So here we go, how June Elizabeth made her grand entrance into the world:
Saturday,
September 17 - Starting at about 5pm and into Sunday morning I was in
full blown early labor. I had painful contractions every 3 minutes for
hours, we even called my fabulous doula to come labor with us at home.
After about 7 hours of this crap, we decided to go to the hospital. They
checked my cervix and I was only 1 to 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced.
Seriously? We walked the halls for an hour and they rechecked. Same
dilation, same effacement. Because I wasn't 39 weeks yet, they sent me
home. Yes, even with measurable contractions.
Monday,
September 19 - I went in to see Dr. Man* for my previously scheduled 39
week checkup. I was miserable, at the end of my rope; huge,
uncomfortable, unable to move or sleep. I had talked to everyone who
would listen about whether or not I should ask for an induction -
something I had been adamantly against from the beginning. Dr. Man had
made it clear that he would be willing to do an induction if he thought
my body was ready. Before I could even ask, Dr. Man came in and said,
"we need to get this baby out." What? Why? Apparently my blood pressure
was high (it's usually 110ish/60ish and at this point it was 150/115 or
so) and I was spilling protein into my urine. Both classic signs of
pre-ecclampsia (I also had intense swelling) and he made it clear that
the only way to cure pre-e was delivery.
Dr.
Man called the hospital to see when I could get in to be induced. There
were no openings that week and when decided to push another patient out
of their spot the charge nurse opened a special time for me - 9pm that night.
It was already 5pm. Thomas and I were kind of floored, we really hadn't
been expecting this turn of events. We nervously drove home and made
phone calls - we were going to have a baby and soon! I was a wreck, I
didn't know what was going to happen and it was happening so fast. But
because it was happening so fast I didn't have a ton of time to think
about it which was a blessing. I would have gone crazy if I had had to
wait.
We
showed up at 9pm, got checked in and by 10 I was hooked up to the
dreaded Pitocin. Dr. Man had ordered some sleeping medication for me so
that I could try to rest a little bit. Around 11pm, Dr. Man came in and
decided to break my water and soon after, Thomas was sleeping soundly on
the pull out chair in the corner and I was breathing through the
contractions pretty well on my own. I slept on and off until our amazing
doula, Becky Leonard, came at
4am. By that point the Pitocin had been turned up twice and I was
progressed to about 4cm (I think, details are fuzzy). I was still
breathing through the contractions but they were getting more and more
intense. Over the next few hours and next doses of Pitocin, my pain was
getting nearly unbearable. The contractions were so unnatural feeling; a
pain that unlike the contractions that I had felt previously, I was
unfamiliar with. At 7am the nurse came in and checked me again, no
progress. She was very straight forward and urged me to get an epidural.
As you remember, I did NOT want an epidural! However, at this point,
she was making a good argument. My body was reacting to the drugs by
fighting the contractions rather than allowing them to open my cervix.
By 715am, I had my epidural and was pain free. I felt the pressure but
the pain was gone. As Thomas said, they got their Amber back. I was
happy and talkative!
We
had visitors all day long. However, the epidural had made me very
drowsy so Thomas and I slept quite a bit. Our families filled the
waiting room, anxiously sitting and wondering when June would come.
Every cervical check was announced to the group and bets were placed on
time of birth.
At
5pm I was finally dilated to 10cm! So exciting! However, June was still
at a -2 station, meaning her head was not in the pelvis yet. We were so
lucky though because both Dr. Man and the nurses agreed that it was
better to let me continue labor and try to get her head down on our own.
Some doctors would have either made me start pushing which would have
only aggravated my cervix and probably had led to a c-section and other
doctors would have gone straight to a c-section.
I
kept laboring until about 8:30pm when Junebug was finally in a +2
station and ready to be pushed out! Pushing was hard. I pushed for three
hours but the epidural made it very difficult because I couldn't truly
feel where or how I was pushing. We could see her head and her crazy
thick dark hair but after every push, she would go back and I began to
feel defeated. By 11pm Dr. Man came in and decided that we needed to use
the vacuum extraction or we would do a c-section. One more intervention
that I was dreading. At this point it had been 24 hours since my water
had broken and I was developing a fever and June needed to get out.
He
prepped me by doing an episiotomy and went to work getting baby girl
out. I honestly don't remember delivering her beyond this point. I felt
her come out and be put on my chest but after that my memory is very
fuzzy. I began to hemorrhage and there were complications delivering the
placenta. I had suffered a fourth degree tear despite the episiotomy. My
epidural had run out rather than them turning it down as they usually
do. I felt everything, from being stitched to Dr. Man fishing around
with both hands in my uterus trying to deliver my placenta. I was
essentially losing too much blood and blacked out. The pictocin was
exponentially higher than it was before and my body was not handling it
well.
Thomas
knew there was a problem with me when I was handed June and within
minutes I asked for him to take her. I couldn't even hold my own baby.
He held her while Becky was with me and calming me down. We are both so
grateful for Becky because Thomas would have had to have dealt with a
brand new daughter and his significant other suffering beside him. She
took the pull away, he knew he could focus on June while I was being
taken care of.
June
was perfect, though. 8lbs, 4oz, 20.5 inches long and healthy. The next
morning instead of being transferred to the regular post-partum unit, we
were taken to the high risk unit. I got one-on-one attention and
wonderful care. There were orders for a blood transfusion but my levels
had gone up enough that Dr. Man didn't feel it was necessary. I was also
told that there was a chance that I had placenta left in the uterus. We
were sent home Thursday evening, two days after Junebug was born.
*Dr. Man is a pseudonym.
If you're looking for a FABULOUS OB please ask me and I will gladly refer you to him!
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