Hrushka's birth story
Aug 9, 2016 18:16:52 GMT -5
Post by hrushka on Aug 9, 2016 18:16:52 GMT -5
I wanted to get this in writing much earlier (but you know, life with a newborn), so some of the details are already a little fuzzy. I started typing this out for myself this afternoon, and it's a novel - so here's the "short" version. 
I was scheduled for induction on Weds, July 20 at 7 p.m. (at 37 weeks due to gestational hypertension). DH and I dropped the dog at my parents' house, then went out for dinner on our way to the hospital. It was nice to have a quiet dinner out - our last date as a childfree couple.
Once we got to the hospital I figured things would move fast, but it all took a really long time to get going. They finally placed the cervadil around 11 p.m. We slept while the medicine did it's thing, and when they checked me at 11 a.m. on Thursday, I was dilated to a whopping 2 cm (I was 1 cm when I checked in). They were going to give me Cytotec/misoprostol but apparently my contractions were too frequent (I wasn't even feeling them), so they just had me wait until I was ready for Pitocin.
At 4 p.m. they started the pit, and I started feeling contractions, though they were still really mild. At 10 p.m. they checked me again and I was only dilated to about 3 cm. This was discouraging. My OB broke my water (whoa) and the contractions started getting much more intense. At that point I asked for the nitrous oxide, which ended up being a total joke. It made me feel a little woozy, but did nothing for the pain. By midnight things were getting really intense, and since I'd only been at 3 cm and had no idea how much longer it would be, I decided to go for the epidural. They got it in around 1 a.m. (DH almost passed out watching it and had to go sit on the other side of the room; the anesthesiologist called me stoic because I sat very still for the procedure and endured my contractions very quietly, lol).
After that we tried to get some rest, but I was still having intense pain in my right hip. After an hour or so the nurse decided to check me (I don't remember why), and I was fully dilated and ready to push! My OB came in, I pushed for a while (DH says it was an hour and a half, but it doesn't seem like it was that long to me), and Mik.a.lai Jam.es was born at 5:38 a.m. on Friday, July 22. The best part was seeing the expression on my husband's face as they pulled our baby out and placed him on my chest. After four years of infertility and loss, finally being able to give him a child was such an incredible feeling.
I ended up with a second degree tear and a few stitches, but overall I didn't think any of it was that bad. I know it's different for everyone, but I'm thankful for a relatively easy delivery.
Our first night (in the hospital) was rough. Mika wouldn't sleep unless one of us was holding him, and we were badly in need of rest. So we just sorta passed him back and forth all night. We went home Saturday evening, and the rest of that weekend is a blur.
On that Monday we had a home nurse visit (my hospital provides that for anyone who leaves within 48 hours of delivery), and learned that he'd lost 12 percent of his body weight and was looking a little jaundiced. She tested his biliruben, which was around 20, and they decided that he needed to come back to the hospital. So we ended up spending 24 hours in the NICU, with M in a bili bed, which was really hard on us. And although I thought breastfeeding was going well, M seems to have some latch issues and is a weak sucker, so I ended up having to start pumping and bottle feeding to get him enough milk to get his weight back up. He was back over his birth weight in a little over a week, but breastfeeding continues to be a challenge.
I was scheduled for induction on Weds, July 20 at 7 p.m. (at 37 weeks due to gestational hypertension). DH and I dropped the dog at my parents' house, then went out for dinner on our way to the hospital. It was nice to have a quiet dinner out - our last date as a childfree couple.
Once we got to the hospital I figured things would move fast, but it all took a really long time to get going. They finally placed the cervadil around 11 p.m. We slept while the medicine did it's thing, and when they checked me at 11 a.m. on Thursday, I was dilated to a whopping 2 cm (I was 1 cm when I checked in). They were going to give me Cytotec/misoprostol but apparently my contractions were too frequent (I wasn't even feeling them), so they just had me wait until I was ready for Pitocin.
At 4 p.m. they started the pit, and I started feeling contractions, though they were still really mild. At 10 p.m. they checked me again and I was only dilated to about 3 cm. This was discouraging. My OB broke my water (whoa) and the contractions started getting much more intense. At that point I asked for the nitrous oxide, which ended up being a total joke. It made me feel a little woozy, but did nothing for the pain. By midnight things were getting really intense, and since I'd only been at 3 cm and had no idea how much longer it would be, I decided to go for the epidural. They got it in around 1 a.m. (DH almost passed out watching it and had to go sit on the other side of the room; the anesthesiologist called me stoic because I sat very still for the procedure and endured my contractions very quietly, lol).
After that we tried to get some rest, but I was still having intense pain in my right hip. After an hour or so the nurse decided to check me (I don't remember why), and I was fully dilated and ready to push! My OB came in, I pushed for a while (DH says it was an hour and a half, but it doesn't seem like it was that long to me), and Mik.a.lai Jam.es was born at 5:38 a.m. on Friday, July 22. The best part was seeing the expression on my husband's face as they pulled our baby out and placed him on my chest. After four years of infertility and loss, finally being able to give him a child was such an incredible feeling.
I ended up with a second degree tear and a few stitches, but overall I didn't think any of it was that bad. I know it's different for everyone, but I'm thankful for a relatively easy delivery.
Our first night (in the hospital) was rough. Mika wouldn't sleep unless one of us was holding him, and we were badly in need of rest. So we just sorta passed him back and forth all night. We went home Saturday evening, and the rest of that weekend is a blur.
On that Monday we had a home nurse visit (my hospital provides that for anyone who leaves within 48 hours of delivery), and learned that he'd lost 12 percent of his body weight and was looking a little jaundiced. She tested his biliruben, which was around 20, and they decided that he needed to come back to the hospital. So we ended up spending 24 hours in the NICU, with M in a bili bed, which was really hard on us. And although I thought breastfeeding was going well, M seems to have some latch issues and is a weak sucker, so I ended up having to start pumping and bottle feeding to get him enough milk to get his weight back up. He was back over his birth weight in a little over a week, but breastfeeding continues to be a challenge.
