A Year Ago

This week a year ago I was in the hospital awaiting the arrival of our first child. It's a LONG story so I'll try my best to give you a concise but thorough account.


I was 10 days overdue and our midwife agreed that induction was probably a good choice. For those of you familiar with birthplans, this was were my birthplan was thrown out the window. I was "planning" for a birth free from medical intervention.


So we entered the hospital at 7 am that Monday ready to see what induction was all about. They started us out on the gentlest medication and my water broke early the next morning. I was strep-B positive so after my water broke I needed a cycle of anti-biotics every 4 hours. I was not contracting much on this first medication so by noon the second day they brought in the petocin. The contractions were pretty regularly for the rest of the day but dilation wasn't. I labored through the rest of that day and got to about 2 cm. We agreed rest was probably the best course of action for the evening so they gave me some pain medication and did not increase my petocin. The morning of the third day we were ready to rock and roll. The game plan was to increase the petocin at regular intervals and hope of the best. This was probably the longest day of our journey. I labored all day with little results AND it seemed that the baby was getting particular about which positions I could be in. At one point the nurse suggested I get into the bath tub to help relax me and manage the pain a little. So, with much help with the monitors and IVs the nurses got me into the tub and just as I feeling the wonderfully soothing warm water...I was yanked (as much as a 10 month pregnant woman can be) right out of the tub. Apparently the baby's heart rate began to fall as I sat in the bath tub. I remember thinking that surely these nurses were being overly protective and that I should have been able to sit in that bath for a while longer - but I did what the professionals told me to do. I also remember dreading when the nurses would come into my room to increase the petocin. Watching that number rise on the machine that facilitated that flow of medicine was menacing. The kicker was that the contractions were painful but they still weren't helping me dilate much.


By the end of the third day I was 3 cm dilated and ready for something that would help move things along. We decided to get an epidural and crank up the petocin through the night in the hopes that I could make some progress while I slept. Remember I'm still getting IV antibiotics every 4 hours, I'm on petocin, and now I'm getting an epidural.


Here are some things I never knew about an epidural until I got one:

1. They are not always put in perfectly the first time

2. When they are not put in the exact center of your spine they distribute the pain medication unevenly

3. You need a urinary catheter when you are numb from the waist down


So, I've got two IV bags, one for the medicine to help me have contractions and one for the antibiotic to help prevent giving my baby the virus that I carry but that doesn't harm me. I also have pain medication being administered into my spine but it's inserted so that it's completely numbing the right side of my lower body but I'm still feeling the contractions on the left side of my body. I was told that if I laid on my left side then gravity would help the pain medication get to that side of my body. And it worked! However, my son's little heart rate started to fall again as I laid on my left side, so that plan was no good. Apparently, I was going to have to stay on my back. At some point during the night the baby's heart rate fell again and they ended up turning my petocin (the thing that was making me have contractions) OFF.


When I awoke the morning of the 4th day I was still at 3 cm and I wasn't very well rested because the contractions were strong enough on my left side to wake me up every so often before they turned my petocin down. After talking with the midwife we agreed that if I was not at 5 cm by noon that we would schedule a c-section. At this point my water had been broken for over 50 hours so they (I say "they" only because I don't remember being part of the decision) also decided to start giving me fluids intravenously so that the baby would have enough amniotic fluid to weather the rest of our labor journey.


I guess I should also tell you, I was blessed with an amazing portion of patience through out this week. I only had one melt down during that day that I labored through without pain medication. God was certainly with me, helping me take one thing at a time. Thankfully, at this point my body started to get with the program.


By noon I was 5 cm dilated and by 5 pm I was ready to start pushing. I pushed for 4 hours and thanks to my midwife and an amazing nursing staff that baby was born around 9pm on Thursday, without a c-section. :)


I did not get the baby on my chest the moment he was born for several reason. There was meconium in the amniotic fluid, the cord had been wrapped around his neck, I was strep-B positive, and he was HUGE, 10 lb 7 oz to be exact, which also contibuted to my 3rd degree tear. So, the moment he was born two or three pediatric nurses and an OBGYN were suddenly in the room. The bright lights were turned on so that the baby could be checked out and I could be cleaned up.

The baby was as healthy as a horse. No problems with meconium in his lungs, no strep-B, and no blood sugar issues (they usually test large babies for blood sugar issues). He had a very slight heart murmur but after a few more tests he was cleared to go home. (The doctor couldn't even find the murmur a few weeks later.) Just a great big healthy baby boy.

When I recount this story I'm still amazed at all the twists and turns that we encountered and I'm also incredibly grateful that at no time were either the baby or I in any real danger.


We may have waited 42 weeks but he was definitely worth waiting for. He's the coolest kid I've ever met and I'm pretty darn lucky to be able to spend the bulk of my time with him.

What a difference a year makes.

I love you, Bugg. Happy Birthday!

**Side Note: For the last hour I have been struggling to get my son to take a nap. So in between nursing, reading books, singing songs and seeing if the reason he's crying like that is because he's still hungry, I've been trying to finish this post. That's motherhood for ya!***