14 weeks
23 weeks
30 weeks
32 weeks
35 weeks
39 weeks- day before induction
So, normally I hate labor stories. I've avoided them as much as possible in my adult life....I change the subject, I leave the room, or I just plain plug my ears and sing 'la, la, la'! Everyone had told me to be prepared for perfect strangers to come up to me in Target and touch my belly...which, thankfully never happened to me (I'd have punched someone!). I, however, turned out to be a magnet for everyone's horrible birthing stories and pregnancy comments in general. Why do people think that pregnant women want to hear about how horrible your labor was? I went to the bank...the teller had to tell me all about how she got to the hospital too late for pain medications, etc and the stories continue. Nathan and I went to Granite City and the 18 year old hostess told me I was huge and looked like I might give birth right there in the restaurant.....thanks! Me- already being anxious about delivery- these stories/comments were not a great help!
Apparently somewhere in female DNA we have a NEED to tell our birth story. So, I'm going to do the unthinkable....I'm going to tell mine. I choose to do it here partly because this is how I 'scrapbook' and so I will remember exactly how it happened when I'm sitting in a nursing home drooling re-reading my blog to relive the 'good old days'. However, I promise that I will not bestow my story on anyone else unless specifically asked.....and even then, I will choose my words wisely. So you have been forewarned....there will be lots of vagina talk in this post- in what I like to call 'The Great Vagina Watch of 2013'!
So my story begins at my 39 week doctor appointment. We went in for our weekly non stress test which showed Vivian was still doing very well. Dr. P checked my cervix and I will still not dilated more than 1 cm. As discussed before, she didn't want me to go over my due date because of my age and so I was to come back that evening and be admitted for induction the next day. They would place a 'tape' or Cervadil which is a prostaglandin treated tape up next to my cervix to help 'ripen' it and potentially send me into labor. So Nathan and I went home and finished packing, cleaning, and getting the dogs and house ready to go.
Our suitcases ready to go.....
Doing my hair before heading to the hospital....
We dropped the dogs off at the clinic and stopped at Chick-fil-A for my final meal...an 8 piece nugget meal with a chocolate milkshake.
I was admitted about 7 pm Wednesday night into the birthplace at Mercy hospital. The nurses immediately hooked me up to baby monitors and got my IV catheter in (which took a couple of attempts).
The doctor then came in to place the cervadil....OMG....I thought she was trying to place it in my throat. It was NOT comfortable and I was still pretty sore from my dr appointment earlier that day. I was given an Ambien to help me sleep that night. I think I only got about 4 hours of sleep because of course every time I moved or the monitors came off the nurses would have to come into our room and adjust them to pick up her heartbeat again. I started to have contractions sometime in the night.
The next morning the nurse came in to check me again and remove the cervadil tape....then my doctor came into check me. At this point I was so sore and being checked was so uncomfortable I could not tolerate it anymore. Plus, my cervix was still up under Vivian's head because I wasn't dilated very much (which means they had to reach up further). My doctor couldn't even feel my cervix at this point because I was nearly jumping off the table...and I literally kicked her! Dr. P wanted to go ahead and start pitocin, so she put in the orders. A few minutes later my nurse and a nurse manager came into the room. The nurse manager told me that without knowing how much I was dilated they could not start pitocin. It was against their nursing standard of procedure and they could lose their nursing licenses. So I asked if maybe I could have something to help relax me or some pain medications like fentanyl. The manager said no....they did not give fentanyl for cervical exams....that they were part of being pregnant and basically I was just going to have to suck it up....she was not very nice. So, I felt like a major wimp. Then my nurse went off about how this was an induction and was an elective procedure and that I didn't have to go through with any of this....basically we could go home if we wanted to. I was super confused and now even more anxious. I was prepared to have this baby and was worried if I went home and waited longer that I could end up with a stillborn. My nurse went and got Dr. P and we discussed the problems at hand. She said I could have fentanyl and drew up the orders. I got my fentanyl and it was magical! I was able to stand to have the cervical exam and she was even able to break my water! We were going to have this baby!
So now we were able to start the pitocin....until my nurse figured out my IV catheter was blown. So I had to have another catheter placed which took at least 3 attempts by 3 different people. Not long after my IV was placed and about 1 hour after my fentanyl I vomited up all of my breakfast. Poor Nathan had to hold the puke bucket. So, as the pitocin got rolling then it was just a waiting game.
Starting my pitocin...
The contractions got closer together and a little more intense but it really wasn't that bad. I couldn't get up and walk around much cause I had to stay on the monitors. I sat on the labor ball for about an hour hoping that gravity would help things progress more rapidly.
Monitors showing baby's heartbeat in upper left hand corner and my stats down below. Vivian handled labor very well....one of the nurses commented that she was a very laid back baby as the contractions never seemed to phase her.
My fancy slippers Mom gave me for the hospital.
So we waited and waited...Nathan passed his time catching up on Game of Thrones.
Around 4:30 pm my contractions started to become more painful and I didn't want to get behind my pain so we ordered a second dose of fentanyl and the epidural. The first anesthesiologist was great. I was very nervous about getting the epidural...but like most things in life....it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be...the worst part was getting the lidocaine to numb the area. The anesthesiologist said that I would still be able to tell I was having contractions (can feel tightening and pressure) but that I shouldn't have to breathe through my contractions. Soon after my epidural was placed I vomited again.
Around 8:30 pm I began to have more painful contractions down low. I began to shake and couldn't speak through the contractions. We asked to have anesthesiology come back up. We had a new anesthesiologist and she asked me where my pain was on a scale from 1-10...I said it was around an 8 to 9. I started to shake uncontrollably and was having to breathe through the contractions. I asked if I could have another bolus to my epidural. The anesthesiologist was very rude and told me that I didn't look that bad. (uh....what?!?!) She did give me another bolus but it took about 30 minutes to kick in....before it took effect I asked her if I could have more fentanyl...she said absolutely not. My only other option was to have the epidural replaced- which could increase my chance of infection and other complications. As I was deciding if I wanted the epidural replaced the bolus started to take effect and the contractions were not as intense. I was not impressed with her bedside manner.
Finally around 11 pm I was dilated to 10 cm and it was time to push. I was exhausted and drugged! My eyes hadn't been open for hours. I thought maybe I would push about 30 minutes and we would have a baby! Dr. P came in and said with first time moms it can easily take about 3 hrs! I pushed with every contraction...for 2.5 hrs. I wasn't making much progress....I could move her head out but not far enough for anyone to grab her and then her head would just get sucked back in. After 2.5 hrs I was exhausted. My nurse called Dr. P and she said we could try to vacuum suction her out or I could go for a c- section. I told her I wanted to avoid a c-section at all cost....let's try to suction her out. I didn't want to labor for 30 hours and then end up with a C section! I kept my eyes closed but Nathan kept me informed on what was going on. I pushed while Dr. P pulled and in about 5-10 minutes she was out! She was born around 1:15 am Friday morning.
My first glimpse of her....
I wish I could have been a little more with it when she was born but after about 30 hours of labor, not much sleep, and the narcotics....I was out of it! Nathan was cheering me on telling me she was almost out and then when they put her on my chest...it was surreal. I didn't hear her cry immediately and was worried something was wrong. I also didn't see Nathan cut the umbilical cord. She of course was covered with fluid and vernix. My first words were 'you're disgusting'....Nathan's first comment was 'she has your chin'. I was with it enough to crack a joke....I told him 'at least she doesn't look like Kanye West!' ( I had had a dream way back in August when we were in Dallas that I was going to have to tell Nathan that I was in fact pregnant with Kanye West's baby).
I held her for a while and then the nurse took her to weigh her- 6 # 14 oz, 20 inches long. Her Apgar score was 9.9/10.
Getting checked out by the nurse.
I had originally wanted to nurse her immediately after she was born but again I was too out of it to try, so, Nathan fed her first meal. They put the ID bracelets on all of us and we were instantly a family of three! We sent her to the nursery that night so I could recover and we all could get some sleep. I ended up with a 3rd degree tear through my perineum and bilateral vaginal wall tears. Dr. P sewed me up for about 45 minutes after she was born. I ended up losing quite a bit of blood during the delivery. Not too long after she was born I vomited again (secondary to my low blood pressure).
It took almost 12 hours for my epidural to completely wear off. I wasn't even allowed out of bed until noon the next day. The nurses came in to change out my bedding the next morning- she asked me to sit up and then lean on her to stand. I almost passed out when I stood up. I required multiple boluses of IV fluids due to low blood pressure from my blood loss. My hemoglobin dropped down to 6.9 and the doctors were on the fence about giving me blood products- but other than that one almost passing out episode- I wasn't clinical for my anemia so they did not have to give me any blood.
Ms. Vivian Lynne Hein...
Our first picture together...
First family photo...
We only wanted our parents to come visit the first day...
Mom and Dad meeting their granddaughter...
Gpa and Gma Hein...
Nathan was absolutely outstanding during the entire labor process. I was very surprised I never swore at him or had any desire to throw anything at him or hit him! Nathan was supportive and completely involved during the entire ordeal. Other than a few bumps in the process I would say my birth story is pretty benign and wasn't that bad. I can't say yet if I want to do it again, but only time will tell. We are so glad you are here Ms. Vivian!!
.jpg)
