I am happy to announce that our sweet baby girl arrived on Saturday, February 9, 2019. What a joy she is to our new family of four!
Our Birth Story: [photos below]
Friday, February 8, 2019 - Baby Girl's Due Date
I had my membranes swept on Thursday with our midwife April. With our version procedure and possible size of baby she did not want me going on much further. With the membrane sweep we hoped that I would go into labor my own that weekend. If not, we scheduled an induction for Monday morning. April was available to do it and she had a more natural technique we could try before starting pitocin.
While an induction didn't sound ideal (I had a long induction labor with our son), I had peace over the situation and that we gave everything a try before having to induce again.
After my membrane sweep I started having mild contractions. And on Friday they got worse. I called labor and delivery about five times that afternoon in between episodes of Gilmore Girls.
Things started to progress around dinner time. My parents, husband, and son all ate dinner as I worked through contractions on the couch. Brent was nervous about our hour drive to the hospital so we finally decided to head in. We put our son to bed, said goodbye, and I cried in the bathroom before the contractions hit again. It was an end of a season with just our son - mixed in with fear over how labor was going to go.
We headed to the hospital around 8:00 pm. Active labor started about half way there. I clung to the door handle of the car through each contraction. We finally got to the hospital at 9:00 pm and I remember it being so cold outside. Brent wheeled me in through the emergency room (as the main lobby was closed) and I got lots of looks and comments. "Good luck!" people would say. I started shivering which I thought was because it was so cold outside. But they told me it was all signs of labor.
I got admitted and midwife Kate was there. I remember thinking I really liked her even though we had only met a few times. My nurse was Priscilla. She seemed young but was so nice and such a good coach. My contractions continued with very little time in between.
We found out baby's shoulder was stuck in my pelvis - shoulder dystocia. So they wanted me in positions to help move her into a better place for delivery. I sat on the birthing ball and leaned over the bed standing throughout the night. It was so painful - the most painful thing of my life. After a final horrible contraction I started throwing up. At least three times all over the floor. I was in tears and couldn't handle the pain anymore so I decided on the epidural.
Just like with our son, it felt like the epidural took forever. I had to sit hunched forward during the contractions. I had so much pelvic pain. It was rough. I knew my pain wasn't helping the anesthesiologist get a good spot. The nurse and Brent both held my hands as I tried to work through.
In the moment I was so preoccupied with the pain but later found out that they were struggling with my epidural - even stepping outside to discuss with the more experienced doctor what they needed to do. Apparently he went too far in. Once he was finished I did get pretty immediate relief. They laid me in bed to let the epidural distribute itself and do it's thing. I got some peace for about thirty minutes.
Once the epidural moved through each side of my body they wanted me to roll on my side and cross one of my legs to help baby get into a better position. I had not been able to lay on my side the entire pregnancy due to severe pelvic pain so the position they wanted me in was excruciating.
The epidural wore off and I was back to horrible contractions. I looked for the button to get a hit of more pain medication but couldn't find it. The nurse reminded me that because the epidural went in too deep I couldn't get any more medication on my own. They called the anesthesiologist back to give me more but it didn't do anything. Luckily I was getting closer to pushing so the end was in sight.
Thirty more minutes of enduring and I finally was ready to push. A bunch of people started coming in and prepping the room. It seemed like a lot but I wasn't in a place to comprehend what was going on. They put my feet up and I grabbed my legs with my hands to push. Even though the epidural didn't work I was still confined to the bed. Luckily it was a familiar place this time - the same position I was in delivering our son. For the first time all night I felt like I actually knew what to do.
It was about thirty minutes of pushing. Near the end there was a lot of conversation between the doctor, midwife, and nurses. The doctor had to be there to deliver the baby because of the shoulder dystocia. I didn't catch everything they were saying but it sounded worrisome. After baby crowned I knew it was almost over.
With fear over what was going on I pushed through giving all that I had. I heard a woman counting or calling out time measurements. I didn't know what it meant but it seemed concerning.
The final push was here and suddenly I felt hands on my stomach helping manipulate baby girl out. It was my version procedure all over again! Baby girl was out. Lots of commotion. A fearful few seconds past and then she finally cried and was placed on my chest.
Tears filled Brent's eyes - only later to find out he was well aware of the fear and concerns going on in the room. Apparently shoulder dystocia is pretty serious and so all hands were on deck hence the ten people in the room. We feel so lucky that we didn't have any of the scary complications that could have came with this scenario.
It was the hardest and most painful thing of my life (made a 36 hour induction not seem so bad!) but our sweet girl was finally here. And what a journey we both took to get here.
Nurse Priscilla told me she was so proud of me. And there were so many congratulations around the room. We had our hour of baby bonding and baby girl took to nursing right away. It was so beautiful to finally be connected to my baby girl outside of the womb.
7 hours of labor
Born Saturday, February 9, 2019
3:23 am
Big brother met his sister later that day. He seemed quite pleased she was finally here. He got to hold her with daddy and loved hanging out in the hospital room.
Baby girl is doing well with no signs of complications from the shoulder dystocia. But she will be checked again at six weeks to make sure all continues to be fine.
While my deep epidural didn't work after all, it did give me a horrible headache for a week after delivery. I was pretty much on bed rest as laying flat on my back was the only time I could get relief from the head pain. Thankfully my parents were here to also help. Since then I have been doing a lot better and seem to be recovering well - just a little bit slower then with our first.
We are finding our new rhythm as a family of four and are over the moon in love with our sweet baby girl.
