Thursday morning, at roughly 2:20 am, I woke up because my water broke. With no accompanying contractions. It was Eli all over again, only an extra week early and two prior c-sections instead of just one.
But this time, I promised myself I would handle it better so as to not be bitter about the whole experience. Instead of getting angry, I woke up Timothy to give me a blessing, I prayed, I took castor oil (I know, I know--terrible idea with two previous c-sections; Megan has already given me that lecture a few times now), and I sat up in a chair hoping that an upright position might help.
Of course, nothing put me into labor.
The next morning Timothy drove the children to Megan's house for the day as I fully expected a c-section sometime in the near future. I wasn't happy about it, but I was determined to not be bitter. Megan, when I called, gave me a stern talking to about my choosing to be at home instead of the hospital in that historic space of time. She told me to at least find out if my strep culture was positive or negative. I have no idea what a strep culture is, but I am usually obedient (ha!) so I called my doctor's office to ask for the results of the strep culture. I had to explain in great detail why I needed to know to convince them to give me the info over the phone.
Then the receptionist told Dr. Z that my water broke. When I saw Dr. Z on the caller ID a few minutes later, I almost didn't answer. I thought she would tell me to hightail it over to the hospital. She didn't. She told me to come to the office for a stress test for the baby and a chat. She told me to relax and stop being afraid of the hospital (can't see that happening . . . ever).
The stress test went great. Dr. Z said she was fully comfortable letting me have a few days to see if my body would go into labor on its own. We agreed that I would go in for stress tests every twelve hours to make sure baby was fine and that if I didn't go into labor on my own, I would go to the hospital Saturday morning. I thought that was fair and Dr. Z thought that was safe. Compromise.
I spent the rest of Thursday and all of Friday trying to put myself into labor. I have a friend who is a doula, so she did acupressure twice and rubbed me with some sort of yummy smelling oil that is supposed to help. I took primrose oil, I ate black licorice (it was on a list online, okay), I climbed up and down my stairs a gazillion times (okay, five times, then I was gasping for breath and had to stop), I went to my chiropractor and got the "induction special" (his words, not mine), and I tried nipple stimulation.
Of course, nothing put me into labor.
The next morning Timothy drove the children to Megan's house for the day as I fully expected a c-section sometime in the near future. I wasn't happy about it, but I was determined to not be bitter. Megan, when I called, gave me a stern talking to about my choosing to be at home instead of the hospital in that historic space of time. She told me to at least find out if my strep culture was positive or negative. I have no idea what a strep culture is, but I am usually obedient (ha!) so I called my doctor's office to ask for the results of the strep culture. I had to explain in great detail why I needed to know to convince them to give me the info over the phone.
Then the receptionist told Dr. Z that my water broke. When I saw Dr. Z on the caller ID a few minutes later, I almost didn't answer. I thought she would tell me to hightail it over to the hospital. She didn't. She told me to come to the office for a stress test for the baby and a chat. She told me to relax and stop being afraid of the hospital (can't see that happening . . . ever).
The stress test went great. Dr. Z said she was fully comfortable letting me have a few days to see if my body would go into labor on its own. We agreed that I would go in for stress tests every twelve hours to make sure baby was fine and that if I didn't go into labor on my own, I would go to the hospital Saturday morning. I thought that was fair and Dr. Z thought that was safe. Compromise.
I spent the rest of Thursday and all of Friday trying to put myself into labor. I have a friend who is a doula, so she did acupressure twice and rubbed me with some sort of yummy smelling oil that is supposed to help. I took primrose oil, I ate black licorice (it was on a list online, okay), I climbed up and down my stairs a gazillion times (okay, five times, then I was gasping for breath and had to stop), I went to my chiropractor and got the "induction special" (his words, not mine), and I tried nipple stimulation.
Nothing worked. I was up pretty much all night both Thursday and Friday night with lukewarm and intermittent contractions but nothing I did jump started labor. In the meantime, Kami came Friday to keep me company and take care of my kids--I wasn't in the "mothering zone" if you know what I mean. Timothy and I made babysitting arrangements. I cleaned my house and got all the laundry done.
Saturday morning I was ready mentally for the hospital. I knew I couldn't go along indefinitely with my water broken, despite what Megan thinks. I also knew my body was not ready for labor.
Enter Dr. Z. She's awesome. At 9:15 am, Saturday morning she put me on a really low dose of pitocin. Immediately I started having contractions every five minutes. That was a positive sign. It was not a positive sign that I was only at a 1 and 30% effaced. Besides that, my cervix was back really far and baby was posterior so her head was in the way of the cervix moving forward. Pretty unfavorable conditions for an early induction.
We tried anyway. The contractions stayed about 3-4 minutes apart from 9:30 to 3:30. For all of you brave women who have labored with pit-enhanced contractions, I salute you. I've done natural childbirth. It is not without pain. Pitocin-induced contractions are like a gagillion times worse. I couldn't believe the difference. My doula friend says that it is because the pit doesn't cause your body to release the same endorphins as regular contractions so you don't have the pain inhibiting hormones. I don't know if that is true. I only know that pitocin makes the contractions hurt mightily.
When Dr. Z came in at 3:30 and I was still only at a 2, she asked me to please get an epidural to see if my body relaxing a little and not fighting the contractions might help to speed things up. I was not adverse to the idea. Ha. Quite the opposite. I was exhausted and tired of it hurting. Cowen's whole labor (the one I did natural and loved) only took two hours and it didn't hurt anything like these contractions. While epidurals are not usually my thing, I was glad one was available.
After the epidural, I rested as best I could and Timothy went for food. From 3:30 to 5:00 the nurses and doc left me alone and monitored from the computers in the other room. At 6:30, Dr. Z checked me and said I was at a 5. She was really excited about that--said I'd finally made it to "active labor."
At that point, Dr. Z was predicting another two hours until I was complete and ready to push. Timothy started going through movie options on netflix, and I concentrated on not throwing up. I know, that should have indicated to me what was going on, but I'd been nauseas the whole pregnancy and hadn't taken my unisom the night before, so nauseas was to be expected on an empty stomach.
About 45 minutes later a new nurse came in and in a very officious manner started moving me around. I could tell from the intentness about her that something was up. After propping me on my side she checked the monitor for a minute then explained that the baby's heart rate had started experiencing some drastic dips. The nurse was changing my position to see if that would help Baby.
Another minute went by and the nurse decided to check me and then announced that I was complete and ready to push. In 45 minutes I had gone from a 5 to a 10. Dr. Z swooped in and several other nurses and they had the room ready to go in three minutes flat. Not that I timed it--I just know they were quick. Dr. Z had the nurse get the vacuum ready and I heard lots of low-voiced muttering including one, "We have to get this baby out fast." Again, worried about her heart rate dips. The vacuum was in case I couldn't push effectively due to the epidural.
Within minutes of announcing that I was complete they were telling me to push. I pushed, and then Dr. Z was emphatically telling me to STOP pushing. Really, the baby was 5 lbs. Not hard to push out a baby that tiny. Dr. Z wanted me to slow down because with the first two seconds of pushing her head crowned and Dr. Z didn't want me to tear.
She let me feel the head coming out. My other doctors haven't let me do that. It was amazing. I highly recommend if you get a chance.
So then I was told to push again, and out came Harriet a few seconds later. The heart rate dips were caused by the cord being wrapped very snugly around her neck, chest, thigh, and ankle. It was interesting to watch Dr. Z try to unravel her. We were lucky being all wrapped up didn't cause a lot more problems than it did. Dr. Z thinks it helped that she replaced the amniotic fluid during delivery so Baby would be more cushioned.
After delivery, Dr. Z put the baby on my belly and the nurses suctioned her and rubbed her down while she was on me. I cried. I couldn't help myself. She is such a little miracle and it had been such a long time since I'd been a part of the process of birth. To get to see my newborn! It was incredible. I also cried because I was so grateful that she was safe and my decision to try a VBAC hadn't ended badly. It could have. But it didn't.
After a few minutes the baby nurses took Harriet to the baby warmer and suctioned her some more. She had a little bit of trouble breathing for a few minutes, but then she was fine. After making sure she was breathing okay they weighed her, wrapped her up in blankets, and handed her back to me. I haven't held one of my newborns ever. Even with Cowen I didn't because they were worried about my placenta. After Miriam I was too weak from blood loss. Then, of course, c-sections you don't get to hold your baby.
Oh yeah, the placenta. It came right out. Another miracle. However, it was about half the size of a normal placenta which may explain why my water broke so early and why Baby is so small. The bleeding was also minimal. Apparently there is a new drug that starts with a c that has been working wonders in controlling bleeding. They gave it to me and it worked like a charm.
So for the first time ever, I was able to hold my baby for an hour or so after she was born. Granted, Timothy held her first because I was shaking so much--but watching him hold her is as wonderful as my holding her, so I was still so happy and in the moment. It was just beautiful.
After about an hour the nursery nurses came and took the baby so the delivery nurses could move me to a postpartum room. Once there, I don't really remember all that happened. Timothy made sure I was okay then went home to take care of the other kids as my mom, who had been watching them, needed to go home. The nurses brought Harriet back not too long after and I held her and nursed her. Then I slept, in between getting my vitals taken.
That night two nurses helped me walk to the bathroom (the epidural still hadn't worn off enough for me to move on my own), and they were both so sweet and apologized for the heavy dutiness of the epidural and the inconvenience I was experiencing. I just smiled at them. I had STOOD UP without feeling like I was going to die or pass out. No c-section. A miracle. Seriously.
And the rest is all basic recovery stuff. My mom took the kids on Sunday night so Timothy brought me home Monday morning to a peaceful, quiet, tidy house. I've held Harriet, napped, and that is pretty much it. It has been lovely. And Harriet is beautiful.
Thank you Dr. Z for being willing to buck the insurance companies and let me try a VBAC and thank you Megan, Kami, Mom, Beckie, and Kenny for watching the other kids. Thank you Timothy for taking care of me. I feel so blessed.
Saturday morning I was ready mentally for the hospital. I knew I couldn't go along indefinitely with my water broken, despite what Megan thinks. I also knew my body was not ready for labor.
Enter Dr. Z. She's awesome. At 9:15 am, Saturday morning she put me on a really low dose of pitocin. Immediately I started having contractions every five minutes. That was a positive sign. It was not a positive sign that I was only at a 1 and 30% effaced. Besides that, my cervix was back really far and baby was posterior so her head was in the way of the cervix moving forward. Pretty unfavorable conditions for an early induction.
We tried anyway. The contractions stayed about 3-4 minutes apart from 9:30 to 3:30. For all of you brave women who have labored with pit-enhanced contractions, I salute you. I've done natural childbirth. It is not without pain. Pitocin-induced contractions are like a gagillion times worse. I couldn't believe the difference. My doula friend says that it is because the pit doesn't cause your body to release the same endorphins as regular contractions so you don't have the pain inhibiting hormones. I don't know if that is true. I only know that pitocin makes the contractions hurt mightily.
When Dr. Z came in at 3:30 and I was still only at a 2, she asked me to please get an epidural to see if my body relaxing a little and not fighting the contractions might help to speed things up. I was not adverse to the idea. Ha. Quite the opposite. I was exhausted and tired of it hurting. Cowen's whole labor (the one I did natural and loved) only took two hours and it didn't hurt anything like these contractions. While epidurals are not usually my thing, I was glad one was available.
After the epidural, I rested as best I could and Timothy went for food. From 3:30 to 5:00 the nurses and doc left me alone and monitored from the computers in the other room. At 6:30, Dr. Z checked me and said I was at a 5. She was really excited about that--said I'd finally made it to "active labor."
At that point, Dr. Z was predicting another two hours until I was complete and ready to push. Timothy started going through movie options on netflix, and I concentrated on not throwing up. I know, that should have indicated to me what was going on, but I'd been nauseas the whole pregnancy and hadn't taken my unisom the night before, so nauseas was to be expected on an empty stomach.
About 45 minutes later a new nurse came in and in a very officious manner started moving me around. I could tell from the intentness about her that something was up. After propping me on my side she checked the monitor for a minute then explained that the baby's heart rate had started experiencing some drastic dips. The nurse was changing my position to see if that would help Baby.
Another minute went by and the nurse decided to check me and then announced that I was complete and ready to push. In 45 minutes I had gone from a 5 to a 10. Dr. Z swooped in and several other nurses and they had the room ready to go in three minutes flat. Not that I timed it--I just know they were quick. Dr. Z had the nurse get the vacuum ready and I heard lots of low-voiced muttering including one, "We have to get this baby out fast." Again, worried about her heart rate dips. The vacuum was in case I couldn't push effectively due to the epidural.
Within minutes of announcing that I was complete they were telling me to push. I pushed, and then Dr. Z was emphatically telling me to STOP pushing. Really, the baby was 5 lbs. Not hard to push out a baby that tiny. Dr. Z wanted me to slow down because with the first two seconds of pushing her head crowned and Dr. Z didn't want me to tear.
She let me feel the head coming out. My other doctors haven't let me do that. It was amazing. I highly recommend if you get a chance.
So then I was told to push again, and out came Harriet a few seconds later. The heart rate dips were caused by the cord being wrapped very snugly around her neck, chest, thigh, and ankle. It was interesting to watch Dr. Z try to unravel her. We were lucky being all wrapped up didn't cause a lot more problems than it did. Dr. Z thinks it helped that she replaced the amniotic fluid during delivery so Baby would be more cushioned.
After delivery, Dr. Z put the baby on my belly and the nurses suctioned her and rubbed her down while she was on me. I cried. I couldn't help myself. She is such a little miracle and it had been such a long time since I'd been a part of the process of birth. To get to see my newborn! It was incredible. I also cried because I was so grateful that she was safe and my decision to try a VBAC hadn't ended badly. It could have. But it didn't.
After a few minutes the baby nurses took Harriet to the baby warmer and suctioned her some more. She had a little bit of trouble breathing for a few minutes, but then she was fine. After making sure she was breathing okay they weighed her, wrapped her up in blankets, and handed her back to me. I haven't held one of my newborns ever. Even with Cowen I didn't because they were worried about my placenta. After Miriam I was too weak from blood loss. Then, of course, c-sections you don't get to hold your baby.
Oh yeah, the placenta. It came right out. Another miracle. However, it was about half the size of a normal placenta which may explain why my water broke so early and why Baby is so small. The bleeding was also minimal. Apparently there is a new drug that starts with a c that has been working wonders in controlling bleeding. They gave it to me and it worked like a charm.
So for the first time ever, I was able to hold my baby for an hour or so after she was born. Granted, Timothy held her first because I was shaking so much--but watching him hold her is as wonderful as my holding her, so I was still so happy and in the moment. It was just beautiful.
After about an hour the nursery nurses came and took the baby so the delivery nurses could move me to a postpartum room. Once there, I don't really remember all that happened. Timothy made sure I was okay then went home to take care of the other kids as my mom, who had been watching them, needed to go home. The nurses brought Harriet back not too long after and I held her and nursed her. Then I slept, in between getting my vitals taken.
That night two nurses helped me walk to the bathroom (the epidural still hadn't worn off enough for me to move on my own), and they were both so sweet and apologized for the heavy dutiness of the epidural and the inconvenience I was experiencing. I just smiled at them. I had STOOD UP without feeling like I was going to die or pass out. No c-section. A miracle. Seriously.
And the rest is all basic recovery stuff. My mom took the kids on Sunday night so Timothy brought me home Monday morning to a peaceful, quiet, tidy house. I've held Harriet, napped, and that is pretty much it. It has been lovely. And Harriet is beautiful.
Thank you Dr. Z for being willing to buck the insurance companies and let me try a VBAC and thank you Megan, Kami, Mom, Beckie, and Kenny for watching the other kids. Thank you Timothy for taking care of me. I feel so blessed.
Proof that she's teeny tiny.
Dr. Zelenkov, Harriet, and me.
Timothy, Harriet, and me.
Carolyn, the efficient, Irish, delivery nurse.
Harriet with Dad.
She took up no room at all in her little bassinet thing.
She doesn't like to open her eyes. Her first bow was this cute pink one with hearts in honor of Valentine's Day. Awww.
1 comment:
Congrats! Your experience is a lot like mine with Cassandra--I totally hear you on everthing. I'm so glad it was a good experience for you and that she's here and healthy. Enjoy your baby!
Post a Comment