Labor and Delivery and finally REAL TIME

I'll try not to be too long winded, but I wanted to be sure and document so if God willing we have another baby, I can remember some things about the labor/delivery...

My doctor scheduled an induction for our due date. I had mixed emotions about this. Ideally, I wanted to go into labor on my own and deliver vaginally. That was the extent of my birth plan. But, at the same time, i was open to what my doctor recommended ( i LOVE my dr).

As I approached my due date, I was hoping and praying i'd go into labor naturally...but I didn't. So here's how it all happened:

Sunday, October 4.
We checked into the hospital at 6pm. By 8pm, I had a room, and was hooked up to a machine for blood pressure, and I really can't remember if I had an IV, yet. They gave me cervadil at about 10pm. This is to soften the cervix and encourage labor. Well, this is when everything began to be crappy. I slept TERRIBLY. I finally took some kind of medicine (maybe stadol) to make me sleepy. They offered that or Ambien. Now, i wish I'd taken Ambien because Stadol made me feel crazy out of it...and I STILL didn't get to sleep. I finally drifted off about 4am, only to wake up again at 4:30. Knowing they'd be in at 5am to remove the cervadil, I got up and showered.

At 5 or 5:30 they removed the cervadil. By 7:30, they checked my cervix and I was still only a centimeter. By 8am, they began a low dose of pitocin (boooo). I wasn't excited about that. So far, everything was going how I dreaded...just somewhat 'forced' along. I get that that's what an induction is, but I kept hoping my body would just take over and I'd be in labor on my own and cervix dilated, etc. At about 9am Dr. Tonkin was doing her rounds, and checked my cervix. I was only a centimeter STILL. They upped the pitocin and she broke my water. By 10:30am my contractions were 3 minutes apart and getting tough. That's what sucked about contractions on pitocin; they are so close together even though you're nowhere nearing delivery time.

By 11am, I took stadol (SO DUMB), but I was thinking it would help me delay getting an epidural since I had a feeling I was in this for the long haul. I was about 2-3 cm's dilated by noon and my contractions were getting more intense and so close together. I didn't want an epidural, yet, because I wanted to be able to get up and walk around, but I was getting so tired from no sleep, the contractions, and the stupid stadol I elected to take. I ended up getting an epidural about 1pm.

By 3 or 4pm, I was still 3 cm's. Long story short, the day went on and on, and I didn't really progress. By 10pm, I was EXHAUSTED. They had taken my pitocin level above the normal max of 20 all the way to 38. I was still not really contracting intensely, and only 5 cm dilated. By 11pm, Dr Tonkin said I was 6 cm dilated, but I was just not progressing like she'd want. The biggest issue she saw was that the baby's head hadn't dropped much at all. Even if i got to 10cm's, if her head didn't drop, we were not going to be delivering:)

She gave me the option of a c section. All I kept thinking was how i'd never felt so tired before. I'd been on so much pitocin and fluids and I was completely exhausted. My body was really tired. I told Matt I didn't think I had the energy for a csection OR vaginal delivery. I truly felt dizzy and out of it and remember I was even having trouble hearing. Looking back, i should have napped, but I didn't know what was going on.

Dr Tonkin said I was healthy and Louise was healthy, so she'd wait it out a few more hours, but it was up to me. I was so very exhausted, and Matt and I decided to go ahead with a c section. In less than an hour I was on the table....this experience was wild.

So, we get in, I remember (again, not to beat a dead horse) being so very exhausted that I questioned if I could take any more meds in my system. It's so awful that you don't get to eat or drink and get pumped with so many meds. I got my spinal and they got started. I remember asking Matt what that burning smell was. They had already started the incision! I was clueless of course. Then, all of a sudden, I hear an animal like cry! It was our baby!!! She was here! I wanted to be overjoyed and in the moment, but i felt so drained. I told the anesthesiologist that i felt like i was going to pass out. I saw the machine behind me going off and it said my blood pressure was 65 over 35. I thought maybe I was dying. Matt had held Louise and given her back and was now by my side. Something just felt off. I heard him ask them if I was okay. The room kind of got quiet and different. My anesthesiologist wasn't engaged talking to me anymore, but focused on what was going on on the other side of the curtain.

I heard them call for a hospitalist. I had no clue what that meant at the time, but Matt told me later that meant they called for another doctor. He was really worried. I was just out of it, exhausted, felt like I was barely conscious, and I was scared.

Thankfully, within a minute or so, Matt is telling me they're sewing me back up. Thank the Lord.

Turns out when they pulled my placenta out, my uterus came out, too....and completely inverted. I had a complete uterine inversion. That's a 1 in 3000 chance! Equally likely to get struck by lightening. SERIOUSLY!??! So scary. Thankfully, Dr. Tonkin was able to re-invert my uterus and get it back in before the other doctor even arrived. Dr Tonkin is a champ. She really is.

So, that was the big event besides having a baby...a complete uterine inversion. That made me really sad because the more I read about it, it is SO rare, and dangerous. If it happens during a vaginal delivery it can definitely be worse, so I was so thankful we had a C Section.

After a follow up with the dr weeks later, I learned my placenta had grown into the uterine wall so it came out with the placenta; another rarity. UGH.

I've since tried to move on, but it really feels like post traumatic stress disorder when I think back to my delivery. For the first week I cried often. Almost like I was mourning the process and dealing with all the fear that I wasn't able to even experience during the event. But, the fact that it was so dangerous and risky just did't sit well with me. It made me so sad that it happened, and I feared ever trying to have kids again.

Like I said I've moved on more since then, and my doctor assured me my next pregnancy wouldn't be any riskier and that they'd monitor to be sure the placenta didn't grow into my uterus again.

Anyway, that was that...my crazy experience.

Aside from that, the next couple days in the hospital were a blur. We basically went 48 hours with no sleep. The first night Louise slept well. The second night she wanted to nurse constantly and we were so exhausted. Turns out my milk was delayed and she just wasn't getting any nutrients. She was a little jaundiced by the time we were discharged so we followed up with the pediatrician the next day. He recommended that I continue breast feeding but supplement with formula and come back next week. By the next week she was fine. It just took my milk longer to come in than normal I guess.

Now, it's early November and things are going great! She is gaining weight, she sleeps 3-4 hour stretches at night, and has a happy disposition. We're so in love with her. I'll try to keep the blog going to update, now that we're 'real time.'

Thanks for following along! Amanda

Weekly and Monthly Pregnancy Pictures

MONTHLY PREGNANCY PICTURES

MONTH 1

MONTH 2

MONTH 3

MONTH 4

MONTH 5

MONTH 6

MONTH 7

MONTH 8

MONTH 9

WEEKLY PREGNANCY PICTURES AND UPDATES

Some more pictures:

This was in the hospital; sweet baby by her old "home" (my belly)

Dress up day for 1 week

My favorite time (after eating)

Dr Appointment

Looking like a cutie pie