Abbie's Birth Story {12.21.12}

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EASY PEASY! 

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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If you'd like to submit a birth story, please contact me at mamaandmou@gmail.com

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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