GreenPapaya
Eve Blue (we call her Evie) was born on Tuesday, 12/14 at 3:48 am. She was 7 lbs 1 oz and 20 inches long. She has been BFing like a champ, and she is a great baby. I have been writing this post off and on for a few days, I never realized how hard it would be to have a few minutes to write something.
Eve had decided not to come on time, and we made it to 12/13 without going into labor (this was the day that my OB had decided we couldn't go past). I arrived at the hospital at 7:30 and we got things going.
I had wanted a natural birth, our plan had been to labor at home as long as necessary (with my doula) and then go to the hospital (which is about 1 mile from my house) very late in the game and hopefully be there mostl for just pushing. Obviously, things didn't go as planned because I had to be induced.
I arrived for the induction at 7:30am, by about 11 I had been on pitocin for a while, they had broken my water, and things were starting to roll. I used my yoga breathing and my doula worked with me to relax as contractions got stronger. I used the exercise ball (which I named Hubert) and slowly tried other positions as labor became more an more intense. Since I was induced, I had be on an IV, so I named the IV poll Francisco and he came everywhere with me (this was problematic when he started beeping while I was having a contraction on the toilet...that was the last time I went to the bathroom alone).
I found that I could really focus myself through each contraction, and I really managed to stay on top of them, focusing on the breathing and getting through them. I was also able to tell people what I needed, at one point I was on my side holding my husband's hands, with my doula at my feet, and my aunt (who we didn't expect to need, but we did) pushing on my sciatica. The problems started when (thanks to the pitocin) I would get 3 or 4 contractions in a row without a break. I could handle each contraction, but when they came all on top of each other it was really hard and I started to get tired and discouraged. It got to the point that I was really dreading each contraction. This is when we first tried fentynol, and what later lead me to need an epidural. (This was a hard decision, but given the situation, and the fact that I had been in hard labor for at least 6 hours, it was really necessary).
Once the epidural was in, I was able to rest. Since I had always wanted a natural birth, I was really resistant to hitting that button too much, I felt like I really wanted to still feel the contractions and be able to work through everything. The end result of this was that I was able to move my legs the whole time, and I had many positions open to me.
They checked me right before I got the epidural and I had progressed to a 6 (this was great, because I had been between a 3 and a 4 for a really long time...so those hard contractions were really doing something). After I got the epidural everything kind of slowed down. My blood pressure dropped, and they kept having to give me medication and oxygen. I ended up staying at about a 6 for 3 hours, at which point my OB checked me and said that if in the next hour I didn't get to at least a 7 we would have to start looking at other options.
Luckily, when she checked me an hour later I was a 9 (yay!) and soon after that I kept feeling the need to do kegels. They checked me again and I was a 10 and ready to push. I had (after a discussion with my OB) decided to not pump up the epidural, so I could feel each contraction and I was able to know when to push. I was also able to move pretty freely between many pushing positions. I pushed lying on each side, and also with the back of the bed up to a 90 degree angle while on my knees leaning over it and in a "child's pose" sort of position (on my knees but leaning over so that my head was on the flat bed). We kept switching positions, and I pushed for over 3 hours. It was a neat environment, because at this point it was a very dark room (it was now the middle of the night) and the only people there were me, my husband, our doula, the nurse and my OB, and everyone was sitting on or around the bed, and it was a very encouraging and amazingly supportive environment...you could almost forget we were in a hospital.
Anyway, I was doing a good job pushing (and pooping, which felt so good), and every time I kept waiting for someone to say they could see the head, or feel the "ring of fire" or something. I know that when they looked in they could see a bit of head way down in there, but it wasn't like anything came forward. I started to be in a lot of pain from not only the contractions, but also from some gas/acid that was referring pain to my upper back (this happens to me). They tried to give me some antacid stuff, but I immediately vomited it back up (that was the 2nd time I vomited during labor). Anyway, I started whining and crying for them to just get the baby out of me, I was so ready to have her be here, and so ready to be done pushing. My OB checked me again, and I was still at a -2 station, which was about where I was when I started pushing. That's when she said she didn't think the baby was going to fit.
My mother had this problem with me, pushed for 20 hours, had an emergency c-section, almost died, yadda yadda yadda. Obviously as soon as I heard that she wasn't going to fit, I knew what had to be done. They stopped the pitocin and started prepping me for a c-section. Having to stop pushing at that point was really hard, and the contractions were really hurting. The anesthesiologist was really annoyed that I was in that much pain, and was not very nice, but we got through it.
Right before we made the decision to have a c-section, my husband got really weird looking and almost passed out. He wasn't able to come to the OR with me because everyone was really worried about him, so my doula came instead. By the time I got in there my arms were shaking uncontrollably and I was having a lot of upper back pain (which made the anesthesiologist even nastier, he was the only person during the entire hospital stay that I didn't like, but I really didn't like him). They finally got my pain under control, and got me numbed (which took a lot of work), and got to work. Even though I had really wanted my husband in there, I'm actually glad that I got to have my doula instead. Since she has been at many c-sections, she was able to watch and tell me exactly what was happening and how each thing would feel. This was great, because a c-section feels really weird, and there were some points that were actually very uncomfortable.
Eve Blue was born at 3:48 am. She scored 9s on her APGARs and she pooped all over me and everyone else in the first few minutes :). We were in the hospital until yesterday afternoon (Friday) and we're finally home. I feel like there is more to the story, and I think I left a lot out, especially a lot of the emotional stuff that I went through, but I wrote enough and I need a nap (sleep when the baby sleeps, right?)
Eve had decided not to come on time, and we made it to 12/13 without going into labor (this was the day that my OB had decided we couldn't go past). I arrived at the hospital at 7:30 and we got things going.
I had wanted a natural birth, our plan had been to labor at home as long as necessary (with my doula) and then go to the hospital (which is about 1 mile from my house) very late in the game and hopefully be there mostl for just pushing. Obviously, things didn't go as planned because I had to be induced.
I arrived for the induction at 7:30am, by about 11 I had been on pitocin for a while, they had broken my water, and things were starting to roll. I used my yoga breathing and my doula worked with me to relax as contractions got stronger. I used the exercise ball (which I named Hubert) and slowly tried other positions as labor became more an more intense. Since I was induced, I had be on an IV, so I named the IV poll Francisco and he came everywhere with me (this was problematic when he started beeping while I was having a contraction on the toilet...that was the last time I went to the bathroom alone).
I found that I could really focus myself through each contraction, and I really managed to stay on top of them, focusing on the breathing and getting through them. I was also able to tell people what I needed, at one point I was on my side holding my husband's hands, with my doula at my feet, and my aunt (who we didn't expect to need, but we did) pushing on my sciatica. The problems started when (thanks to the pitocin) I would get 3 or 4 contractions in a row without a break. I could handle each contraction, but when they came all on top of each other it was really hard and I started to get tired and discouraged. It got to the point that I was really dreading each contraction. This is when we first tried fentynol, and what later lead me to need an epidural. (This was a hard decision, but given the situation, and the fact that I had been in hard labor for at least 6 hours, it was really necessary).
Once the epidural was in, I was able to rest. Since I had always wanted a natural birth, I was really resistant to hitting that button too much, I felt like I really wanted to still feel the contractions and be able to work through everything. The end result of this was that I was able to move my legs the whole time, and I had many positions open to me.
They checked me right before I got the epidural and I had progressed to a 6 (this was great, because I had been between a 3 and a 4 for a really long time...so those hard contractions were really doing something). After I got the epidural everything kind of slowed down. My blood pressure dropped, and they kept having to give me medication and oxygen. I ended up staying at about a 6 for 3 hours, at which point my OB checked me and said that if in the next hour I didn't get to at least a 7 we would have to start looking at other options.
Luckily, when she checked me an hour later I was a 9 (yay!) and soon after that I kept feeling the need to do kegels. They checked me again and I was a 10 and ready to push. I had (after a discussion with my OB) decided to not pump up the epidural, so I could feel each contraction and I was able to know when to push. I was also able to move pretty freely between many pushing positions. I pushed lying on each side, and also with the back of the bed up to a 90 degree angle while on my knees leaning over it and in a "child's pose" sort of position (on my knees but leaning over so that my head was on the flat bed). We kept switching positions, and I pushed for over 3 hours. It was a neat environment, because at this point it was a very dark room (it was now the middle of the night) and the only people there were me, my husband, our doula, the nurse and my OB, and everyone was sitting on or around the bed, and it was a very encouraging and amazingly supportive environment...you could almost forget we were in a hospital.
Anyway, I was doing a good job pushing (and pooping, which felt so good), and every time I kept waiting for someone to say they could see the head, or feel the "ring of fire" or something. I know that when they looked in they could see a bit of head way down in there, but it wasn't like anything came forward. I started to be in a lot of pain from not only the contractions, but also from some gas/acid that was referring pain to my upper back (this happens to me). They tried to give me some antacid stuff, but I immediately vomited it back up (that was the 2nd time I vomited during labor). Anyway, I started whining and crying for them to just get the baby out of me, I was so ready to have her be here, and so ready to be done pushing. My OB checked me again, and I was still at a -2 station, which was about where I was when I started pushing. That's when she said she didn't think the baby was going to fit.
My mother had this problem with me, pushed for 20 hours, had an emergency c-section, almost died, yadda yadda yadda. Obviously as soon as I heard that she wasn't going to fit, I knew what had to be done. They stopped the pitocin and started prepping me for a c-section. Having to stop pushing at that point was really hard, and the contractions were really hurting. The anesthesiologist was really annoyed that I was in that much pain, and was not very nice, but we got through it.
Right before we made the decision to have a c-section, my husband got really weird looking and almost passed out. He wasn't able to come to the OR with me because everyone was really worried about him, so my doula came instead. By the time I got in there my arms were shaking uncontrollably and I was having a lot of upper back pain (which made the anesthesiologist even nastier, he was the only person during the entire hospital stay that I didn't like, but I really didn't like him). They finally got my pain under control, and got me numbed (which took a lot of work), and got to work. Even though I had really wanted my husband in there, I'm actually glad that I got to have my doula instead. Since she has been at many c-sections, she was able to watch and tell me exactly what was happening and how each thing would feel. This was great, because a c-section feels really weird, and there were some points that were actually very uncomfortable.
Eve Blue was born at 3:48 am. She scored 9s on her APGARs and she pooped all over me and everyone else in the first few minutes :). We were in the hospital until yesterday afternoon (Friday) and we're finally home. I feel like there is more to the story, and I think I left a lot out, especially a lot of the emotional stuff that I went through, but I wrote enough and I need a nap (sleep when the baby sleeps, right?)