Labor and Delivery Story

{March 15, 2017}

I was on the schedule to be admitted for an induction at 8 am.  We arrived to the hospital on time--early, even--but ended up not getting into a room until well after 9 am due to a very rude check in lady who tried to get us to pay our whole deductible before entering.  Long story short, she was wrong, and the nurses from behind her desk ended up CALLING me on my phone asking if I was still coming in!  I was so annoyed.  But once we got back there and settled, we were getting excited.

I had great L&D nurses, and I ended up having 3 because we were there for so long.  My IV was placed with no issues (although it did infiltrate overnight.  Ouch.),  and I started off with receiving IV cipro because I was Strep B positive.  Soon after that began, one of the rounding doctors came and inserted the rubber catheter balloon.  The idea is that it keeps getting inflated every few hours with saline and gently but firmly presses open the cervix, which should cause contractions and begin dilating it open as well.  It essentially "falls out" at about 4-5 cms dilated.  It wasn't too uncomfortable going in, which was a nice surprise, because he warned me of pain and discomfort.

So every hour we'd walk around the hospital trying to get labor going.  I finally started getting real contractions.  It was nice to finally feel what these were like!  Although they weren't very strong, I still could start to understand the pains of labor.  But this went on for HOURS. I began to get discouraged.  The nurse inflated the balloon as much as possible and my contractions still weren't strong enough or close enough together.  I was dilated to about a 3.  The baby's head wasn't quite engaged, either.

Dr Hollar was on call that night, and she was contacted that evening.  We decided to move forward with Pitocin, starting at a low level and gradually moving up.  I can't remember, but at some point later in the evening, the contractions did pick up.  They were pretty intense but i was able to breathe through them, or sit on the bouncy ball and breathe.  Andy was a good coach.  I still was encouraged to walk every hour, so we both were trying to sleep while we could.  I felt proud of myself for laboring through these contractions.  They really were picking up in intensity, but I was NOT progressing in dilation.  I was discouraged by this.  At some point my water was broken, in hopes that baby would engage better.  The Pitocin was turned up steadily, every 2 hours.  Early in the next morning, my contractions really picked up.  I think this was when the Pitocin got up to it's highest dose.

These were the 2 hours of the whole ordeal when I thought I was literally dying.

The contractions were about 45-60 seconds apart and lasted 1-2 minutes.  So they seemed to be on top of each other with no breaks, but on the tachometer, the "peak" of the contraction wasn't high enough to be making a difference.  BUT the pain.  Oh, the pain.  And the blood.  At some point, I started noticing bright red blood.  Then bright red blood came with almost every contraction.  It was scary because the nurses weren't sure if it was due to dilation or something else.  It seemed like a lot to be due to stretching of tissue, in my opinion.  And the pain... it felt like my insides were ripping.  It took my breath away, yet I was still screaming.  I was crying.  I finally just felt like I couldn't handle it any longer.  Typing this out doesn't do it justice.  Because I hadn't experienced labor before (with the boys I had an epidural early on due to a bad judgment call), combined with the bright red blood, I just didn't know if it should feel like this.  I was very scared.  All I could think of was the small percentage of V-bacs that ended with emergency surgery or worse, death.

I begged for the epidural and sobbed and screamed as I waited for the anesthesiologist to arrive.  My sweet doctor, who went to her daughter's school for a presentation after being on call all night, was on her way to check on me and make the next decision.  She wanted to deliver my baby no matter what.  I love her.

As soon as the epidural was placed, I felt immediate relief and could catch my breath.  Andy and I decided that if I hadn't dilated any further from 5 cm (which was last checked at some point overnight), then we would move forward with a c section.  I had made my peace with this option.  As much as I wanted so longingly to push this baby out, I wanted to be alive!

Dr Hollar arrived and talked with us.  She wasn't sure where the blood was coming from either.  She checked me, and unfortunately, I was still at a 5, and still only 80% effaced.  For some reason, Baby Boy did not want to engage my pelvis.  C Section was her recommendation, especially because of the level of pain I was at and because of the blood.  I was so ready.  My only desire was that I wouldn't be too doped up (as I was last time), that I could HOLD my baby on the table, that Andy could see him being pulled out of me and take pictures, and that I could sit up and nurse him right away after I was sewed up.  OH, and I wanted to see my Placenta :)  Dr Hollar and the nurses were all on board with this plan, and we immediately packed up the room to head over to the surgical suite!

I can't say enough how wonderful everyone was.  Dr Hollar, her assistant, the anesthesiologist, the nurses, the pediatrician...  everyone was so kind and warm and excited for us.  Everything went smoothly,  and again, hearing my baby's first cries is such an emotional moment.  It's surreal.  The curtain was dropped, and Andy got some amazing pictures....