Constantine's Arrival (Natural Hospital Birth Attempt)

[Proserpina]

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT:

My bump turned as Serge Constantine (called by his middle name or "Costa" for short) was born on Sunday, September 29, 2013, at 6:10 PM, weighing 9 lbs 5 oz, 22.5 in long, posterior ("sunny side up"), after 8 hours of induced labor. I'd wanted a natural childbirth in the hospital; wound up with a very low level of interventions for good reasons. Overall, very pleased with my health care team and so grateful that Constantine is here safe and sound. If you're team , rest assured that moment when your baby is out and you know for sure what you have is so totally worth waiting for.

(Note: Some of my FB friends pitched a fit last time I uploaded a video of him naked, so that's why his boy parts are black-boxed out in one of these. I don't have the original photo on this computer.)

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For the record, DH is an identical twin. His twin had three girls in a row first and we had a daughter first, which (genetically) is kind of like the same man having four daughters in a row. So we decided to try the Shettles method of swaying for a boy. Not only do we have a son now, but we conceived on our first cycle of trying, less than a month after having my Mirena removed. I've heard that it's been debunked, but if you have a preference for one sex, doesn't hurt to try.

 

[Proserpina]

BIRTH STORY:

(Note: I've told the entire birth story on my blog here and here, but below is the abridged version. Still long.)

I had a post-due-date check-up on Thursday, September 26th, when I was 40 weeks + 6 days gestation. I consented to a cervical exam for the first time this pregnancy, but told my hot doctor I'd checked it myself and was pretty sure it was closed (he was amazed that I check my own cervix). He confirmed that it was completely closed. He said he'd like to schedule an induction for Saturday; I said no, I want to go to 42 weeks. He said to just come into the hospital on Saturday for a non-stress test and AFI ultrasound then, and I said okay.

My doula warned me that they would push for induction on Saturday since that was the day they'd originally asked for it. She was right. I came in on Saturday and my baby passed the NST with flying colors, but my AFI came back "low end of normal." They also took my blood pressure four times and it was high three times, and said I had protein +2 in my urine, so it looked like I was edging pre-eclampsia as I had at the end of my last pregnancy. However, my cervix was only a 1 and not very effaced. My doctor (who is a 3rd year resident), the OB attending and the family practice attending all wanted me to stay and induce, but they gave me the option of going home for one more day. I said that I was concerned about the induction failing because my cervix was not favorable for it, and they agreed that was a risk. So we settled on doing a sweep and sending me home for one more day, but was pretty much told that when I came back the next day at 7 AM, I should expect to go ahead with the induction.

Came back at 7 AM on Sunday and was told that my long-term urine collection test (protein/creatinine ratio) had come back at 0.68, well above the 0.20 that is the maximum for normal results, so there was no chance they could give me more time for labor to start naturally unless it was against medical advice. As much of a stubborn, pretentious know-it-all as I am, even I am not stubborn enough to mess with pre-eclampsia, so I said I would do the induction. My doctor checked me and said I was only about a 1.5 and 60% effaced, so he thought we would need to start with a mechanical induction to begin dilation of the cervix, then switch to Pitocin. However, his attending later checked me and said I was a 2 and she could even stretch me to a 3, and that I was 50% effaced, so she recommended just starting with Pitocin. I called my doula and told her to please come as soon as possible.

With Pitocin, I had to be on continuous fetal monitoring, which did not make me happy as I had been planning on moving around and using the shower for pain relief, and now I was shackled to the bed. I was still allowed to move around the bed as much as possible, unhook myself from the monitors to go to the bathroom, so I made the best of it as I could, but those stomach monitors annoyed me throughout the labor. They started me on a low drip of Pitocin, 1-2 ml/hr, and it never got higher than that.

Between me, my doula, and my husband, we used a birthing ball, hip squeezes, counter-pressure, and a supported lean to manage most of my pain. After three hours they checked me and said I was a 3, but "this is good because we're seeing cervical change." I had gone from a 4 to a 10 in half an hour with my daughter, so I wasn't too discouraged just yet. At 5 hours the nurse came in, unhooked my monitors and my Hep-lock, and said they had okay'ed me to get in the shower for 10 minutes. The hot water on my back was so good for the pain, I immediately decided that if they wanted me out of that shower, they'd have to come get me themselves, I wasn't going to time it. I could still feel my baby moving, so I felt pretty sure he was okay. I don't know how long I was in the shower, but it was longer than 10 minutes.

They did come to tell me to get out eventually though, and wanted to check me again. I was a 7. They didn't hook my Hep-lock back up to the IV cart (I'd already had two doses of GBS+ antibiotics at this point.); my doula later said this surprised her as she almost never sees deliveries where mom is taken off the Pitocin once it's been started. Contractions were getting intense enough that I felt the need to just lay down and rest between them, so I spent most of the rest of labor in bed.

My water still hadn't broken yet, and they asked if they could break my water and put an electrode on my son's head. I said no. My water broke on its own shortly thereafter, at about 8 cm.

I'm not sure how much time passed after that, but things began getting intense because my body began pushing involuntarily, but there was a final "lip" of cervix that just would not dilate. My doula and the doctors were trying to coach me on how to not push, but my body just kept on slamming my son's head into that lip of cervix. That was the most painful part.

Finally they said I could push. I tried pushing on all fours, squatting, and laying on my side. I realized my son was probably not tolerating pushing well when they said, "You need to get him out on this push or we'll have to use the vacuum." I didn't get him out, so I consented to the vacuum. They tried using it on my side, then flipped me to my back. One more vacuum-assisted push and he was out. I heard two things: my husband saying "it's a boy" and my son crying right away.

I was expecting a big baby, but even I was surprised when they said he was 9 lbs 5 oz. They had thought he was occiput anterior as he was coming out, but it turns out he was occiput posterior ("sunny side up"). Given his size and malposition, I'm not too disappointed that I wound up needing the vacuum, or that I got a 2nd degree "skid mark." It's long enough to be 2nd degree, but not deep at all, and so far has been nowhere near as painful as the episiotomy that I had with my 7 lb 4 oz daughter.

We put him on my chest immediately and he stopped crying right away. They waited for the cord to stop pulsing to clamp it and let my husband cut it, and my son was breastfeeding 10-15 minutes later.

CONCLUSION:

I wish I could have had a completely natural birth, but given the circumstances, I'm not too disappointed with the interventions that I wound up with. I only had a low drip of Pitocin to start labor (with attendant continuous fetal monitoring), the Pitocin being shut off after 5 hours, and the vacuum extractor. Everything else that happened took place all on its own and was managed naturally. I thought it was an incredible experience and am left with very positive feelings about this birth.

 

[Mummymelie]

Congrats he's beautiful!

 

[DebbieF]

Congratulations! He is so handsome!

 

[aliss]

Congrats. I'm impressed how you managed to keep your cool and enforce your wishes through a Pitocin induction, that is an accomplishment in itself. You were cool and calm and in control, that's a fantastic way to give birth

 

[Kirstymum005]

Congrats! He is gorgeous and glad to know you are both doing well!

 

[letdoit]

Ohhhh...he is so cute. Well done!

 

[Prinny]

Congratulations! He's lovely..x

 

[Foxy37]

he made me smile he is lovely xxx

 

[nullaby]

congrats!! Beautiful baby & thanks for sharing your birth story

 

[jodiex]

Congratulations hes gorgeous. X

 

[Mummy Bean]

Congrats on such a cutie. And great story...inspiring for us to stick firm to what we really want.

 

[Proserpina]

Congrats. I'm impressed how you managed to keep your cool and enforce your wishes through a Pitocin induction, that is an accomplishment in itself. You were cool and calm and in control, that's a fantastic way to give birth

Thanks. I didn't mention this in the birth story, but just before they started the drip, the nurse I had saw me eating and tried to tell me I couldn't eat in labor. I said "Why not?" and her answer basically amounted to, "Because I said so." I was like, "Well, it was in my birth plan that I planned to eat. Besides, who's going to stop me?" She left.

My doctor came in a few minutes later and I was like, "Did the nurse tell on me?" He shifted uncomfortably and said that, while he was okay with me eating in the early stages of labor, he really recommended that I stop when I get to active labor. He said it was because a lot of women vomit in labor. I said I'd take his advice in mind, but if I needed energy I was going to eat.

And I did eat. I ate some trail mix, an energy bar, some slices of cheddar cheese, and a hard-boiled egg. The egg was the last thing I ate, not long before the shower, and I never threw up. I know my own body and I'm actually more likely to throw up if I have nothing in my stomach than I am if I have a little bit of food in my stomach.

Sometimes being a pushy bitch pays off!

 

[TMonster]

Congrats! He's adorable and I am so glad you got the boy you were hoping for. Despite the interventions it still sounds like a great birth overall.

 

[TriChick]

Congrats!! And I LOVE the nickname Costa!

 

[Foxybabyhg3]

Oh he's so beautiful! Congratulations

 

[beagleowner]

Oh my goodness, we had so many similarities including the low-end of normal AFI with good NST, baby size, gestational date, etc! How funny! And he's gorgeous. Congrats to you!

 

[Eline]

Congratulations on your little one and thank you very much for sharing your story.

 

[SwissMiss]

Congrats, he's so sweet!
Well done!
xx

 

[surprisepg]

He is absolutely adorable, congratulations!