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

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Caleb's Birth Story {05.16.13}

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

Here's what you do:
1. Write a post about ANYTHING baby {or pregnancy} related.
2. Add my button to your post.
3. Link your post with the link-up tool found at the end of all of my posts.
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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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Kenley's Newborn Photoshoot

I have been withholding these amazing photos because all of the grandparents got custom calendars for Christmas and I wanted the photos to be a surprise. But now, I can finally share the ultimate cuteness that is my baby! :) 

Obviously, we had our friend and super-amazing photographer Sara Jayne take the photos for us. I absolutely love that she's done our engagement, wedding, maternity and now newborn pictures.

I know I'm biased, but she's pretty stinkin' cute, isn't she?