Birth Story XP

[Deleted]

XP from GotP.


Here's Pip.er's birth story! It's long because, well, it took a while. I swear I tried to shorten it.



We arrived at the hospital at 7pm on Wednesday January 28th for the induction. We had to start with a foley bulb to manually dialate my cervix because it wasn't doing so on it's own. That hurt going in, but once it was done, we were basically free to move about the hospital. We did some walking, ball bouncing, and kind of relaxed. I was still allowed to eat solids at this point. That night I had some contractions, but nothing serious. We both fell asleep around midnight and slept for 8 hours straight!



The bulb was removed around 10am Thursday, leaving me at 4cm and 80% effaced. YAY! Next came the pitocin, which we started running a short while later, and they broke my water around 5:30pm. Being strapped to monitors was irritating, but I started to really feel contractions around dinner time. They REALLY started kicking up, all in my lower back, around 9pm and I asked for the epidural. Magic.



I labored all night, but progress was slow. They checked me for progress around 10pm. 4cm. 80% effaced. -1 station.



Grrrr.



Around 4:30am (now Friday), the doc on call at the time made the decision to pull the pitocin for a few hours, let me rest (I was feeling contractions through the epidural, though not badly) and see if we can get the baby to turn. She'd been sunny side up or slightly sideways in every check.



6:30am Friday, Pitocin was restarted. 6:05am, I felt the most horrific pain my entire life. The muscles between my shoulder blades seized up. Every position I tried hurt, every time I tried to change positions, I'd scream in pain. The doctors had no idea what was causing it. It took my breath away. On the upside, I didn't feel a damn contraction for hours, even though they were getting stronger and closer.



Around dinner time (still Friday) H went to grab a quick bite in the cafeteria and I was sitting in the bed in the only manageable position, which was like you were sitting on a throne. The nurse who was with me started moving my bed without telling me, and barked orders at me, to lay on my left side. The left side was where the shoulder pain was the worst, so i told her no. She told me yes, the baby is in distress. H walked back in and he was followed by no less than 8 people. As they rolled me onto my side, I was crying in pain/fear as they put in the internal monitor (ugh). Eventually her HR came back up, but it was terrifying. They also had to turn off the pitocin again, and give me a shot to soften my uterus and stop contractions. They did say at this time I was at 6cm, 'almost fully thinned out' and at -1 station. But the baby was still sunny side up.



So, an hour later, once we knew baby was stable, they started on the pitocin, now for the 3rd time. The new doc on call came in to check on me and he said "you're doing great keep it up" then my BP cuff ran, and the BP came back 174/116. Which is absurdly high. He immediately asked for new blood to be drawn for pre-e labs and a new urine sample. He said he'd be back in a bit to do a check. We waited on labs, I continued to labor (with back spasms) and was getting very distraught. My husband tried to talk me through it all, he was really great, but at this point we were at 48 hours of this, with no end in sight. The word C-section had stared being dropped around this time.



Doc came back in at 9:30 to see that contractions were regular, so he wanted to do a check. My labs also had come back with slightly elevated pre-e proteins, though still within the normal range. At 10, he did his check - 6cm, almost fully thinned out, -1 station, baby is definitely sunny side up. At this point, I burst into tears.



He left the room, came back a few minutes later and he gave me my options. He said I could continue to labor for (his guess) 12 more hours, but he wasn't sure the baby would fit anyway. His estimates were that she was 8-9lbs and I have a tiny pelvic bone (who knew?). On top of that, I was showing signs of pre-eclampsia, exhaustion (obviously) and with a sunny side up baby, he strongly suggested a C-section. I agreed immediately. This is about 10:15pm on Friday.



Then everything moved really fast. By 10:40 I was being wheeled out of the room, moved to the surgery table in great pain because of the stupid muscle in my shoulders, and set for the c-section. Honestly, it was like a well choreographed dance. I was super impressed.



Short and easy surgery, the doc was excellent with me, and let H watch as they pulled the baby out (H isn't squemish at all). Pi.per cried immediately, turned pink pretty quick, and was in excellent health. H got to help clean her and hold her to me as soon as he could, while they sewed me back up.



She was born at 11:02 pm on January 30th, weighing 7lb2oz, 20.5".



Recovery was fine, but they did put me on a magnesium drip for 12 hours due to the pre-e which meant even more time bed ridden. By the time I finally got to mother/baby ward, I was puffy like you read about. but I had my very healthy, happy, adorable baby girl with me. She latched on and fed right away. I can't tell you how much in love with her I am.



We were finally released Monday AM (48h mandatory after a c-section, and that fell on Sunday night at 11pm, during a snowstorm, so I wasn't going anywhere).



Here are some pics for your patience

[rugbywife]

Amazing story!!

[hermione]

Congrats again. She's gorgeous.

[heygrey]

she is beautiful!

[rbp]

Omg. You are my hero! I would have cussed out everyone within a mile radius.

Congratulations on the sweet girl!

[scribellesam]

She is so beautiful!

[zarapipe]

You are a trooper! CongratS again

[sh10]

Thanks for sharing. Congrats and best wishes for a speedy recovery!

[cricketwife]

She's beautiful! Congrats!

[SallySparrow]

She is gorgeous! Good job, momma!

[justjen]

OMG. I'm exhausted just reading this. Kudos to you for keeping it together. She is beautiful!

[july]

Glad she finally came!

[kangaroo11]

Congrats again and what a wild ride!

[greencrayon]

She's beautiful! Congrats!

[D2M]

You are a trooper! Congrats! Love your little lady's little lips!

[Deleted]

Incredible story! Bravo to you for toughing all that out. She is beautiful.

I'm surprised you were released in 48 hours. In virginia they keep you 5 days for a c-section.

[biogirl21]

Congrats! Sorry you had such a hard labor, but she is adorable!

[Myrrhine]

What a darling!

[Stingyshark]

holy labor, that is intense!! So glad baby p made it safe & sound! She is adorable!





I'm always surprised when people know in advance baby was sunny side up; was my OB just the most idiotic Dr around? How come he didn't know and/or didn't say anything until after 2 hrs of pushing!?

[spankswife]

Aww! She's so cute!!!

Sorry you had such a rough time!

Also can I suggest an abdominal binder to help support your core. It saved my life after my c. You can get it at a medical supply store, or even sometimes Walgreens or CVS.

[mannah]

Gorgeous! Awesome job mama!

[oceanstbride]

Congratulations! She's beautiful!!

[yellowbrkrd]

Wow, you're a trooper! Congrats again! She's adorable.

[bananapancakes]

Wow, what a story! Congrats, she's beautiful!

[bazinga]

Sorry you had such a crazy experience. Congrats - she is beautiful.

[Deleted]

Aw, thanks for sharing!

[hetty]

She's gorgeous! Congratulations!

[Brie]

Congrats--she's adorable!

Take it easy with the c-section recovery. I thought I felt pretty good and overdid it last week and paid for it!

[lauren170]

Congrats again.

[Blue Moon]

Wow, what an ordeal! Thanks for sharing. Congrats on your sweet baby girl!