Well, Baby Alex certainly did things his way, and his way
was so much more complicated than we were expecting! He waited an extra week past his brother's dates, coming at 37 weeks, 3 days, rather than 36 weeks, 3 days. And that was just the start!
So, last Thursday afternoon (Jan 8th), I’d
decided that I was done with the false labor that had gone on for 3 days and 2
nights at that point with no progress. I
was done with the discomfort, the aches and pains, and heartburn, and the lack
of sleep. I was done, done, done being
pregnant.
So, my sister and I and the kids went walking in the
mall. We walked and walked and let the
boys play and let Daughter shop a little.
But my main motivation was just to get this labor going ASAP!
Well, sure enough, I woke up Friday morning and went potty
and noticed some bleeding and other “stuff” (to be delicate about it). Lots of “other stuff.” But it was the bleeding that worried me,
because I’d already lost my mucus plug days ago. My hubby was getting the kids ready for and
off to school, and my sister was at a doctor’s appointment with my Dad to get a
procedure done where he would be sedated, so he needed her to drive him. So, I told Hubby about it and texted my
sister who asked what color the blood was.
Well, at that time, I felt more very noticeable, um – stuff, being expelled
and went potty again and saw that the bleeding was bright red. NOT good…
So, we called the doctor who told us to go on the OB
assessment and get checked out. Hubby
got the kids all off to school and by the time we got to OB assessment, I was
already at 5 cm, but my water hadn’t broken yet. So the OB nurse called the doctor
who said to go on and admit me. We were
going to have a baby!!
We got into the room and proceeded to just wait. I wasn’t having real bad contractions,
although I’d had some back labor overnight (again). I was really OK at that point, until the
midwife came in awhile later and wanted to go on and get the Pitocin started,
and get the baby born. By this time,
like I said, I was over it, and I certainly wasn’t going to go home and wait it
out! So, they started the Pitocin, broke my waters for me, which were behind the
baby’s head and wouldn’t break at first (ouch!), (and when they finally did break, my nurse let me lay in that for an hour or so, just for fun, I guess, even though I told her twice I needed to be cleaned up). However, within maybe an hour and a half or so– I
was at 10 and ready to push!
Now, once they
started Pitocin, I knew my hopes for a natural, epidural free labor were over. Pitocin contractions hurt. Things were really starting to hurt at that
point. So, I went on and asked for the
epidural. Well, the young gun they sent
in there seemed competent enough, even though I told him once it was placed
that it wasn’t working on my right side.
So, he gave me more medicine (I think), and they placed me on my right
side to let it numb up. And it numbed up
OK, although it certainly wasn't the blessed pain relief I'd wanted. It never did seem to numb as well as the left side did. But it was enough for me to start pushing,
which is what the midwife had me do next!
And this is when things started to go a bit sideways. Apparently, unbeknownst to us, Alex was “OP”
(opposite position). In other words, he
was facing up in the birth canal and couldn’t move through it. Now I don’t know if he’d turned or if he’d
been that way the whole time, but it became increasingly apparent, as I pushed
a couple more times, that he wasn’t coming out that way, and each time I tried,
his heart rate would go down.
So, here is where I have the biggest problem with my labor: at that point, it was about 1:00 PM or
so. My midwife went off duty at 1:00, so
another midwife from another practice was covering (that I’d never met before in my life). This midwife called my OB and was told that
she wasn’t on yet and they needed to call the other office OB (both of whom
I’ve been before and both have delivered my kids). Well, rather than
doing that, they decided to keep me on my right side, with my left, numbed leg
up in a stirrup, and hope that the baby would “turn” on his own, and I could
push him out…
Now, keep in mind, I’m dilated to a 10, fully effaced, having regular contractions, ready
to push, and there I sat, stuck in the stirrup, waiting for this baby to
miraculously turn himself into the right direction…
What I really think is that the midwife didn’t want to call
the other OB, because she’s can be a bit hard nosed, so she wanted to wait
until the "nicer" OB came on at 4:00 or 5:00.
So….I was there for about 2 or 3 hours, can’t really be sure…”waiting
for the doctor to arrive…” (Who, for
some reason, had to “go home and get her scrubs.")
Well, I began to notice a problem. I started hurting. On my right side. I was feeling contractions again, stuck
there, heiney in the air, leg in the stirrup, not a nurse or medical worker to
be found in the room… First time I've labored and the medical personnel haven't stayed in the room with me. So I called the
button and told them I was hurting. A
few minutes later, my nurse comes back in and says that the midwife told her
not to numb me up anymore because then I wouldn’t be able to feel when to
push. BUT, she could take me out of the
stirrup because the doctor was nearly there.
By the time I was back on my back, I realized that the pain
was no longer located just on the right.
It was spreading back across both sides….and I’m 10 cm dilated, ready to
push, having contractions one on top of the other…
Y’all – seriously more pain than I’ve felt in my life. I was crying it hurt so bad and asking for
demarol or something to take the edge off, since they wouldn’t come in and put
more meds in my epidural. Being told to hold on, hold on, hold on. Well, by then,
the OB finally arrives and decides they should probably call anesthesia again
to bump up the epidural…
So another anesthesiologist comes in, takes one look and
says, “Well, no wonder the epidural isn’t working. The pump is off!”
OMG, y’all – if I hadn’t been nearly hysterical by now with
the pain, I would’ve been cussing out the whole room. WHO DOESN'T NOTICE THAT THE EPIDURAL PUMP IS OFF DURING A WOMAN'S LABOR!!! There were 3 - 5 medical personnel in that room at various times over those hours, and nobody notices this????
As it was, they had him bump up the meds
again (and turn on the pump, presumably), but it was time to start pushing now
because the doctor was there – so no waiting for me to numb up again. So, I start pushing through these contractions,
y’all, and I have to tell you, there are just no words… Alex would not BUDGE. He was STUCK, and still dropping heart rate
with each push. So, the OB decides to
try the vacuum. Now, I couldn’t see what
was going on, because the midwife had given me a towel to pull on to help me
push (she pulled one end while I pulled the other), and my legs were
draped. But Hubby said that doctor was
really pulling on the baby’s head with all her might when the vacuum popped off.
So – they tried it again… And again....and again.
Again, had I not been so consumed with trying to get this
baby out, I would never have stood for it.
But when the vacuum continued popping off, and the baby kept dropping
his heart rate dangerously low – it was time for my emergency C Section. They wheeled me into the OR and literally had
the baby out within just a few minutes.
It was scary for me, but I was also just exhausted and hurting and just
ready to be finished. They put me under
general anesthesia since my epidural was muffed up, so Hubby couldn’t even go
in there with me. And my poor sister,
who’d come all the way down here to be there for the birth was sent to the
waiting area.
But Baby Alex was born at
5:37 PM on Jan 9th and was 7 lb 14 oz and 21” long!!! Thankfully, he was healthy and OK, although he sported a nasty bruise on his little head for days.
I awakened a couple hours later and was able to do some skin
to skin snuggling with him. We spent
Friday and Saturday nights in the hospital, where my husband continued to show
me how loving and supportive and awesome he is, and we got home by 2:00 Sunday
afternoon.
So, I’m recovering from this C Section and am confined to
the house for 2 weeks. I can barely move. Baby Alex is a BEAST
and eats ALL the time!!! He’s really
feeding well, and my milk is coming in, so I’m going to try to start getting
some good flow going that I can pump into bottles for him.
And I’m super thankful for my husband and my sister and for
Daughter’s friends who were kind enough to pick her and the boys up from school
Friday and let them spend the night, so we didn’t have to worry about that.
We are blessed. I’m
sore and exhausted and feel like I’ve been hit by a train. But I’m blessed. And I’m totally in love with this adorable
little bundle of sweetness God has given us!
No comments:
Post a Comment