A Baby's Coming

On Friday, January 4th, 2013 I had my 39 week ob appointment.  I woke up feeling crampy and achy and nauseous.  When being examined by the nurse she said oh, you're abdomen is tight, feels like a contraction.  I said "Oh, as in a real contraction?"  She said yes.  Sweet, I kept thinking any time then.  After talking to Dr. Laden she told me I should be done working for the day and she let me know that she was the on-call Dr. that weekend.  To me it was a secret message that this was going to be the weekend!  She said my cervix was at a 3 on the outside but came down into a cone shape to a 1 cm.  I continued to have non-progressing contractions all day at random intervals.  Well, at least this was progress.  The good news was that I was in early labor, the bad news is that I was in EARLY labor!  I felt pretty miserable all day so I asked to borrow our friend's Jacuzzi tub that night so I could relax.  After that relaxing bath, I didn't have another single contraction the rest of the weekend.  Come Monday I went to the gym with my sister, walked 2 miles on the treadmill, then did some squats and thigh adductors and abductors.  My theory was to get the party started.  Later that day and Tuesday I had just a few handful of mild contractions.  Wednesday I couldn't wait for the work day to end so I could go sleep.  David came home from work and I told him I was just too exhausted to cook dinner or do much else than sit on the couch.  He happily fixed us something for dinner and served me on a tv tray.  As we were watching tv, I had a few stronger contractions.  I noted to him that they seemed stronger than the ones over the weekend.  About 10pm we went to bed, by 10:30 David was sound asleep and I was feeling a bit nauseous.  At 11pm I started getting contractions, it just felt like really strong cramps but they would come every 10 minutes.  I started using my iPhone app to track them closer to 11:30 when I realized they were probably the real thing.  By midnight they were coming every 8 minutes.  In between contractions I went to the restroom and heard/felt a ker-plop.  Odd.  I look down and see what I believe to be my plug.  Then at 1 am they were at 6 minutes apart.  Hmmm, definitely progressing!  I decided to wake David and let him know I think we were headed to the hospital.  He got out of bed and took a shower.  Then he got in the closet and said to me, I actually have NO idea what to wear!  I said aww baby that's cute, put on a pair of jeans and a tshirt and let's go!  At this point it was 2am and the contractions were 4 minutes apart.  As part of my "birth plan" I wanted to labor at home until the contractions were 5 minutes apart.  I had definitely met that goal.  We climbed in the Tahoe and headed to the hospital.  I was very thankful to be going at 2 in the morning and not having any traffic to deal with!

We pulled up to the emergency room and David helped me out.  They sent me straight to registration just to sign in since I was already pre-registered.  They called labor and delivery to bring down a wheelchair and come and get me while David parked the car.  The nurse that took me to L&D was really kind but you know they do this all the time because they ask you questions and hand you paperwork to fill out while you're in the middle of a contraction.  I close my eyes, grip the chair and breathe through it, completely trying to drown out those around me.  I was taken to triage and was told they would hook me to monitors and watch my labor for an hour.  I needed to have consistent contractions under 10 mins apart and have my cervix progress.  They asked when the last time I had gone to the doctor was and what my cervix was at that appointment.  When I said Friday my cervix in their office was at a 1cm, after 30 minutes, contractions had moved to 3 to 4 minutes apart and cervix at 3cm and they said you're being admitted.  As part of the admitting process they asked if I would want an epidural or something in my iv for pain.  I said I didn't know if I wanted an epidural yet, that I wanted to try to get to 5 cm first, but I did not want any iv pain meds as I felt if I wanted those I would go ahead w/ the epidural.  So after all the prep work, blood draw, iv put in, etc, I was taken to my room.  After I got settled into bed there, my contractions were 2 to 3 minutes apart and they were curling my toes strong.  I told my nurse, ok, I'm ready for the epidural now.  I had gone from contractions at 11 pm, arriving at the hospital at 2:30 am and made it to my room at 6am, thus 7 hours of labor on my own, I felt like I had done pretty well.  They checked my cervix and I was at a 5.  Sweet, another milestone on my "birth plan" met, now let's have that epidural.

The nurse then informs me that as they were putting in my iv earlier the reason they asked if I wanted an epidural is because a special iv concoction had to be put in my system before they could even call anesthesia.  So they would need to switch my iv bag and wait for that to go into my system first.  WHAT??!!  When I decided I wanted the epidural it was pretty much that I wanted it NOW!  Ok, so how long is this going to take?  She informed me they could open it up all the way and put a pressure weight or something on it, basically to force it fast into my arm.  So the whole thing took about 15 minutes.  The anesthesiologist on call came in and administered the epidural pretty quickly.  They made David leave for this part because too many Dad's passed out, lol!  To which I thought David would be ok, but he later told me to see his wife stuck with a big needle in her back probably would've not been good.  I'm pretty much terrified of needles so this was scary to me, but, if it made the toe curling contractions stop hurting, I was willing.  The worst part of the epidural was the numbing shot and the burning feeling of the liquid.  But that lasted all of 30 seconds before I couldn't feel anything anymore.  Then the epidural went in.  I felt the pressure but not the pain and it was over before I knew it.  Next they cleaned my back and sprayed it with sticky stuff to make sure the tape adhered well to my back to keep the epidural tube from moving.  All this time I still have strong contractions and being told to hold really still, I was definitely using some sort of breathing techniques to get through it!  I laid back down and after about 2 to 3 more contractions I started feeling relief.  A few more contractions that felt pretty mild and then I was not feeling anything anymore, I had to check the monitor to see if I was still having them.

After the epidural I was able to tolerate guests into my room.  My Mom and Sister showed up first, followed by my "sister from another mother", Shannon.  Unfortunately as predicted, the epidural slowed down progress a little bit.  Instead of contractions every 2 minutes, they were back at every 5 minutes.  Dr. Laden called the nurses to check on me and there had been no progression since 5 cm.  She ordered the lowest dose of Pitocin at the slowest drip to see if we could get things moving.  At this point my Dad, mother-in-law and step-daughter show up.  I had had about 2 hours of contraction relief and was starting to feel my contractions again.  I let the nurses know and they ordered an extra shot of something into the epidural.  My room was at the end of the hall right next to a lounge area and most everyone was out there chatting.  David and Shannon were in my room.  Next thing we hear is an alarm go off.  But buzzers and alarms were sounding all the time and it was usually for another room.  Not this time.  A team of people literally run into my room, about 5.  They throw and oxygen mask on me, 3 nurses pick me up by the sheet under me and flip me to my side and stuff pillows under to keep me propped up.  What on earth is going on.  Someone else sticks their head in, I heard you guys need help in here.  Another nurse says I think we've got it covered, one second.  We all sit and listen and the buzzer stops.  I'm still at a loss as to what just happened and the rest of my visitors in the hall are all shocked because they saw everyone come running in from all over.  So little miss Lillie's heart rate had been in the 140s all this time and all of a sudden it dropped to the 80s.  Since that is a big concern an alarm goes off and everyone comes running in.  Well, whatever they did to remedy it, flip me over, put on oxygen, etc, worked and her heart rate slowly climbed back up.  They made a call to Dr. Laden to inform her of what just happened and alert her of baby's distress.  She ordered Pitocin to be shut down immediately.

At that time it was decided to go ahead and break my water.  This can trigger your cervix to dilate more.  About 15 minutes later my Dr shows up to break my water, reaches inside with a sharp crochet hook looking thing and said ok, her water has already been broken. Do What?  She said there's no bag for her to hook.  She asked if my water had broken at home.  No I said, not that I know of.  I then went to explain that I was pretty sure I had lost my plug around 1 am and that maybe that ker-plop also included my water breaking.  Dr said but you would've still leaked some here and there, was your underwear not damp after?  I said Dr. Laden, you can look at my cross eyed and I might pee myself and not know it this last week, so my underwear is pretty much always damp!  Ok, she laughed, good point.  We determined that this was probably when my water broke after all and I just didn't know it.  Far different from any movie scenario!  At this point my cervix is a 6 and baby is still above the -3 station, making no sign of moving into the birth canal and helping to open my cervix.  Dr. Laden did a double check, added in the contraction monitor in utero and said the space was really really tight.  Basically doesn't' look like baby is going to fit through the pelvic bone.  She said she'd be back in 30 minutes and if baby hadn't moved down any, we were going into surgery.

As disappointed as I was in having to go into surgery I felt at peace with it.  At least we would know when she'd be here and we couldn't keep stressing her out like that.  What most likely was happening is that the contractions were trying to force her through, but she wasn't fitting, then her head was compressing on the umbilical cord and cutting off circulation, thus putting her in fetal distress.  We definitely couldn't risk that.  So they gave Daddy his gear to wear in surgery and wheeled me off.  David had to wait in the hall to surgery until I was all prepped.  They put up the sheet and began preparations.  Dr. Laden used a tool that was sharp on one end and dull on the other end and also a tool to pinch me with and ask if I could feel the sharp or the dull.  Each time I was able to tell her.  So they ordered an additional medicine in my epidural.  After 3 minutes we tried again, the same.  A second shot and 3 minute wait.  Finally, Dr. Laden tried again and I said seriously, it feels like you're trying to pierce my belly button, ouch.  She said call the head anesthesiologist, we have to put her under.  I let out a cry, NOOOOOO!  I knew what that meant.  It meant David could not be there during it and neither of us would get to witness our daughter being born.  But for baby reasons, we needed to get her out asap and didn't have time to re-do the epidural or put in a spinal block.  As I lay there upset and crying the nurse said can her husband at least come in and kiss her?  Dr. Laden said yes, quickly, tell him what's going on.  He came in with his mask on, I'm crying and he's kissing me through the mask and starts crying, he says baby it's ok, it's ok, I'll be right outside and that's about the last thing I remember.

I wake up from surgery and I'm holding David's hand.  I'm back in my room and I'm shaking very badly and still crying.  Pretty much you go under crying, you're going to wake up crying.  But I very quickly realized that it was all over and stopped crying cause David was saying it's all done, she's perfect, everything went just fine.  I was squeezing his hand and asking if everything about her was normal, all toes, fingers, etc?  He said yes, she couldn't be more perfect.  Whew!  He said I got to see her, want to see some pics?  OMG yes!  So he showed me some pics and it didn't sink in that that was my baby.  I said she has a big ole head and forehead, lol!  David asked if I wanted my family to come in and I said no, not yet, I need to stop shaking and calm down first.  I asked the nurse how long until I stopped shaking and she said it usually takes about an hour.  So I asked if I could have my baby then?  She told me that once you get put under general anesthesia, the baby has to immediately go to the nursery/NICU area for observation for 3 to 4 hours.  Even though they take her as fast as they can after you go under, there's always going to be some amount of drug that she ends up getting.  So she was born at 12:56pm, so basically 1.  3 hours after birth would be 4pm.  I started to watch that clock!  At 2 I had finally stopped shaking so I told David everyone else could come in.  I was still in some pain up until that so I asked for more pain killers.

I really don't remember what happened from 2 until 4 because I could only focus on 4.  I think we discussed how everyone stood there frozen when a team of people came running to my room, to having to make the decision to go under for the surgery.  As the clock neared 4 I let everyone know I would be calling the nurses to go get my baby.  At 4, I rang the nurse call button on my bed and said I'd like to have my baby now.  She said let me get your nurse.  The nurse called back in a second and said I just have to check her out and we'll be there in about 15 minutes.  Ok, I was way excited!  At about 4:14 I sent David into the hallway to see where they were.  A minute or two later he came back and said they are wheeling her this direction now.  Wow the excitement!!  What I didn't realize is that David started recording and he caught the most precious moment of my whole life on video.  Every time I watch it, I still just cry and cry.  She was the most beautiful piece of perfection I had ever seen.