AW: Ari is 1! Insanely long birth story + PIPS!

[imimahoney]

I just can't believe that my baby is 1. It's unreal. Here is Ari's LONG birth story. If you make it through the entire thing, you deserve a medal. Since I wasn't on the bump with you I was as thorough as I could remember it. 

Some important background:

Around 24 weeks I contracted a 24 hour stomach bug. It left my incredibly dehydrated and I started having contractions. Once I was over the puking, my ob ran some blood tests to make sure everything was ok. Tests came back abnormal- low blood platelets, elevated liver enzymes, and low cbc levels. But no protein in urine or swelling, thankfully.

At every appointment after I had my levels checked. It was a PITA. Some weeks they would be normal, other weeks they would be off. It was bizarre. They weren't low enough to see a specialist, so I was just watched. At 34 weeks I started measuring 2 to 3 weeks ahead. I was gaining more weight than I should and my fundal height was concerning to my ob. That with my levels left my ob perplexed.

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At 38 weeks, 1 day (April 23rd) I headed back to school after Spring break. The weekend before I had a headache that I couldn't shake. I just did not feel well. I went to school feeling off. I had some bloody show and thought that maybe I was in early labor. Also, Ari was being verrryyyy quiet and that made me nervous. I called my ob’s office and they wanted me to come in just to be safe. I left school assuming I would be back tomorrow.

There was a crazy storm and it took me over an hour to drive 3 miles to get to their office. Because of the storm everyone was behind so I had to wait another hour to see someone. Once I was seen, my bp was high and I was having contractions but not feeling them at all. I was about 1 dilated but Ari was up high. My fundal height was now measuring 4 weeks ahead. The np I saw was very concerned. They took my blood tests again and thankfully my bp went back to normalish range. They did an u/s and estimated that Ari was over 9 lbs. I sat around in the doctor’s office waiting for instructions. I arrived at the office at 9:15. They finally sent me home at 1:30 with instructions to head to the hospital just to make sure everything was ok.

I called DH, he left work and we drove into the city to get checked out. I again thought I was going to go home that night. Apparently every pregnant woman in the city of Boston was at my hospital that night. They were completely full. I sat for almost an hour in the lobby waiting to go in triage. Once in triage I waited another 3 hours before my tests were in. They found trace amounts of protein in my urine and my platelets were low. I was diagnosed as pre-HELLP with assumption that I would probably develop full blown HELLP if I stayed pregnant.

Because every freaking bed was full they started my induction in triage. They inserted the cytotec and told me to relax. After 4 hours there were still no beds for me. I was in the hospital for almost 9 freaking hours at this point! They had to stop the induction because they had to move me to the post-birth floor because of the lack of beds. Dh and I finally got a room at around 11 pm.

We waited the next day to be moved back to up labor and delivery. My levels were still acting weird so I couldn't go home and wait for them to call me. Again no beds were open so we waited… and waited… and waited. Finally at 3 I was moved back up to labor and delivery. I was very concerned that starting and stopping my induction would slow my progress down. They assured me that once I got going he would be out in no time. They had Dh and me waiting in the c-section recovery room because again, there were no freaking beds. They finally re-started the induction and I received two more doses of cytotec with strict instructions to start walking! At around midnight I finally got in a freaking delivery room! The contractions were painful but inconsistent. I was only at 3ish.

At 5 am they inserted a foley to dilate me manually. HOLY SHIT, that was painful. It fell out on its own at 7:30. I labored on the birthing ball, shower and in bed until 12 when they broke my water. Turns out my massive belly was filled with a ton of fluid, not a big baby. I had some very large gushes. They had the change the sheets multiple times and had to mop the floor twice. It was so disgusting. At that point they also decided to start the pit and that’s when the shit hit the fan. The contractions were no freaking joke. I was exhausted and kept falling asleep in between them. I was in SO MUCH PAIN because of the back labor that I requested an epi. Originally, I had wanted a med-free birth but at that point I was too overwhelmed with the crazy induction that I just wanted relief.

With the epi I was stuck in bed. Ari’s heart rate kept responding very poorly to the pit and he wouldn’t tolerate anything over level 4. At around 6 pm I was checked and was only at 5. I don’t know what happened. Because his heart rate was responding so poorly and I was not dilating with the low doses of pit I was told my only option was a c-section. I cried and cried and cried. But realized that I didn't have many options. Initially, I was mad that I got the epi because it essentially stalled my labor but really, everything had gone wrong at that point so of course needing a c would be thrown into the mix as well.

The actually surgery was fine. Ari came out with zero problems and cried right away at 11:05 pm. His head was engaged but because I had so much fluid when they broke my water he floated up and became transverse. The best part of the whole ordeal was that Dh did skin-to-skin immediately after birth. I did it after 30 or so minutes in recovery but I was so happy that Dh was able to do it as soon as Ari came out. He ended up being only 7.1. So remember, u/s measurements can be VERY off.

For my next I was told I am a good candidate for a vbac if my levels stay normal. I have already decided that I will be switching hospitals no matter what because I was SO frustrated with the whole induction thing.

Total time at the doctor’s office pre-induction, 4.5 hours. Total time in the hospital pre-induction, 9 hours. Induction time, exactly 48 hours. We finally left the hospital the next Monday. We spent 6 nights there. I was SO HAPPY to get home.

And now pics!

Our first meeting:


Dh doing skin to skin:


In recovery doing skin to skin:


Newborn:


1 month:


3 months:


This past weekend at his first mini birthday celebration: 








I just can't believe this is the same little boy:

[Deleted]

What a sweet little thing!! I love seeing old newborn pics. And yes, it's hard to believe they are the same little person. Amazing.
They "fluff up" so much in the first few weeks.

[teamhayes]

What a story! I can't believe they kept stopping your induction. What hospital did you deliver at? We go to NWH and I love it there. They are so pro med free.

Happy Birthday Ari!

[imimahoney]

Apr 25, 2013 4:52:07 GMT -5 teamhayes said:

What a story! I can't believe they kept stopping your induction. What hospital did you deliver at? We go to NWH and I love it there. They are so pro med free.

Happy Birthday Ari!

I was at BI. Next labor Will def be at NWH or Mt. Auburn!

[spaghetticat]

Aww, little Ari! I love the side by side comparison. I'm glad you will be switching hospitals next time!

[teamhayes]

My mw is affiliated with BI but I heard they push the cs so last time at 35 weeks I switched to their newton location so I could deliver at nwh.. I am doing the same this time.

[nannerl]

Wow, what a crazy story! Those pictures are wonderful... it is amazing how much they change, isn't it?

[rjamz]

That's so insane! I can't believe they kept starting and stopping your induction!

Happy birthday Ari!

Sent from my SPH-D710 using proboards

[rjamz]

That's so insane! I can't believe they kept starting and stopping your induction!

Happy birthday Ari!

Sent from my SPH-D710 using proboards

[fryjack2]

What an ordeal! Glad Ari got here safely! Happy birthday big guy!!

[Faevantastic]

Wow, what a story. Those pics are so sweet. Happy Birthday, Ari!

[Regina Philange]

Ari is such a sweetie! happy FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!

[ashleydl83]

What a crazy story! I can't imagine staying in the hospital that long.

Happy first birthday Ari!

[rubber pants]

HOLY COW! What a story! Thanks for sharing!

Happy birthday big boy!

[katie]

Holy crap, that's a crazy story! Happy Birthday Ari! Did you cut his hair?! Maybe I missed the post but I thought your DC provider was pulling it back at one point.

[Deleted]

Happy Birthday, Ari! So glad you got here safe and sound!

[helicase]

What an infuriating induction story! Thankfully, Ari was 100% healthy, but you must have been exhausted. Thanks for sharing. Ari is adorable.

[mrsjaymay]

Holy crazy induction story! I don't blame you on switching hospitals, that's nuts!! Happy birthday sweet A!

[imimahoney]

Apr 25, 2013 8:16:22 GMT -5 katie said:

Holy crap, that's a crazy story! Happy Birthday Ari! Did you cut his hair?! Maybe I missed the post but I thought your DC provider was pulling it back at one point.

We did, last week. It was such a mess. My husband was so happy we finally did it, lol.

[claralou]

WOW. What an incredible birth story. I can't get over how cute he is- happy birthday, sweet boy!

[Deleted]

Crazy story! I'm sorry you went through all of that, but at least he got out safely! And I can't believe there were no beds ever! Happy Birthday Ari!

[skiesthelimit]

Awe! The first few pics made me tear up! Love your first meeting. So glad everything turned out ok. Happy Birthday A!

[carawestt]

Wow, what a story! He's such a cute little guy. Happy birthday, Ari!

[shevacc]

Happy birthday A! And what a story -- I can't believe they made you go through all of that. I'm so glad you both made it through safe.

[vidalia]

Great pictures and that is so awesome that your husband got to do skin to skin right away. Happy birthday to Ari!