# x__amour's 1st LO. T's Birth Story!



## x__amour

Hello! Thanks for reading my re-written birth story! I decided to redo this as when I wrote it the first time I was in such a drugged up haze that I didn't get to reveal the entire story. So sit back, grab a snack and dive in! This is extremely long so be prepared! :D

Monday, November 15th, 2010 (40+1)
My due date of November 14th came and went with no surprise. I had had no labor signs. I wasn't having contractions, I never lost my plug, no show, no waters, nothing. I wasn't too disappointed as it was just one day. I tried to keep my hopes up as best as possible. I had had a stressful day as my family was constantly bickering at each other and it was making my stomach hurt (so I thought) so I decided to leave for my 40 week appointment early. We arrived safely, gave my urine sample and headed upstairs for the OB/GYN office. Unfortunately everything was running late as there had been a huge accident and all of the morning patients were just *now* coming in. I didn't mind though, I was in no rush. 

I eventually was called back and all the normal procedures were started. "How are you feeling?" "Do you have any contractions?" Etc, etc. Then the nurse took my blood pressure. Then she took it again. Once more. And then one more time. She shook her head, looked at me and said, "Honey, your blood pressure is *very* high today." It had surprised me actually. I had had a fairly normal pregnancy. The only "hiccup" I had was at 38 weeks when my blood pressure was elevated but they decided it was from me walking up the stairs. So at 39 weeks I took the elevator and my blood pressure was fine so this news of high blood pressure definitely took me by surprise. So my OB/GYN Dr. Nelson came in and checked me. I was ½cm dilated still but now 75% effaced. Dr. Nelson was a bit concerned about my blood pressure so he told me to go downstairs to the lab, have my blood drawn and then come back for NST and they would check my blood pressure again. 

So I nipped downstairs, had my blood taken (cringe) and went back up for NST. My stomach was tightening over and over from "stress". (So I thought.) Went back upstairs and was hooked up to the machines. LO's heartbeat was fine but to my surprise, I was having regular contractions! The nurse amused me, she said, "Oh honey, look at your contractions!" and for some reason I thought this was just the funniest thing ever. After I had finished with NST the nurse took my blood pressure. And then she took it again. Again. And again. And big surprise, my blood pressure was even *higher*. The nurse smiled sadly at me and said, "Well hon, it looks like you _might've_ bought yourself a trip downtown. Let me go grab Dr. Nelson."

After a few minutes Dr. Nelson came back and sat down next to me. He grabbed my hand and said. "Well, it looks like we're going to have to induce you. Go ahead and head downtown to the hospital and they'll start you with some pitocin and probably some magnesium sulfade. I'm going to go call them now. Looks like you'll have a baby in the next 24-48 hours but because you're only in early labor, you should know it might take a while, so be prepared for a long stay." At this point I was pretty disappointed. I did NOT want to be induced. But I did what I had to do. I would never want to put myself or my little one in danger. Ever. Sadly I agreed and started the journey home and texted my friends and family, "THUNDERCATS A GO." (Juno reference, eh, eh?) My OH texted his family the same thing except it came out, "THUNDERACTS A GO" (DYAC) so some people were a little confused, lol.

We went home, finished packing our bags (oops), I updated BnB (muhahaha) and then I ate some food. I didn't know if I was going to eat again so I decided to then. We eventually left for Denver and FINALLY arrived there around 7:00pm. We were brought into observation where they took more urine and blood to test. My blood pressure had gone down a little bit and they were iffy about inducing me, it all depended if there was protein in my urine. About an hour later the lab results came back and there was a surprising amount of protein in my urine so I was admitted. I wasn't given magnesium sulfade though as my blood pressure wasn't high enough. I was shown and settled into my L&D room which was very nice. The doctor finally came back and gave me my final diagnosis. Preeclampsia, woohoo. They were going to induce me immediately starting with a pitocin drip but I begged to eat for one last time (lmfao) and they agreed. So my OH went down to the cafeteria to grab me a burger and fries (yumyum) while I chatted to my MIL and GMIL. I tried to eat but I was so nervous I just couldn't. So around 11:00pm they came in, inserted the IV (ouch) and started the drip. I tossed and turned for hours and hours (I'm an insomniac) until the nurse came in and gave me some Ambien. I slept for a few hours at most. 

Tuesday, November 16th, 2010 (40+2)
Morning came quickly, I hadn't slept, OH slept the whole time (lucky ducky) and I had reached the maximum amount of pitocin. They decided to insert a capsule into my cervix and see if that would help any. I had managed with the pitocin fine, just tightening but the capsule made me have horrible cramps. (I had never had cramps when I had my period so I had no idea what they felt like.) I knew I would have pain relief but I put off the epidural for as long as possible. (Horribly afraid of needles.) Finally I was sobbing through each contraction. (They were in the 90s and 2 minutes apart, lasting 1 minute.) I caved and around 4:00pm, I received my epidural. (27 hours without pain relief.) The epidural was really uncomfortable for me. I cried quite a bit and felt like a 5 year old, tbh. The nurse was there cleaning my nose and comforting me but I felt like a wimp. (Random fun fact. My anesthesiologist looked like a grown up Catelynn from Teen Mom, lol.) Once it was in though, it felt great. I couldn't feel anything and I was having strong contractions too. It was such a weird sensation though! When the medicine would go in, it felt like ice was going down my back! After my epidural a nurse came in to break my waters and check me and when she went to break my waters, they broke on their own, lol! I was discovered to be 3cm.

A few hours later I was watching Family Guy when they lost track of T's heartbeat with the external monitors. They couldn't find it again (freaked me out) and did an internal one. (In her scalp, poor thing.) They decided to check me and found me still at 3cm and T was starting to become distressed. They mentioned c-section. My heart dropped into my ass. Induction and c-section were the very last things I wanted, ever. OH held me and we cried and cried. I begged them to let me try. They checked me again and I was now 3½ cm, so progressing. They said they would let my pitocin run its course but if nothing happened, I would probably have a c-section. Still, I had hope. They had me sign the consent forms just in case. After, they told me to stay calm, relax and they would be back soon to check on me.

Soon was a bit of an understatement. Not 5 minutes after they had left, T's heartbeat dropped to almost zero. Alarms went off, lots of shouting through the intercom system, it was all terrifying. My OH sprinted out to the hall to get a nurse but it didn't matter. A swarm of them were running my way, yelling to each other and came sprinting into my room. They threw scrubs at OH and started running me down into the OR. I had absolutely no idea what was going on. I was screaming and crying, begging for someone to tell me what was going on. They said my LO was in distress and we had to do a c-section, NOW, or we could lose her. I couldn't breathe. 

We arrived in the OR, they picked me up and hastily put me on the table all while the nurse is putting injections into my epidural. The surgeons scrubbed up and counted their tools. The nurse took a dull needle and rubs my chest. She asked me if I could feel the scratching and I said yes. She went down to my stomach, scratched me, asked if I could feel that. I said no. Then it started. I heard "incision" and almost fainted. I was sobbing and shaking the entire time. My OH and nurse tried to comfort me but it was no use. I was scared my LO and I were going to die. It felt like forever, though it couldn't have been more than 5 minutes. I laid there and sobbed. Finally I heard, "Alright, you're going to feel a LOT of pressure." Pressure was a bit of an understatement. They slammed down on my ribs and pulled. I screamed bloody murder, I felt like my ribs were being snapped in half. I screamed and screamed at the top of my lungs, it was excruciating. And finally, there it was. That beautiful cry. My daughter. They held her over the curtain and exclaimed, "Here's your beautiful girl!" I barely remember but I saw this little wiggly red baby and then they whisked her away to check her vitals.

And this is where it gets *really* bad. My blood pressure had plummeted after T was born. I started becoming excruciatingly nauseous. My ribs were on fire. "I'm going to throw up." I muttered to the nurse. She ran to the table and brought back some sort of wet nap(?) and placed it under my nose. Nothing. "No." I said. "No, I'm REALLY GOING TO THROW UP." I screamed. She ran over with a little bucket and I projective vomited everywhere. It was the worst pain. My ribs were on fire, my entire body was burning, it was awful. They were injecting pain meds after pain meds. Nausea meds, everything but I felt like I was being tortured. Finally it ended and I fainted.

I hazily remember being lifted from the surgery table to a bed and being wheeled to recovery. I remember just being numb and my head was cloudy. I felt dead. I couldn't think, I couldn't feel, I couldn't comprehend. It was like I wasn't there. They asked me if I could breast feed and I couldn't even respond. They had my OH give her a bottle while I just laid there, completely dead to the world. I still don't know how I remember this. They cleaned and weighed her, said she was 6lbs, 5.4oz. 19 inches long. 12¾ cm head circumference. 10 both times on the APGAR score. Born by emergency c-section due to insufficient pelvic space resulting in severe fetal distress at 9:51pm on Tuesday, November 16th, 2010. They said she was small for her gestational age and would be testing her for gestational diabetes. (Still doesn't make sense to me?) She also would have to be on antibiotics as I was running a fever (they "forgot" to tell me). They let in visitors and each one tried to talk to me but I wasn't there. Mentally, physically, everything. I couldn't speak, I couldn't move, it was hell. They pushed on my stomach every 15 minutes to see if I was bleeding still (which I was and hurt more and more as the epidural wore off) so they gave me 4 pills up my butt. (Ew.) 

After I stopped bleeding they wheeled me into my room. (Room, sorry? More like closet. HUGE difference from L&D.) And then for the first time I held my beautiful daughter on Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 at 1:00am. She is my everything, my world, my angel. I could never imagine loving anyone as much as I love her.

My hospital stay was awful. I was often forgotten about. (Pain pills, draining my catheter, changing my pad, etc.) I was supposed to be discharged on Friday, November 19th, 2010 but I refused. They treated me like garbage and I was going home. So late afternoon Thursday, November 18th, 2010 my perfect little family and I went home. 

After T was born I had horrible complications where I couldn't walk for almost 5 months. Those were dark, dark times in my life. I still have nightmares about my birth. My daughter is the world to me and she is worth all the pain, all the tears, everything. I will love her forever and the mark I carry on my stomach shows how much I care for her. She will always be my everything.

Thank you, if you got through this, for reading my birth story. :kiss:


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## AROluvsJMP

Omg Shannon i was crying while reading this! you are such an amazing mom and i can't believe what i just read!


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## Shannyxox

So sorry to hear about your traumatic birth! But look at the little beauty who made it all worth it :D She's gorgeous! x


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## mariep

That is the best Birth Story I have read, meaning I couldn't stop reading (some are boring lol);
you're a good writer :D Anyways I'm sorry that it was so terrible for you, kinda scared me since
I'm so close. But she is so freaking pretty; Tori should be a baby model. Like for reals!!!!


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## xdxxtx

Sorry your delivery was so difficult, but... WELL, YOUR BABY IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL I'VE EVER SEEN! I'm sure you're so pleased with her; she looks like she's so much fun to be around.


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## sarah0108

Awww Shannon :hugs: Tori was and still is SO gorgeous!! Well done missy xx


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## Youngling

Great story hun. Toris lovely. Hope u and ur little family are ok : ) xx


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## youngmummy94

shes beautiful! she should do baby modelling :)
im sorry you had such a hard time, just wondering, was all that pain after labor and the 5 months after thing from the epidural?


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## x__amour

youngmummy94 said:


> shes beautiful! she should do baby modelling :)
> im sorry you had such a hard time, just wondering, was all that pain after labor and the 5 months after thing from the epidural?

Thank you hon. :hugs:
No one knows. I was in and out of the emergency room for it though. They thought it might've been from the epidural because that's where the spasms started but then the pain just covered my entire back. I had MRIs and CT scans and it showed no nerve damage from the epidural so I don't -think- so. My doctors think it was from ripping back muscles from over straining but I'm not sure. All that matters to me is that it's done except for the occasional ache. 

:nope:


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## Allie84

Oh wow, what a birth story! It was a very engaging and well written read...I'm so sorry it was so traumatic! But congrats on Tori, she is just beautiful!! :hugs:

May I ask what hospital you gave birth at? I live in Minnesota but I'm from Colorado (the Springs and Boulder). We are moving back one day and I want to make sure to avoid that one....


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## x__amour

Allie84 said:


> Oh wow, what a birth story! It was a very engaging and well written read...I'm so sorry it was so traumatic! But congrats on Tori, she is just beautiful!! :hugs:
> 
> May I ask what hospital you gave birth at? I live in Minnesota but I'm from Colorado (the Springs and Boulder). We are moving back one day and I want to make sure to avoid that one....

Thank you hon. :hugs:
I went to St Joseph's in downtown Denver and it was God awful. They're supposed to be one of the best hospitals but I completely disagree. The only reason I went there was because I had Kaiser and they only cover St. Joes. Ridiculous, I know. Now L&D was fantastic, beautiful rooms, great service, etc. Surgeons are great, nurses are great, blahblahblah. Now the after care is AWFUL. They literally dump in you in what feels like a closet. My shower was all moldy and gross and my bathroom was literally like 3 square tiles. The day nurses were good but the night nurses were awful, especially my first one. She never drained my catheter, which was literally about to explode. The morning nurse had to drain it. She never changed my pad or gave me any and my entire bed was soaked. But the worst part was the hand sanitizer dispenser in my room was empty and she would pump it and pretend to clean her hands and proceed to touch my LO and I when her hands weren't even clean. It was just an awful, awful experience. They literally dump you and they never gave me medicine when I was scheduled to, I had to call them. 

Oh wow, sorry. That kind of turned into a rant. Thankfully my DH's insurance is different and I can go to Skyridge Medical Center which I'm looking forward to. Very nice hospital. Only thing is MIL is a L&D nurse there, wouldn't that be an interesting experience? :lol:

Anyways, long story short, no St. Joes. Ever. :nope:


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## Allie84

Thanks, I appreciate the input! I will remember that for the future. Shocking about the nurse!! :nope: I'm kind of a hand sanitizer nazi when I'm in hospitals...

Skyridge looks like a beautiful hospital (if it's the one I'm thinking of you can see off of I-25). Glad you have that option for next time! :hugs:


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## Srrme

Your birthing story scares me a bit! I might have to have a C-Section if Fenix doesn't turn, and I'm kind of dreading it. :nope:


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## x__amour

I wouldn't worry. :hugs:
Planned c-sections are so much different than emergencies. You have time to mentally prepare and the recovery is so much better. Next baby I am hoping for a VBAC but if I have to have a c-section, I'll be okay because I know it'll be planned. Still though, c-sections suck, lol. Have you thought about having him manually turned? I really hope he'll turn for you though! :D


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## Srrme

x__amour said:


> I wouldn't worry. :hugs:
> Planned c-sections are so much different than emergencies. You have time to mentally prepare and the recovery is so much better. Next baby I am hoping for a VBAC but if I have to have a c-section, I'll be okay because I know it'll be planned. Still though, c-sections suck, lol. Have you thought about having him manually turned? I really hope he'll turn for you though! :D


I know they're not as bad as I think they are (both of my oldest sisters had emergency C-Sections), but it's still scary! I don't know how I'll react knowing I'm being cut open, haha. How big is the incision, and scar? Can you lift anything afterward? I'm worried I won't be able to lift Elias if it does come down to it and I have to have one. :(

If he hasn't turned by 36-37 weeks, my Doctor said he's going to try and turn him, but he also said the success rate is only 50%. :wacko:


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## x__amour

Srrme said:


> I know they're not as bad as I think they are (both of my oldest sisters had emergency C-Sections), but it's still scary! I don't know how I'll react knowing I'm being cut open, haha. How big is the incision, and scar? Can you lift anything afterward? I'm worried I won't be able to lift Elias if it does come down to it and I have to have one. :(
> 
> If he hasn't turned by 36-37 weeks, my Doctor said he's going to try and turn him, but he also said the success rate is only 50%. :wacko:

It's definitely scary. You can't feel anything (until they pull :roll:) but it's afterwards that's difficult. It hurts to laugh, sneeze, cough, everything. You can lift your LO but that's it. I think no more than 20lbs or something like that. I overdid it and tore my lower back muscles. :( I reeeaalllly hope he'll turn or at least be able to be turned. C-sections suck. #-o

The scar isn't awful. I hate the stupid pouch more than the scar. I posted my scar in a birthing scar thread a few days before Tori turned one. So this is my scar almost 1 year PP. It's kind of scary how they get a baby out of such a small cut. :shock:


Spoiler
https://i40.tinypic.com/9vcwoz.jpg


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## LarLar

Saw your birthstory in your signature and decided to have a read, and i actually felt like crying during it.

You were really brave and strong.. and now i see how quickly things can go wrong and how difficult it was for you i feel like i can sort of prepare myself for when it's my turn. Hopefully i'll be able to give birth vaginally but if i had to have a c-section i feel as though your stories helped me prepare for the possible worst. Thanks for sharing your story :). and your daughter is absolutely gorgeous!

:flow: xx


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## BabyBean14

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## x__amour

LarLar said:


> Saw your birthstory in your signature and decided to have a read, and i actually felt like crying during it.
> 
> You were really brave and strong.. and now i see how quickly things can go wrong and how difficult it was for you i feel like i can sort of prepare myself for when it's my turn. Hopefully i'll be able to give birth vaginally but if i had to have a c-section i feel as though your stories helped me prepare for the possible worst. Thanks for sharing your story :). and your daughter is absolutely gorgeous!
> 
> :flow: xx

Thank you, you are very sweet! I hope you can have a wonderful birth. :hugs:



Kismet said:


> I'm at the preconception planning stage so very far away from giving birth but I like to read the birth stories. Yours nearly made me cry. I can't believe what you endured and the after care is insulting! Did you or OH launch a complaint about that part? Not giving you meds, providing pads, emptying your cath container, using hand sanitizer and making you use a dirty shower? All so very not cool! :growlmad:
> 
> I agree with some of the other posters that you are very brave and strong. :hugs:

Thank you. :hugs:
It wasn't a very good experience at all but I am moving onto accepting it. Hoping for a VBAC! :thumbup:


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## strdstkittenx

great story and she is beautiful!


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## arj

She is just beautiful!!!! Well done you


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## omgbaby

She is adorable!! Too cute!
Your story however scared me to death!! Lol


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## xxxjessxxx

Amazing story - well done you! xx


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## Arisa

she is stunning, baby girls are just adorable :cloud9:
https://www.dazzlejunction.com/greetings/baby-girl/welcome-bundle-of-joy-girl.png


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## Mummy2B21

Congratulations!!


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## Waiting4bb

Wow. You go girl. I can't imagine going through what you did. You are so strong. Look what a beautiful girl she has grown to be. :)


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