So here it is... Our Birth Story:
As most of you know, we went the full 42 weeks...that's right, 2 weeks past my due date. And I know my due date was right on too. It was probably the longest 2 weeks of my life. I tried to stay busy cleaning, walking, doing all the things suggested to get labor started and NONE of them worked! The baby's head was positioned very low at about 36 weeks - so I was just waiting to have my body decide to go into labor. I was being monitored every 3-4 days past our due date to make sure the baby was healthy. He had a great heartbeat and was moving around TONS so there was no need to worry. Justin and I were prepared to go 42 weeks, but not beyond that - and our midwives agreed. So we were scheduled for an induction on Friday July 2.
When we arrived at the hospital I was totally thinned out, not dialated, and the babies head was between a +1 and +2 station (again, his head was VERY low which is probably why I had such a great waddle) We began the induction by trying Cytotec. Less invasive, no needles, etc. This was inserted and was supposed to help soften and thin out the cervix to help get contractions started. Unfortunately we had to be monitored the whole time which was rather uncomfortable. Luckily, there were no chords attached to anything so we were able to walk around. The labor/delivery floor was in a "C" shape, so we couldn't do laps which was frustrating and had to keep turning around to do the "loop". My contractions started, but were not strong enough to really be doing anything. Around noon we decided to try pitocin. This helped my contractions to get stronger, but I wasn't making a ton of progress. At 5:30pm I was dialated to where the nurse could get maybe the tip of her finger into the cervix (BUMMER! all that work and no progres). Our midwife suggested that we take the evening, go off the pitocin, sleep and get some rest so we could have this baby the next day. We agreed that this was a good decision. We were able to cap off the IV and get off the labor/delivery floor, had some Subway with my mother in law, and just waited to see if my body would start up things on its own. During dinner my contractions were still coming every 4-5 min. We walked around the hospital, but the pain wasn't intense enough for me to have to stop and work through them. Around midnight, we headed to bed in the "comfortable" hospital bed on the labor and delivery floor along with that lovely couch that wasn't made for tall men (Justin's feet hung well off the end of it). At this point I was very discouraged and VERY tired, but Justin reassured me that soon we would be able to meet our baby boy.
Our "good nights sleep" didn't turn out like we had hoped. At 4:30am I was awakened by contractions! YAY - except I was SO tired. I tried to sleep in between contractions but they were getting stronger and I really had to work at them. Around 7am things were starting to get really tough. We were walking, side-lying, using the birth ball, and using the tub in the room. I began to have doubts about being able to do this on my own, but then there was my wonderful husband encouraging me to keep going and reminding me why we chose to go this rout (natural) and how happy we were that my body was doing this on it's own instead of being hooked up to and IV. (way to go Justin - although he later told me that he was wavering and wanting to help with my pain). Our midwife came in around 8:00 when things were really starting to get intense. I was having very bad back labor (as well as in the front) and it took everything in me to get through each contraction. The one thing that really helped was using those low birth noises and Justin rubbing my hand like we had learned in our birth class. Justin and our midwife made such a great team at this point because she knew just where to rub me on my back and help me through each contraction while Justin was rubbing my hand and encouraging me. At 8:30 I was dialated to a 3, maybe 4. At this point my back labor was so intense that we decided to try having sterilized water balls that get injected into the back. A more natural approach to pain relief than getting drugs. This was probably the worst pain I have ever felt, but it was only temporary. I can remember shouting "Stop please Stop, ouch ouch ouch". This was only temporary but it totally relieved the pain in my back for a little while which allowed me to sleep in between contractions. At 10:30 we had another decision to make since my body was not progressing like we were hoping. We could break the water and continue to go naturally hoping we wouldnt have to do any sort of intervention (pitocin) or we could do the epidural and break the water and see what happens. The epidural was never suggested to us by any of the nurses or our midwife, this was something we had to decide.
Since my pain was so bad and we had hardly gotten any sleep and had been "laboring" since the day before, we decided to go with the epidural. I don't regret the decision, it was the right one for us at that point. I firmly believe that because of the babys head position, my body just wouldn't progress how it was supposed to.
So, around 11:30, epidural was in, I also had to have a catheter put in because the baby was compressing on my bladder that I couldn't go to the bathroom (which was bad because we were staying hydrated and eating during the labor!!). I had to be monitored again from this point on. Our midwife broke my water as well. At 2:00 pm. I was dialated to a 5. 2:30pm we decided to start pitocin since my body wasn't making a ton of progress. The epidural helped with the back and front labor, but it didn't take the pressure so I still had to work through each contraction. Low labor noises and Justin rubbing my hand continued to be my "thing" during contractions.
By 6:00pm I was finally a 10! YAY! I pushed for an hour before they decided to turn off the epidural so that I could really feel where I needed to push. Another hour and a half later at 8:40 Coleman Douglas Wendzel was here and placed right on my chest as he cried and cried. It was the most beautiful experience ever!
We're not done yet! My placenta had a hard time detaching itself as well. I was given cytotec right after he was born to help with the placenta and only 1/2 of it detached. So while I'm having skin to skin time with the baby our midwife was trying to get the rest of the placenta to detach as well. 40 min. later it was delivered and we got to look at it. She said that you could tell the baby was overdue by looking at the placenta but it was still neat to see. I had lost quite a bit of blood at this point and was getting light headed and nauseous. Again, my husband to the rescue as he took off his shirt, took Coleman and did skin to skin with him. Coleman knew his daddy from the very first moment, Justin talked to him and sang to him and he looked wide eyed at his daddy (probably another one of the most amazing things I have seen in my life). At 10:30 we decided to have Coleman weighed and measured. 8 pounds 7 oz 22 inches long and a 14 1/2 inch head! =)
Although our labor didn't go according to OUR plan we were very happy with how it all turned out. God had a different plan for Coleman's birth and we did get our #1 goal of a healthy mom and a healthy baby. Our birth plan was followed just as we asked by the staff at Bronson. I was never asked to rate my pain, I got to wear my own clothes, they never suggested drugs or an epidural. We made all the decisions on our own with input from our midwife, which we asked for.
I am thankful that breastfeeding is going so well (I kinda think I deserve it after what I had to go through)
Here's another picture of my little peanut...I just can't get enough of him!
.JPG)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Lovely Thoughts...