AW: Mila's birth story - Long

[kdrake8]

I never shared her birth story originally.  It is long!  I'm sorry!  I just typed it today.  It was neat to be able to remember in so much detail what happened exactly a year ago.

Mila’s Birth Story – April 8, 2012

On April 7, 2012, the night before Easter, my husband and I were at the Easter Vigil mass.  He was converting to be Catholic and I was his sponsor.  I was worried about the sitting and standing, being so close to my due date (April 12) but the priest was kind and got me a chair for the moments I needed it.  During the mass, we watched Mila flip and thrash in my belly.  It was almost embarrassing how dramatically my stomach was moving around!  After the several hour mass was over, I leaned over to my husband and said, “Well, we made it.  The baby can come anytime now.”

After we got home, we had a bite to eat before bed, and crawled into bed at around midnight.  I woke at 3am and got up to pee.  When I came back to bed, I realized I was starting to have some contractions.  I began timing them.  They were 3-5 minutes apart consistently.  I knew I’d have awhile though, so I didn’t wake Scott.  I laid there until about 5am and he woke up from my movement and the light of the phone, I think.  He asked what was going on and I told him I had been contracting regularly for 2 hours.  He got a little anxious I think.  We decided to get up and head into the hospital.  I asked him if I should eat breakfast, since I knew I wouldn’t get to in the hospital, and I hadn’t eaten since a snack at midnight.  He said no, what if I got there and was very far along.  Plus, I am deathly afraid of vomiting and he pointed out that my chances were lessened if I didn’t have anything in my stomach.

I showered and got ready to go.  We were already packed so it didn’t take long.  We put the pugs in the living room as if it was a normal work day for them and took off.

We arrived at the hospital at a few minutes after 6am.  I realized that I had brilliantly forgotten my purse.  I wondered if they’d let me in with no ID, but they did with no problem.  We sent my family back later  for the purse and to bring the pugs down to my In Laws, where my husband would be staying.

I was taken to L&D.  They got me in a gown and hooked me up to everything to measure my contractions.  The contractions weren’t super strong, but they were as regular as I ‘d said.  The nurse said she’d call for the doctor.  I asked which one it was (there are several in my practice) and they told me it was Dr. M.  I was immediately horrified, as he was the only one I didn’t want.  NOT because he isn’t wonderful (he is!) but because I had his daughter in my English class that year and I was terrified of him giving her any account of my labor and delivery.

Dr. M poked his head in and said hello.  My first words to him were, “Don’t tell your daughter that I’m here!”  He laughed and that got some of the awkwardness out.  He measured me.  I was only 2 cm and 85% effaced.  He told me that the labor might take awhile, so that I could choose to stay and have my water broken or go home and labor for awhile, then come back.  I asked him if I would be able to attend Easter Brunch at a restaurant with my parents if I went home and he told me probably not.  Since I couldn’t have any Easter ham anyway, I decided to stay and have my water broken.  At this point we called our parents and told them we were in the hospital and being admitted.  They were all going to have breakfast and then come on up to the hospital to wait with us.  Both of our families live in the same town as the hospital and are both about 10 minutes away.

I got set up in a delivery room.  Dr. broke my water to speed along the process at 9am.  Two hours later I was checked and made very minimal progress, so they started pitocin.  I got an epidural around this time also.  It only worked on one side, so they had me lay on the other side and then brought me a bolster (? Unsure of term) of more epidural to try to numb both sides, which worked.  I got 6 bags of fluid because I kept getting nauseous and the fluid made me feel better for some reason.

I labored all day.  My epidural wore completely off twice and I had to be given more.  At about 8pm the doctor came in and checked me.  He said that I was at a 9 and he stretched me to a 10 so that I could begin pushing.  I asked for more epidural at this point too, as it had worn completely off and I was miserable, but he said no.  It was too close to pushing and he wanted me to be able to feel it.

Boy did I feel it.  I felt everything.  I could completely move my legs.  There was no numbness at all.  I started pushing, hoping that I would be “good” at it, but I apparently wasn’t.  I began pushing at about 8:30pm and pushed for 2 hours.  It was horribly painful, so I was swearing, beating the arms of the bed, being generally dramatic, puking between contractions, and writhing around between contractions.  I remember being upset because I thought there would be relief between contractions, but honestly that time felt much WORSE than the contractions.  At least pushing gave me relief.  However, it also gave me nausea and I had to stop pushing during pretty much every contraction in order to roll on my side and throw up.  At some point during my writhing around between contractions, I remember hearing a pop sound and feeling a weird feeling near my butt.  It ended up being my tailbone that broke.

After two hours of dramatic pushing, asking for the vacuum, asking for a c-section, telling them I was going to die on the table, etc, a nurse came in and adjusted my hand placement on my legs.  When she did this and I pushed again, it was much more effective and she came out quickly.  The doctor came in and delivered heart 10:34pm.  I remember her being placed on my chest and telling Scott that she was very cute.  I remember them taking her away and I looked down and told Scott, “My stomach looks much flatter already!”  Haha!  I don’t remember Scott cutting the cord or them taking her away.  I had to get 2 stitches only, so my tearing was very minimal.  We had time to nurse before they took her, and time for family to come back and meet her.  We didn’t end up in the actual hospital room until after 1am.  I ate a delicious turkey sandwich, drank a Coke, and gleefully passed out for a few hours before they brought her into nurse J

This was my epically long story!  You get cookies and cake if you made it to the end!

[kdrake8]

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[mrsjaymay]

Wonderful, thanks for sharing!! Ouch at the broken tailbone and sorry your epi didn't work! Do you know the chances of it not working again the second time around?

[carawestt]

Haha I love that you decided to stay since you couldn't have ham! Ouch! Breaking your tailbone sounds painful. Luckily it was all worth it because you have the most gorgeous little girl as the result

[helicase]

What a great story. Thank you for sharing! Mila is adorable.

[shevacc]

She's a beauty! Thanks for sharing your story, good work mama!

[kdrake8]

Apr 8, 2013 15:54:04 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

This was my favorite part: "Since I couldn’t have any Easter ham anyway, I decided to stay and have my water broken." lol!

Also, I am mad at that doctor for not giving you any more epidural. Come on, just a little bit! Geez!

yeah, no damn epi! I wish I'd had the button bc id have been pressing the shit out of it.

And idk why I was so devastated about ham but I remember I truly was. Missed my damn Easter ham.

[kdrake8]

Apr 8, 2013 15:54:58 GMT -5 mrsjaymay said:

Wonderful, thanks for sharing!! Ouch at the broken tailbone and sorry your epi didn't work! Do you know the chances of it not working again the second time around?

This was actually interesting but I guess my body just burns through medication quickly. my best hope is progressing much more quickly and having the timing right to actually have some relief during pushing still available to me.

Even when I had my wisdom teeth out at 19, they put me under.... I woke up in the middle. I couldn't feel ANY pain but I opened my eyes and the dentist asked if I was awake. I nodded yes and he must have turned the IV back up bc then I passed out again.

[kdrake8]

Apr 8, 2013 15:55:58 GMT -5 carawestt said:

Haha I love that you decided to stay since you couldn't have ham! Ouch! Breaking your tailbone sounds painful. Luckily it was all worth it because you have the most gorgeous little girl as the result

It was definitely worth it! And I ended up using it to my advantage to be allowed to take my sick days for 2 extra weeks off. (we have to take our sick days for maternity leave and you can ONLY take 6 weeks paid. If you want more you have to have a dr excuse)

Unfortunately he told me at my first appt for this pregnancy that I will most likely re-break it. Ugh! Side-lying nursing for me again I guess!

[spaghetticat]

Thanks for sharing. Those pics are precious! I can't believe you are going to have another birth story to share (relatively) soon!

[kdrake8]

Apr 8, 2013 18:13:43 GMT -5 spaghetticat said:

Thanks for sharing. Those pics are precious! I can't believe you are going to have another birth story to share (relatively) soon!

I can't either - scary!

[eav2c]

Happy birthday sweet girl! She still looks like newborn M too!

[meggabs]

Wow, amazing! How was recovery from the broken tail bone?! I asked how many stitches I had and the Dr said, "there aren't individual ones, it's one long one, so I can't say how many." ...hmm...

[browneyedhunni85]

I'm jealous that you only got two stitches. I felt like they stitched me forever. That to me was the worst part. You are too funny about your ham and flat stomach.

[ruby412]

Oh my gosh, I would have been horrified if my OB was one of my student's parents!! That is so funny. Great story. I forgot you broke your tailbone. Any lasting effects?

[teamhayes]

Great story.ikept saying the same thing about my stomach. The silly things we say in the moment.

[Deleted]

Great story! Happy birthday sweet girl!

[kdrake8]

Apr 8, 2013 18:35:54 GMT -5 meggabs said:

Wow, amazing! How was recovery from the broken tail bone?! I asked how many stitches I had and the Dr said, "there aren't individual ones, it's one long one, so I can't say how many." ...hmm...

the tailbone was such an annoyance. I couldn't nurse sitting up. I couldn't rock her in the chair. I had a very hard time driving. Things like that

[kdrake8]

Apr 8, 2013 19:01:49 GMT -5 ruby412 said:

Oh my gosh, I would have been horrified if my OB was one of my student's parents!! That is so funny. Great story. I forgot you broke your tailbone. Any lasting effects?

none really now! Sometimes if I sit for an epic length of time, it will be sore when I stand.

[ruby412]

Apr 8, 2013 19:29:58 GMT -5 kdrake8 said:

Apr 8, 2013 19:01:49 GMT -5 ruby412 said:

Oh my gosh, I would have been horrified if my OB was one of my student's parents!! That is so funny. Great story. I forgot you broke your tailbone. Any lasting effects?

none really now! Sometimes if I sit for an epic length of time, it will be sore when I stand.

Oh good!

[Beener]

I loved your story! I wish you didn't get your tailbone broken, obviously, but it is a great story! The part about the doctor made me literally LOL- I can't imagine being in that position! You're brave!

[kdrake8]

Apr 8, 2013 20:14:12 GMT -5 Beener said:

I loved your story! I wish you didn't get your tailbone broken, obviously, but it is a great story! The part about the doctor made me literally LOL- I can't imagine being in that position! You're brave!

lol! It was intense. Actually in July before I found out I was pregnant, he did my pap smear and talked to me, then when I was dressed, told me his daughter was coming to my school. There was a 1 in 3 chance she'd get me as a teacher.

Aaaaand on open house night, there he was. Sitting in my classroom. And he had examined me like 2 months earlier. It was really embarrassing.

The girl was an absolute sweetheart an so is he, honestly. He did my first appt this time and was awesome - really jovial about me being pregnant again and commented on the way out that he really hoped to deliver this baby too... And he wouldn't tell his daughter I was pregnant haha

[Beener]

Apr 8, 2013 20:31:05 GMT -5 kdrake8 said:

Apr 8, 2013 20:14:12 GMT -5 Beener said:

I loved your story! I wish you didn't get your tailbone broken, obviously, but it is a great story! The part about the doctor made me literally LOL- I can't imagine being in that position! You're brave!

lol! It was intense. Actually in July before I found out I was pregnant, he did my pap smear and talked to me, then when I was dressed, told me his daughter was coming to my school. There was a 1 in 3 chance she'd get me as a teacher.

Aaaaand on open house night, there he was. Sitting in my classroom. And he had examined me like 2 months earlier. It was really embarrassing.

The girl was an absolute sweetheart an so is he, honestly. He did my first appt this time and was awesome - really jovial about me being pregnant again and commented on the way out that he really hoped to deliver this baby too... And he wouldn't tell his daughter I was pregnant haha

He sounds like a great guy! It just sucks that you have to make sure things are extra tidy down there before you go the doctor. You don't want word to get around school to the contrary!  Actually, I have a pretty hot male OB so I have to make sure things are extra good down there before I go, too!

[Deleted]

That is a wonderful story. I love hearing about them. How long did it take your tail born to heal? She's gorgeous!

[dixeedeluxe]

DUDE, next time, get IV Zofran.

[shmoo]

Happy Birthday Mila! Great birth story!

[thedahliharpa]

I loved reading your story. If you get to the pushing part and your epi isn't working next time ask for a squat bar and it might be easier on your tailbone. I'm glad your nurse helped you correct your pushing with her hand suggestion.

[greenkitty98]

Thanks for sharing your story!

And Happy Birthday, Mila!

[bean47]

I love your story! Happy birthday M!

[kdrake8]

Apr 8, 2013 21:03:24 GMT -5 dixeedeluxe said:

DUDE, next time, get IV Zofran.

I *do* think they gave me this... Hmmm... Bc I was nauseous earlier and as you well know, I was freaking out.

That was the most mentally horrible part. Plus I couldn't recover quick enough and id have some contractions on my side, not pushing, which sucked.

I can't believe I have to do this again.