OhSewCrafty and Charlie's Birth Story
Well, Charlie is resting upstairs in the NICU, DH ran home to feed the cat and shower, and MIL is heading back home for work tomorrow. Here I am sitting in bed, enjoying a gigantic underwear ice pack and free wifi. Sounds like a good time to write up Charlie's birth story for you all. :-)
Saturday night I slept like crap. There's no other way to put it. I tossed and turned every half hour or so and was incredibly uncomfortable. I wasn't sure why at the time, but it all makes sense now. At about 7:30am, I rolled over and realized that if I got up to pee then, I'd be able to sleep in until about 10am. Instantly, a trickle of water ran down my leg. I seriously thought I had wet myself! I walked to the bathroom and the minute my foot hit tile... GOOSH. That gush of water that you hear is a myth. I called for DH, who jumped out of bed and came running. Being only 34 weeks, I hadn't yet had the labor talk with my doctor and had no idea what to do. Off to the Birthing Center we went.
When we got there, the nurses called the OB on call who came in to check me out. I had met the doc through the practice and she was pretty shocked to see me. They confirmed that my water had ruptured and that I was 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Unfortunately, the Birthing Center (and adjoining hospital) did not have a NICU and needed to transfer us to the large area hospital about 50 minutes away. There went my small, quiet birth experience! An ambulance ride later, we were getting checked into L&D.
As a side note, I was nervous at first to transfer to such a large teaching hospital, but I was so wrong. EVERYONE was incredibly nice and introduced themselves (all the way up to the head attending) to us before actually needing to be in there. Every shift change went like this and I felt so comfortable with all of the doctors, nurses, and interns.
After getting checked in, the doctor came in to check me out. In about 90 minutes I had moved to 2 - 3 cm dilated and about 75% effaced. Things were seriously looking speedy! The doctor said that her team would let me labor on my own and at my own pace. When I needed pain meds, they would give them to me, but otherwise, would check me every once in a while and let things progress. Music to my ears!
We hung out and watched some football until about 3pm when the doctor came back to check me. A few hours had passed, but my contractions were still 4 minutes apart and I was still between 2 and 3 cm dilated. They began a pitocin drip around 4pm to get things moving again. The pitocin hit me like a Mack Truck. Within ten minutes of starting the drip, my contractions were stronger and lasted longer. I tried some different positions, DH did some massage, and we tried the birthing ball. I did what I could, but eventually wondered, "Why am I doing this to myself? I can't concentrate on anything with all this pain." At about 6pm, I was done and called for an epidural. No joke...five minutes later, the anesthesiologist was in the room prepping me. Thank you big hospital!
Okay, just for the record, epidural = AMAZING. Trying to sit still through mind blowing contractions 2 minutes apart while you're getting said epidural...not so amazing. Oh well, no pain no gain. Once the epidural set in I felt so much better. I knew when the contractions were happening, but they no longer hurt. At around 7pm, I was checked again and was 5cm and 90% effaced. Okay, back on track. The nurses came in and gave me a ton of pillows to make me comfortable and position me so the baby could descend properly (he was at -1 station up until this point). At about 8:30pm, I was 10 cm and 100% effaced (baby was at +1).
Now to just get the little guy in position. They put me in a position they called "Penny Position" (after author/speaker Penny Simpkin). They basically used enough pillows where I could lay on my stomach with one knee pulled up at a 45 degree angle. Now, before getting pregnant, this is how I slept, so between that and the epidural, I passed out and took a fabulous nap. At 10:30pm, the doctor came back in to check me and it was time to push!! She warned me that it could take a few hours of pushing, especially for a fist time Mom. Apparently, I took this as a challenge. The doctor got me in position, the room flooded with the NICU team and every curious intern on the floor. Whatever...I just wanted this kid out. Four pushes later...Charlie was here!! The NICU team was amazed at how big he was for his age (6 lbs. 1 oz) and gave him fantastic APGAR scores (somewhere between 7 and 8).
I needed a quick stitch or two, but wasn't in any pain at all. The epidural did exactly what it was supposed to - I could feel my contractions existed so I could push, but felt absolutely no pain. Even today, I'm a little crampy, swollen, and sore, but Motrin is doing a good job of taking the edge off.
He's currently in the NICU and will be for a few days of observation. He's taking to breast feeding pretty well and is almost completely unassisted with the exception of need a little heat lamp on him. Unfortunately, still no pictures to post, but DH is going to bring back the camera cable and I can upload them! I'll just have to be an AW today.
Thank you all for the wonderful support and kind words. Its been a whirlwind of craziness the past few days and it was so nice to pop back on the board and see so many thoughts and prayers! :-) You all rock!!
Saturday night I slept like crap. There's no other way to put it. I tossed and turned every half hour or so and was incredibly uncomfortable. I wasn't sure why at the time, but it all makes sense now. At about 7:30am, I rolled over and realized that if I got up to pee then, I'd be able to sleep in until about 10am. Instantly, a trickle of water ran down my leg. I seriously thought I had wet myself! I walked to the bathroom and the minute my foot hit tile... GOOSH. That gush of water that you hear is a myth. I called for DH, who jumped out of bed and came running. Being only 34 weeks, I hadn't yet had the labor talk with my doctor and had no idea what to do. Off to the Birthing Center we went.
When we got there, the nurses called the OB on call who came in to check me out. I had met the doc through the practice and she was pretty shocked to see me. They confirmed that my water had ruptured and that I was 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Unfortunately, the Birthing Center (and adjoining hospital) did not have a NICU and needed to transfer us to the large area hospital about 50 minutes away. There went my small, quiet birth experience! An ambulance ride later, we were getting checked into L&D.
As a side note, I was nervous at first to transfer to such a large teaching hospital, but I was so wrong. EVERYONE was incredibly nice and introduced themselves (all the way up to the head attending) to us before actually needing to be in there. Every shift change went like this and I felt so comfortable with all of the doctors, nurses, and interns.
After getting checked in, the doctor came in to check me out. In about 90 minutes I had moved to 2 - 3 cm dilated and about 75% effaced. Things were seriously looking speedy! The doctor said that her team would let me labor on my own and at my own pace. When I needed pain meds, they would give them to me, but otherwise, would check me every once in a while and let things progress. Music to my ears!
We hung out and watched some football until about 3pm when the doctor came back to check me. A few hours had passed, but my contractions were still 4 minutes apart and I was still between 2 and 3 cm dilated. They began a pitocin drip around 4pm to get things moving again. The pitocin hit me like a Mack Truck. Within ten minutes of starting the drip, my contractions were stronger and lasted longer. I tried some different positions, DH did some massage, and we tried the birthing ball. I did what I could, but eventually wondered, "Why am I doing this to myself? I can't concentrate on anything with all this pain." At about 6pm, I was done and called for an epidural. No joke...five minutes later, the anesthesiologist was in the room prepping me. Thank you big hospital!
Okay, just for the record, epidural = AMAZING. Trying to sit still through mind blowing contractions 2 minutes apart while you're getting said epidural...not so amazing. Oh well, no pain no gain. Once the epidural set in I felt so much better. I knew when the contractions were happening, but they no longer hurt. At around 7pm, I was checked again and was 5cm and 90% effaced. Okay, back on track. The nurses came in and gave me a ton of pillows to make me comfortable and position me so the baby could descend properly (he was at -1 station up until this point). At about 8:30pm, I was 10 cm and 100% effaced (baby was at +1).
Now to just get the little guy in position. They put me in a position they called "Penny Position" (after author/speaker Penny Simpkin). They basically used enough pillows where I could lay on my stomach with one knee pulled up at a 45 degree angle. Now, before getting pregnant, this is how I slept, so between that and the epidural, I passed out and took a fabulous nap. At 10:30pm, the doctor came back in to check me and it was time to push!! She warned me that it could take a few hours of pushing, especially for a fist time Mom. Apparently, I took this as a challenge. The doctor got me in position, the room flooded with the NICU team and every curious intern on the floor. Whatever...I just wanted this kid out. Four pushes later...Charlie was here!! The NICU team was amazed at how big he was for his age (6 lbs. 1 oz) and gave him fantastic APGAR scores (somewhere between 7 and 8).
I needed a quick stitch or two, but wasn't in any pain at all. The epidural did exactly what it was supposed to - I could feel my contractions existed so I could push, but felt absolutely no pain. Even today, I'm a little crampy, swollen, and sore, but Motrin is doing a good job of taking the edge off.
He's currently in the NICU and will be for a few days of observation. He's taking to breast feeding pretty well and is almost completely unassisted with the exception of need a little heat lamp on him. Unfortunately, still no pictures to post, but DH is going to bring back the camera cable and I can upload them! I'll just have to be an AW today.
Thank you all for the wonderful support and kind words. Its been a whirlwind of craziness the past few days and it was so nice to pop back on the board and see so many thoughts and prayers! :-) You all rock!!