Abbie's Birth Story {12.21.12}

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Hi Mama & Mou readers! I'm Jess, and I blog over at Being Mrs. Beer. Yep, that's really our last name - I guess I hit the jackpot on that, huh? My husband Chris and I welcomed our little girl, Abigail Ann, into the world on December 21, 2012. I'm a full-time working mom, and I blog about our life as a family of three (plus two cats), motherhood, getting healthy, and whatever else pops into my head...I warn you, it can be random. On that note, here's the story of how our Abbie made her arrival...9 days late. After waiting around for Abbie to arrive on her own with no luck, we went in for induction on Thursday, December 20. Honestly? I kind of always knew it would come down to that. My whole pregnancy I thought she'd be late. I know a lot a people are worried about inductions, but I really wasn’t worried at all. People have inductions all the time, so I was pretty laid back about it.

 

One of my last bump photos - 41 weeks!

We had to be at the hospital at 8:30 pm, so Chris’ mom took us out to dinner beforehand, knowing that I wouldn’t have a good meal for a while. We went to one of my favorite places, Coastal Flats – and I was so glad later that I had eaten - little did I know, I wouldn't have solid food again for two days. After dropping his mom off (and checking my hospital bag about a million times), we took a final bump picture and then set off for the hospital. We arrived on time and got registered. While we were registering, another couple walked up, obviously also for an induction. We didn’t talk, but Chris gave the other husband a nod, sort of like, “yep, this is happening.” (I wasn’t really paying attention, but Chris got a kick out of this). After we registered, we headed upstairs to get checked in to our room. There was some sort of backup upstairs, so it took a while to get into our room, number 303. The labor and delivery rooms at our hospital are really big, but we were lucky enough to get a corner room, which meant it was a HUGE room. In addition to the labor bed and a sleeping chair for Chris, we also had a couch, a bench, and a window. I was glad to see we had so much space since my mom was coming later in the evening.  

We finally were settled in about 9:30 or so, and the nurses came in to draw blood and put in my IV. Normally, doctors and nurses have no problems finding my veins, but I was so swollen from pregnancy they had to try multiple times to get a good vein. 10 days later, I still had a huge bruise on my right arm. Once the nurse FINALLY got my IV in, the doctor on call came in to place the cervidil in my cervix (since they were just placing medicine, it wasn’t a big deal to me that it wasn’t a doctor from my practice doing it). At that point, I was dilated to 1 cm. 

By about 10 or so, we settled in for the night of waiting. My mom got to the hospital at about 11pm. Shortly after the cervidil was in, I started having pains, and started to look at the clock every time I had them. My nurse dismissed them, saying that cervidil sometimes causes cramps. I had my doubts, as the cramps were coming about every 20 minutes or so. Mom and I started timing them, and we now have no doubt that I was having contractions – my body had decided to go into labor after all! I was so glad to already be in a hospital when they started…I can’t imagine having been at home . I knew I was already in the best possible place and didn’t have to travel anywhere. We were scheduled to start Pitocin at 7am. So with contractions starting, I tried to sleep. After a while, I kept feeling like I had to go to the bathroom, but I didn’t actually have to go most of the time – I think my body just liked the change of position for dealing with the contractions. I didn’t sleep much, and neither did Chris or my mom. Just before 6, the nurse came in to check on me, and I asked if there was any way we could get things going a little sooner. Thankfully, we did. They took the cervidil out and gave me a few minutes to get situated again. About 6:30 or 7, the nurses started my Pitocin drip, and at that point my contractions got more regular (looking at my tracker, they were about every 2-3 minutes) …and I immediately asked for my epidural.

 This is another thing I knew my whole pregnancy - that I would want the drugs. I applaud mothers who do things without them or at least try to...but it's not me. I always knew I'd want the drugs, and had no qualms asking for them right away. I wanted to be as comfortable as possible - having a baby was stressful enough! The anesthesiologist was doing a c-section at the time…and while I understood in the rational part of my brain, I really just wanted to whine and cry – I was SO uncomfortable and exhausted. I think it was around 8 or so when he was finally free, and my mom left the room so I could get my epidural (they only allow one person to stay with you at that point, so of course Chris stayed). The epidural – well, I was equal parts scared of and ready for it. The anesthesiologist started by telling me something I’ve been dealing with my whole life – that my short torso and extra weight would make the epidural difficult to do, since the bones in my spine are close together. (Cue me remembering how difficult sit-ups always were in gym class and how Pilates is really difficult for me…damn short torso.) He told me to round my back as much as I could and stay really still..and I held on to Chris and tried to stay as steady as I could. After a few adjustments on my part, I was in the right position and the epidural was in…and the pain started to go away. The epidural was GLORIOUS. The pain subsided, and I was actually able to sleep for a few hours, which was much needed after my mostly sleepless night. 

Once I woke up from my nap, (I think it was about 10am) my doctor checked me and I had progressed to 4 centimeters. I was so thankful to finally have some progress after weeks of no progress at my OB appointments! I continued to have contractions and my mom was timing them and helping me through them. I felt my water break at about 11am, and I definitely had the big gush people talk about – there was no doubt that it was my water, and I was glad it broke naturally. After my water broke, my doctor checked me again and I was at 7 centimeters. At that point, things start to get a bit hazy for me. My blood pressure had been a little on the high side during my pregnancy (but at that point not enough for concern), and during labor, my blood pressure continued to climb. I also developed protein in my urine, and had hence developed preeclampsia while in labor. For the first time during labor, I was scared, for both me and Abbie. I don’t remember a ton in this time frame. I know doctors and nurses were going in and out, and I was just trying to breathe deeply to try to calm myself down – it was the only thing I could think of to lower my blood pressure. Chris said my doctor brought in another doctor to consult on my blood pressure, and apparently at that point the thought of a c-section had come up. Thank goodness for that consultation – the other doctor suggested that the amount of activity in the room was stressing me out, and advocated taking as many people out of the room as possible, dimming the lights, and trying to let my body calm itself down. They did just that, and thankfully my blood pressure went down. 

Before I knew it (about 12pm), my doctor checked me again and I was at 9.5 centimeters – I couldn’t believe it. She suggested starting to push to help dilate that last .5 centimeter, so we geared up to start to push. While the epidural had taken away the pain, I could definitely still feel pressure (it was weird - it felt like it was ALL in my left butt cheek). The first bit of pushing dilated me the rest, and I pushed for about an hour and a half . Our daughter, Abigail Ann, was born at 1:30pm on December 21, 2012 (my mom of course noticed later that the two clocks in the room weren’t in sync, and says she was born at 1:26pm – only my mom would notice that).  

I was so glad that both Chris and my mom were in the room. I heard Abbie cry, and breathed a sigh of relief that she was out! I think I said something along the lines of “I can’t believe I did it!” While they ran Abbie’s tests and weighed her, my doctor started to deliver the placenta…and it did not seem to want to come out. It took some poking and prodding, but I finally delivered the placenta and my doctor started to stitch me up (I had a second degree tear), but because of the epidural I couldn’t really feel her doing it.   Finally, I got to hold Abbie again, and my mom left the room to call my dad and sisters. Chris called his mom and she left for the hospital. I couldn’t believe she was finally here – there is truly nothing like meeting your child for the first time.

  

I wish I could end this here with all happiness and rainbows, but that wouldn’t be the truth of what happened. My blood pressure was still really high, and they had to put me on a magnesium drip along with another blood pressure medication to try to regulate it again. That also meant a catheter – and that I was still stuck in in the labor bed. You know, the one that came apart for birth and is super uncomfortable? Yeah, that one. If you ever need to be on a magnesium drip, let me tell you – it makes you feel horrible. I was tired, still in pain from being in the same position for hours, and upset because I was stuck. I also wasn’t allowed to keep Abbie in the room with us without someone else who was awake and alert there with me – so I didn’t really get to spend a lot of time with her immediately after birth. My mom stayed with me while Chris took his mom back to her hotel and ran home to shower. He also took a blanket Abbie had been wrapped in home to our two cats (we had read that bringing home a blanket that smelled like the baby would help them adjust). Once he got back, my mom left for home. When we were making plans for delivery, we had every intention of Abbie rooming-in with us. I knew I wanted to start breastfeeding right away, and I couldn’t bear the thought of her being separated from us so soon. My medical condition changed things, and Chris and I made the difficult decision to send Abbie to the hospital nursery for the night, even though that meant she’d be getting formula instead of breastfeeding. Looking back, I have mixed feelings about it. I think it really damaged our breastfeeding relationship, but I think it would've been difficult for us to have her in the room with me as out of sorts as I was. Saturday morning I was finally starting to feel better, and I can’t tell you the relief I felt when they finally took me off the medication and took the catheter out – I could move again! We settled into our room in the Family Centered Care unit and the nurses brought Abbie back to us. (Cue happiness and rainbows again!) We settled in for the day and Abbie had her first visitors. After one more night in the hospital, we took Abbie home on Sunday begin our lives as a family of three. Thanks so much to Kristin for having me today!

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Caleb's Birth Story {05.16.13}

Happy Tuesday mamas, it's time for....

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1. Write a post about ANYTHING baby {or pregnancy} related.
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EASY PEASY! 

Hi there, lovely Mama & Mou readers. My name is Jessica, and you can find me on a daily basis over at my blog, The Newly. I blog about marriage, motherhood, and every little bit of life in between. I am wife to my sweet husband, B, and a new mama to our precious son, Caleb. I recently embarked on the stay-at-home mom journey. Which has been more of challenge than I honestly expected. And which has made blogging even more interesting! Today, I'm so excited to share a little piece of my motherhood story with you here.

On Wednesday, May 15, I was 37 weeks, 1 day pregnant with my first child - a sweet baby boy. I headed to work as normal that morning, little knowing that my world was about to change in a big way.  Around 2:30 pm, I received a call from the nurse in my OB's office. She informed me that some blood work I had done earlier in the week had come back early. We hadn't been expecting to get the results for at least another day or two, so I knew the news wasn't going to be good the minute I heard her voice on the line. The Mayo Clinic had rushed my results based on the information that my blood had given them. I was diagnosed with Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy (ICP) at 37 weeks, 1 day. 

With the ICP diagnosis, my pregnancy immediately became one of the rare, less than 1% diagnosed with this condition. For those of you who aren't familiar with this condition (which is probably most of you), ICP is a liver condition in which bile acids are not able to be broken down properly in the mother's liver, and end up backing up into the bloodstream and traveling into the rest of the body. While not necessarily life-threatening for the mother, bile acids are toxic to the baby, and can be fatal. The risk of stillborn is exponentially higher in mothers diagnosed with ICP. And for some reason - doctor's don't know why yet - the risk is greater once a baby hits 37 weeks gestation and beyond. 

After the diagnosis, everything began moving at warp speed. My doctors wanted to take no chances. With my life or the life of baby Caleb. Stacy (the nurse) informed me that I was going to be induced. That night. We were having a baby! I remember sitting in my car after lunch, shaking from head to toe as this news was relayed to me over the phone. I was terrified. After losing our first pregnancy to a miscarriage, I couldn't bare the thought of anything happening to my sweet baby boy, so each minute after the diagnosis felt like a minute in which something might go wrong. But I was also terrified of being induced. Though I hadn't prepared a specific birth plan, I had been hoping for a vaginal delivery at 39 or 40 weeks. I worried that inducing my labor at just 37 weeks would result in high stress on both Caleb and I, resulting in a c-section. Which I didn't want. I had to remind myself to stay positive, and know that no matter what happened, everything was being done to ensure that Caleb arrived as safely as possible. And my body was no longer a safe place for him to be.

My husband and I arrived at the hospital right at 11:00 pm on May 15. All inductions at the hospital where I gave birth are scheduled for late evening. I'm not sure why that is, but I can't say I minded. I knew that I would be lying in a bed for hours, and I would much rather do that at night than in the middle of the day. B and I headed for OB Assessment, where we completed our paperwork. We were then whisked to our labor and delivery room in the Family Birth Center. The room was calm and peaceful, with hardwood floors, a private bathroom, and a sleeper couch. The only hint that anything would be happening in that room was the presence of the medical equipment on the wall behind the bed, the stirrups folded up under the bed, and the warmer where baby Caleb would be placed after birth for cleaning, weighing and measuring. 

Soon after arriving, getting our things sorted out, changing into the gaping hospital gown, and climbing into the bed, Sherri - our nurse for the evening - arrived to get the process started. She was sweet as can be, and explained everything that was happening. The first step in the induction process for me was a medicine called Cytotec, which was given to me around midnight to help prepare my body for birth and get the contraction process started. After a few hours had gone by, I was given Pitocin to strengthen the contractions and help initiate the labor process.

Around 8:00 am on Thursday, May 16, I had really begun to feel like the labor process was starting. I had been having contractions throughout the evening, but many of them had passed without my notice. Not anymore. The contractions were coming faster, and were stronger. Despite this, I was still only around 2 cm dilated. At 9:00 am, my midwife, Jeri, arrived. She was on call for deliveries that day - she rotated delivery call shifts with the two OB doctors in the practice B and I had chosen - and let me know that she would be delivering baby Caleb. Both of my doctors would also be available in the event that more complex medical procedures were needed during the birth. She had me get up and walk around, use the restroom (which are both things that doctors don't typically allow after Pitocin drips have been administered, but which I was so thankful for after laying in a bed all night), got me settled for a short time in the rocking chair in our room in order to give my lower back a break, and had ginger ale ordered for me. A beverage had never tasted so good. While she was there, Jeri explained that she was going to go ahead and break my water to keep the contractions coming and encourage the labor process. Although the water breaking didn't hurt, the intensity of the contractions immediately became stronger and started coming faster. It wasn't long before I was asking about the epidural.

Around 10:30 am, the anesthesiologist arrived to administer my epidural. Though I'd heard horror stories about epidurals and was a little afraid, mine was done smoothly and took immediate effect. Pain relief had never been so sweet. I was able to weather the contractions for the next couple of hours with no notice before I began to feel them again. At that point, Jeri ordered a dose of Demerol to help manage the pain, and checked me again. I had dilated to about 4cm at this point. By 2:00 pm, the pain medication had begun to wear off once again, and I started feeling a lot of pressure along with contractions. Jeri warned me that at this point in the labor process, she would not advise any further pain medication because of the effects it could have on the baby during the birth. The nurse checked my progress once again, and to everyone's surprise, announced that I was 'complete.' I had gone from 4 cm dilated, to complete and ready to push in about an hour. Baby Caleb was ready to go.

Around 3:00 pm, I began to feel the need to push, and at 3:18 pm - after about 20 minutes of pushing - Caleb Monroe arrived. B was by my side the entire time, encouraging me, rubbing my shoulder, kissing my forehead, and crying with me when his son arrived. A nurse in the delivery room was able to get some precious shots on our camera as Caleb made his debut. These pictures and the video are precious to me, though I remember each moment vividly. 

We ended up staying in the hospital for 2 nights after Caleb's birth. Our little man had still not urinated by the time the doctors came around the morning after his birth. Not wanting to proceed with his circumcision before Caleb had accomplished that milestone, our OB recommended that we stay another day. Our stay at the hospital was a lot more pleasant than I could have ever imagined it would be. The room was comfortable and set up so that we were able to keep Caleb with us the entire time, everyone was so friendly, and it was a relief to know that we would be taken care of and have all of our needs met for an additional 24 hour period. Becoming a parent for the first time is overwhelming in itself, so having the additional help of the nursing and lactation staff at the hospital was much appreciated.

On Saturday, May 18, we brought Caleb home from the hospital. And have been loving on him ever since. There are times in which I look at my son's face and feel an overwhelming sense of, "This is forever." Our family of two has been forever changed to a family of three. And, while this is a big change, it is one that I would do over and over.

*As a side note, though ICP is very rare - occurring in less than 1% of normal pregnancies - it is also misdiagnosed or undiagnosed on an alarming basis. Many doctors aren't familiar with the condition, don't know the symptoms, and aren't proactive about testing for it. This website is a reliable source of all information related to ICP. If you are pregnant, please take a minute to look over the information and be sure that you don't have any of the symptoms. It could save your baby's life!

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Garret's Birth Story {08.27.14}

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.

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to submit a birth story, email me at mamaandmou@gmail.com

Colin's Birth Story {10.12.13}

Today's birth story is an extra special one because Ryan, Kari {and Colin} are my real life friends! 

Ryan is one of my best friends from college and through the years I have gotten to know Kari really well and we've become great friends - I actually talk to her more than Ryan now {sorry Ryan!}. These two are one of the most loving couples I've ever witnessed in real life and are an incredible support system to each other, their friends and their family - so when I found out a little Hannay was joining the world, I was over-the-moon! I'm so glad Kari is here to share Colin's birth story! Enjoy! 

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October 12th was an incredible day.  It was so full of emotions, exhaustion, and bliss that I can't really describe how amazing it was.  But the 12 hours leading up to Colin's birth are quite a story!  

On Friday night, we went to dinner for our sister-in-law, Becca's birthday.  I was having contractions before we left the house but I figured they were early labor and I could either be uncomfortable at home or at dinner so I might as well go to dinner.

During dinner, my contractions started to get a little more intense and so Ryan started timing the duration and how far apart they were.  They were lasting for about 50-55 seconds and coming every 3 minutes or so.  In birth class, you learn about the 5-1-1 rule.  Let me say, you can throw that rule out the window because it really doesn't mean much (ugh!).  Around 8pm, I decided I was most uncomfortable (as was the guy at the table next to us) and wanted to leave.  I said I wanted to go home and labor as I didn't think this was the real deal but Ryan thought we should go to the hospital.  So he called and we headed to Waconia.

We got sent to triage and they monitored the baby's heart rate and my contractions.  They checked me and I was still only dilated to 2cm-- same as I was on Tuesday at my weekly appointment.  The nurse said I could either go home and labor or I could stay and walk the halls for an hour and see if I progressed.  I was frustrated and thought nothing was going to put me past 2cm but Ryan thought walking the halls was worth a try.  So we walked... and I contracted.  My contractions did increase in intensity and I was becoming hopeful that something was happening.  So after an hour of walking I went back to my triage room where the nurse checked me and again I was only at 2cm.  Begin the tears.  I was disappointed and at this point I was really starting to hurt!  The contractions were intense enough that I could no longer find a comfortable position to sit or stand in.  I asked the nurse when I could come back and she said she wasn't really sure.  I obviously can't check myself so I will just have to come back if I think I am making progress.  You can imagine I thought the hour of walking was making progress so at this point was I upset, sad, and in pain!  Going home was miserable.

I cried the whole way to the car, I cried in the car and I cried when we got home.  I thought when we got home that I would labor in the shower for a wile but to my luck, our hot water heater was broken.  No hot shower for me.  So I got out of the luke warm shower and continued to have contractions at home.  I became inconsolable.  In birth class, they showed videos of women moaning and breathing heavy thru contractions.  The teacher said that only in movies did women scream and freak out.  I was the star of that movie!  My contractions were so painful I was screaming and crying.  Poor Ryan couldn't say or do anything to make it better.  I kept saying "I can't do this!"  I began to shake and I seriously knew this was the worst pain I had ever had.  I also thought that this was likely not helping me progress and I would be in labor until Tuesday when I was scheduled to be induced.  My lack of progression at the hospital had led me to believe, that I could not progress on my own and I would simply be in this intense pain for the next 3 days.  

After about 2 hours of this- around midnight- I told Ryan he had to call the hospital, tell them we were coming back and they were not allowed to send me home.  Ryan went downstairs to make the call- I'm sure he didn't want me to hear him describe how over the top I was being, how negative my comments were and that there was no way I could do this any longer without pain meds.  Ryan told me the hospital said we could come back and if I had not progressed they could try some relaxation techniques- yea right!- but I was just glad they said I could come back.

So at about 12:15am we got back in the car and headed for the hospital.  Again I was sent to triage- crying and screaming between contractions.  The same nurse checked me and I was now dilated to 3.5cm!  YAY!  I was thrilled!  I could stay and they would admit me into a birthing room!  Thank God!  The nurse asked if I was going to try and do this birth naturally- as Ryan and I had planned- or if I was wanting an epidural.  EPIDURAL PLEASE!  The whole natural birth plan went out the window.

So I got in my room, got in a hospital gown and within minutes the anesthesiologist came in and I was prepped for the epidural.  The epidural went in and almost instantly I could feel relief.  Unfortunately, within seconds of the epidural being placed, my blood pressure dropped significantly low and the baby's heart rate dropped dangerously low to about 55 bpm.  The nurse had me turn on my side and then get on my hands and knees to see if a change in my position would help the baby.  Thankfully I was blissfully unaware of the seriousness of the situation but poor Ryan got very nervous.  A flood of nurses came in the room.  They started pumping me with fluids and gave me a drug to help the baby's heart rate rise.  When the first round of drugs didn't work, they tried again.  The nurse put oxygen on me and kept reassuring me that everything was okay.  The looks on their faces said otherwise and Ryan could see all of this playing out in front of him.  His worst nightmare was happening.  He said it was so scary to know both me and the baby were in trouble.  After about an hour, my blood pressure came back.  Eventually the heart rate came back up too but all the nurses were watching the monitor closely.  Over the next few hours, Colin's heart rate would randomly drop, not coinciding with a contraction or anything and the staff could not determine a reason for the drop.  They had us sign C-section papers in case we had to go that route to get the baby out quickly.  

I changed positions several times and it seemed that deep breaths with the oxygen were the only thing that helped bring Colin's heart rate back up.  Luckily, every time they checked me I continued to progress, dilating more and more.  The on call doctor came in to break my water around 5am.  I continued to progress and at 7am I was dilated to 10cm and I could begin pushing.  After pushing for an hour and 15 minutes, Colin was born at 8:15am.  We found out that the umbilical cord was wrapped around Colin's neck, causing his heart rate to drop.  But he cried right away and the nurses cleaned him up.  Ryan joined Colin to watch him get weighed in and measured.  

8 lbs and 20 inches long.  Simply perfect.

Follow Kari at You, Me, and Dupree.

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To submit a birth story, email me at mamaandmou@gmail.com

Cruz's Birth Story {11.13.11}

Hi friends! It's time for another birth story! Are you loving this as much as I am? I could seriously read birth stories all day, I never get sick of them! Today, the gorgeous Katie from Yellow Mango Life is here to share the story of how her son Cruz was welcomed to the world! Cruz is now 2 and if you follow Katie, you already know he is the cutest little thing!

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Cruz John Manganaro

November 13, 2011

6lbs 15oz; 20 in long

12:44am

Saturday, November 12th  (38 weeks, 5 days)

Nick & I had planned to spend the day watching football and lounging around the house, so in the morning I ran to the grocery store to get ingredients to make chili and some other game-day snacks. Around 2pm and after getting everything together, I was relaxing on the couch when I felt an uncomfortable leak. I [waddled] into the bathroom where I noticed a difference from the normal pregnancy discharge and when I wiped the paper was more pink than clear. At this point I was concerned, so I got onto my laptop and googled what had just happened. I got mixed messages on what I should do next and if in fact this was the start of labor. At this point, Nick had come upstairs to get something to eat and I explained to him what had happened. He asked if we needed to head to the hospital and I said, "not yet."

As I was laying on the couch, I continued to feel a slight leak and decided to call my doctor's office. Surprisingly, Dr. McTaggart picked up the phone herself and as I explained what was going on, she said that we should head to the hospital and she would call and tell them to expect us.

I went downstairs and told Nick that the doctor wanted us to head into the hospital but I was going to shower and get ready first so he had about an hour before we needed to leave. After getting ready and washing up the dishes, we packed up the car and headed to Bergan Mercy. On the way down we were debating calling our families to let them know we were heading in - my biggest fear was that I was wrong and they were going to send us home because we weren't going into labor yet.  We decided to call our parents and, of course, my sister Tessa. We also sent a heads up text out to our brothers & sisters. At this point, I started feeling slight contractions.

Once we got to the hospital around 4:30pm, they immediately checked us into a birthing suite where our nurse, Sheryl, started examining me.  This is when my water fully broke and she confirmed we were going into labor. At this point, I was only dilated 1cm. A while later Emily, a resident, came in to examine me and predicted that we wouldn't have the baby until 4am. (What...4am?!? But my water broke, isn't it time to have this baby?) Around this time, the anesthesiologist happened to be in our wing so they asked if I would be ok if they started the epidural process. Surprisingly, Nick watched as they stuck the needle in my spine (surprising because two of his biggest fears have always been childbirth and needles!)

Getting the epidural

From there it was a waiting game. Nick went between pacing the room and being on his iPhone watching football and texting family & friends and I was on my iPad and phone doing the same. Tessa was the first to make it to the hospital and came up to hang out with us in the birthing room, followed soon after by my parents, Josh, Ashley & DeLaney, and Nick's mom Carol & her boyfriend Duane.

Around 7pm, Sheryl left and introduced us to our new nurse, Maelene. Right before 9pm, the contractions were coming more frequently and were more painful, so I asked for the epidural and our families left for the waiting room. The epidural was amazing. As soon as the anesthesiologist put it in the catheter, I could feel the cool, soothing sensation flow down my back and almost immediately the pain went away (though I still had some slight pain with each contraction). Shortly after, Maelene examined me and told us that I was only 3cm dilated...that was such a deflating feeling, it seemed like it was taking forever. At this point, I felt bad that everyone had been waiting for so long and it looked like it would take a lot longer before Little Mango was going to make his appearance. When Nick's dad John got to the hospital, he came into our room to quickly say hello - and that is when he saw the dry erase board on our wall where Nick had written "Welcome Cruz John Manganaro." We hadn't told him we had decided his middle name would be John and you could tell he was moved. He then sent Janice up and then they went back home to put Sicily & Dominic to bed since they were babysitting them that night.

The waiting continued until my 11pm examination. When Maelene told us that I was fully effaced and 9cm dilated, we were ecstatic - it was game time! Maelene and a few other nurses started prepping the room. We were excited to think that we would be having our baby on 11/12, however, the nurses had other things in mind and we stared at the clock as it ticked closer to midnight. Finally, Maelene came back in, verified I was 10cm dilated and prepped me. I hoisted my legs in the stirrups and she helped me practice pushing during the contractions, which consisted of her watching my contractions on the monitor and having me take a deep breath and push for 10 counts. I would be doing this three times during each contraction.

Sunday, November 13th  (38 weeks, 6 days)
Around midnight, a doctor and a couple of nurses came into our room and we were all waiting for Dr. McTaggart who had been paged, but hadn't yet responded. Finally they found her (she had been asleep!) and we were ready to roll.

With Nick up by my head, holding onto my shoulder, I started pushing through each contraction. Since I couldn't feel anything it was hard to tell if I was making any progress, but all of the nurses and doctors were great at giving me positive feedback after every push - at least making me feel like we were getting somewhere. After some time, they explained that Cruz was being stubborn and wasn't progressing as quickly as they hoped and they thought they would have to use the forceps to help pull him out. I was praying that wouldn't happen and after a few more pushes, he was out!

It's difficult to explain how I felt as soon as I saw them take him from me and bring him over to get cleaned up. He was bluish in color, with a little cone head from being in the birth canal a bit longer than anticipated. Immediately I broke down in tears and took one look at Nick who was smiling through his tears. What an amazing moment. While they removed the placenta and stiched me up, Nick walked over to where they were cleaning Cruz up and grabbed his tiny little hand...almost immediately, Cruz squeezed his finger back.

Finally after what felt like forever, they brought him over to me. With tears pouring down my face, I looked into my little boy's eyes. He was perfect and for the first time I felt like a mother. This moment was truly the best of my life.



Follow Katie at Yellow Mango Life

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To submit a birth story, email me at mamaandmou@gmail.com

Trace's Birth Story {06.26.13}

I am so excited to have Kate here today to share the details of her son, Trace's birth. I followed along through Kate's entire pregnancy and remember being so excited when I saw the first photo of baby Trace posted on Facebook. Everyone please welcome the beautiful, Kate.

It was a Monday afternoon and I met my parents for lunch. While enjoying our chips and salsa, I happened to mention that I was feeling cramping in my stomach. Cramping that felt like period cramping... and I hadn't felt that since last September! I knew this was the beginnings of the labor process, but didn't know how long it would take for things to progress.

After lunch my mom and I got ourselves a pedicure. The women doing mine rubbed a pressure point in my foot for a very long time, saying that it helps to induce labor and that I should have my baby in the next day or so.

That night a friend came over for a little girl talk. I was increasingly feeling cramping, but overall fine.

I woke up the next morning not feeling like myself. Just in case we needed to head to the hospital, Bryan worked from home that day while I took it easy.

That afternoon my parents came over to our house. My dad took Cali to her yearly vet check-up. Bryan and I headed to my ob. She told us that I was 1-2 centimeters dilated and 90% effaced. My ob told us that his head was very low... to go home, grab our bags and head to the hospital.

Once at the hospital we were sent to triage -- I was checked in at 5:15pm, put on my hospital gown, got hooked up to monitors and was checked by the on-call ob from my practice. At 8:30pm they had me walk the halls for an hour. By 8:50pm my back labor pain was so strong that I felt like I was dying. After being monitored for 5 hours in triage, we were sent home. I felt defeated. I was in excrutiating pain, but wasn't progressing. The ob wanted me to labor at home and come back when my contractions were even more intense and more close together.

We got home at 10:45pm Tuesday night. It took everything in me just to crawl into our downstairs guest bedroom bed and fall asleep. I didn't change clothes or wash my face... I brushed my teeth and attempted to get some sleep through all of my pain. Every hour I would wake up to an extremely painful contraction, I'd moan and groan and then it'd pass. I had several contractions in between, but for some reason once/hour I had a horribly painful one. Bryan slept on the family room couch and was right there if I needed him.

I woke up at around 5:00am and decided that I couldn't go back to sleep. I threw up quite a bit. We sat on the couch and Bryan helped me get through my contractions until he finally said that we had to go to the hospital. He didn't want me to wait any longer. Bry helped me into the car and off we went.

We were leaving home just the 2 of us, knowing that the next time we came home, we'd be a family of 3!

We got back to the hospital at 6:45am. As we pulled into the parking garage, I threw up. Once in the Women's Center, the nurse who helped us in triage the night before was still on. She welcomed us back and checked me. I had progressed quite a bit and was officially admitted. June 26th would be the day our son was born...

I feel like so much happened from 6:45am until I had Trace at 4:43pm that same day, but mostly I was transferred to my labor and delivery room and spent the afternoon there. Thankfully my ob, Dr. Crosland, was on call, so I had her to deliver Trace. I had been throwing up all morning and after seeing the pain I was in she quickly ordered me an epidural at 10:00am... it's the most life changing drug in the history of drugs. I was so calm once I had the epidural. I wasn't in pain, but I could slightly feel my contractions, of which were terribly irregular. My parents and Bryan's parents had arrived and had come to see us in my room. I was 9cm dilated at 1:30pm, but my contractions were all over the place so Dr. Crosland decided to start me on pitocin and an internal monitor (which is never a good sign) and told me I'd be pushing soon.

At 2:00pm Dr. Crosland told me that I would start pushing at 2:15pm. I pushed for 1 hour. It was one of the longest hours of my life. I tried so hard, but Trace just wasn't budging. She used the suction to no avail. After quite a while Dr. Crosland said that Trace was face up and that, based on his erratic heart rate, she thought the umbilical cord was around his neck. She told me that I "had 2 options, both of which you're not going to like - forceps or c-section." She quickly took the forceps option away from me, so before I knew it my room was swarmed with nurses and hospital staff. They were prepping for c-section.

Through my tears, I remember being wheeled out of my labor and delivery room, through the halls and into the operating room. Bryan was told to put on scrubs while they prepped me for surgery.

I. Was. Balling! I was terribly afraid. Afraid that something was wrong with my baby and afraid of this surgery. I hadn't planned on a c-section and never thought I'd need one. This was the first surgery I'd ever had. Bryan stayed strong for me -- he faked his strength so well, as I knew he was just as afraid as I was.

Before they cut me they put an instrument on my belly and asked if I could feel it. I should have been 100% numb, but I felt it. They increased the medication in my iv and before I knew it I was in surgery. I never stopped crying. I was sobbing uncontrollably. They couldn't get Trace out. He was stuck! Stuck in my pelvic bone. While my l&d nurse pushed my stomach Dr. Crosland pulled the baby. I then heard Dr. Crosland ask a nurse to get the resident ob asap... she needed his help. He quickly came in and before I knew it I had my l&d nurse pushing while Dr. Crosland and the resident ob pulling Trace out. They finally got him unwedged and pulled out.

Trace was born at 4:34pm on Wednesday, June 26th.

Immediately after birth they placed Trace on a ventilator. After 1 minute and 15 seconds he took his first spontaneous breath. This was the longest 1 min and 15 secs of Bryan's and my life! I remember laying on the table, looking up at the nurse who was by my head and asking her "Is he okay?" She said "they'll let us know when they can." I started to cry even harder. That was not the answer I had expected. Bryan and I were terrified! But then we heard that cry. That loud cry at 1 min and 15 secs. Trace was okay. Bryan and I looked at each other, both in tears. We had been so scared, but our baby was okay.

It turns out that Trace was face up, but did not have the cord around his neck. He weighed 6lbs 7oz and was 21 inches long. I'm not sure how my tiny baby wedged himself in my pelvic bone so good -- he didn't want to come out vaginally or through a c-section. But he was here and we were thrilled!

I finally got to see him. I honestly don't even remember when. I think Bryan had him in his arms.

After they stitched and stapled me, they wheeled me into a recovery room where I stayed for about 1 hour. This is where you bond and/or breastfeed for the first time, and this is where I held Trace for the first time!

Once in my recovery room, the room I'd be in for the next couple of days, our parents came in to say hello. This overwhelmed Bryan and I tremendously. We had just been put through hell and back and just wanted to relax... and here come our happy, overly excited parents... dying to meet their grandson. I freaked out. Bryan said he freaked out to, but I beat him to the punches. My room was full and I needed some people to leave. My mom was so worried about Trace and I, so my mom and dad stayed with us for a bit longer.

The next couple of days were spent getting to know Trace, having visitors and learning about our new role as parents. Trace slept in room with us, which was fantastic!

I could have stayed in the hospital until Sunday, but I was ready to leave. After Trace's Friday evening circumcision we headed home. Home to our new life as a family....

And what did I do the second I got home? I dove into a big hunk of salami, of which I had been craving for 40 long weeks :)

And this is where I would normally say "the end," but we all know that this is just the beginning...

Follow Kate at Set This Circus Down 

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To submit a birth story, please email me at mamaandmou@gmail.com