The adventure continues...
The nurse came in around midnight and I told her that I was feeling some pressure in my lower back and butt. She seemed really excited and asked if I wanted her to check or if I wanted to wait for the doctor to get done with surgery. I asked her to check because I was hoping for some good news. She put her gloves on and checked and started saying 'Oh my God! The baby's head is right there!' She showed us on her finger how far the baby's head was from the opening.
Shortly after the doctor came in and the nurse was practically jumping for joy when she told the doctor the baby had dropped. The doctor checked and she said the baby had dropped down to station 0 and I had dilated to 9 cm. We were so happy! But the wait wasn't over yet. I had to lay on my other side (same position) to see if that would bring on any more progress. I purposely laid on my stomach as much as possible hoping to have quick progress.
The hours passed and the nurse alerted the doctor that the baby's heartrate seemed to be dropping whenever I had a contraction - not a good sign since they like to see the baby's heartrate go up when the mom has a contraction. They decided to drop the pitosin and see what happened then. They also put in a internal monitoring device that would better measure the baby's heartrate that actually attached to the baby's head. The baby's heartrate was still dropping so they decided to stop the pitosin all together. This greatly helped the baby out and her heartrate seemed to be better during the contractions. They also put the oxygen mask on me to give me some more oxygen. I'm not sure if the monitor on my finger showed that I was lacking oxygen or what.
Around 5:00 am or so I started having a lot of pain/pressure in my butt. It was as if my sciatica was acting up again. Derrick asked if he should get the nurse and I said not yet. Around 5:15 am the nurse came in and so did the doctor and I told them that I was having a lot of pain with the contractions. The doctor checked and I was still 9 cm dilated. The doctor told me that if I wanted to start pushing we could even though I wasn't 10 cm yet. I said we can try and asked her to explain how to push. Derrick held my right leg and the nurse and doctor switched off and on holding my left leg as the nurse was doing stuff around the room as well as getting another nurse to check on her other patient. I started pushing at 5:20 am and at 5:52 am our 8lb 5oz 20 inch long little angel was born. Derrick was an excellent coach and I could hear the excitement in his voice as he saw the baby's hair with the first push. The hardest part was when they told me not to push (once her head came out) so they could suction her mouth and nose quickly. The not pushing was harder/more painful than pushing.
The baby came out looking like swamp thing and they said that there was more myconium than they originally saw/thought. They placed her on my belly and Derrick cut the cord. They quickly took her over to the table where they suctioned her out and cleaned her up. She was already alert looking around and at her daddy. The doctor worked on me to get the placenta/after birth out. That process was a little gross to me but things went ok. They weighed the baby and then swaddled her up to bring her over to me. She was such as sweet looking thing. And it was hard to believe it was over. The nice part was I didn't need to get an episiotomy and I didn't rip or tear so I didn't need any stitches. The doctor said I deserved it after everything we went through the last 20 hours. :D
Baby Elizabeth Iris 5 minutes old - 5:57 am:
Elizabeth getting weighed in (8 lbs 5 oz) - 6:00 am:
Mommy and Elizabeth - 6:09 am:
The happy family - 6:17 am:
Daddy and Elizabeth - 6:38 am:
I was able to breastfeed Elizabeth before she was taken to the nursery for her full checkup. She stayed with us for an hour before the nurse took her down the hall. We slept for a little while after Derrick called all the family to let them know the little girl had arrived and what time visiting hours started. Because of the baby boom there were no open rooms available. The nurse took out my epidural catheter and my IV and then I was able to wash up and she washed up my back and lower part. An hour or so later I was able to get up and take a full shower which felt so nice.
I stayed in the labor room until 12:30 pm before being moved into a semi-private room (when I had pre-registered for a private room). It worked out ok because the woman that was in the room when I got there eventually got moved to a private room so I had the room all to myself. Elizabeth stayed in my room for most of the time but because her temp was a little low they took her to get warmed up in the nursery incubator for a little while. When she came back she was toasty pink.
It took a lot of convincing to get Derrick to go home because he didn't want to leave me. Originally he was going to spend the night with me the first night at the hospital but because it wasn't a private room (and at the time he left I had a roommate) he went home to sleep. He had had only an hour or two worth of sleep since 7:15 am yesterday morning and he was on an emotional high. I was so glad to get a phone call from him that he made it home ok.
Shortly after the doctor came in and the nurse was practically jumping for joy when she told the doctor the baby had dropped. The doctor checked and she said the baby had dropped down to station 0 and I had dilated to 9 cm. We were so happy! But the wait wasn't over yet. I had to lay on my other side (same position) to see if that would bring on any more progress. I purposely laid on my stomach as much as possible hoping to have quick progress.
The hours passed and the nurse alerted the doctor that the baby's heartrate seemed to be dropping whenever I had a contraction - not a good sign since they like to see the baby's heartrate go up when the mom has a contraction. They decided to drop the pitosin and see what happened then. They also put in a internal monitoring device that would better measure the baby's heartrate that actually attached to the baby's head. The baby's heartrate was still dropping so they decided to stop the pitosin all together. This greatly helped the baby out and her heartrate seemed to be better during the contractions. They also put the oxygen mask on me to give me some more oxygen. I'm not sure if the monitor on my finger showed that I was lacking oxygen or what.
Around 5:00 am or so I started having a lot of pain/pressure in my butt. It was as if my sciatica was acting up again. Derrick asked if he should get the nurse and I said not yet. Around 5:15 am the nurse came in and so did the doctor and I told them that I was having a lot of pain with the contractions. The doctor checked and I was still 9 cm dilated. The doctor told me that if I wanted to start pushing we could even though I wasn't 10 cm yet. I said we can try and asked her to explain how to push. Derrick held my right leg and the nurse and doctor switched off and on holding my left leg as the nurse was doing stuff around the room as well as getting another nurse to check on her other patient. I started pushing at 5:20 am and at 5:52 am our 8lb 5oz 20 inch long little angel was born. Derrick was an excellent coach and I could hear the excitement in his voice as he saw the baby's hair with the first push. The hardest part was when they told me not to push (once her head came out) so they could suction her mouth and nose quickly. The not pushing was harder/more painful than pushing.
The baby came out looking like swamp thing and they said that there was more myconium than they originally saw/thought. They placed her on my belly and Derrick cut the cord. They quickly took her over to the table where they suctioned her out and cleaned her up. She was already alert looking around and at her daddy. The doctor worked on me to get the placenta/after birth out. That process was a little gross to me but things went ok. They weighed the baby and then swaddled her up to bring her over to me. She was such as sweet looking thing. And it was hard to believe it was over. The nice part was I didn't need to get an episiotomy and I didn't rip or tear so I didn't need any stitches. The doctor said I deserved it after everything we went through the last 20 hours. :D
Baby Elizabeth Iris 5 minutes old - 5:57 am:
Elizabeth getting weighed in (8 lbs 5 oz) - 6:00 am:
Mommy and Elizabeth - 6:09 am:
The happy family - 6:17 am:
Daddy and Elizabeth - 6:38 am:
I was able to breastfeed Elizabeth before she was taken to the nursery for her full checkup. She stayed with us for an hour before the nurse took her down the hall. We slept for a little while after Derrick called all the family to let them know the little girl had arrived and what time visiting hours started. Because of the baby boom there were no open rooms available. The nurse took out my epidural catheter and my IV and then I was able to wash up and she washed up my back and lower part. An hour or so later I was able to get up and take a full shower which felt so nice.
I stayed in the labor room until 12:30 pm before being moved into a semi-private room (when I had pre-registered for a private room). It worked out ok because the woman that was in the room when I got there eventually got moved to a private room so I had the room all to myself. Elizabeth stayed in my room for most of the time but because her temp was a little low they took her to get warmed up in the nursery incubator for a little while. When she came back she was toasty pink.
It took a lot of convincing to get Derrick to go home because he didn't want to leave me. Originally he was going to spend the night with me the first night at the hospital but because it wasn't a private room (and at the time he left I had a roommate) he went home to sleep. He had had only an hour or two worth of sleep since 7:15 am yesterday morning and he was on an emotional high. I was so glad to get a phone call from him that he made it home ok.
posted by Anne Marie at 12:00 PM
1 Comments:
Holy Moly! I'm sorry you had to go through so much agony in a long labor, but you're a strong woman and look at the beautiful daughter you have! I'm absolutely thrilled for all three of you. How wonderful for you to finally have Elizabeth there.
Post a Comment
<< Home