Hey guys! I'm Stormy & I blog over at Life's A Dance. This past August we welcomed our first child, Garrett into the world! Today I'm here to share one of my very favorite stories with you...our birth story! It certainly is a long one but this isn't even all of it! If you'd like to read the full version head over & check it out! {Part One, Part Two, Part Three}
My
40 week appointment was on Friday, August 23rd, my due date. I went to
this appointment expecting nothing. After weeks and weeks of hoping for
progress and having little to none I had given up and was convinced that
baby Garrett was never making an appearance. Call me dramatic but it's
truly the way I felt. I wasn't surprised one bit when the doctor checked
and found I was still 1cm dilated, 60% effaced and little man hadn't
dropped at all. We talked about inducing and she suggested I schedule an
induction for the following Tuesday, if baby hadn't come by then. I
agreed. I honestly didn't want to be induced. It was my goal to go into
labor on my own and deliver as naturally as possible. The thought of an
induction terrified me, mainly the Pitocin and epidural. I had heard
numerous horrible things about Pitocin and wanted no part of that. I
knew that majority of the time Pitocin makes contractions far stronger
than they'd naturally be, thus increasing the pain level. Meaning
increased need for pain medications. Needless to say, I agreed and hoped
like mad that I'd go into labor naturally before Tuesday. I left the
office determined to try and make things happen...we walked, and walked
and walked that weekend. I ate spicy food. I ate pineapple. I took a
warm bath. I bounced on a yoga ball.
Monday
rolled around and I had given up. I knew deep down that baby wasn't
coming before Tuesday. As disappointed as I was it was a relief to know
that I'd be holding my precious baby in my arms the next day. Hubs &
I went to my "post due appointment" which was with my doctor, as she'd
gotten back from her honeymoon. She checked my progress and found me to
be 2cm dilated, 70% effaced and at -2 station. Progress! My heart jumped
for joy! My membranes where stripped once again as a last ditch effort
for a natural labor start. We chatted about the induction process. The original induction plan was to come in Monday night at 5pm for Cervadil and start Pitocin Tuesday morning at 7am. However, due
to the fact that my cervix had gotten to 70% effaced on it's own the
doctor felt that I didn't need any medication to help with that.
Therefore we made a plan to arrive at the hospital at 6am for a Pitocin
start time of 7am. While an induction wasn't exactly how we'd planned to
meet our son we left the office knowing that would be our last day as a
family of two.
Tomorrow we would meet our son!
We
spent the last night as a family of two at one of our favorite
restaurants pigging out on food. Hubs enjoyed a few beers and I stole a
sip as well {and learned that even pregnant I hate beer}. We headed home and
cuddled on the couch, watching TV before heading to bed. Before we
turned out the lights we made sure our hospital bags where packed and
that the camera was charged. Our last night together as a family of two
was nothing special, but it was perfect and totally us.
We
awoke early the next morning, around 5am or so. We grabbed a quick
breakfast and headed to the hospital arriving there around 6:30am. We
registered with the hospital and headed up to the Woman & Infants
unit on the 4th floor. Speaking the words "I'm here for an induction"
nearly brought tears to my eyes. It was real, we where really going to
meet our son! The nurse directed us to our labor room, room 425 where I
changed into a hospital gown and she hooked me up to the monitors. I had
spoke with my doctor the day before about the "game plan" for induction
day and she had told us to expect her around 7am that morning so I knew
that she would be in shortly.
My
doctor stopped by at 7:05am. She checked me and found that I was 2cm
dilated 70% effaced just as I was the day prior. She wrote orders for an
IV, Pitocin and pain medications if I needed them. She planned to come
back around noon to break my water and check how I was doing. The nurse
came in around 7:30am and started my IV. 15 minutes later she brought in
the Pitocin and started that through my IV...we where off and running!
It didn't take long for the contractions to get very frequent, every 2
to 3 minutes. At that point they weren't painful at all though and some
of them I didn't even feel. The nurse was shocked that I was tolerating
the process so well and kept offering pain medications, which I kept
refusing because I was beyond comfortable! Hubs and I settled
in for the long haul. We spent the morning dozing, watching TV and
responding to texts and emails from family and friends. Every 15 minutes
or so the nurse would come in and turn up the Pitocin level, making the
contractions stronger and more frequent each time.
Around
11:30 the nurse said that she'd turned the Pitocin as high as they
could, we'd reached the "max dose". The contractions where still about
every 2-3 minutes and while I could feel them, they still weren't
causing me any pain. An hour later my doctor came back. She checked me
and found that I was dilated to 3cm and 80% effaced. She decided that
she would in fact break my water to hopefully speed the process up.
Having my water broke was the strangest feeling I've ever experienced.
It was a large gush of warm fluid and I was certain that I'd peed on
myself even though I knew it was just the doctor breaking my water. From
then on every time I'd have a contraction {or cough/laugh} I could feel
more and more fluid oozing out. Seriously a nasty feeling! The doctor
was certain that having my water broke would make the contractions more
painful and help things along.
The
next few hours were mellow. The contractions certainly picked up pain
wise but through breathing and relaxation I was able to make it through
them. By the time 2pm rolled around I was in some serious pain and the
contractions where nearly on top of each other. One would peak and
slowly let down and without any break another would start. I began to
experience some extreme pain at this point though I tried to breathe and
relax through them. Just before 3pm the pain was to a point where I
could no longer take it. The nurse had even commented on how close
together and intense my contractions where. Though I had been determined
to deliver with no medications I knew at this point it just wasn't
possible. I asked her for some IV medication as I was still hoping to
avoid getting an epidural. She gave me a dose of Stadol through the IV.
And let me tell you something about Stadol- worst drug
ever! It hit me like a ton of bricks. Funny part was that it didn't ease
the pain level at all. I felt every contraction just as I had before.
Stadol just made me feel like I was floating...a very painful float. I
had trouble putting my thoughts into words. I was slurring my speech. I
couldn't keep my eyes open. I wasn't making an ounce of sense when I
talked. I tried telling my nurse that the medication didn't/wasn't
working but she laughed at me and told me that there was no way I was
feeling the pain because I couldn't keep my eyes open.
My
doctor came again at 3:04pm and checked me again. I was still at 3cm
and effaced to 70%. I was bummed to hear that I had made little progress
in the past three hours with all the pain I'd been experiencing. By the
time shift change rolled around for the nurses my contractions had
gotten even worse. They where to the point where I couldn't breathe
through them and I was crying. I requested an epidural. And within
minutes {3:45m} the anesthesiologist was there and I was being prepped. I
have to say after being so nervous and afraid of getting an epidural it
was way easier than I thought it would be! Honestly the hardest part
was sitting still, bent over while having a contraction. The epidural
worked almost instantly...sweet relief! I was still able to slightly
feel the contractions but they where far more tolerable than just
minutes before! I was back to chatting with my husband, resting and
watching TV as I had been that morning. I remember looking at the
clock...and looking at the clock. I knew first time babies like to take
their time making an appearance so while I didn't expect Garrett anytime
soon I was hoping that he'd hurry up and come! I was just so excited to
hold him!
Around
4:20pm the monitors started beeping. I looked over to see Garrett's
heart rate dropping. It had been running in the 130's to 150's all day
and it suddenly was dropping. 117...103...88...70...54. My heart started
racing! My nurse ran into the room to check on me. When she saw me
lying still in the bed, monitors intact she called for other nurses.
"Monitor is working! Hurry! Baby's heart rate is dropping! Get doctor
here!" Before
I knew it I was being told to flip on my left side, oxygen was flying
at my face through a plastic mask and I was surrounded by people yelling
and adjusting different things all while staring at the monitor,
watching his little heart beat. It was then that I began crying, fearing
for my child's life.
My
hospital room was quickly filled with nearly every nurse on the floor. I
laid there on my side, breathing through the oxygen mask with tears
running down my face. I was praying for my child, for his life and well
being. My husband stood next to the bed, clutching my hand hoping for
the same. Laying on my left side wasn't helping...Garrett's heart rate
continued to drop. My doctor entered the room saying "Try the right
side, try the right side. And please, turn the Pitocin off!". I flipped
to my right side and waited. Waited for my precious baby to recover and
for his heart rate to begin to raise. The room was quite, all eyes on
the monitor. It felt like time was standing still. After what seemed
like an eternity I heard the monitor begin beeping a little quicker, and
quicker and quicker. It was working! His heart rate was on the rise!
50...64...92...104...128...134. My doctor advised that I remain on my
right side with the oxygen on to keep his heart rate in normal limits.
It was decided that the Pitocin would remain off for the time being to
keep babe's heart rate up, hoping that the contractions would continue
on their own. While I crossed my fingers for a safe, vaginal delivery my
doctor called and gathered a team just in case it ended up being an
emergency c-section.
With the Pitocin off,
oxygen mask on, and laying on my right side Garrett's heart rate
remained fine. My doctor returned around 5:55pm for another check. She
found that I was 5cm dilated and 80% effaced. The bad news was that
without the Pitocin my contractions had stopped...completely. I was a
bit bummed that in the last nearly three hours I had only dilated a mere
2cm. The doctor reassured me that first babies liked to take their time
arriving and while she hoped for my sake that he'd arrive that day
there was a chance he wouldn't arrive until the next day.
With babe's heart rate
stable my nurse restarted the Pitocin. The thought of going through the
contractions getting progressively stronger {again} with no pain
medication after such a long day made me incredibly thankful for the
epidural! I finally began to relax and was able to rest again with every
stable and alright. Hubs and I settled in for the night as it seemed
baby wasn't coming anytime soon. We posted a little status on Facebook
letting the world know that they could put their feet up and relax as
baby was taking his time making an entrance and likely wouldn't come
anytime soon.
I snoozed until about
8pm when I started to feel an insane amount of pressure. I pressed my
call light to let my nurse know. She said that she'd let the doctor know
but that they had another delivery going on so it might be a little
while. I remember saying to her "I've never had a baby before, so I'm
not sure but I don't think I have a little while." She must have trusted
my instinct because my doctor came right in. She came in reiterating
that she had another patient in labor, about to deliver, that wasn't
doing so well. She agreed to check my progress but said that they'd
likely let me "labor down" until she could finish up the other delivery
{about an hour}. I let her know that was fine but that I was fairly
certain there would be a baby waiting for her when she returned in an
hour. She laughed a bit until she went to check me and found that
Garrett's head was right there...just waiting to come out into the
world. All chaos broke loose then. A nurse came into the room letting my
doctor know that her other patient was not doing well at all and needed
to be brought to the OR immediately due to bleeding issues. My poor
doctor took one look at me and said "Let's get this baby out!" She told
the nurse to bring the other patient to the OR and start prepping
her-she would be there shortly.
At 8:12pm I began
pushing. My nurse held my left leg. My husband held the right. Through
the whole pregnancy my husband said he didn't want to be anywhere near
the action on the big day. He agreed to stand by my side and hold my
hand but didn't want to see any of the gory happenings...and the poor
guy ended up right there...in the front row seat. With each contraction I
pushed. 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10...deep breath...and
push...1...2...3...4...5...6... My nurse and doctor were SO great about
coaching me along and I really focused on what they where saying.
Taking their advice to make sure my pushes where accurate and
effective.
It didn't seem like more
than a few minutes when I head my doctor say "That's it Stormy. One
huge push-get his head out!" And with that, at 8:35pm after 23 minutes
of pushing, I heard the most precious sound in the world-my baby boy's
first cry. Tears welled up in my eyes and I opened them to find the most
handsome little boy in the hands of my doctor. {She had intended for
the push to get just his head out but his whole self came right out
drenching her and my nurse in birth fluids. Oops.} She placed him on my
chest. And there-warm skin to warm skin lay my son. A beautiful,
precious, amazing creation. He was adorable. He was wonderful. And he
was perfectly ours. Tears ran from my eyes. What an
incredible experience birth is! My baby boy was here! Lying on me-safe
and healthy. We could not be more blessed.
--------------------------------------
to submit a birth story, email me at mamaandmou@gmail.com
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