Cora's birth story (long)(picture at end)

[Deleted]

For those of you interested.

My due date was Sunday, November 4. It came and went and I became increasingly poopy-pants about it. I really wanted to go drug free (or at least see if I could), and the longer over due I went the higher the likelyhood of pitocin, epidural, etc. I really wanted to avoid a c-section. Our house has stairs! We had an induction scheduled for the night of the 14th and she'd be born on the 15th.

Woke up Saturday, November 10 feeling normal. Got ready to go to coffee with friends as usual. At 9:15am I was sitting in the chair in our bedroom, leaning over to cuff my too-long maternity pants, and felt a small pop and then a huge gush. I mean GUSH of amniotic fluid. I jumped out of the chair and onto the toilet. Yelled for my husband to bring a towel. I got things under control a bit, and we stood there staring at each other like "well now what!?"

Called our doula to inform her of the water breaking. Both she and I knew of the "you must deliver within 24 hours of your water breaking or risk infection" rule, and wanted to avoid it. We agreed that we'd stay home and hope labor started.

So I vacuumed every inch of our house, including the dog-hair covered couches, re-packed our bags and emptied the dishwasher. H took out the trash, etc. Contractions were all in my back an 15-30 minutes apart. We hung out and watched college football as it started to get colder and colder outside. Finally at 4pm we bundled up to go for a walk around the block. It was 5 degrees out! I had on sweats and at one point the amniotic fluid leaked onto the sweats and promptly froze, lol.

By 9:30pm it was apparent that things weren't moving quickly. I felt fine and could feel the baby kick a lot, so I felt comfortable making that call that we'd stay home Saturday night unless things got really wild, and go to the hospital in the morning.

H and I went to bed at 9:30pm. I was up by 10 needing to move through intermittent contractions. I went downstairs and spent the night in our living room trying everything I could to get contractions going. Calf-cow, bouncing on the birth ball, squats, etc. I'd have gone for a walk, but now it was -10 degrees out; probably not a good idea.

Curiously, I'd been hot this entire pregnancy. I'm normally a hot-blooded person anyway, but I was always too hot for the last 10 months. But in early labor I was FREEZING. I had on sweats, a long sleeve t-shirt, sweatshirt and a huge blanket wrapped around me. Weird.

Finally at 4am I gave up on the idea of getting contractions going by myself and laid on the couch. Contractions came every 30 minutes or so.

H came downstairs at 7am and we made a plan to get ready and go to the hospital. Doula came to our house at 8:30am and we checked into Labor and Delivery at 9:15am or so. I think we were the only people on 8- L & D suite floor. Going through all the check in stuff and the nurse asks "are you group B strep positive." I answered that I'd been tested, and to my knowledge, no I wasn't. She said she'd double check-- Apparently I had tested positive for GBS at m 36 week appointment and no one in my dr's office told me! I can't believe they missed that, as they usually want you to come in with enough time for a couple rounds of antibiotics prior to delivering!

So then the "when did your water break" question became a serious point of contention. I hedged and said it broke when I woke up from a nap at about 4pm. I think if I'd told them it broke at 9:15am, and it had already been 24 hours, I'd have headed straight for a c-section. But baby was doing fine on the monitors so I felt okay hedging.

So we started the dreaded pitocin at about 10:30am on Sunday, November 11. They wanted to be pretty aggressive with it, upping it by 1 unit every half an hour. I made them go slow with it so I could get a rhythm for handling contractions. I'd stand leaning on my H, with the doula doing the hip-squeeze behind me. They were all in my back/ hips, it felt like and damn, damn damn damn Pitocin contractions suck. Close together with multiple peaks.

By 10pm I was at a 9 on the pitocin scale (they thought I'd need to go to 20 or so to deliver) and only 3cm dilated. I wanted to labor in the tub, but the remote monitors kept slipping around and wouldn't pick up baby. The Dr., who was covering for my usual OBGYN, came in and gave me a lecture about needing to up the pitocin and get things moving, and that I wouldn't be able to be in the tub during laboring. She was lecturing me, and kind of gave me a "I do this all the time, trust me I'm a professional" talk that just pissed me off to no end. We did not establish good rapport early...

After about another half an hour of contractions, and after more hassling from the nurses, I asked a nurse to find out the options for an epidural. I'd been in labor 36 hours, with not much sleep, and knew I couldn't get from a 4 to a 10 without what little energy I had left. My H and my doula talked me through the epidural, reminded me of my desire to go natural, etc. (they weren't pressuring just reminding me) until finally I yelled "damn it you guys, I want an epidural!"

The nurse came back and said that they were about to do 2 c-sections, so I could either have an epidural right this second or wait 2-3 hours. I was like "now now now." I jumped out of the tub and had what my doula called the fastest epidural she's ever seen. I said the word and it was done in like 20 minutes.

After the epidural we settled in and tried to get some sleep. At this point I have an IV port in my right hand, with IV, Pitocin and Penicillin every 24 hours for the GBS. That shit was COLD when it went into my arm. I amazed me how quickly 4 hours of labor went, I'd be like "seriously, again already!?" On my left arm was a blood pressure cuff and a pulse rate monitor. Gah, so strapped down.

So from 11pm until 5am I laid there and labored under an epidural. I still had to breathe through some contractions. I'l lie on my side and my doula or H would press down on my hips. I puked at some point. H and the doula all tried to get some rest. By 5am I felt like I could push her out in like 3 pushes.

I started pushing at about 5:15am on my back. Within an hour I was insisting that I get up and be able to move. I hadn't pushed the button for more epidural drip (uh, no one told me it was there...), so I was able to use the squat bar and labor on my hands and knees for a while, which helped. I think I would have preferred to deliver on my hands and knees.

I start to lose track of time here, but at some point I wound up on my back. They started breaking down the bed and pulling the stirrups out. Things started to get really intense. Painful, yes, but mostly intense. I distinctly remember pushing and hearing/ feeling a pop in my butt. I asked frantically if I'd broken my tailbone, and no one would answer me.

At about 7am the nursing shift changed again, and one of the nurses we started with came back on. She walks in the door and goes, "oh you're still here!?" I looked at her and was like "NO THE RIGHT THING TO SAY RIGHT NOW?" I apparently became very, very direct during this portion of labor ;D

Finally, finally I got MAD and pushed pushed pushed. For like 4 or 5 sets of 10 with every contraction. I just wanted this to be over. She was born at 8:05am on Monday, November 12, nearly 48 hours after labor began. She came out head, then shoulders/ body really quickly. I tore... a lot. I wish someone would have told my to slow down with the pushing to help let things stretch. I haven't, and WILL NEVER get out a hand mirror, but I'm pretty certain this third degree tear is into my anus :-|

All of a sudden I have this wriggling BABY on my chest. It was a shocking moment; like, whoa! where did you come from? And how are you so BIG? She spent the next hour on my chest. I held her and tried to wipe her down, and the doula tried to get breast feeding going. I was in so much shock, and the dr was still between my legs stitching things up. Apparently I hemorrhaged a bit. If a normal vaginal delivery results in 500 ccs of blood loss I lost 800. I remember getting shots in both arms to help slow the blood loss and the nurses reefing down on my stomach/ uterus. I didn't need a transfusion though.

So I'm laying there wriggling baby and the Dr. is down there going to town repairing the damage. At one point I looked up and asked her "so what, you're like rebuilding the entire engine down there?" She replied, "I just want it to look like you did when you came in honey."

Finally they took the baby to the nursery, H went with her. I laid there and recovered for probably 2 hours, then moved to the recovery suite. We spent Monday and Tuesday nights recovering and trying to establish breastfeeding. I had a breast reduction in 2005, so I was pessimistic about BF'ing. But, lo and behold, it seems to be working. The biggest challenge seems to be finding a position I can sit/ lay in, given the tailbone.

A couple of funnies from recovery. Her pediatrician is a guy whose family I nannied for in college. I'd called his office a number of times to let them know I'd tapped him, and they were like "sounds good, the hospital will call us when the kid is born!" So I'm laying there in recovery and the pediatrician comes in, and gives me a huge hug and goes "wait a minute, since when are you old enough to have sex!" Great guy, love him. He went home and told his family that I'd had a baby and his wife sent flowers up

The other one isn't so funny. In my discharge check, another of the OBs in the group confirmed the broken tailbone. She was like, yeah... a c-section may have been easier to recover from. Fuck.

Anyway, we brought Cora Lucille home on Wednesday afternoon. She's 8lbs 9oz of fun. We're getting to know each other. Oh man you guys, she has my husband wrapped around her finger. He is so in love with her. And I'm so in love with him. I'm just blown away by how wonderful he is. Thus far my only baby blues has been to be overwhelmed with love for her and my H. Terrifyingly overwhelmed with love. Crying while typing this sentence overwhelmed!

And since you've made it this far, a picture:


I will say this, it was a good thing the OBGYN was there at the end, given the extent of my below the belt damage. But I wish I'd started at a birthing center; I think it would have felt less like an us against them battle. C'est la vie though; she's here and we're not having sex again until 2013

[bunch]

She is beautiful. Congrats!

[Ashley&Scott]

What a story! I hope you're feeling better. She's adorable, love that she's sucking her thumb! (my little guy's a thumb sucker too)

[pugz]

sooooo pretty! I miss the fuzzy newborn skin!

I can't believe you broke your tailbone, uggggggh. Keep taking that colace, forever.

[Deleted]

She's gorgeous!!! Congratulations!

[Brie]

Oh man! What a story.

She's adorable, congrats!

[krystee]

She is gorgeous! Congrats!

[Deleted]

Oh man, you're amazing for getting through that! She is truly beautiful. Congrats!

[froggy76]

She's so gorgeous! Congrats! Hope your recovery isn't too bad.

[elocrates]

Congratulations! And thank you for sharing your story.

[KaraOrNot]

She is so cute! Congrats!

[mellymel]

She is beautiful, and OMG you poor thing with the tearing and the tailbone!!

[pierogigirl]

So cute. I wanted my guys to be thumb suckers (It's adorable and I was one) but neither one is. I love her name, too.

[MamaMaui24]

She's beautiful! Congratulations! Sorry about the tailbone.

PP hormones are crazy and I was also a blubbering fool about my husband and baby. The worst (happy tears) was coming home and seeing his ultrasound pics still on the fridge and then looking down at him in my arms. You'll blink and then they're 9 months old.

[mie]

She's beautiful! Congrats!

[yellowbrkrd]

Ouch, I hope you have a good recovery.

She's adorable. Congrats!

[Deleted]

Congrats!!!
Really sorry about your tailbone and your ladybits

[Deleted]

She's beautiful--and what a story! Congrats mama!

[sewpinkgal]

She is such a beautiful baby! Congratulations!

And damn, a broken tailbone. :/ I'm so sorry.

[zeewifeandmama]

She sure is beautiful!

Just wanted to say, that my doc also told me after my first that a section may have been an easier recovery... I went on to not only have ( enjoyable) sex again, but another baby vaginally. Just thought I'd say something since those were my concerns after having my DD.

[iheartbanjos]

Congratulations! Thanks for sharing!

[whitepicketfence]

Congrats mama! She is beautiful!

[Deleted]

Nov 18, 2012 23:05:19 GMT -5 zeewifeandmama said:

Just wanted to say, that my doc also told me after my first that a section may have been an easier recovery... I went on to not only have ( enjoyable) sex again, but another baby vaginally. Just thought I'd say something since those were my concerns after having my DD.

This is good to hear! Because after that H wouldn't mind making her an only child. He's pretty traumatized!

[schrodinger]

Congrats! She's beautiful! Hope you (and your lady bits) recover quickly.

[Deleted]

She is beautiful! Congrats, mama!

[nannersp]

Man, that's quite the birth story! Congrats, and she's gorgeous! Love her name, too!

[curbsideprophet]

What a story. Sorry to hear about the tearing and the tailbone. She is beautiful, congrats!

[Deleted]

What a beautiful little lady! Congrats!

[Deleted]

Congrats! Love the name

[mrssandro]

Thanks for sharing your story! She is beautiful!