I started having contractions on Thursday (12/10) at 4:30 in the morning. It seemed perfect… a nice even numbered day and plenty of time to deliver…. The contractions were a steady 3-5 minutes apart and lasting 30-45 seconds for several hours. Paul called off work and around 8am, he took Benjamin to school and I called our doula (Kari) to let her know and she came over and all three of us went on a nice walk on the Bald Hill path. The contractions kept coming, although a little more spread apart. We went back home for lunch and they nearly stopped entirely.
That afternoon, my dad and Carol came to visit from SFO. We picked up the boy and went on a walk around our neighborhood. My mom arrived, my dad left and the contractions pretty much stopped.
That night, pretty much all night, the contractions came back and were a very steady nine minutes apart until the morning, when they slowed all but stopped entirely. We went to breakfast with my dad and Carol and The Man (who so gently reminded me why infants are so nice – they are portable to restaurants or wherever you want to go – so much more so than 2.5 year olds!). We went for a walk at Sunset Park and headed home in time to get ready for our scheduled ultra-sound and OB appt. Both got moved up an hour earlier because there was a big storm coming to town that night.
We met Kari at the ultrasound and contractions were still pretty much gone. They called upstairs with our results and we headed up for a non-stress test. Both Benjamin and Abby are strong little creatures and the doctor didn’t like that their heart rate was so steady. I guess they are supposed to respond and accelerate. So I drank cold water, ate sugar, jiggled belly… Abby finally passed. (With Benjamin, they referred us to the hospital for a 2nd monitoring session.) The doc looked “under the hood” and I was 5cm! Regardless of the contractions coming and going, I was progressing. And it wasn’t that bad so far, although I knew it would get much worse. The doc transformed from being a little pessimistic about a big baby in a VBAC to being overly optimistic that we could do this since we wouldn’t have to wait much longer. She talked with the on-call doc that night and filled Dr Marcos in on my situation. She was totally on my side and wiling to let me do everything I wanted to try and make this VBAC work. YAY! We left there feeling ecstatic.
On the way home, Paul and I stopped at Blockbuster to get some videos to make the night go faster. Once we got inside, the contractions started coming about every minute and lasting for about 30 seconds, but they were much more intense than they had been before. I couldn’t stay inside as I started feeling nauseous, so I waited for Paul to finish outside. We headed home and they continued and intensified. My mom was staying with Benjamin and Paul, Kari, and I pretty much set up in our bedroom. At this point, I really needed their help to get through a contraction. Paul found a magic spot to push when a contraction started. I started referring to it as my magic button. Every time I had a contraction, I only had to say the word “buttons” and my team jumped to work, massaging and pushing my “magic button”. I am sure they never want to hear that word again, but it was a very nice shortcut! And tricky since the button seemed to move around a little bit, but it was always in my low back. When the contractions finally calmed down a few hours later, we went to the living room to relax a little bit. Benjamin was very excited, but couldn’t quite grasp what was happening enough to leave me alone and stop climbing on me. The storm hit Corvallis and it brought the freezing rain with a vengeance. We saw cars skid out and do 180’s on our street and struggle with the tiny incline to get onto 53rd. About 7pm, we decided it was better to head in now than wait for the weather to get worse. We drove to the hospital like 15 mph and everything was SO icy. I was glad we went when we did.
Checking in at the hospital was really easy (thank you pre-registration process!) and we were up on the 4th floor in a labor and delivery room within ~7 minutes. The moment I sat on the bed, I felt ill and told the nurse she might want to get me a blue bag. The moment she gave it to me, I was violently sick. Now they believed I was in labor!
Just after arriving, they checked me and I was 7cm. Whoohoo! BUT, the baby was still really high and not engaged in the canal at all. However, we were still all feeling pretty good at this point. We got connected to the telemetry monitoring unit, got my IV port started, and headed to the tub. So relaxing! I stayed in maybe an hour and contractions relaxed for quit a bit of it. The nurse confessed to Paul that she didn’t believe I was in transition yet because I was being too polite. I thanked Kari when she helped me through a contraction and I didn’t really snap at anyone. Not even when I was violently sick several more times over the next few hours, to the point that I actually pulled a muscle in my side that started hurting worse than some of the contractions!
Soon the doc came and checked and I was at 8cm. Then she said that the baby had not dropped at all since I checked in. She was way up above my pubic bone still. This was not good news at this point but Dr Marcos agreed to check in two hours later to see if anything had changed. This was at 11pm.
The next two hours passed quickly for me. I don’t know about for Paul or Kari though. I am sure they were tired of “buttons” and their arms were probably jelly! (I had bruises and swelling the next day!) When the doc came back, I was 9cm now, but Abby was still really high and had not dropped at all. She checked me during a contraction and Abby was just not moving down at all. The doc was happy to let me keep trying but she saw no way that this baby was going to drop if she hadn’t already. She was probably hung up on my pubic bone. The doc highly recommended a c-section. At this point, we agreed to it, seeing no way around it.
That next hour was the longest ever. I was having contractions about every minute. Two contractions were so bad I couldn’t remember my code word of “buttons”! I was starting to feel like I had to push and Kari noticed that my belly was quivering like it was ready to also. But I knew it wasn’t getting us anywhere. They were about to take me to surgery when they realized they hadn’t given me any fluids yet, so they squeezed some in and off I went.
The great thing about having a c-section at 2 in the morning when it isn’t busy and all the staff has been waiting on you so they could go home (per hospital policy, all staff has to be at the hospital when anyone is attempting a VBAC), is that they are very open to explaining things. Once the spinal was in (I was pretty miserable before that), I was a happy camper. I had asked for a mirror with my first c-section, but they kind of laughed at the idea. This time around, they gave me one. I asked questions throughout and Dr Marcos was great at cracking jokes with me and explaining everything. I found it particularly interesting since I am in nursing school right now. Also, a midwife in training was observing, so I got to hear her questions also. Kari had never attended a c-section before, so I think she got as much out of it as she could also.
When Abby was born, Paul and I both did a double-take that it was girl. We could not believe it! She was beautiful… and BIG! 10 pounds, 1 ounce and 22.5 inches long! No wonder I was measuring 46cm at the doctor’s office! Abby looked great, scored 8’s on both Apgar’s and the on-call pediatrician assured me she was beautiful and healthy. She was taken to the nursery with Paul. Kari stayed with me while I got stitched up. It still amazes me how they pull your uterus out to inspect and stitch it up and then just pop it back in when they are done!
Over the next few hours, I was hot and needed ice packs to cool down and also sick several times. But the one big plus over my first c-section was that Abby got to be with us right away and was not in the NICU like Benjamin was. I think it is interesting that Benjamin was induced at 40 weeks because I had my membranes stripped and had a little leak, scored 9’s in Apgar, but had to stay 3 nights in the NICU because of meconium. Abby came “naturally” at 41 weeks, scored 8’s, and was able to be with us right away. Hmm… is there something to be said for intervening with nature? :o)
Our time with Abby in the hospital was kind of like a strange hotel getaway. I think Good Sam has great food and you can order what you want. There is a bed for Paul and I and great nurses who will even change diapers for you if you want them to. We checked out after two nights and could have stayed a third, but we missed The Man. We headed home on Monday (12/14) to introduce him to his baby sister.
Benjamin loves Abby – maybe a little too much – the poor boy’s world has totally changed. He is trying to give her hugs and kisses constantly and they are not always that gentle. He is jealous of her and is not quite sure how to channel that. Occasionally, he lashes out at her… never enough to hurt her, but it is rough and not nice to say the least. But we will adapt.
No comments:
Post a Comment