Monday, June 7, 2010

Labor Story

We got to the hospital at about 12:15 am on May 23rd, 2010 - our first wedding anniversary. When we got there, they told us that there wasn't an induction scheduled. My doctor had said told them we were coming at 5pm! I told them I was 41 weeks pregnant, had been in 3 times for contractions, and would not be leaving without my baby. So they called him, and they had a room, and everything was fine.
So, I got hooked up to the monitors, had my IV placed, and cervadil in. I started having contractions around 5.
Nothing major, they didn't really hurt, so we just kept trying to get some sleep. The baby kept moving away from the heartrate monitor, so they had to keep coming in to move it. And at one point, it just stopped working, so they had to switch it for another one.
[Our HUGE room!]
At 8:50 am, my doctor came in with the anesthesiologist and said "you wanted an epi right?" I said yes. He said "Well are you up for it now? We'll have him put it in and then I'll break your water and pump you full of pitocin." I said ok, and immediately got nervous and nauseous. I was suddenly so scared of the epi! I had never been scared of it before. I was terrified all the way up until halfway through the epi. My bp shot up to 174/84 and my pulse was 116 because I was so freaked out. I felt the initial pinch when he started putting in the local anesthetic, and there was no pain after that! While he was doing it, he said "You should be feeling pressure." All I felt was a tingling sensation! No pain at all after the local. The IV was definitely worse than the epi.. I asked him if he was doing it now and he said "I'm just about done!" Epidural = liquid gold. I had him show me the needle and everything after, because I wanted to see it but didn't want to freak out more than I already was before hand. After that, my doctor came in and broke my water. Absolutely no pain, just felt really warm when it was gushing out. My doctor told the nurse there was meconium in the water. =( By that point, I was almost completely numb from the waste down. I could move my legs, but when I tried, I moved them a LOT more than I meant to. A few minutes after my water was broken, my BP dropped and I felt like I was going to pass out. It dropped all the way to 88/33. They put me on oxygen and gave me ephedrine to bring it back up, then started the pitocin and antibiotics because I'm gbs positive. They had to work on my IV for a while because it stopped dripping in, or would slow way down while it was going. They flushed it twice and massaged the vein to keep it going. I started getting major nausea with every contraction, so they gave me zofran. Also liquid gold - it worked almost right away, and I was back to feeling great!. Since they had been having trouble with the outer monitors, they decided to put an internal monitor on the baby's.
The internal monitor also stopped working, and they had to switch cords. Again. Then the balloon on the catheter didn't work, and they had to get a different one. UGH! Everything seemed to be malfunctioning. So glad I was numb for all of this! I was progressing about a cm per hour, and everything was going great. The nurse checked me and I was 5-6 cm (5+, but she could stretch me to a 6.), and told us we'd probably have the baby around 10 or 11. I was disappointed, and starting to feel impatient. I wanted to meet my little guy already! She checked me again an hour later, and she said "Wow, you really progressed fast!" I was thinking maybe I had gotten to an 8. When I asked her how far I was, I was shocked to hear her say "Well, you have a tiny bit of an anterior lip on one side. You're about a 9 and a half!" When she checked me again 20 minutes later, I was a 10. I was so excited! Once you get to a 10, my doctor has you "rest and descend" instead of pushing right away. This is supposed to let your body push the baby down with the contractions, and allow the tissue time to stretch - lessening your chances of tearing. So they wanted me to do that for 2 hours. So I took a nap. It was about 5:30 at this point. At 6:30, I felt my epidural start to wear off on the left side of my body. That was not fun. So for about 15 minutes, I felt the contractions in my back on the left side, and it wasn't pleasant, but not as bad as I thought it could be. (The epidural probably wasn't completely worn off, just slightly. I'm a wimp. :D ) At the same time, two things happened. 1. I lost some control in the right side of my face. My right eye was kind of squinty, and I couldn't open it all the way. It felt really weird, and they told me it was because the epidural had gone up instead of just staying in one place. 2. I started feeling the urge to push, so I did. Not hard like I was trying to get the baby out, but just slightly. It took a lot of the pressure off the contractions when they came. The anesthesiologist came in and had me lay on my left side. He was going to give me another full dose (this would have been my 3rd one, and I also had the pump - where I could hit the button and get more medicine.) but I asked him if I could just have a half dose, so I could still feel to push. So I got a half dose, and he said I could still hit the button, and I could have another half (or even full) dose if I needed it. My BP dropped after every dose of the epi.

(Right after my BP dropped. I wanted a final belly picture with my "battle scars.")
I told them I was really starting to get the urge to push, so they called my doctor. They told me to go ahead and start pushing! I was excited and scared and anxious all at once. It was 7pm exactly when I started pushing. So with each contraction, Tyler held one leg and my nurse held the other, and I pushed. After the first contraction, I asked if I was even doing anything, and the nurse said "Yes!" Apparently, I was pushing harder than I could feel with the epi, because I got the baby's head all the way down before my doctor even got there 10 minutes later! I requested a mirror, so I could see what was going on. It was a little weird, knowing that what I was seeing should have been really painful, but I couldn't feel it. After a while, though, the epidural started to wear down a little. I tried to push my "happy button," but it wasn't working anymore. (I'm not sure if they had disabled it or not. I remember asking, but I couldn't concentrate on the answer.) After I had pushed for about 35 minutes, my doctor told me I was going to need an episiotomy. The baby's head was turned sideways, and when he tried to rotate it, he moved his head so he was face up! (The two hardest positions to get a baby out, aside from the baby being breech.) I told him I didn't want it. He said that my options were to get it, or he could just let me tear naturally. He said that if I tore naturally, it would take a while for me to do so, so I would be pushing longer, but he could bring in the vacuum if I wanted. I just said no. Two contractions later I had him do the episiotomy. I could feel that he did it, but it didn't hurt. I said "OW!" anyways, and he gave me the local anesthetic. I didn't even feel him giving me that. Then he finished the episiotomy (or maybe he finished before and I didn't realize.) with the next contraction. Two contractions later I was begging for the vacuum and saying "Just get him out, I can't do this." My body was so exhausted, and I was just so ready for it all to be over. My doctor told me no, I could do it. Two contractions later (everything seemed to happen in two contractions.) the baby's head was out! I didn't even have to push to get his shoulders out. Once his head was out, my doctor just pulled him the rest of the way!

Jacob Soren Hines was born at 7:53 pm on May 23rd, 2010! He didn't cry right away (I found out it was because my doctor wouldn't let him. He had stuck his thumb into Jake's mouth to keep him from crying, so he wouldn't aspirate the meconium.) Tyler cut his cord, and they immediately took him over to suction out his lungs while I got stitched up. I was worried because he wasn't crying, and at that point I didn't know that they weren't letting him.

Tyler was over with him, and I definitely cried the first time I heard him cry. After they got him weighed, measured, wiped/dried off, and wrapped up, they brought him to me.
He was having trouble inflating his lungs completely, and he was making little grunting noises with each breath. My doctor said "You hear the noises he's making? It's because he's having just a little trouble inflating his lungs all the way." Which you'd think would freak me out, but it didn't. I was more just sad because I knew that meant he couldn't stay in the room. I only got to hold him for about a minute (maybe a little less) before they took him to be monitored. Luckily, he only had to be gone about 20 minutes, and he didn't even need oxygen.


While they were working on him, my doctor delivered the placenta. He showed it to me and said it was almost completely calcified from me being overdue. Then I started bleeding a LOT! My doctor had them give me a shot and a LITER of pitocin to stop the bleeding. I had told him before that I tended to bleed a lot, though, so we were both prepared. Luckily, it wasn't bad enough that I needed a transfusion or anything.

When my doctor came to check on me the next morning, the nursery hadn't brought Jake back from being seen by the pediatrician. (I was a little mad about this. We asked them to bring him back right away, and Tyler ended up having to go get him because they 'forgot.') So we didn't get a picture with Jake and the doctor that delivered him. I'll have to remember to get one at my 6-week appointment!

And as for an update on the little guy, he is doing GREAT! We are back at home. He has a central line that we give him antibiotics through 3 times per day.
He has a urinary tract infection and acid reflux. And the poor little guy just can't catch a break! He is also being circumsized at his 2 week checkup tomorrow. I feel so bad for him, and I don't want to do it because I don't want him to hurt more. But they said he would probably need one later anyways for medical reasons, and it's probably better to do it now when he won't remember it than later.
We have to take him in for another test to check for kidney reflux sometime this week as well. But he is feeling much better! (And eating a TON during the day!) And he sleeps for a 4-5 hour stretch at night already. =)

And we are in a bit of trouble! I had Jake down for tummy time earlier today, and he was NOT having it. He was on our bed, and I was sitting next to him so it was inclined slightly. He rolled AGAINST the incline from his belly to his back, and then from his back to his side. Yikes! That's not supposed to happen yet...

3 comments:

Cassie said...

I'm glad your little Jake is doing better. I'm glad you're all at home enjoying your little family. Love the labor story!!! You're a trooper, Tristan.

Taffers Dawn said...

wow!!!! That is quite a labor story. I'm so glad that it ended well and that your little guy is home now! He is sooo cute! I think he looks alot like you adn I love that last picture where it looks like he's smiling. Sooo cute!!

Kate said...

so glad things are better and you are at home. I was worried about you. It must have been so hard. Its amazing how much you instantly love them and don't want them to experience any discomfort. When I got my epidural they had to put the iv in first and give me fluid. I was really nauseated with each contraction at that point, so it seemed like it took awhile. They are great things when they work though! Congrats again! Enjoy it!