot, and was examined again by probably the most foul nurse (and not overly gentle) I have ever met.

An ambulance ride later (I got the lights and sirens lol) we made it the next hospital, where I was hooked up to the monitors and examined again - a lot gentler this time. I was about 4 cm by this point. A couple of hours later I was given an epidural, and then things started moving a lot faster.

I was given another shot of steroids and then, around 9:30am it was time to push. The doctors couldn't figure out why he was being so difficult to deliver, they figured it would be very quick because of his age, but he was 'sunny side up' and not as small as they were expecting. Almost an hour and an episiotomy later, Alexander James was born. He joined us on December 21, 2013 at 31w 6d, weighing 5lbs, 4oz and was 19 inches long.  He was due February 16, 2014

I wasn't able to hold him, as he was taken to NICU immediately. I sent H with him, while I delivered the placenta and was stitched up (by which time the epidural had worn off and I could feel everything!!!!) I was able to hold A the next day.

We were in the NICU for a month. He had to be on breathing support for 1 day, and then the rest was eating and growing. He is huge now - definitely taking after his father (who is 6'9" tall). Our pediatrician figures he would have been 11+ lbs had he gone to term.

[caer]

I was still a lurker when DS was born, but I've always wanted to write it down so here goes!

Short version: DS was born on January 29 at 8:33 PM, 6 lbs 14 oz, 20.25 inches.

Long Version: my due date was February 6. On January 29, I had a doctor's appointment with an ENT at noon. While I was waiting, I started to have light contractions. I mentioned it to the doctor during the examination and he said "ah, you're a first time mom. Go home, get in the bath, have a glass of wine. This will take awhile." Famous last words.

I got home at 1PM, started timing contractions and they were 3 minutes apart, lasting about a minute each. I timed about 30 minutes when it became clear that the time between contractions was getting shorter. So I called my doctor and my husband and told them it was go time.

By the time DH got home around 2:30 PM, I was in full blown back labor. We rushed off to the hospital (about 20 minutes away) and that car ride was horrendous. I just remember feeling like I wanted to climb out of the window. I was literally thrashing around, clawing at the windows during the contractions.

We arrived at the hospital around 3PM (parked in a doctor's spot!) and I was put in triage and checked shortly thereafter. I was at 4cm so they admitted me. The back labor was pretty awful - the only thing that brought any relief was my DH pushing as hard as he could against my lower back during contractions.

I let them know I wanted an epidural and got one at 3:45 PM. It was glorious and worked perfectly. I was checked again right after - around 4PM - and I was at 10cm! So I went from 4cm to 10cm in less than an hour. But baby was still high so they decided to let me labor down until I felt like I was ready to push.

For the next four hours, I ate ice cubes and watched TV. It would have been relaxing except that my water broke and there was meconium in it and LO's heartbeat was a little uneven. So I was very anxious. I also had the shakes from the epidural.

My parents arrived and we all hung out in my room. Shortly before 8PM, I started to feel like I wanted to push. As an aside - we were watching Jeopardy while this was happening. Shortly after the final jeopardy question was read, I told my nurse I wanted to start pushing. My mom started to hurry my Dad put of the room and, in all seriousness, my dad asked "don't you want to hear the answer to final jeopardy?" The look on my mom's face will stay with me forever. She made him leave.

We started practice pushes and LO's heartrate started to drop. The doctor stopped in and warned me that they were a little concerned about the heartrate and would keep an eye on it. He left and we pushed a couple of more times. He came right back in and said "it's baby time." Apparently the heartrate was concerning. I only pushed through two more contractions, then the doctor gave me an episiotomy and used the vacuum to get LO out. DS came out shrieking, so that was a relief. He did have the cord wrapped around his neck which explained the heartrate issues.

The first thing the nurse said was "he's a redhead!" We were in love instantly. He was a great nurser and took to it right away.

My recovery was fairly tough. The nurse in the maternity area looked under my sheet and said "oh you poor thing." Not exactly what you want to hear. I also had a lot of bleeding and needed pitocin to make it stop. But it was all worth it! It's been an awesome journey.

[junebugz1]

Birth story:
"Thanks for the T&P's everyone! Went in for a scheduled c-section yesterday morning, and all went as planned pretty much. LO weighed 8lbs, 12oz @ 38w 4d. Both of our blood sugars have been good post partum. We discovered that my uterus was somewhat heart-shaped (rather than pear) which is why he couldn't turn from breech...he was too big and stuck. Anyway, healthy little boy, and mama recovering well so far. They let me BF in recovery, and he had a strong latch. Today, they unhooked my IVs and epidural and had me start slowly walking in the hallway. BF has been a little more challenging today though."

LO's STORY:
"LO is being admitted into NICU due to a possible bowel obstruction. He may be having surgery today (waiting to hear back from surgeon). Meanwhile, they are putting a tube down to let gas off, and IV for fluids/ sugar since he can't eat. He's starting Day 3 and hasn't pooped any meconium. His belly is distended and gassy. Tests from earlier show that a blockage may be pretty high up, and what has come out since the enema/procedure also indicates a problem. Please pray for him, and a successful surgery (if they decide it is needed).

UPDATE:
Well, it has been a very eventful/tearful day... prior to surgery, the surgeon explained possible scenarios and solutions to what he might find during the procedure (and the real possibility that LO would have had a colostomy bag for a while and several weeks recovery in NICU).

So, LO went in for surgery this evening and they found a crimp in his upper intestines, which prevented anything from passing. Behind that it was very backed up with meconium. So they removed his appendix to use as the access point to perform the surgery which allowed them to fix the crimp and flush out a lot of the blockage. He's recovering from surgery now in the NICU. Hopefully we will be able to go snuggle with him in the morning. He will be in the NICU several days until his digestive system is up and running again and can feed normally. Hopefully he will recover quickly with no complications. (On the plus side, he won't ever have to worry about appendicitis). Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers! They are appreciated more than you know! ❤️

UPDATE 1/27/14:
LO had a couple of small poops over the weekend, so today they started him on 5cc of breast milk via bottle every 3 hours. The suction tube is out of his throat, and now he just has an IV and lipids. Such good news!

I was released from the hospital yesterday so now we make the trips back to visit him.

Thank you so much for the love, prayers, and support! ❤️"

UPDATE 1/28/14:
"We received the best surprise phone call ever on Wed morning from LO's NICU doctor. They decided he was ready to go home! (We thought he had at minimum a couple more days to go). So after a lengthy discharge and baby care, we brought him home. Last night was the most sleepless night ever, but we are so happy he is home! Thanks for your thoughts, prayers, and love! "

UPDATE 2/14/14:
"LO's first state newborn screening came back "indetermined" a few days ago for cystic fibrosis (not positive, but not negative either). This morning we received the call with results for second PKU screening and it came back "positive" for CF. {heartbroken} They are referring us to pedi CF specialists for further testing. CF has been on everyone's minds since his bowel obstruction surgery as the NICU doctor was the first to mention having him tested. Currently at a loss for words and there have been many tears today... please keep him in your prayers once again. Thank you."

[cyclone]

Will was born on January 31, 12 days early. My blood pressure had been slowly creeping up, and on the wednesday before he was born it was pretty elevated. The OB did a few blood tests and I got to do a 24 hour urine catch (no fun!). The next day, the ob called to say that one of the blood tests came back with elevated liver enzymes and that my platelet numbers were falling... he wanted to see me on Friday (the 31).

That appointment was fun, he decided to induce me for preeclampsia. We were 8 hours into the induction before Will's heart rate dropped from 140 to 60. 3 nurses rushed in and kept turning me to try to get his heart rate back up (I had already gotten an epi, since pitocin hurts), the on call ob came in a couple minutes later and decided that we needed an emergency c-section to get Will out since his heart rate wasn't coming back up. DH almost missed the c-section as he was down in the lobby picking up food from one of our friends and the nurses weren't letting me call him.

The OB mentioned afterwards that I may have still needed a section... Will had been face up and he likely would've gotten stuck on my bone.

[iwubrory]

Amelia Grace was determined to be a Feb baby, making her way into the world Friday, Feb. 28th at 10:15pm. My only birth plans were to have an epidural and do skin to skin. I only got one of those items checked off.

I had a scheduled induction because I was post dates, 41 + 2. At 11:30 they started me off with a round of Cytotec. I began having contractions but couldn’t feel them. After four hours they gave me a second round. That resulted in strong contractions coming every 60 to 90 seconds. I was hooked up to wireless monitors so I could walk around, which helped for a while. I asked to be checked at 6:30, to my horror I was only a fingertip dilated. Just after being checked contractions got much worse. My husband kept asking if I wanted my epidural but I resisted because I wanted to get to a 3 before getting it and figured I must be nowhere near there. Around 8:30 I needed some type of help so I asked for the IV pain meds (Fentanyl). That made me loopy enough to take the edge off for about 30 minutes then quit working. The nurse told me the midwife was finishing a delivery and was coming to check me and said I could have another dose in 30 minutes. When I finally got it, it didn’t do a thing. At that point, I said I didn’t care what I was dilated to, that I wanted my epidural.

The midwife came in at 9:55 just after my epidural was ordered. I was so freaking proud of myself to learn that I’d made it to a freaking 7 without an epi! Just after she left the anesthesiologist came in and started explaining things. She was waiting for one last contraction to end so she could start but when it ended I yelled, “She’s coming, she’s coming, I have to push!” I threw myself back into position and the nurse was yelling, “Don’t push, I have to check you” and I was screaming “I can’t not push, I can’t not push!” Yes, that’s what I actually said. Of course she checked, I was complete and pushed that baby out without my freaking epidural! I went from a 7 to her being born in less than 20 minutes. It was totally crazy and there was a ton of screaming. My poor husband was so scared.

I had a great experience once she was out. I was more aware of what was going on around me than I was with DS. We did skin to skin, I saw DH cut the cord, I asked lots of questions, and the midwife gave me a tour of my placenta. Cherry on top was that I only had a paper cut sized tear that didn’t require stitches. Amelia took to breastfeeding right away and continues to be a nursing champ.

Holy cow, sorry that got so long! Here's my girl.

[kimmerz424]

Ok I never posted my birth story because it took me a while to come to terms and I was still too shy but here goes



TL/DR: Long labor 2 hours pushing. It was crazy scary and I'm sure I missed some but Abigail Rose was born 2/18/14 9:24 pm and 11 months later you wouldn't believe her start.



2/18/14 4am I woke up a little wet, I nudged my DH and said "I think my water broke" he kinda drowsily responded "ok" I said "I'll go to the bathroom and check" haha, as soon as I stood I knew. I called the OB and she said come in. Me being the procrastinator I am packed my bag and we left. It was a snowy mess, I told my DH it was going to be a long day he should hit up McDonalds for some breakfast, he declined and said "I'm not worried about eating right now"....I was....



Checked in, in L&D, my OB was in the office so I had another Dr, who I had met when I was in the hospital a few weeks previous due to kidney stones (or so they think I never got an official diagnosis). It was a rough last month.



I was only 1cm dilated. He said we'll start Pitocin and things should start happening soon. Well 4-5 hours later nothing. Another dose of Pitocin and I started having contractions, I couldn't feel them but they could see them coming. The pain I was having was in the same spot that I had the "kidney" pain in a few weeks ago. I still wasn't progressing. They gave me some stadol to relax and ease the pain and wait.



Well its going on 6 and now I'm in a lot of pain only in the back though nothing that would have felt like contractions to me. More Pitocin. Finally after creeping up all day I'm at 5.5 and they agree to the epidural, I was in SO much pain at this point the epidural was hell. I couldn't hold still and the anesthesiologist was a jerk about me holding still, seriously dude I was trying. Well the epidural is in and I still have pain its not as bad but certainly not gone. Then the pushing had to begin. I'm not sure how far dilated I was, it was too long of a day to remember at this point. A lot of it is fuzzy actually. I push for maybe half an hour and I hear the dr tell the nurses to turn the epidural off.



I could have died, after the hell I went through to get it in your turning it off!!!! Well he said I wouldn't push unless I felt the pain. Well an hour and a half later the OB came in saying they were going to get the vacuum if something didn't happen in the next 10 min. Well low and behold there she was. PUSH PUSH PUSH baby girl. 7lbs 9oz, 21in and healthy. Me not so much I had a 4th degree tear. Ugh to say the least.



We go to our room and all is well, I'm pretty much on my own with her at this point and quite intimidated, like many have said I didn't have that instant bond. She slept pretty well we woke a few times to kinda nurse and it took about an hour each bathroom trip for me. So come 5am the dr comes in the dark room to check on us, he says "glad your doing well you'll probably go home Thursday"(it was Wed).



Well about an hour later a nurse comes in turns on the light says "I'm just looking at the baby" and left. A few min later someone else comes in and says "I'm taking the baby to the nursery to look at her" and off they go. Well 45 min go by and I still haven't heard anything. I get a robe on and go off to the nursery. I run into some people with a machine in the hall on their way to the nursery.



The charge nurse stops me, and tells me "your baby is not doing well we're running tests, but her O2 saturation is in the 50% and she was very blue"



Wow... I'm speechless, I feel awful like I should have noticed, I'm scared, I'm confused I can't even with how I felt. The on call Ped comes in and tells me, one of her heart valves is barely open and the PDA(which normally closes after birth and was starting to close) was the only thing keeping her alive. It didn't look good. They didn't know if she would make it. They contacted a cardiologist at a bigger hospital and they started Prostaglandin to keep the PDA open and she returned to normal saturation and color.



We had an ice storm that morning, I called my DH and he just made it onto the highway before they closed it and it was on and off on how she was getting to the other hospital, Ambulances couldn't drive, helicopters couldn't fly, eventually she was life flighted to a hospital 2 hours away and I wasn't allowed to go along. I was discharged at the moment the helicopter was taking off, I had to watch my baby go in a helicopter without me. I knew she was in good hands, but I was a mess.



We got the hospital information and the info for the local Ronald McDonald House, they were about to leave the office and asked that we came there first, I was dying. We set up our stuff there then went over to the NICU, with a 4th degree tear I'm walking through a huge hospital I've never been in, I was in pain but somehow I didn't notice. Thankfully she was in great hands. The next day we found out the plan was to do a catheterization of the closed valve and wean her off the prostaglandin if it was successful. Thank god it all worked out and 13 days later we got to bring our baby girl home. She still sees cardiology regularly and eventually will need some sort of procedure, whether it be open heart surgery or another catheterization. Not sure at this point.



Right now she's a happy healthy, 11 month old, who other than taking medicine twice a day you'd never believe her rocky start. When we go to the Pedi now I still occasionally get "Oh your the ice storm baby"



That's my girl. :-)

Tried adding a pic but still working on it.

[moxy]

I don't think I ever officially posted a birth story, so I'll post it here.

I had a dr apt on January 28 - I was 39w4 days- because my Bp was elevated, my OB decided to send me to LD where they decided to just induce the following morning.

At 7am they started pitocin and by 9 broke my water. I just kicked back and relaxed. Contractions were mild but I started becoming uncomfortable by noon. I had asked for something for pain but wanted to wait on the epidural but the dr ordered the epi anyway.

At 3pm, they checked me and I hadn't made much progress so they sat me upright to see if it would help him come down more. At 3:30 the OB came in and recommend a section because of lack of progress. I wish I had waited honestly. E had moved down a little and everything else was good. Baby and I were tolerating everything well. My dr mentioned shoulder dystocia being a possibility because of size and I went ahead and gave the ok.

I knew the epi wasn't working so hot. I could still fully move my legs. When they had me in the OR they said they had increased it and asked if I could feel my legs when they ran a wet wipe on them - which I could. I felt the wet and wiping action. I was warned that I'd feel pressure, some tugging and pulling but I felt much more than that. I ended up having to be sedated as soon as they took him out so I don't remember much about his first few minutes. DH tells me that he told me that E was out and crying but I just don't recall it.

Eli was perfect. Weighing in at 7lbs 8oz. DH got to walk him down to the nursery and my mom got a ton of pictures. I still tear up seeing those pics. His face had a look of such pride and love.

[sakura0019]

This is a great idea - thanks for starting this!!


Hi ladies! I know this is very over due, but in the fog of birth, coming home and getting used to the new "routine" with LO, I just haven't had time to sit down to the computer before now.

Short version: Isla Claire made her debut on 2/13 at 10:10am. She weighed 6lbs 14.5ozs and was 20 inches long.

Long, long version: DH was gone out of town over the weekend for work, but came home mid afternoon on Monday. I had semi-regular contractions for half the night both Monday and Tuesday night - Not enough to start getting excited about, but just enough to leave me mildly sleep deprived. We went to my doctors appointment Wednesday morning and my BP was high and there was protein in my urine. The ultrasound from that morning showed some calcium, indicating the placenta was starting to get "a little tired", per my OB. She suggested induction the next morning, or to draw labs and see whether they indicated pre-e or not, and then go from there. I was 39w 3d. We discussed both options with her, and decided to do the induction the next morning. We were scheduled to go in at 4:30 the next morning.
Later that day I started contracting more regularly, and more intensely. By 8pm they were pretty intense, and we decided to head into the hospital at 10;30pm. I was admitted, and my plan was to try and go without medication, but was still keeping my options open. I labored until 3am, and I was just so exhausted that I was not handling the contractions well anymore. I opted for the epidural, and requested a very low dose. I'm so glad I did!! I could still feel the pressure of the contractions, but I didn't have the pain anymore. I was able to rest for a few hours, and when the doctor came in to see me at 7:30am I was fully dilated and nearly effaced, so she broke my water.
Holy monkeys!! That's when shit got really intense for me!! Shortly after that I started feeling the urge to push, but the nurse kept urging me to resist because I wasn't entirely effaced yet - almost, but not enough. By 9:30am, I couldn't take it anymore, the urge was overwhelming and I couldn't control myself. I was crying, and I told DH and the student nurse who was with us "I am going to rip these blankets off and push this kid out myself!!" Sooooo not like me. DH looked like he just didn't know what to do - poor guy!! The student nurse grabbed our nurse and she checked me and sent the student to go page the doctor. She told me we were going to do some practice pushes while we waited for the doctor to come. After the first "practice push" she told me to stop until the doc got there. The doctor gowned up as soon as she walked in the room, and we got down to business. I could feel her crowning, and as I pushed I could feel the doctor running her fingers around the rim of my perineal area - Holy shit!! Literally the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. Aaaaand then during one of the final pushes, she put a finger in my bum!!! @_@ I realized later it was to push up from beneath, as LO was sunny-side up, but I was NOT prepared for that, and I freaked out and started fighting her. Well, a little warning next time, woman!!!
In total, 20 minutes of pushing and my sweet little girl was out and on my chest - it was the most surreal thing I have ever experienced. We are so in love with our little snuggle bug!! I remember during delivery thinking: "oh, heeellll no, I am NEVER doing this again", but within seconds of Isla being on my chest I knew that I would do it again.

[akap2010]

My EDD was 2-19-14. I went into labor on 2-14-14 the one day I didn't want! Marlins midnight my contractions started. I labored at home until about 6 am. Got to the hospital and was still only 2 cm. I walked and there was no progression. So I was sent home with a diagnosis if pro-dermal labor. I went to the dr later that day and had progressed to 3 cm. I labored at home until around 5 when I finally fell asleep. Woke up at 7 and just sobbed! The contractions stopped! I was so emotionally and physically drained! On 2-18-14 I went for a massage hoping it would help speed things up... My massage was at 8 by 12:30 I was having contractions 3-5 min apart. I labored at home again until about 5:30 AM on 2-19. Got to the hospital with no change! Walking was a must! They got me in a room and let me labor in there. Around noon my contractions stopped again! When the dr came in and sat on my bed I started sobbing (yet again) and she said "don't cry I haven't even told you the plan!" I said just don't send me home!!! They induced me! I labored with no epidural for another 5.5 hours! Thank god for epidurals!!! By 6:00 I was feeling fabulous! They broke my water, which I never felt with DS since it broke in a lake. What a weird feeling! Around 9:15 my mom and dad arrived, my mom was in the room for both my kids deliveries. At 9:25 I said dad leave and get a nurse. The nurse came in and told me I couldn't push until the dr was there but her head was right there. She told me to give a practice push. I did. Next thing I know she's yelling "STOP PUSHING!! I need a dr!!" I stopped pushing but she just came out. No doctor in the room! My dad was right outside the door and said the dr was running so fast down the hall! It was a crazy couple min after a total of roughly 38 hours (I include my Valentine's Day labor). Luckily LO came out healthy and screaming! Little stinker made me wait until her due date to see her beautiful face!

God I love thinking about this! Even though my labors sucked! I would deliver my babies every single day!

[ciaomama]

I hadn't been feeling well most of the day yesterday and ended up leaving work a little early. My water broke around 10:30pm last night just as I was falling asleep. Got to L&D at about 11:30 and was only 1cm and hard.

They gave me 2 doses of Cytotec to help get things moving and an Ambien to help me sleep. I got a few hours of sleep in and now I'm wide awake. Contractions aren't regular yet, but the little guy is head down and looks great.

Today is LO's due date, so it looks like he's punctual like mom and dad. I can't believe we'll get to meet our son today!

Update 1: it's been almost 12 hours since my water broke and I'm at about 3cm/60% and they're starting me on Pitocin. My contractions have pretty much stalled in the past hour. This isn't really the birth plan I wanted, but whatever it takes to get this baby out safely.

Update 2: Robert William was born at 17:41 today, on his due date. 7lb, 15oz and 20.5" long.

Got an epi at 6 cm and it was pure bliss. 2 hours later I was ready to go and pushed for 30 min. Robert came flying out peeing all over the place. He already latched on like a champ and fed twice. I'm so in love!