RedString
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Okay, first of all, I would like to acknowledge the fact that 95% of you are going to hate me for EVER for this birth story. The other 5% probably share a similar story. So here goes.
After posting this post in third tri, I was upstairs talking with Oh's step-mom. Apparently my face was going white with contractions. So once they were a little more regular, and a bit more painful (about 4 minutes apart, but I was still managing to talk through them) and some coaxing from Rox (OH's step-mum) I decided to call the hospital.
Remember way back when, I confessed to having a fear of a silent labour? well, guess what? >_>;;
So I called the hospital, and the doctor on-call says yeah, come in, we should at least check you out. So I tossed a few things in a bag, just in case, and Rox called Allen(OH) and his dad to let them know that I had to be taken in. They were putting stuff in storage, because we were moving that weekend.
So we got there around 4, but there were a lot of people waiting for an assessment room, so we didn't get in until some time after 6. I felt kind of bad, because there was this other lady next to me, and she was tiny, with a fairly large baby bump. Whenever I got hit by a contraction, i did medatative breathing (inhale through the mouth, exhale through the nose) and squeezed Allen's hand. Occasionally I'd take a sip of my coke during a contraction. When she got hit with a contraction, she was breathing hard, rocking back and forth and rubbing her bump. you can see why everyone thought I was in false labour, yeah?
So we finally get into an assessment room, and I tell the doctor whats going on. I told her about the bladder infection and the possible broken waters on Tuesday. So she sends me for a urine sample, and while I'm in there, Allen over hears her say "no way she's in labour. I'll probably be sending her home."
Well, there was no bladder infection. So she does the other two tests to see if my waters broke; they sure did. figures.
Now she's convinced that it's labour, but she says its not progressing fast enough considering my water broke three days beforehand. She wants to put me on oxytocin/pitocin. To be honest, I was dead set against it. They listened to his heartbeat, he was fine, I could've gone home. But I decided that since it had been three days, and the chance of infection was higher, it was best to just do the oxytocin.
By the time I got a room, and was actually put on Oxytocin, I think it was 8:30, 8:45? and they put the dosage thinger at 2, just to see how it handled. I guess it was fine, cuz when my nurse took her break at 9:00, the nurse covering for her put it up to 6, without telling me. By the time my nurse came back at 9:30, the contractions were still about every three minutes, but they hurt more. A lot more. I'm still unsure as to whether this was because they were actually being more effective, or because of the synthetic oxytocin (pitocin) which is known to make contractions more painful.
So everything's progressing "normally" according to them, but despite earlier promises, they won't take me off the oxytocin so that I can use the shower as pain relief. It was supposed to be just a labour booster. By 10, I can't stand it. But by 10, they've officially lost Adrian's heart beat, because the nurse who replaced my nurse for her break couldn't find it, and they hadn't had a good listen to it since about 9. So I can't do anything. I'm stuck to the hospital bed, with an IV. They've turned the oxytocin down again, eventually turned it off, but the contractions are still there, still very painful. I took the nitrous oxide (laughing gas) to take the edge off them. To be honest, the hour between 10 and 11 is very blurry between pain, laughing gas, and being fed up because they won't even let me switch positions. I think it was 10:30 they called for the doctor to see how dialated I was.
I should mention now, they didn't check to see how dialated or effaced I was when I came in. They assumed I wasn't dialated or effaced at all. This is why we don't make assumptions.
The doctor got there at about 11, 11:10? sticks her fingers in there and says "No wonder you can't find his heart beat; she's fully dialated, his head's right here." Then tells me I cant start pushing. Comparing the contractions at that point, to the contractions I'd been having for the last hour, I'd probably been fully dialated FOR that hour. Which would explain why they couldn't find his heart beat, they were looking too high. So the next few contractions are spent pushing lightly because it makes the pain go away, and they've decided to clip a monitor to his head to monitor his heart beat. This was very uncomfortable, and surprisingly hard.
Finally at about 11:20, 11:25, I'm free to do my own pushing. So they put the birthing ball on the bed, and I'm kind of hunched over it. First contraction, I push, actually push, and instantly stop whining "it hurts too much". Because I'm a pansy. Second contraction my inner determination takes over and push one, they see his head. Docotr turns to get equipment to catch him, nurse calls for equipment they'll need after. Allen's rubbing my back encouragingly and talking, but hell if I can remember what he was saying.
Push two, his head's out. Push again, there go his shoulders, and again, and voila! David Adrian Hood is born, 20 inches long, 6 lbs, 15 oz, and a bit (just under 7 lbs) and scored 9 on the Apgar or whatever its called. Then the doctor and nurse turn around and he's staring up at me in shocked wonder. Technically, he was dropped on his head as baby, because no one caught him when he was born. They turned around and he was there. no episiotomy, no tears, nothing. though apparently i was bleeding too much after the delivery of the placenta, so they kept the oxytocin on ALL NIGHT and it made my wrist hurt.
I'm happy to report that he was relatively clean of baby-cheese (vernix) and the bits that he did have on him I didn't notice. Until three days later when I had to wear that same shirt, which was still covered in baby-cheese, because my other ones were soaked with breast milk. Allen cut the cord, he said it was crunchy. The first picture posted on Facebook was of Allen and Adrian, Allen had even taken off his shirt for skin-to-skin contact, which really impressed the doctors.
all in all, it wasn't too bad. I'm still miffed that they hadn't bothered to check how dialated I was though; I probably could have skipped the oxytocin all together. Oh well. Next time.
And now, pics. Feel free to comment on how awesome I look in the hospital and how much you hate me for it,
there was no shower taken in between the birth and that picture. it was taken sometime the next morning. i'm apparently made out of elastic.
Also, here's a pic with his curly hair. Fresh from the bath, lol
https://photos-d-5.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs106.snc1/4905_1156897569872_1450731882_411435_5392596_n.jpg
After posting this post in third tri, I was upstairs talking with Oh's step-mom. Apparently my face was going white with contractions. So once they were a little more regular, and a bit more painful (about 4 minutes apart, but I was still managing to talk through them) and some coaxing from Rox (OH's step-mum) I decided to call the hospital.
Remember way back when, I confessed to having a fear of a silent labour? well, guess what? >_>;;
So I called the hospital, and the doctor on-call says yeah, come in, we should at least check you out. So I tossed a few things in a bag, just in case, and Rox called Allen(OH) and his dad to let them know that I had to be taken in. They were putting stuff in storage, because we were moving that weekend.
So we got there around 4, but there were a lot of people waiting for an assessment room, so we didn't get in until some time after 6. I felt kind of bad, because there was this other lady next to me, and she was tiny, with a fairly large baby bump. Whenever I got hit by a contraction, i did medatative breathing (inhale through the mouth, exhale through the nose) and squeezed Allen's hand. Occasionally I'd take a sip of my coke during a contraction. When she got hit with a contraction, she was breathing hard, rocking back and forth and rubbing her bump. you can see why everyone thought I was in false labour, yeah?
So we finally get into an assessment room, and I tell the doctor whats going on. I told her about the bladder infection and the possible broken waters on Tuesday. So she sends me for a urine sample, and while I'm in there, Allen over hears her say "no way she's in labour. I'll probably be sending her home."
Well, there was no bladder infection. So she does the other two tests to see if my waters broke; they sure did. figures.
Now she's convinced that it's labour, but she says its not progressing fast enough considering my water broke three days beforehand. She wants to put me on oxytocin/pitocin. To be honest, I was dead set against it. They listened to his heartbeat, he was fine, I could've gone home. But I decided that since it had been three days, and the chance of infection was higher, it was best to just do the oxytocin.
By the time I got a room, and was actually put on Oxytocin, I think it was 8:30, 8:45? and they put the dosage thinger at 2, just to see how it handled. I guess it was fine, cuz when my nurse took her break at 9:00, the nurse covering for her put it up to 6, without telling me. By the time my nurse came back at 9:30, the contractions were still about every three minutes, but they hurt more. A lot more. I'm still unsure as to whether this was because they were actually being more effective, or because of the synthetic oxytocin (pitocin) which is known to make contractions more painful.
So everything's progressing "normally" according to them, but despite earlier promises, they won't take me off the oxytocin so that I can use the shower as pain relief. It was supposed to be just a labour booster. By 10, I can't stand it. But by 10, they've officially lost Adrian's heart beat, because the nurse who replaced my nurse for her break couldn't find it, and they hadn't had a good listen to it since about 9. So I can't do anything. I'm stuck to the hospital bed, with an IV. They've turned the oxytocin down again, eventually turned it off, but the contractions are still there, still very painful. I took the nitrous oxide (laughing gas) to take the edge off them. To be honest, the hour between 10 and 11 is very blurry between pain, laughing gas, and being fed up because they won't even let me switch positions. I think it was 10:30 they called for the doctor to see how dialated I was.
I should mention now, they didn't check to see how dialated or effaced I was when I came in. They assumed I wasn't dialated or effaced at all. This is why we don't make assumptions.
The doctor got there at about 11, 11:10? sticks her fingers in there and says "No wonder you can't find his heart beat; she's fully dialated, his head's right here." Then tells me I cant start pushing. Comparing the contractions at that point, to the contractions I'd been having for the last hour, I'd probably been fully dialated FOR that hour. Which would explain why they couldn't find his heart beat, they were looking too high.
So the next few contractions are spent pushing lightly because it makes the pain go away, and they've decided to clip a monitor to his head to monitor his heart beat. This was very uncomfortable, and surprisingly hard.Finally at about 11:20, 11:25, I'm free to do my own pushing. So they put the birthing ball on the bed, and I'm kind of hunched over it. First contraction, I push, actually push, and instantly stop whining "it hurts too much". Because I'm a pansy. Second contraction my inner determination takes over and push one, they see his head. Docotr turns to get equipment to catch him, nurse calls for equipment they'll need after. Allen's rubbing my back encouragingly and talking, but hell if I can remember what he was saying.
Push two, his head's out. Push again, there go his shoulders, and again, and voila! David Adrian Hood is born, 20 inches long, 6 lbs, 15 oz, and a bit (just under 7 lbs) and scored 9 on the Apgar or whatever its called. Then the doctor and nurse turn around and he's staring up at me in shocked wonder. Technically, he was dropped on his head as baby, because no one caught him when he was born. They turned around and he was there. no episiotomy, no tears, nothing. though apparently i was bleeding too much after the delivery of the placenta, so they kept the oxytocin on ALL NIGHT and it made my wrist hurt.
I'm happy to report that he was relatively clean of baby-cheese (vernix) and the bits that he did have on him I didn't notice. Until three days later when I had to wear that same shirt, which was still covered in baby-cheese, because my other ones were soaked with breast milk. Allen cut the cord, he said it was crunchy. The first picture posted on Facebook was of Allen and Adrian, Allen had even taken off his shirt for skin-to-skin contact, which really impressed the doctors.
all in all, it wasn't too bad. I'm still miffed that they hadn't bothered to check how dialated I was though; I probably could have skipped the oxytocin all together. Oh well. Next time.
And now, pics. Feel free to comment on how awesome I look in the hospital and how much you hate me for it,
there was no shower taken in between the birth and that picture. it was taken sometime the next morning. i'm apparently made out of elastic.Also, here's a pic with his curly hair. Fresh from the bath, lol
https://photos-d-5.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs106.snc1/4905_1156897569872_1450731882_411435_5392596_n.jpg
xx
doctors; who knows wtf they're thinking? and I gave birth at BC Women's Hospital.
