All throughout my pregnancy, I convinced myself that if I just had a laid back, go-with-the-flow mindset about labor, I’d inevitably have a really great experience. I researched and prepared myself for any and all possible outcomes and didn’t focus too much on a plan. I was going to have my baby however I saw fit in the moment.
We woke up on the 20th pretty excited that we would be meeting our little girl very soon. We spent the day doing some house cleaning, relaxing, taking the dog to stay with Ian’s parents, and making sure we had everything packed and ready to go. We were set to check in to the hospital at 6:45. Around 5, we left the house and decided to go for a last supper on our way (Daphne’s). The drive down to Mary Birch was a little tense, as it was POURING rain.
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| 41w5d Ready to go to the hospital |
6:45 pm – We checked in through admissions and were sent to wait for our L&D room to be ready. It felt like forever sitting in that room with a bunch of other people waiting on loved ones to have their babies.
7:40 pm – We were finally called and taken to our room. I changed, went to the bathroom in that crazy pee measuring device, and got hooked to the monitors. I was 1.5 cm dilated. No change since my last appointment a few days prior.
9:00 pm – I got my first dose of Cytotek. They explained to me that I would go 4 hours between doses and could potentially get it 3 times. All of this came as a surprise to me, because I went in to this whole thing thinking I already had a ripe cervix. On the induction form from my doctor, they’d specified Pitocin and nothing else. It was disappointing knowing that I had such a long road ahead.
The worst part of all this was that for one hour after having the Cytotek placed, I had to stay in bed, reclined. We entertained ourselves by watching Wedding Crashers, and then Field of Dreams.
1:00 am – I had a softer cervix, was more effaced, and the baby’s head was getting lower. I was still 1.5 cm. They gave me a second dose of Cytotek.
At this point I figured I should try and get some sleep while thing were still mellow. Problem was that our little feisty one was moving all over the place and constantly coming off the heart rate monitor. This would result in nurses coming in (what felt like every 5 minutes) to find her and reposition the belts. It was impossible to sleep.
2:30 am – I finally started to feel contractions around this point. Brooklyn’s heart rate was slightly on the slow side so they put me on oxygen for 30 minutes to try and get it back up. It worked. Ian tried to get some rest and I watched Pretty Woman.
5:00 am – There was some progress being made to my cervix and I was now 2.5 cm dilated. I got a third dose of Cytotek. The contractions started getting pretty painful at this point. Even though I was supposed to stay laying in bed, after about 30 minutes, I had the urge to poop REALLY bad…. There was no way I could wait it out. I went to the bathroom a couple times and just kept trying to get comfy through the contractions.
I had no idea if what I was feeling was what would still be considered mild, of if they were strong. It was as if there was no build up. They came, and they hurt. Bad. So either the drugs made them more intense right off the bat, or I’m just a way bigger whimp than I thought.
8:00 am – Dr. Bales came in and saw me for the first time. Thank god she was there to do the cervical check cause she was so much more gentle than the nurses. I was a whopping 3 cm. She offered to break my water and I obliged. Surprisingly it didn’t hurt a bit.
I knew I would be getting the Pitocin at 9 and would still have a loooooong way to go. They offered me fentanyl and I took it; 3 times. When they say narcotics “take the edge off” – that means, it takes the very very very very fine edge off. Basically, I felt a little loopy but the pain was pretty much all there still.
9:00 am – Pitocin was administered.
9:30 am – I went ahead and got the epidural. The guy who did it was amazing… and also hilarious. It was a little trippy because he was teaching someone else how to do it, so he was talking his way through the whole thing. Thankfully he was awesome and the fact that I was aware of every little step didn’t make me freak out. This also didn’t hurt like I thought it would.
At this point I quit keeping notes of what was going on. Ian said after they put the catheter in me, I slept for a solid few hours. I honestly don’t remember sleeping, but ok. It was so nice to finally be comfortable. Oh, and they put me back on oxygen.
It must have been around 2pm when Dr. Bales came in to check on me. They’d been upping my Pitocin dose and could see that I was having regular contractions, but there was no way to know how strong they were. Bales decided to put a monitor in me to measure the strength. Ian went ahead and took a minute to step out for some air.
After she placed the monitor, she hung out to make sure it was working while the nurse worked on re-positioning the baby heart rate belt. She found the heart beat and we could all hear that it was really slow. I could see them beginning to worry. Bales had me turn on my side; still slow. Then on the other side; still slow. Brooklyn’s heart rate had dropped dangerously from around 140 to 60.
Then it felt like all hell broke loose. They were calling in nurses, and ordering prep for the OR. I was so scared and Ian wasn’t even there. I kept saying “find my husband!!” I heard them paging him as I was being wheeled out of the room. I didn’t see him, but I guess he got back to the room right as I was being whisked off. Another nurse helped him change, get the camera, etc.
It was so awful… I was alone and trying not to cry hysterically. He was alone, and had no idea what was going on. One second he’s there and everything is fine. The next second he is seeing me being rushed to the OR.
When I got to the OR, they moved me to the operating table, and started monitoring the baby right away. What do you know…. Her heart rate was back up to normal. There was an immediate sense of relief and I could feel the room lighten up. It felt like people slowed down a bit and took a little more time to prep. It felt like forever, but I was happy it seemed we were perhaps out of immediate danger.
Finally they were ready to go and Ian finally got to come in. We were both crying. A couple minutes later, they pull her out and she screams. It was the best sound ever. I hear Bales comment on how big she is. And that she had a “really long cord” that was wrapped around her. I also heard later that she was facing sideways.
I can see her to my left and felt good about her health since there was only one nurse working on her. I figured if there was reason to worry, there’d be a crowd of people checking her out. I watched Ian stand over her. Tears and more tears. Finally that was over. She was here and we were all ok. Brooklyn was born Monday, November 21st at 2:34 pm; 9 pounds 1 oz; 23.75 (??) inches long.
Again, it felt like forever that I was alone in the OR while they finished up and closed me. I just wanted to be with Ian and our daughter. Once we got to the recovery ward, I was in heaven. She was so perfect in every way. And I could not have dreamed of how emotional it would be for all three of us.
No one knew what had happened yet, so Ian started to notify our family while I nursed Brooklyn for a solid hour. She was such a good eater.
We had a conversation about her name that went like this:
Me – So what’s her middle name?
Ian – Elizabeth
Me – Nah, It’s Paige. I’ve decided. I mean… I deserve to pick. Look what I just went through.
Ian – I went through a lot too. You girls scared me!
Me – Are you serious? How about something different? Kelly?
Ian – Ok, I like it.
(It’s a name we’d discussed since it’s got some family significance on his side)
We couldn’t move to our own recovery room until I could move my legs. It ended up taking about 3 hours for that to happen and then by that time, the nurses were in the middle of a shift change and we had to wait for them to get situated again. We wanted so bad to be in our own room, but it was also nice to just be by ourselves. I knew family would be coming as soon as we moved.
We got a private room. Yay! My parents stopped by first and then Ian’s Dad’s family. No one stayed long, thankfully. The first night was rough in that there was a constant stream of people coming in and out. Changing pads, emptying pee bag, replacing IV fluid, taking my vitals, taking B’s vitals. It was never ending. The second night was much better since I was unhooked from everything. All the nurses told us we’d be in the hospital until at least Thurs and we were totally dreading it.
On Wednesday morning, Dr. Bales stopped by to check on me. She asked when we were leaving and I said “sounds like tomorrow… we just want to get out ASAP”. And she was like “oh, well you can go today if you want. They just have to clear the baby but I think you’re fine so I’ll start the discharge.” WHO HOO!! I love her. We were heading home around 3 that afternoon; eager to start our life over, +1.
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