Quick back story on our ttc journey, followed by longggg birth story...
After 6 moths ttc with no luck, I had a nagging feeling something wasn't right, so my husband and I decided to consult a RE just to check everything out. Long story short, we had every test under the sun and all came back clear, with the exception of my last test, an HSG. After the test I was told I only had half a uterus (unicornuate). I was devastated and felt like a failure and that I would never get pregnant. This is a 1/4000 abnormality and my doctors had only seen a few cases.
After just my first round of fertility treatment (clomid and ovidrel) we found out we were pregnant and were thrilled (and hoping for a girl). My doctors were optimistic but were very upfront about all the risks: increased incidence of miscarriage, pre-term labor, IUGR and c-section. I of course prepared for the worst. And the internet certainly helped fuel the fire.
I was followed closely as high risk. I had a number of complications early on and we really didn't know if I would hold onto the pregnancy. But from about 20 weeks on everything went great, with the exception of me being insanely paranoid every single day that I would lose her, she would be too early, run out of space, etc.
At 20 weeks we found out we were having a girl yay! The next 4 months flew by and before I knew it I was 36 weeks and so close to full term, which I never thought I'd make it to and my doctors were surprised at as well. So I kept thinking, any day now as my BH had started to increase dramatically, I started having real contractions, though irregular, I could feel her much lower, lost my plug, and I just had constant period like pains.
At 38+4 I had an OB appointment at 11am and was 2cm, 100% effaced and station 0. I had a sweep done, and I had a prenatal massage with pressure points afterwards. From the beginning the plan was for me to not go past 40 weeks due to my uterus size, so my induction was scheduled that day for the morning of 39+6.
After my appointment, I felt tightenings and heaviness all day and at 7pm I got up to use the bathroom, peed and then felt a gush. Stood up to confirm and yup it was my waters. It wasn't a huge gush, more of a slow trickle that would continue for hours. We went to the hospital straightaway as I tested GBS+ and had to start on an IV drip right away. I of course didn't realize I wouldn't be able to eat once I got to the hospital and I regretted that big time.
When I got to triage they confirmed it was my waters and started me on a low dose of Pitocin as I wasn't really having productive contractions. By this point I was only at 3cm. They continued to up the Pitocin basically every hour and contractions got to be every 2 minutes for a minute each by 130am. At this point it was getting pretty painful but I was really trying to go without an epi, so I opted for IV pain meds (Nubain and Phenergen). It really took the edge off and I was able to sleep from 2-330am. At 330am I awoke and was in excruciating pain and begging for the epi. They checked me again and I was still only 3cm so I got the epi at 4am and it was amazing. I could still feel and move my legs and didn't feel out of it at all. And the contractions were very bareable. It didn't really hurt getting it and I was really pleased with it overall, minus it wearing off at the end, even though I was so against it going on.
By 7am I could feel way more pressure and I knew the baby was on the way. I begged them for an hour to check me and they kept pushing it off saying I wouldn't be anywhere near 10 yet as it was my first baby. Earlier the nurses said to expect 1cm and hour once I was having every 2min contractions so they weren't expecting much progress for a while.
Finally at 8am I demanded to be checked and my OB came in and announced that I was 10cm and needed to start pushing. The nurses heads almost popped off from the shock. Although I felt a lot of pressure in my rear end I didn't have the urge to push yet, so when I started pushing at 815am it felt very odd. I pushed for about 60 minutes with not much progress. The epi was starting to wear off and I was exhausted already, so they upped it, which had zero effect on my pain. The pain and pressure was all in my rear, not front like you would expect. I must have asked the nurses 30 times if I was pooping, which I wasn't thankfully.
By 920am I was really struggling and starting to get really upset between contractions and struggled big time to maintain my breathing and composure. The urge to push and the pain became really overwhelming over the next 15 minutes and I was staring at the clock positioned on the wall in front of me just praying for it to be over. I kept asking over and over if they could see her head yet. For the last 20 minutes I was pretty much hysterical in between pushes. I didn't scream or yell at all, I just cried my eyes out and hyperventilated between pushes every single time towards the end. I just couldn't help it, despite everyone in the room trying to calm me down. My husband was great with helping me breathe, fanning me, giving me ice and a cold compress, but I could tell he was getting very stressed too since I was so hysterical.
Finally at 935 I saw the main nurse leave the room and my OB scurried in and suited up and I knew my baby was almost here. By this point I could hear other women in labor screaming, I was exhausted and I felt like I was about to rip in two. My OB came in with her game face on and yelled at me no more crying, breathe and push like you've never pushed before.
I could feel her hands stretching me and pushing the baby's head down and out, and I kept asking if she was cutting (I was so against having an episiotomy). She was only in the room for about 3 pushes before my baby girl came out screaming her lungs out. She came out all in one final push and was so alert. She was born May 22 at 943am weighing 6lbs11oz, 20 inches long and total perfection.
Me, I was utterly exhausted and was shaking uncontrollably and felt like I was going to pass out. The placenta came out within about 5 minutes, which I barely even felt. I was hemmoraging badly so I didn't get to hold my little girl for over an hour. The nurse literally got on top of the table over me and pushed down on my uterus so hard over and over to get it to contract. It took about 20 minutes just for them to slow the bleeding.
In the end I lost 700ml of blood and just narrowly avoided a transfusion. They gave me 3 meds to stop the bleeding, Pitocin, Cytotec and Hemabate. Although I was convinced they had cut me or I had torn badly, I ended up with just a 1st degree tear and 10 or so stitches.
The recovery has been better than I expected. I just have some soreness and burning where the stitches are and the bleeding hasn't been too bad. And breast feeding has gone extremely well, thankfully. I am just thrilled to have my first little girl and can't stop staring at her, and thanking god that she is finally here safe and sound. Although now I worry all night long that she is still breathing, hasn't spit up and choked, etc. A mother's love really is overwhelming...
After 6 moths ttc with no luck, I had a nagging feeling something wasn't right, so my husband and I decided to consult a RE just to check everything out. Long story short, we had every test under the sun and all came back clear, with the exception of my last test, an HSG. After the test I was told I only had half a uterus (unicornuate). I was devastated and felt like a failure and that I would never get pregnant. This is a 1/4000 abnormality and my doctors had only seen a few cases.
After just my first round of fertility treatment (clomid and ovidrel) we found out we were pregnant and were thrilled (and hoping for a girl). My doctors were optimistic but were very upfront about all the risks: increased incidence of miscarriage, pre-term labor, IUGR and c-section. I of course prepared for the worst. And the internet certainly helped fuel the fire.
I was followed closely as high risk. I had a number of complications early on and we really didn't know if I would hold onto the pregnancy. But from about 20 weeks on everything went great, with the exception of me being insanely paranoid every single day that I would lose her, she would be too early, run out of space, etc.
At 20 weeks we found out we were having a girl yay! The next 4 months flew by and before I knew it I was 36 weeks and so close to full term, which I never thought I'd make it to and my doctors were surprised at as well. So I kept thinking, any day now as my BH had started to increase dramatically, I started having real contractions, though irregular, I could feel her much lower, lost my plug, and I just had constant period like pains.
At 38+4 I had an OB appointment at 11am and was 2cm, 100% effaced and station 0. I had a sweep done, and I had a prenatal massage with pressure points afterwards. From the beginning the plan was for me to not go past 40 weeks due to my uterus size, so my induction was scheduled that day for the morning of 39+6.
After my appointment, I felt tightenings and heaviness all day and at 7pm I got up to use the bathroom, peed and then felt a gush. Stood up to confirm and yup it was my waters. It wasn't a huge gush, more of a slow trickle that would continue for hours. We went to the hospital straightaway as I tested GBS+ and had to start on an IV drip right away. I of course didn't realize I wouldn't be able to eat once I got to the hospital and I regretted that big time.
When I got to triage they confirmed it was my waters and started me on a low dose of Pitocin as I wasn't really having productive contractions. By this point I was only at 3cm. They continued to up the Pitocin basically every hour and contractions got to be every 2 minutes for a minute each by 130am. At this point it was getting pretty painful but I was really trying to go without an epi, so I opted for IV pain meds (Nubain and Phenergen). It really took the edge off and I was able to sleep from 2-330am. At 330am I awoke and was in excruciating pain and begging for the epi. They checked me again and I was still only 3cm so I got the epi at 4am and it was amazing. I could still feel and move my legs and didn't feel out of it at all. And the contractions were very bareable. It didn't really hurt getting it and I was really pleased with it overall, minus it wearing off at the end, even though I was so against it going on.
By 7am I could feel way more pressure and I knew the baby was on the way. I begged them for an hour to check me and they kept pushing it off saying I wouldn't be anywhere near 10 yet as it was my first baby. Earlier the nurses said to expect 1cm and hour once I was having every 2min contractions so they weren't expecting much progress for a while.
Finally at 8am I demanded to be checked and my OB came in and announced that I was 10cm and needed to start pushing. The nurses heads almost popped off from the shock. Although I felt a lot of pressure in my rear end I didn't have the urge to push yet, so when I started pushing at 815am it felt very odd. I pushed for about 60 minutes with not much progress. The epi was starting to wear off and I was exhausted already, so they upped it, which had zero effect on my pain. The pain and pressure was all in my rear, not front like you would expect. I must have asked the nurses 30 times if I was pooping, which I wasn't thankfully.
By 920am I was really struggling and starting to get really upset between contractions and struggled big time to maintain my breathing and composure. The urge to push and the pain became really overwhelming over the next 15 minutes and I was staring at the clock positioned on the wall in front of me just praying for it to be over. I kept asking over and over if they could see her head yet. For the last 20 minutes I was pretty much hysterical in between pushes. I didn't scream or yell at all, I just cried my eyes out and hyperventilated between pushes every single time towards the end. I just couldn't help it, despite everyone in the room trying to calm me down. My husband was great with helping me breathe, fanning me, giving me ice and a cold compress, but I could tell he was getting very stressed too since I was so hysterical.
Finally at 935 I saw the main nurse leave the room and my OB scurried in and suited up and I knew my baby was almost here. By this point I could hear other women in labor screaming, I was exhausted and I felt like I was about to rip in two. My OB came in with her game face on and yelled at me no more crying, breathe and push like you've never pushed before.
I could feel her hands stretching me and pushing the baby's head down and out, and I kept asking if she was cutting (I was so against having an episiotomy). She was only in the room for about 3 pushes before my baby girl came out screaming her lungs out. She came out all in one final push and was so alert. She was born May 22 at 943am weighing 6lbs11oz, 20 inches long and total perfection.
Me, I was utterly exhausted and was shaking uncontrollably and felt like I was going to pass out. The placenta came out within about 5 minutes, which I barely even felt. I was hemmoraging badly so I didn't get to hold my little girl for over an hour. The nurse literally got on top of the table over me and pushed down on my uterus so hard over and over to get it to contract. It took about 20 minutes just for them to slow the bleeding.
In the end I lost 700ml of blood and just narrowly avoided a transfusion. They gave me 3 meds to stop the bleeding, Pitocin, Cytotec and Hemabate. Although I was convinced they had cut me or I had torn badly, I ended up with just a 1st degree tear and 10 or so stitches.
The recovery has been better than I expected. I just have some soreness and burning where the stitches are and the bleeding hasn't been too bad. And breast feeding has gone extremely well, thankfully. I am just thrilled to have my first little girl and can't stop staring at her, and thanking god that she is finally here safe and sound. Although now I worry all night long that she is still breathing, hasn't spit up and choked, etc. A mother's love really is overwhelming...
