Wednesday, February 26, 2014

My Birth Story

We went into the hospital at 0600 Wednesday morning. I had two doses of cytotec. The doses didn't really work, and my platelet count was 73K so my doctor wanted to get the baby out. They started me on IV pitocin around noon that day. But, by 11pm I had made little progress. I was only dilated to 2, and the doctor couldn't break my water yet. Because of the pitocin I was definitely feeling the contractions, but I could tolerate them. They turned the pitocin off from 11pm to 4am to let me and my uterus rest. It went back on at 4am, and finally at 12:30 on Thursday they were able to break my water. That morning my platelets were 71k. 
The anesthesiologist came in and talked with my about the possibility of an epidural in case I needed it. The nurses said it would be tough to manage labor with IV pitocin going on top of my natural hormones. By about an hour after he broke my water, shit got real. I have never been in so much pain, no, I've never IMAGINED that kind of pain existed. Anyway, anesthesia had said an epidural would be pretty safe and they would monitor me close when it came out for complications. So, at about 3pm Thursday I got the epidural. I labored into the night, still feeling contractions but they weren't so intense. 
At about midnight (friday AM) I stopped progressing at 6cm. The nurse called the doctor and he said if I didn't progress in the next few hours I would have to go to surgery for a c-section because the baby was starting to have some heart beat accelerations showing us she was getting tired. I lost it. I had been laboring for so long and couldn't imagine it ending in surgery. So, my nurse had me (and my numb thighs) sit up and labor upright for a couple hours. The epidural didnt really help at this point because it was mostly pressure. I felt everything in my pelvis. It hurt but I just breathed through it. 
By 3am I was an 8cm, so that meant I was avoiding the c-section. Finally at 5am Valentines morning (Friday) I was almost to 10cm and started pushing. At 6am my doctor got there, and at 6:33 she was born :) The pushing was so tough. Hardest work Ive ever done and by that point honestly I was so tired I just felt like I couldn't do it. The last couple hours were full of tearful moments but I made it. When I did that final push and then she slid of out of my body there was the greatest most overwhelming feeling of joy and relief. I did it! They put her on my chest and my husband and I were in awe of this little Valentines baby. She was finally here!
48.5 hours from admit to delivery. I wouldn't recommend to anyone to be induced, unless (like me) there is a medical reason. It took a long time because my body wasn't ready for labor. I was disappointed that I got the epidural because I had spent so much time in the past weeks preparing to endure labor without one. But, because we augmented with IV pitocin it became unbearable, and due to the longevity of the labor I was simply too tired to endure the pain without some help. I did not have any complications from the epidural, other than that when they first put it in and started the medication my blood pressure dropped, and so the baby's heart rate dropped and they had to give me some ephedrine to get things back to normal. So, there I was, not feeling a lot of pain but feeling like I'd had 10 cups of coffee. 
When I write and read the story back, I realize it sounds horrific. But, it really wasn't. It was the work I had to do to meet my baby girl, and as she sleeps peacefully beside me while I write this, I know I would do it all again to meet her. There is no moment in my life that I can compare that moment to. It was, quite simply, the best day of my life. 

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