Post by kh826 on Feb 17, 2016 18:26:33 GMT -5
Lucie’s Birth Story
WARNING – THIS IS SUPER LONG. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
T’was the Blizzard of 2016… Philadelphia had just been blanketed in about 20 inches of snow. We kept our fingers and toes tightly crossed that I did not go into spontaneous labor in the middle of the storm. We paid a local guy with a snow blower to come dig us out of our driveway and clear a path to my car once the last flake had fallen. J’s mom was staying with us so that she would already be here if I went into labor during the storm. She spent 2 full days with us riding out the storm and totally panicking that every movement I made might bring on labor. By Sunday night (1/24/16), she was driving us ALL crazy, but we are so grateful for her, and she is amazing with William, so it was worth all the extra worry and stress.
Well, we made it through the storm with baby still in belly, so on Monday morning (1/25/16), we called L&D as instructed by my OB at 10am to see if they had a bed for me ready for me to be induced that day. The charge nurse said to come whenever we were ready! We arrived at the hospital at about 11:30am on Monday, January 25th. We checked in with L&D and they sent us to a waiting room to wait for a nurse to come get us. We ended up spending almost 2 hours in that waiting room. I was going stir crazy and REALLY ready to just get the induction party started, so when a nurse came to get us a little before 1:30pm, I was very happy to see her. She took us to a triage room to get a full history and talk to us about our birth preferences, induction plan, etc. A little more than an hour later (after several promises to “be right back” and take us to our delivery room to get started) we were finally shown to the room where we would ultimately deliver. Let’s fast forward to 4pm (because there was A LOT more waiting and talking to people in there, and I have to admit I was pretty annoyed that we had been at the hospital for 4.5 hours before we even STARTED the actual induction – but apparently they got really busy right around the time we arrived at the hospital, so these things happen and we have to be understanding).
Ok, so at 4pm we finally saw the attending who was on for that shift (though she was only on until shift change at 7pm, so we knew she wouldn’t be delivering our baby). We got my IV started, we started Pitocin, they broke my water, and I got an epidural. I opted for a ½ dose of epidural due to some of the issues I had during labor and delivery with William (my BP kept dropping very low, I hemorrhaged A LOT during and after delivery, and then I passed out a few times after delivery – due to low BP and blood loss). After talking with the attending, we agreed that the epidural might have been a contributing factor to my BP issues; however, I was not ready to face a 12+ hour long induction with a ton of Pitocin without an epidural. So we went with the ½ dose epidural as a compromise. It was working when it was first placed, and I could feel that it was providing me with some pain management (I also felt some numbness in my back and legs, but I still had decent range of motion and ability to move). It felt like the best of both worlds. At first.
J went to get some food, we watched reruns of Golden Girls and Reba on TV, we chatted with the various nurses who came in and out of the room to check on me… around 8:30pm we decided to play cards. J brought the game Phase 10 with us to play. We got through about 4 hands of the game, and I started feeling contractions a lot more intensely (probably around 9:30 or 10pm). I mentioned it to the nurse, and she said I was likely progressing (I was told I was still only 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced when they first checked me before we started the induction – which was surprising to me because that is what I was the Thursday before which was 4 days prior and before my OB stripped my membranes). Around 11pm I was starting to feel A LOT of pain and discomfort. The nurse asked if I wanted to see the anesthesiologist, and I said yes. The anesthesiologist arrived in our room around 11:30pm and by then I was feeling every contraction very strongly and I was up to 20 units of Pitocin. The anesthesiologist recommended that I take the other ½ of the dose of the epidural at that point since my BP had been stable and not dropping like with my previous labor. I said OK. He administered the other ½ of the dose of epidural and waited in the room with us for 10-15 mins for it to kick in. It didn’t. He checked the epidural port in my back and said it looked like it wasn’t in far enough. I asked what my options were. He responded at that point that my only options were to ride out the rest of labor without a working epidural or to let him take out my existing epidural and put in a new one. At that point it was about midnight, and I was starting to go through transition. In the middle of all of this, the attending (a new one, after shift change) came in and checked me. I was 7 cm and 90% effaced. I was struggling through each contraction and could not really have a conversation with the Dr and the anesthesiologist. I told them I didn’t want a new epidural at that point. I couldn’t imagine sitting still long enough for them to take out the existing epidural port and then place a new one. So, from that point on, I did not have any medication for pain management.
Then, oddly enough, my BP starting spiking. I have NEVER in my life, in either pregnancy, or in my previous labor had high BP. My nurse thought that my BP was going up b/c of the pain I was experiencing. The attending was concerned about pre-eclampsia. So, they decided they needed to draw my blood and test it to rule out Pre-E. Well, it took them 3 nurses and 4 places on my arms to finally get the blood (I am a notoriously “hard stick”), and that was really annoying and challenging due to the fact that I was in the peak of active labor without any medication for pain management. I will say that if I had been prepared mentally to manage labor without an epidural, I think it would have been a different story, but I wasn’t. I had an epidural with William and I had planned to have one again this time. I hadn’t prepared myself for managing “natural labor/birth.” J hadn’t prepared herself to be my partner/coach through a “natural labor/birth” – so it wasn’t too fun. I also couldn’t get out of the bed due to the catheter and the blood pressure cuff that was monitoring my BP every 2 mins. So that was also no fun.
My blood work finally came back around 2am that I did not have any signs of Pre-E (yay!)
By 3:30am I had pretty much had enough. My way of coping with labor (and those pesky Pitocin contractions!) was pretty much to breathe through each one and to count silently in my head until each contraction was over. It was all I could do, since I could not move out of my bed. Somewhere between 2-3am I made J mute the TV. I also told her in between contractions that I needed total quiet so I could concentrate. I had no idea that I would want that – but I did. Apparently it is my deal to labor in silence. A few nurses came in at different times when I was mid-way through an intense contraction and I couldn’t even look at them. J just softly told them that I would like quiet please. Most of them just left at that point, which I found interesting. Most of the difficult parts of labor it was just J and I in the room, which was different than with William. I feel like we had at least 2 nurses in the room at all times during that labor. However, it was nice for it to just be J and I, especially because I really did want quiet.
So, at 3:30am I told J I was ready to push. She called the nurse for me, and two nurses came with an attending, a resident and a med student. They checked me, and I was 10 cm. They started getting the room ready for delivery (all the instruments, gowns on, bright lights on, etc.). My legs were already up in the stirrups (they did that first). After about 5 mins, the attending said, “OK, let’s try a practice push” – I laughed (gosh, I felt so much better already!), and I said “I’ve already pushed twice.” The doctor looked alarmed and then she said “Yep, I see a head” – then she proceeded to tell me to “wait a minute” – I said “respectfully, unless there is medical reason not to, I am going to push with my next contraction. I am ready for this to be done and meet our baby!” … one of the nurses started laughing and the doctor said OK. I pushed a total of 6 times in about 10 minutes, and she was here! The last few moments as I was delivering here were surreal. It was so different because I could feel everything. I felt her shoulders come out, I felt her legs… it was amazing. The J yelled “Oh my god, it’s a Lucie! We have our Lucie!” I was SHOCKED! I cried. They put her on my chest. The next 20-30 mins is a blur to me. At some point J cut the cord. At some point I delivered the placenta. At some point the dr ordered up blood for me to have on standby for a possible transfusion (I bled a ton again and they struggled to get my uterus to clamp down again). BUT, they managed to get it under control, and luckily I did not need a transfusion. My BP stayed in the normal range, thankfully. I couldn’t really focus on much except for the beautiful baby girl on my chest. J took photos. The doctors worked around us. J and I talked about Lucie and how perfect she was. We both cried. At some point they asked if they could take her to weigh her, etc., I said OK, but J had to go with her. It was only to the other side of the room, but I couldn’t see her because of the position of the bed. J shouted from across the room that she was 8 lb 10 oz – a peanut compared to her brother. She looked SO much like her brother when she was first born. We kept saying that. She was and is perfect. Worth every minute of the wait to meet her.
So, to summarize and wrap this stream of consciousness up (sorry about the lack of attention to grammar, etc. – if I was going to get this out while I could still remember it clearly, this is what I had time for. I thought about waiting and polishing this up later before posting, but then I decided this was more the style that fit the experience)… anyway, to summarize Lucie Evelyn was born at 4:08am on January 26, 2016 about 16 hours after arriving at the hospital and 12 hours after starting induction. Labor was very difficult and not at all what I expected or prepared for, but delivery was quick and easy, and meeting our daughter was magical.
Recovery has been AMAZINGLY AWESOME! Last time I did not feel like a human for weeks. I struggled to walk, sit or do anything for a couple of weeks. This time, I was in the shower 2 hours after delivery and in my own PJs immediately after that. We opted for early discharge, and we left the hospital 30 hours after delivery. I was at the bank and the grocery store 1 day postpartum. I am 3 weeks and 1 day postpartum today, and I feel physically completely back to myself. My recovery this time has been night-and-day different from my experience after having William. I am so beyond thankful for that. And I am so beyond thankful for my beautiful, healthy children. I can’t believe they are here, and I can’t believe they are ours. I am so lucky.
