This is five weeks late, but that's not too bad, right? 
This is VERY long, because I figured people might find the details helpful.
This wasn't the birth I anticipated or wanted. I had hoped to labor at home for as long as possible before going to the hospital. I wasn't opposed to an epidural, but I wanted to hold off on it and see if I really needed one. Instead, I ended up with an induction at 38 weeks with lots of interventions (none major). The overall experience, however, was terrific! I had a very easy labor and delivery and baby arrived healthy.
My OB originally sent me for a growth scan at 32 weeks because she thought baby felt small. The results came back normal, with her measuring in the 31st percentile. At 37 weeks I had an episode of reduced movement, so I went in for monitoring. They also decided to do another growth scan, since I was scheduled for one anyway. LO started moving as soon as I was hooked up (of course), and the NST and BPP came back fine. The growth scan, however, showed that she'd dropped to the 13th percentile. Her growth was asymmetrically restricted, which means her head was still at 31%, but her stomach and legs were about 5%.
I saw my OB the next day, and we discussed the need for an induction. She said that she was happy to continue with weekly monitoring, but told me to be very aware of of any episodes or reduced movement. The next week was very stressful, and I spent most of it worrying about whether baby was moving enough. My OH and I did loads of research on the pros and cons of early induction, and went to my 38 week appt planning on asking the OB if I could be induced just so we could stop worrying so much.
We went for the monitoring first. The BPP seemed fine. Good flow, healthy baby, etc. The tech took some pictures. Then the OB on call came in to review the results, and they started talking about low fluid. After a minute the OB turned to us and explained that while baby was still healthy, my amniotic fluid levels had dropped, which, when combined with the growth restriction, indicated a worsening problem with some aspect of the pregnancy. We were told to go home, pack a bag, and head straight to L&D! We were both completely stunned. I hadn't even gotten to see my regular doctor.
We were back at the hospital in about an hour and a half. I was examined and told that I needed a cervical ripener, so they inserted Cervadil at 3pm for 12 hours. They also hooked med up to a fetal heart rate monitor, a contraction monitor, a finger tip monitor, an IV (getting the IV suuucked), and a BP cuff. Honestly, these 12 hours were the worst part of the experience. The bed was uncomfortable, and with all the monitoring equipment I couldn't move easily. I didn't sleep at all, and every time I had to pee it was a complicated operation of unhooking everything, taking it to the bathroom with me, measuring my urine output, and then rehooking everything and getting back into bed. And I had to pee constantly because of the IV! Also, OH and I were both worried I'd end up needing a c-section if the induction didn't work.
Through most of this I was getting fairly frequent Braxton Hicks contractions, which I'd been getting throughout the pregnancy. Suddenly, after several hours, I realized that I was having actual contractions. They started wrapping around to my back and became achey. They were about 4 to 6 minutes apart. OH and I were very relieved.
At 3am the Cervadil was removed, and it was determined that I'd progressed enough to start the Pitocin. An attending came and spoke to me about getting an epidural. I was only 2cm dilated, but we talked about how the latest research showed that there's actually no reason to wait until you're 4cm to get an epidural. I already knew I wanted one with the Pitocin, but decided to wait for half an hour just to see how it went.
Before they could hang the new bag, though, my contractions kicked it up a notch on their own. I decided not to bother waiting, and asked for the epidural. Getting it placed ended up being the worst part of the whole experience. They didn't do anything wrong, but I'm freaked out by the idea of a needle in my spine, and it does hurt. Within about five minutes, though, the spinal started to take effect, and it felt wonderful. I loved the sensation of everything going warm and tingly. Once it took full effect I was happy to realize I could still feel my contractions, but they didn't hurt much.
About half an hour later they finally started the Pitocin. In another half an hour a resident determined that my labor was well established and broke my waters. Barely anything came out. At that point (about 5am) I fell asleep and slept until they came and checked me at 8:30am.
At 8:30 the doctors checked me again and I was 6cm dilated! Everyone was thrilled. My nurse told me she thought I'd be pushing by 1pm and have a baby by 2pm. OH and I both fell asleep again. The nurse started coming in and rolling me from one side to the other because LO was having decels during my contractions. The rolling didn't help (though it did help the epidural even out and I stopped feeling any pain), so eventually a resident inserted a catheter to inject fluid into my uterus to help cushion LO. The epidural was awesome and I didn't feel a thing. The extra fluid worked, and OH and I went back to sleep.
I woke up around 11am and my contractions felt different. I began to suspect that my body was beginning to push LO out. The attending came in at 11:30 and was happy to hear this. She checked me and I was fully dilated! I'd gone from 2cm to 10cm in seven hours with essentially no pain.
My nurse came back and she and my husband each held one of my feet so I could push against them. We talked about how I would push and when. The OB and nurse watched the contraction monitor and I told them when I felt one starting, and between the three of us we decided when I should push. This might sound crazy, but I loved the actual delivery. It was exciting and I was finally doing something and there was no pain. The four of us would just sort of talk between the contractions about how the baby was doing, etc. I can't believe how relaxed it was.
Everyone kept telling me what a great job I was doing, but I thought they were just being encouraging. Then, after only about five or six contractions I realized that I could feel LOs head where it had moved down. They told me to push once more and then my daughter was out and on my chest! OH and I were stunned. I think we just stared at each other. It had all happened so much faster than we expected.
I don't remember much of the next half hour. I know the nurse kept telling me that my daughter wasn't a small baby after all. She was just over 6lbs. I also remember seeing that she had a big knot in her cord, which probably explained the IUGR and low fluid. As the nurse examined my baby the OB told me that at the last minute LO's heart rate had dropped dangerously (the knot must have tightened as she descended), and she'd had to perform an episiotomy. She hadn't even had time to ask and I hadn't noticed. She stitched me up. I vaguely recall it being uncomfortable, but not truly painful.
I'm five weeks post partum now, and our daughter is doing great. She's gained weight like a champ, and is close to 9lbs. Breastfeeding has been rough, but I think we have it under control now. The episiotomy took longer to heal than I would have liked. It's finally all closed now. I'm also having some back pain, which is probably mostly due to all the bending and lifting I'm doing now, but I suspect is partially because of the epidural. I'm sure it will get better.
I feel incredibly lucky. There was a lot of potential for my pregnancy to go very badly at the end, but I received excellent care and everything turned out perfectly!
This is VERY long, because I figured people might find the details helpful.This wasn't the birth I anticipated or wanted. I had hoped to labor at home for as long as possible before going to the hospital. I wasn't opposed to an epidural, but I wanted to hold off on it and see if I really needed one. Instead, I ended up with an induction at 38 weeks with lots of interventions (none major). The overall experience, however, was terrific! I had a very easy labor and delivery and baby arrived healthy.
My OB originally sent me for a growth scan at 32 weeks because she thought baby felt small. The results came back normal, with her measuring in the 31st percentile. At 37 weeks I had an episode of reduced movement, so I went in for monitoring. They also decided to do another growth scan, since I was scheduled for one anyway. LO started moving as soon as I was hooked up (of course), and the NST and BPP came back fine. The growth scan, however, showed that she'd dropped to the 13th percentile. Her growth was asymmetrically restricted, which means her head was still at 31%, but her stomach and legs were about 5%.
I saw my OB the next day, and we discussed the need for an induction. She said that she was happy to continue with weekly monitoring, but told me to be very aware of of any episodes or reduced movement. The next week was very stressful, and I spent most of it worrying about whether baby was moving enough. My OH and I did loads of research on the pros and cons of early induction, and went to my 38 week appt planning on asking the OB if I could be induced just so we could stop worrying so much.
We went for the monitoring first. The BPP seemed fine. Good flow, healthy baby, etc. The tech took some pictures. Then the OB on call came in to review the results, and they started talking about low fluid. After a minute the OB turned to us and explained that while baby was still healthy, my amniotic fluid levels had dropped, which, when combined with the growth restriction, indicated a worsening problem with some aspect of the pregnancy. We were told to go home, pack a bag, and head straight to L&D! We were both completely stunned. I hadn't even gotten to see my regular doctor.
We were back at the hospital in about an hour and a half. I was examined and told that I needed a cervical ripener, so they inserted Cervadil at 3pm for 12 hours. They also hooked med up to a fetal heart rate monitor, a contraction monitor, a finger tip monitor, an IV (getting the IV suuucked), and a BP cuff. Honestly, these 12 hours were the worst part of the experience. The bed was uncomfortable, and with all the monitoring equipment I couldn't move easily. I didn't sleep at all, and every time I had to pee it was a complicated operation of unhooking everything, taking it to the bathroom with me, measuring my urine output, and then rehooking everything and getting back into bed. And I had to pee constantly because of the IV! Also, OH and I were both worried I'd end up needing a c-section if the induction didn't work.
Through most of this I was getting fairly frequent Braxton Hicks contractions, which I'd been getting throughout the pregnancy. Suddenly, after several hours, I realized that I was having actual contractions. They started wrapping around to my back and became achey. They were about 4 to 6 minutes apart. OH and I were very relieved.
At 3am the Cervadil was removed, and it was determined that I'd progressed enough to start the Pitocin. An attending came and spoke to me about getting an epidural. I was only 2cm dilated, but we talked about how the latest research showed that there's actually no reason to wait until you're 4cm to get an epidural. I already knew I wanted one with the Pitocin, but decided to wait for half an hour just to see how it went.
Before they could hang the new bag, though, my contractions kicked it up a notch on their own. I decided not to bother waiting, and asked for the epidural. Getting it placed ended up being the worst part of the whole experience. They didn't do anything wrong, but I'm freaked out by the idea of a needle in my spine, and it does hurt. Within about five minutes, though, the spinal started to take effect, and it felt wonderful. I loved the sensation of everything going warm and tingly. Once it took full effect I was happy to realize I could still feel my contractions, but they didn't hurt much.
About half an hour later they finally started the Pitocin. In another half an hour a resident determined that my labor was well established and broke my waters. Barely anything came out. At that point (about 5am) I fell asleep and slept until they came and checked me at 8:30am.
At 8:30 the doctors checked me again and I was 6cm dilated! Everyone was thrilled. My nurse told me she thought I'd be pushing by 1pm and have a baby by 2pm. OH and I both fell asleep again. The nurse started coming in and rolling me from one side to the other because LO was having decels during my contractions. The rolling didn't help (though it did help the epidural even out and I stopped feeling any pain), so eventually a resident inserted a catheter to inject fluid into my uterus to help cushion LO. The epidural was awesome and I didn't feel a thing. The extra fluid worked, and OH and I went back to sleep.
I woke up around 11am and my contractions felt different. I began to suspect that my body was beginning to push LO out. The attending came in at 11:30 and was happy to hear this. She checked me and I was fully dilated! I'd gone from 2cm to 10cm in seven hours with essentially no pain.
My nurse came back and she and my husband each held one of my feet so I could push against them. We talked about how I would push and when. The OB and nurse watched the contraction monitor and I told them when I felt one starting, and between the three of us we decided when I should push. This might sound crazy, but I loved the actual delivery. It was exciting and I was finally doing something and there was no pain. The four of us would just sort of talk between the contractions about how the baby was doing, etc. I can't believe how relaxed it was.
Everyone kept telling me what a great job I was doing, but I thought they were just being encouraging. Then, after only about five or six contractions I realized that I could feel LOs head where it had moved down. They told me to push once more and then my daughter was out and on my chest! OH and I were stunned. I think we just stared at each other. It had all happened so much faster than we expected.
I don't remember much of the next half hour. I know the nurse kept telling me that my daughter wasn't a small baby after all. She was just over 6lbs. I also remember seeing that she had a big knot in her cord, which probably explained the IUGR and low fluid. As the nurse examined my baby the OB told me that at the last minute LO's heart rate had dropped dangerously (the knot must have tightened as she descended), and she'd had to perform an episiotomy. She hadn't even had time to ask and I hadn't noticed. She stitched me up. I vaguely recall it being uncomfortable, but not truly painful.
I'm five weeks post partum now, and our daughter is doing great. She's gained weight like a champ, and is close to 9lbs. Breastfeeding has been rough, but I think we have it under control now. The episiotomy took longer to heal than I would have liked. It's finally all closed now. I'm also having some back pain, which is probably mostly due to all the bending and lifting I'm doing now, but I suspect is partially because of the epidural. I'm sure it will get better.
I feel incredibly lucky. There was a lot of potential for my pregnancy to go very badly at the end, but I received excellent care and everything turned out perfectly!
I love how you detailed everything out. 
