Our Birth Story

Birth Story of A

It all began Sunday, September 23, 2007. We were going to dinner at my MIL/FIL’s house. I was having very mild contractions. I knew they were contractions, but were not very painful at all. They were also very sporadic. We had dinner and left around 8PM as we typically do because JT needed to go to bed. JT had school Monday and T had work.

I was tired. I also knew that if this was indeed the beginning of labor, I needed my rest and went to sleep upon getting home.

I was awakened at 10:53PM. I will remember the time because the contraction woke me up from a dead sleep. I purposely looked at the clock “knowing” this was the start of labor. This contraction HURT! Sure enough, about 7 minutes later, I had another one. This continued throughout that night and into the morning. I knew I could call our Doula and wake T up, but I didn’t want to do either in the middle of the night without knowing when things would progress. I waited and breathed through the contractions which kept coming every 7 minutes. I decided to get into the shower around 4:30AM in hopes it would make me feel better. I stayed in the shower for almost an hour and it only provided moderate relief.

T got up around 6AM. I told him that my contractions started at around 11PM and were still coming every 7 minutes. They were lasting around 1 minute. My OB told me not to call him until the contractions were 5 minutes apart for an hour. T called into work around 7:30AM to tell them he wouldn’t be in that day. I was in labor!

In true Murphy’s Law style, the contractions stopped by 8AM. I was exhausted after being up all night. I snoozed the morning away getting some well needed rest. At noon on Monday, September 24, the contractions started up again. My OB appt. was set for 2PM. Sure enough, they were 7 minutes apart and lasted for a minute. I kept breathing through them. T was great in helping me get through them with some of the relaxation techniques we learned in our Bradley Class.

We went to the OB appt. That was one of the worst car rides in the world! Contractions and bumps in the road DO.NOT.MIX! At the OB, I got put on the fetal monitor for a NST. The baby was moving well and everything looked fine. My contractions were captured on the monitor. The OB asked if I wanted to be checked. Initially, I said no. I didn’t want to hear I was only 1-2 cm or worse yet, not dilated at all. Then I had a painful contraction. The OB said, “Are you sure?....I think we better check you.”

The news I dreaded was delivered. Nothing. I wasn’t even a stinking fingertip dilated. We didn’t even talk effacement because I was closed. Greeeeeaaaaat. Home I went having painful contractions every 7 minutes with the standard instructions….if your water breaks, call the OB, if I bleed more than a period, call the OB, when the contractions are 5 minutes apart for an hour, call the OB, and if the baby stops moving, call the OB.

Home we went. It was another one of the worst car rides in the world!

I continued to labor that afternoon. T went to pick up JT from school and bring him home. T pretty much took care of JT while I labored and got through the contractions. I was having horrible back labor, but took each contraction as it came and did my best.

After JT was in bed, we did eat some dinner. I felt like I had enough of this labor stuff. It was very painful and I was exhausted. I just wanted the pain to go away. We called my MIL/FIL and told them I was in early labor just in case we needed them to come to our house for JT in the middle of the night. We also called our Doula because I didn’t know how I was going to make it all night long with the terrible back labor.

Our Doula arrived around 9:30PM. She was such a blessing! She would rub my lower back which made the back labor a bit better during the contractions. I got on my hands and knees (well, arms and knees because of the carpal tunnel in my wrists) to try to get the baby to turn from sunny side up to sunny side down – back labor is usually bad when the baby is in the pelvis sunny side up. After a couple of hours of trying various positions to get the baby to turn, she suggested I get in the tub for a rest. I got in the tub around midnight and was able to dose on and off in between the contractions. After about an hour, I was uncomfortable and cold. I got out and continued to labor throughout the night trying to rest in between. Both T and our Doula rested as well.

The next morning around 6:30AM I went downstairs for a change of scenery. Yes, the contractions continued about every 7 minutes. The morning was spent doing a lot of walking around the block and swaying my hips in a figure 8 position while holding onto the counter. The contractions were easier to take standing up – my back was killing me and standing gave me the best relief through the pain. I was going to the bathroom after almost every contraction. I kept hydrated and ate as best I could.

I noticed that the baby wasn’t moving as well that morning compared to the previous 2 days. My OB wanted me to do kick counts and aim for 10 kicks within one hour of eating. In the previous two days after almost every contraction, I would feel the baby move. On the morning of Sept. 25 (Tuesday), I wasn’t feeling the same movements.

I tried to lie down around noon to pay more attention to the kicks and movements. An hour later, I had only felt one or two movements so I decided to call the OB. At this point, I didn’t know how much longer I could do this.

The OB wanted to see me immediately. T, our Doula, and I went to the office. You guessed it, another most awful car ride in the world! As soon as we arrived, I went into the office and went to the bathroom. I got whisked into room number 2 and was put on the monitor. Sure enough, the contractions were captured on the monitor and the baby wasn’t moving as well, but the heart rate did seem stable enough. There were some dips during the contractions (which are ok) but no accelerations. The OB examined me again. He palpated my abdomen while checking internally for dilation. He pushed on me and it HURT! He told me to meet him in his office. I found this unusual since I was expecting to hear I was x cm dilated, x& effaced, and + or – x station.

The three of us (T, our Doula, and me) went into his office. The OB said he feared that my previous c-section scar could be opening up. It either was opened a little bit or was going to open. He said the baby hadn’t even dropped into my pelvis yet and I was not dilated at all. I will never forget what he said next….it would be catastrophic for both baby and me if my scar opened. He was recommending I go to the hospital for immediate monitoring and a scheduled c-section. I looked at T and at our Doula. Was this real or was the OB being too cautious?

I asked the OB why he felt the scar was opening. He told me my contractions seem far too painful for the early labor I was in. He also said they couldn’t diagnose something like this during the pregnancy. When he palpated my abdomen, he thought he felt something that indicated the possibility of the scar letting go.

I expressed to him that he knew how badly I wanted a VBAC. He acknowledged that. He then said a c-section was much more work for him than a VBAC and wouldn’t be recommending this lightly.

I felt defeated and relieved at the same time. I wanted a VBAC. However, I was so tired and exhausted; I didn’t think I could labor much more without some kind of pain med or sleep. The c-section was scheduled for 8PM that night.

We made a few phone calls to make sure JT was taken care of and picked up from daycare. Once all of those details were squared away, we went to the hospital. You guessed it, another worst car ride in the world!

We arrived just before 4PM. I was put on a monitor. The contractions were still coming every 7 minutes apart. From 4PM until around 8PM, I was in the assessment room being monitored. I was allowed to get up to go to the bathroom (thank goodness). Of course, the OB’s were running late and the prep work for the c-section started around 8:30PM.

Both of the OB’s (the practice I go to only has 2 OB’s and I love them both) performed my c-section. I was given a spinal in the OR and T was brought in. My arms were not tied down and the OB’s began the c-section. It seemed like it was taking quite a while. I know now they were being careful and went in through my old incision.

I remember the OB saying there was light mecomium in the amniotic fluid. I found out later that they had to vacuum extract the baby since she was still not sitting in my pelvis and was up so high.

A was born at 9:27PM. She weighed in at 6 pounds, 15 ounces and was 19 inches long. She came in screaming and her apgar scores were 9 and 9! That’s my girl! I was in shock to learn the boy I could have sworn I was having was a girl! When the OB told us it was a girl, I said, “No shit?” and started to cry out of pure happiness.

T went over to the warming bed to see her. I could hear him singing to her as he did to JT. The OB remarked that T had a great voice. She was brought to me a few minutes later and I was able to hold her with one of my arms. I started to cry again. I still couldn’t believe that she was finally here. We struggled for so long to have her and even abandoned the idea we would ever have more biological children. She was perfect. 10 fingers and 10 toes. She had a FULL head of hair.

I don’t know how long I was on the OR table getting stitched up. I remember going into the recovery room and being able to hold her for the first time. The recovery room nurse asked if I would like to try to breastfeed her. I said yes, and she latched on for a few seconds. Most of the newborn procedures were delayed until I could hold her. While in the recovery room, she was given her first bath. After an hour or so, we were taken to our room. T stayed a while and then went home so my MIL/FIL could get home (they were watching JT).

A is now just over one week old and every moment has been wonderful. Sure we aren’t getting that much sleep and breastfeeding has been more than a struggle. It is worth it. Many don’t like the “newborn” stage, but it only lasts a short time and I will cherish every second as I did the pregnancy. It comes with good and bad, but in the end it is all good and worth it.

We are now a family of four. It hits us like a ton of bricks and is still a little unbelievable at times (as is having a girl!).