Virginia
Mommy & WTT #2!
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So labour started on 6 Feb, 2011. I started to feel slightly crampy and had a constant lower back pain at about 5:30PM. My husband came home from work, and we went to my parents' house to watch the Superbowl. Throughout the entire Superbowl, I was just feeling crampy. There was no real pattern and no relief from the back pain I was feeling. I had previously been in the hospital that Friday with similar symptoms, and apparently they were contractions, but that Friday they weren't doing anything so I figured it was more Braxton Hicks. Anyways, after we were done watching the Superbowl, my mom told us to go home and try to sleep. If I could sleep, then it wasn't labour and if I couldn't sleep, we should head to the hospital to get checked out. We went home and I tried to sleep and couldn't. It seemed that laying down made it worse, so we left for the hospital after getting together all the last minute items we needed. The car ride was uncomfortable. The lower back pain really sucked, and it was the worst part. The crampy feeling kind of went away every now and then, but since the back pain was constant, I couldn't really distinguish a pattern. I was so afraid of getting to the hospital only to be told to go home - the "contractions" I thought I was feeling really didn't hurt all that much - I used to get worse menstrual cramps! Lol. So we got to the hospital and they checked me in - walking around and not being strapped into a car really seemed to help them. When the nurse checked me, she said I was already 7cm dilated! I was totally excited. It was already after midnight, so it seemed that I'd be having the baby on the 7th! They hooked me up to the monitor and it showed that I was having contractions every 3ish minutes, but I could barely feel them. The only thing that I COULD feel was the back labour - it was very uncomfortable. They finished checking me in and asked me a ton of questions and stuff. They also put in my hep-lock...it totally sucked. The nurse blew out the vein on my right hand after trying twice, and then she finally got it into a vein in my left hand - a vein that I think the nurse had blown out that Friday before. It was really sore, and I have to say, at that point, those stupid veins and that hep-lock was the most painful part of labour. So after about 5 or 6 hours of being there, I decided to take a hot shower to deal with the back labour. It was wonderful! I sat in the shower on a stool and the hot water was on my back - oh it was perfect. I could then start to distinguish the contractions, and I have to admit that they were pretty mild. After I got out of the shower, they had to monitor me. I guess the heat had put Brooklyn to sleep because she was no longer getting excited with each contraction - my contractions had also slowed down to about every 5 minutes. So they made me drink some cold water and some cold juice and said I had to be on the monitor for an hour or so. Grrr. They also wanted me to get my contractions to speed back up and so I started some nipple stimulation to get them going. It worked REALLY well, and I started getting some really strong contractions - they wouldn't have been that bad, but I was confined to a bed because of the monitors and I couldn't get up to bounce or walk like I so desperately wanted to. The urge to get up and walk around was SO intense, and I literally felt sort of trapped. This was my first point of weakness. The back labour was HORRIBLE at this point because I was not only laying on it, but I the fetal monitor was tight and pressing on my back, and counterpressure made it a lot worse. So after a while of being on the monitor, I started crying. I told James that I didn't know if I could deal with the back labour, and since we could see that the cold water had waken Brooklyn up and she was moving around with each contraction, he had the nurses take me off the monitors - I think it helped that it was also right after a shift change. I also asked my new nurse if I could get back in the shower and she thought it was a wonderful idea. That time, I drank cold juice during and as soon as I got out of the shower to keep Brooklyn awake. I sure was not going to put her back to sleep and be confined to the bed like that again. Sometime during all this, I found out that the nurse that I had was a midwife for about 30 years - I was SO excited to having a nurse that lives for natural birth because it was exactly what I wanted. She said I was dealing with everything beautifully, and she made it a ton easier to keep myself motivated and happy - she even said that the full fetal heartrate/contraction monitoring wasn't necessary, and she just held the fetal heartrate monitor on me for a few minutes to see that Brooklyn was doing alright. It was wonderful. At about 9am, the doctor came to check on me. I was only about 8cm diated, and she wanted to see faster progress. She mentioned breaking my waters, and said that she could do it then or wait and see how I was at noon, so I declined. I continued to labour and strengthen my contractions with nipple stimulation, and by the time she came back and checked me, she said I was 100% effaced and that was great progress. She said that she figured I would deliver by about 5 or 6pm. I continued to handle labour with no problems by bouncing on my ball, rocking, walking, and taking hot showers. The whole time I was talking and laughing with my family and I was really enjoying being in labour -the experience was exactly what I wanted, and I was really excited to be able to show my sisters and mother that labour and childbirth isn't this hugly painful and scary experience - my mom was amazed, and it was funny because people from the hospital kept coming in because they couldn't believe how calm and in control I was with everything. The only thing that made it less than confortable was the back labour, and I knew that just a couple weeks prior, Brooklyn was in the OP position, which causes back labour and longer labour/deliveries. The nurse knew a ton of ways to get baby to turn to help with the labour, but none of it really seemed to help. We knew breaking my waters would make it less likely that Brooklyn would turn, but the doctor insisted that she'd just turn while I was delivering. At about 5ish, the doctor came back again and checked me yet again and said I was at a 9cm, and my waters were "right there" and bulging. She said that she was confident that breaking my waters would speed things along, and I'd probably dilate to 10cm very quickly after that happening. After discussing things with my husband and my wonderful nurse, I agreed to allow her to break them. It was really painful to have her break my waters, because as soon as she did, she kept in there feeling around. It sucked. I thought that everything had went ok because I had felt waters come out, but she said she thought that I had 2 bags of water and that was just the "fore-bag". She came back about an hour later and checked me again, and there was, indeed, another bulging bag of waters. I allowed her to break those as well, and she said that it is pretty uncommon to have 2 really strong layers like I had - I guess it was the extra vitamin C that I had taken during pregnancy. Anyways, after she broke my waters, we all expected me to go pretty fast. I had to be hooked up to the monitors for a couple hours to make sure Brooklyn reacted okay to them being broken, and that made the contractions a lot worse. I was in pain, but it still wasn't the most horrible pain ever, and I could deal with it alright. I was however, extremely tired and worn out, and I started to feel slightly discouraged at times. The contractions were about 1.5 to 3 minutes apart, but they weren't the strongest in the world, but they did hurt. They checked me and saw that I was still at 9cm, and the new nurse suggested more nipple stimulation to get them stronger. I couldn't do it because I knew it would make them a LOT more painful and they were already pretty strong and close together. We didn't understand why I wasn't getting past 9cm. The midwife nurse's shift had ended, but she got it approved by the labour and delivery director to stay with me for a while longer - she was excited with how I was dealing with everything, and we saw eye-to-eye on everything to do with labour and childbirth. She is truly an amazing woman, and she made everything so much easier. At one point, I was sitting on the edge of my bed, and I guess Brooklyn changed her position a little because my waters started pouring outta me. It was crazy - I was sitting there in front of my mom, dad, sisters, husband, and nurse and waters are pouring onto the floor. It almost felt like I was peeing, but I totally wasn't. I couldn't believe how much kept coming out, and James said something about it being like some scene in the Exorist movie, and I started laughing, and that made it worse. I totally flooded the floor - they used a TON of towels, and it still could hardly be contained - the bed was soaked, I was soaked, and I just couldn't stop laughing. It totally made the contractions I was having while that was happening less noticable. Afterwards, my stomach was literally half the size it was prior. It was crazy! We got excited because we were hoping that mean that Brooklyn turned and wasn't OP anymore. I don't remember the exact timeframe because I was so exhausted, but at 9ish the doctor came back and she told me that I needed to start thinking about other options than just keep labouring because I was getting more and more tired. She suggested putting me on a low dose of pitocin to help the contractions get stronger - I was already in pain since my waters had been broken, so I again discussed things with my nurse and husband...we agreed that I needed to try something because I was so tired. I knew that pitocin would make my contractions very painful, and I was already in pain with the current contractions. We decided that we'd accept a small dose of pitocin and some stadol to help me get through the contractions it would cause. She checked me before I got the IV started, and went outta the room. I will NEVER get stadol or pitocin again. OMG it hurt so incredible bad, and the stadol was NOT reacting nicely with me. I was totally out of it, and I couldn't distinguish what was reality. Also, a few minutes after I was on the Stadol, the doctor came in and told me that since she broke my waters, my cervix had went back down a little - which is normal because it was the waters holding it open at that point - but normally, the baby's head falls down and re-dilates the mom very quickly so it isn't an issue. But in my case, I was back at 7cm dilated! I was feeling so incredible loopy, I couldn't remember if it was a dream or not that she was telling me that. I remember asking James if it was true, and I don't even remember is response. He said that I asked him over and over and over again, and after about an hour, the stadol started to wear off and I started to REALLY feel the back labour - it was excruciating. I know that I started crying again, and I was really discouraged because I was at 7cm, and didn't understand how that had happened. James also said that I mentioned not being able to continue because I was only 7 years old....lol...Like I said, I was totally outta it. I really don't remember what happened after I started crying - I just knew I was in a TON of pain. I do remember them giving me more stadol, and then I was fine for a few minutes. During that time that I was okay, they checked me again and I was still not making progress. At this point, I realized my dad was next to me and we were the only ones in the room - it was really like a dream to me. I vaguely remember him asking me which would be easier on the baby - a c-section or a vacuum delivery. I don't remember answering. Then my husband came in and told me that I had totally freaked out before they gave me more stadol and because I was so exhausted and in so much pain and not progressing, that it might be in Brooklyn's best interest to agree to a c-section before she started having problems. I started bawling because I had felt that I had failed at that point, but I was incredibly exhausted and I was already starting to feel the back labour again, so I agreed. They had to call my doctor and I know it only took 45 minutes, but within 10, I was feeling the back labour and contractions at full intensity again - I remember crying for the spinal and c-section because I knew it would make the pain stop. I had to wait until they were ready for the section before I got the spinal, but I remember them finally wheeling me into the room, and I am not sure how, but I managed to lean forward and get the spinal block put in. It was the best relief I had ever felt. My legs had pins and needles feeling in them, and I didn't like not being able to feel them, but the back labour was gone and the excruciating pitocin pain was FINALLY gone. It was bliss. Within minutes, I was in the Operating room and James was beside me and I could hear everyone around me starting the surgery. I was still slightly high from the stadol, so the details are all a little fuzzy, but I remember hearing Brooklyn's little cry for the first time, and when they showed her to me, she was the most beautiful baby I'd ever seen. I didn't get to touch her or anything, but James went over to the warmer with her and immediately started to rub the vernix into her like he knew I wanted. I later found out that he didn't get to cut the cord like we'd wanted and I'm pretty disappointed about that, but I think it was the shock of how big Brooklyn was that made the doctor forget our wishes. While I was being stitched up, I heard them all commenting on how big she was, and finally someone asked if anyone wanted to guess what she weighed. The whole room went entirely silent, and the doctor said that she was 10lbs 11oz. I thought she was joking at first! I could not believe she was SO big - it was wild...They then took Brooklyn to the nursery and James went with her. I remember asking the guys near my head if I would see her soon, and they said it'd be about an hour or more before I'd see her because they were stitching me up and such. I also remember crying because I knew that first hour was crucial and I was missing it. I was also crying because I wanted to see the looks on my family's faces when seeing her for the first time, and I missed that as well. Anyways, they finally got me done and I was brought into the recovery room. They brought Brooklyn to me and told me that I needed to try to nurse her because at birth, her sugar was a little low and they had to give her a little forumla to get it up. James told me that he had tried fighting the formula, but it wasn't something that could have been avoided - her sugar had to be brought up. So I was on my back, and the spinal guy told me that I couldn't sit up or I risked getting a spinal headache, so I had to try to nurse laying flat on my back. It was not easy. My mom helped me, and everything was still fuzzy at that point, but I know I was able to get a little milk into her at least. After they checked her sugar again, they said it was a lot better, and they never had to give her any more formula. I'm still not sure how and when we all finally ended up in the same room, but I think it was after my spinal had worn off. Afterward, the doctor came to talk to me and told me that the reason I had stalled at 9cm and went back down to 7cm was because she was infact OP like we'd thought, and because she was so big, she had NO room to move - there would have been no way she'd have fit through my pelvis posterior, and it would have been even worse if she'd gotten stuck in my birth canal because then it would have been an emergency situation. I do not regret agreeing to the C-section, and although I wanted a 100% natural labor/delivery, this was truly one of the rare situations where a c-section was necessary. I can honestly say that I loved how my labour was up until I got my waters broken. Had Brooklyn been smaller, I would have had a very quick and easy labour/delivery. The next day, the nurse who I'd had the day before came to visit us. She didn't even work that day, but she had left the night before when they had given me the pitocin (since it was several hours past her 12 hour shift and she was getting very tired). She said that she was sorry my delivery ended how it did, but she said that she was extremely proud of me because we really did try everything to get Brooklyn to turn on her own and to get labour to progress on its own. She said that I should feel no regrets because if we were in a time or place where c-sections weren't available to us, both me and Brooklyn would have died because a vaginal delivery just wasn't possible for her size and position. The black eye that Brooklyn has was because she was jammed up against my pelvis with no room to move. I had an 8 inch incision, and the doctor STILL had trouble getting her out of me because she was so big. I am so incredibly blessed to have this beautiful baby girl, and I am so thankful to God that He took care of us and allowed me to make decisions that needed to be made.
So finally, announcing Brooklyn Lorraine born at 12:51AM on 8 February 2011 by c-section after 31 hours of labour. She weighed 10lbs 11oz and was 22in. long. She is my absolute pride and joy, and I'm SO in love with her.
So finally, announcing Brooklyn Lorraine born at 12:51AM on 8 February 2011 by c-section after 31 hours of labour. She weighed 10lbs 11oz and was 22in. long. She is my absolute pride and joy, and I'm SO in love with her.
