I've tried to keep this as short and simple as possible. There are people who are curious about what all went down; I know I'm one that likes hearing/reading about others Miracle of Life stories. So feel free to read on if you'd like.
Labor started early Thursday morning in the middle of the night. Eventually I realized it was "back labor", confirming my worries about my baby being in a posterior, or face up, position, resting her head on my tailbone. This is also not an ideal position for labor if the baby doesn't flip over to more easily and ideally deliver.
(If you're interested on more information on posterior vs anterior positions, here's a great site http://spinningbabies.com/baby-positions/posterior)
I had an appt Thursday at 9am, so I figured I just wait to see what they say then. Contractions were about every 15 min at this point and I was finally dilated 1cm and 100% effaced. After 41w of being at 0cm, any progress was highly welcomed.
After the most uncomfortable drive home (an hr drive) I thought it'd be okay for James to go back to work. I had it in my mind that I would labor at home for a few hours and by the time he got home maybe my contractions would be closer together and we could go to the hospital then. In the mean time I would labor on my yoga ball, take a shower, and walk around, trying to Mini to flip over into the more optimal position for labor.
That lasted maybe 20 min before I had a friend convince me this was real labor and I was in too much pain to risk waiting. So we made the hr drive back to the hospital- this drive even worse than before, but I still thought my contractions were 7-10 min apart. I mean, what do I know?!
At around 2:30p we checked into the hospital and I was 5cm dilated. So within 5 hrs I had dilated 4 cm, and my contractions were actually every 3-4 min. I was so excited- at this point we were all pretty sure Mini would be here before the night was over.
We progressed on, about 1cm every hr or so. James was such an amazing help by applying counter-pressure to my back and pushing on my hips during the contractions. It really helped get through them, although I was still left with a lingering back pain in between the contractions.
But then it seemed to stop. I got to an 8cm at about 6 or 7pm and stayed there. Every time they would come check me I was still an 8 and at one point a nurse even downgraded me to "not quite an 8". So we tried a LOT of different laboring positions to help aid her down. Walking, yoga ball, leaning over the back of the hospital bed, side lying, and nothing changed. At some point in there (I cant remember the time) I finally let them break my water to see if that would help, too. It did help make the contractions stronger, but still no change. The E word (epidural) was brought up a few times, with the argument that it might relax my body enough to allow me to dilate more. I refused the first couple of times, but then at 1:30am with still no change I thought I'd give it a shot. I was very scared that it would make me feel paralyzed, and previously I hadn't wanted it because I wanted to be able to keep moving and trying different labor positions. But, it didn't make me feel paralyzed. I was pretty numb, but I could still move my legs, so that was a great relief. After it was in and the pitocin was added I was able to take a quick nap to try and regain some energy to push later on.
At 4am another nurse came in to check on me and I was still an 8 so then they decided to "help me" dilate to a 10. I wont get into the details, but it was horrendous, and by then the epidural was starting to wear off-- just very unpleasant.
Finally we manually made it to a 10 and then I pushed...and pushed...for 2 hours. At first we thought we were making progress, until the midwife came in and informed us that baby wasn't actually moving down. It was actually her caput, or the swelling of a newborns scalp, that was showing, but baby herself wasn't moving down at all. That's when my fears were confirmed. She was stuck and she was going to continue to be stuck no matter what I did. So just before 7am we got ready for the csection.
That's when everything moved so fast. I bawled my eyes out feeling like a failure. Of course I wanted that "perfect" birth experience (whatever that means) and I had failed. My weeks of trying to get her to flip plus hours during labor- I was still convinced there was something more I should have done.
All of the drs and nurses came in and got me all prepped. They wanted to give me a spinal block but I just asked them to up the epidural meds (again, I didn't want to feel paralyzed) and I passed the test that allowed me to go that route. I was even able to transfer myself between my bed and the operating table, so that was a relief.
What felt like another quick min and James was in there next to me and surgery was starting. Doctors and nurses started saying "Complete OP", confirming she was completely face up, and one of the midwives actually had to push her head back as the dr pulled her out because of how stuck she was. As horrible as this may sound, it actually helped me accept that I didn't fail, nor did my body. Sometimes csections are completely necessary and I truly believe I did all that I could have done. My baby was stuck, and she was in the minority of babies that don't flip during labor, and I definitely did not want her to be in the minority of babies that don't survive labor, so a csection was our best option at that point. And I'm actually OK with that now.
Anyways, then everyone started saying "seven ten" and I didn't get what they were saying at first until a second later James and I heard that magical little cry that sent us both into tears.
Ms Evelyn Grace Barth was born at 7:10am on Friday, April 4th, 2014. Weighing in at 8lbs 10.6oz and 21.5 inches long.
(Although a few days later at her check up she had "shrunk" to 20.5" once her head swelling went down.)
It was an emotional roller coaster to say the least, but obviously, completely worth it. We are completely in love and she is my dream come true.
You were so brave Brittany! So proud of you! <3
ReplyDeleteYou did all the right things Brittany. We still tease Elias about having 3 heads when he was born, but that swelling was the reason no one was recognizing he was face up until he actually came out. All went well with his birth otherwise, but of course there could have been some serious complications. Caroline's arrival by C-Section was planned because of Amy's age and blood pressure problems she experienced while having William, so we avoided any emotional difficulties with making that decision. Our story, your story, both come to the same happy ending which is beautiful healthy babies. Congratulations to you and James.
ReplyDelete