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Alistair Derek arrived at 38+3 on 11/13/11 after being induced due to high blood pressure. I had a 25 hour labor from my vaginal gel to delivery, and soooo many things went wrong, but Alistair is here and healthy!!
I guess I find what happened traumatic and the recovery has been rough but I guess it's all relative.
Saturday night the 12th I went in for my scheduled induction at 7 pm. The nurses showed me my room and we got unpacked, DH pacing the room and being so cute and nervous, setting up a snack station and laying out my belongings, etc. I got hooked up for an IV and it took 4 times! My veins were not cooperating and they had to call in a specialist....my body not cooperating turned out to be a theme.
I took a bath, was in really good spirits, watched Friends and took the morphine and sleep aid while they injected the vaginal gel to get me going. I was very soft, 1.5 cms, favorable cervix, 50% effaced. I went to sleep and all night had 'contractions' (HA!). I barely slept as I was so nervous/excited and got regular cramping. At 6:30 am they started the Pitocin drip after examining me...I had dialated to a 2, 60% effaced. I tried to rest a bit more as they came in every 15 minutes to up my Pitocin. I told them I wanted the least amount of pitocin possible once I got going. The problem was I was in pain but as they say with most inductions, you don't get into 'active labor' until your water breaks. I was in pain and hoping they were just wrong but they said as I was still talking through contractions I was not in active labor. They were right!
At 10 am the doctor came in to examine me and I was at 3 cms so he broke my water. This scared me as I have had a relatively high AFI of 20 for a few weeks. I knew there would be A LOT of fluid and there was. I was happy it was clear. The doctor told me I'd be in active labor soon and I could have an epidural or drugs if I wanted. At this point I decided to not take anything...a big mistake. Very soon my contractions started happening quickly and were more intense. Without that 'cushion' of my water the baby was right up against me. I stood up and swayed, got back in the jacuzzi, hugged Alex, etc to get through contractions as they got worse.
I should mention Alistair was posterior at this point and I was in back labor. I got back in bed and said I wanted an IV narcotic as the contractions were bad. They gave it to me and it did not work AT ALL. Literally zero relief. It just made me drowsy and I couldn't get out of bed.
This is where it became a nightmare. I asked for the epidural and while I waited for it to come the contractions were so bad, it was the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. The doctor checked me and I was about a 6 or 7 I believe! This was maybe about noon. I progressed REALLY quickly in those two hours since breaking my water, and when the anesthetist arrived everyone was saying how quickly I would be done. I got in position and was barely making it through each contraction. I was definitely vocalizing and squeezing and in sooooo much pain, dialating quickly and in back labor with the pitocin going.
The anesthetist couldn't get the epidural in. He was saying he had never seen an epdural space so small. He tried at least 3 times to get the epdural in, while I was trying to breathe through contractions and stay perfectly still. Alex says my contractions were so strong they were literally off the contraction chart and were lasting a long time and double peaking (thanks Pitocin). Eventually the doctor gave up and I was in tears crying "Why won't it work!?" The doctor decided to give me a spinal instead as I was going quickly. Again, it didn't work. It did nothing but it included a narcotic.
At this point I was delirious as I had two narcotics in me that didn't numb any pain but made me incredibly drowsy. I was stuck in bed as I couldn't stay concious between contractions and during them all I could do was scream and moan in bed and then pass out again. I was aware of the minutes passing on the clock as I had about 2 minutes between contractions. They felt so bad for me the doctor cleared a THIRD narcotic and it still did NOTHING. I started worrying about the baby when I could think for a second as I was given so many meds.
I don't remember the next few hours very well...they let me in the jacuzzi which helped a little bit once the narcotics drowsy effect wore off enough for me to stay awake between contractions. I begged them to try the epidural again. They got in a different doctor around 5 pm and it worked this time right away. I was at 9 cms before I got ANY pain relief.
I then slept until 7ish when I reached 10 cms. It was glorious. I was ready to push, but the baby was still face up. I proceeded to push for 3 solid hours. These were the best 3 hours of my labor by far as I couldn't feel any pain and the end was in sight. My nurses were wonderful and we had a med student in there who was really supportive as well (the doctor wasn't there for the first 2 1/2 hours of pushing). We listened to John Mayer and I pushed and pushed and did different positions including the squatting bar. Baby just wasn't moving down. I knew a C-section was likely as the hours ticked away so I pushed like no one's business. Eventually the doctor came in and said baby was turning but really slowly and was kind of stuck. He said it was time to use the vacuum and I agreed. The vacuum didn't even work at first and I later heard blood was flying across the room (I actually saw the floor where it splattered about 10 feet from the end of the bed). I pushed and pushed and the doctor got Alistair out at 10:40 PM on November 13th.
My first thought was how badly I wanted to hear him cry in light of all of the narcotics. He cried right away!!!! I was so happy. He was put right on me and they started rubbing in his vernix as I wanted. Alex cut the cord and I had skin to skin for a long time.
Alistair was so alert! His Apgar scores were 8 and then 9 at 5 minutes. He weighed 7lbs 3.3 oz and was 19.5 inches long. He latched onto my breast right away. He really is a little star!
I should mention that throughout the entire labor, the 24 hours from the gel to delivery, he was never in distress. I am so grateful for that. His heartrate never set off the alarm once and I'm so glad....I don't know how I would have coped with that. He was really quiet while I was in labor, not kicking much, but they said that was normal.
Alex clamped the cord after it stopped pulsating and he also did some skin to skin. I was laying in the stirrups for over an hour being stitched up....I got a 4th degree tear!!
They said he was just too big for my anatomy...and he was only 7 lbs 3 oz! Good grief, how small am I? His back to back positioning was no help either. So I tore really, really badly. He's worth it though!! I'm a bit scared of the recovery though....
The recovery has been rough, I have to admit. My blood pressure stayed high during my hospital stay (no idea what it is now), I am severely anemic, I have the 4th degree tear and a horrible headache that I'm pretty sure is a spinal headache.
I would do it all again for Alistair, of course, but I admittedly am struggling with how it went. I keep wishing I hadn't needed to be induced, as if I hadn't I'm sure it would have gone differently. Alistair would probably have moved in a good position, I wouldn't have had to labor with Pitocin, etc.
I guess I find what happened traumatic and the recovery has been rough but I guess it's all relative.
Saturday night the 12th I went in for my scheduled induction at 7 pm. The nurses showed me my room and we got unpacked, DH pacing the room and being so cute and nervous, setting up a snack station and laying out my belongings, etc. I got hooked up for an IV and it took 4 times! My veins were not cooperating and they had to call in a specialist....my body not cooperating turned out to be a theme.
I took a bath, was in really good spirits, watched Friends and took the morphine and sleep aid while they injected the vaginal gel to get me going. I was very soft, 1.5 cms, favorable cervix, 50% effaced. I went to sleep and all night had 'contractions' (HA!). I barely slept as I was so nervous/excited and got regular cramping. At 6:30 am they started the Pitocin drip after examining me...I had dialated to a 2, 60% effaced. I tried to rest a bit more as they came in every 15 minutes to up my Pitocin. I told them I wanted the least amount of pitocin possible once I got going. The problem was I was in pain but as they say with most inductions, you don't get into 'active labor' until your water breaks. I was in pain and hoping they were just wrong but they said as I was still talking through contractions I was not in active labor. They were right!
At 10 am the doctor came in to examine me and I was at 3 cms so he broke my water. This scared me as I have had a relatively high AFI of 20 for a few weeks. I knew there would be A LOT of fluid and there was. I was happy it was clear. The doctor told me I'd be in active labor soon and I could have an epidural or drugs if I wanted. At this point I decided to not take anything...a big mistake. Very soon my contractions started happening quickly and were more intense. Without that 'cushion' of my water the baby was right up against me. I stood up and swayed, got back in the jacuzzi, hugged Alex, etc to get through contractions as they got worse.
I should mention Alistair was posterior at this point and I was in back labor. I got back in bed and said I wanted an IV narcotic as the contractions were bad. They gave it to me and it did not work AT ALL. Literally zero relief. It just made me drowsy and I couldn't get out of bed.
This is where it became a nightmare. I asked for the epidural and while I waited for it to come the contractions were so bad, it was the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. The doctor checked me and I was about a 6 or 7 I believe! This was maybe about noon. I progressed REALLY quickly in those two hours since breaking my water, and when the anesthetist arrived everyone was saying how quickly I would be done. I got in position and was barely making it through each contraction. I was definitely vocalizing and squeezing and in sooooo much pain, dialating quickly and in back labor with the pitocin going.
The anesthetist couldn't get the epidural in. He was saying he had never seen an epdural space so small. He tried at least 3 times to get the epdural in, while I was trying to breathe through contractions and stay perfectly still. Alex says my contractions were so strong they were literally off the contraction chart and were lasting a long time and double peaking (thanks Pitocin). Eventually the doctor gave up and I was in tears crying "Why won't it work!?" The doctor decided to give me a spinal instead as I was going quickly. Again, it didn't work. It did nothing but it included a narcotic.
At this point I was delirious as I had two narcotics in me that didn't numb any pain but made me incredibly drowsy. I was stuck in bed as I couldn't stay concious between contractions and during them all I could do was scream and moan in bed and then pass out again. I was aware of the minutes passing on the clock as I had about 2 minutes between contractions. They felt so bad for me the doctor cleared a THIRD narcotic and it still did NOTHING. I started worrying about the baby when I could think for a second as I was given so many meds.
I don't remember the next few hours very well...they let me in the jacuzzi which helped a little bit once the narcotics drowsy effect wore off enough for me to stay awake between contractions. I begged them to try the epidural again. They got in a different doctor around 5 pm and it worked this time right away. I was at 9 cms before I got ANY pain relief.
I then slept until 7ish when I reached 10 cms. It was glorious. I was ready to push, but the baby was still face up. I proceeded to push for 3 solid hours. These were the best 3 hours of my labor by far as I couldn't feel any pain and the end was in sight. My nurses were wonderful and we had a med student in there who was really supportive as well (the doctor wasn't there for the first 2 1/2 hours of pushing). We listened to John Mayer and I pushed and pushed and did different positions including the squatting bar. Baby just wasn't moving down. I knew a C-section was likely as the hours ticked away so I pushed like no one's business. Eventually the doctor came in and said baby was turning but really slowly and was kind of stuck. He said it was time to use the vacuum and I agreed. The vacuum didn't even work at first and I later heard blood was flying across the room (I actually saw the floor where it splattered about 10 feet from the end of the bed). I pushed and pushed and the doctor got Alistair out at 10:40 PM on November 13th.
My first thought was how badly I wanted to hear him cry in light of all of the narcotics. He cried right away!!!! I was so happy. He was put right on me and they started rubbing in his vernix as I wanted. Alex cut the cord and I had skin to skin for a long time.
Alistair was so alert! His Apgar scores were 8 and then 9 at 5 minutes. He weighed 7lbs 3.3 oz and was 19.5 inches long. He latched onto my breast right away. He really is a little star!I should mention that throughout the entire labor, the 24 hours from the gel to delivery, he was never in distress. I am so grateful for that. His heartrate never set off the alarm once and I'm so glad....I don't know how I would have coped with that. He was really quiet while I was in labor, not kicking much, but they said that was normal.
Alex clamped the cord after it stopped pulsating and he also did some skin to skin. I was laying in the stirrups for over an hour being stitched up....I got a 4th degree tear!!
They said he was just too big for my anatomy...and he was only 7 lbs 3 oz! Good grief, how small am I? His back to back positioning was no help either. So I tore really, really badly. He's worth it though!! I'm a bit scared of the recovery though....
The recovery has been rough, I have to admit. My blood pressure stayed high during my hospital stay (no idea what it is now), I am severely anemic, I have the 4th degree tear and a horrible headache that I'm pretty sure is a spinal headache.
I would do it all again for Alistair, of course, but I admittedly am struggling with how it went. I keep wishing I hadn't needed to be induced, as if I hadn't I'm sure it would have gone differently. Alistair would probably have moved in a good position, I wouldn't have had to labor with Pitocin, etc.
