Monday evening I started feeling a little crampy and bloated. It was nothing major; it reminded me of the feeling I have before I get my period. I decided to call it an early night, early being 11pm :) I woke up around 1:30am needing to pee and on my way back to bed I felt a huge gush of water. I immediately woke Andy up and called the hospital. They told us to come in right away, so we got everything together and headed to Regions.
I started having very mild contractions on the way to the hospital. They were 4-5 minutes apart and they felt like period cramps. Nothing painful, just uncomfortable. When I got to the hospital the contractions started increasing in frequency. I was contracting every 1-2 minutes! The pain never really got worse though, which I thought was rather odd.
After a very brief stay in triage, we were moved to our labor and delivery room and I attempted to stay active. I walked a bit and used the birth ball to help move labor along. I did not want an epidural until I was at least 5cm, but because my contractions were coming so quickly, the nurse suggested I request one sooner than later, because she thought Isla was going to come quickly. So I took the nurse's advice and got the epidural, and then found out I was still 3cm after all of my contractions! They decided to use a uterine monitor to watch my contractions. They discovered very quickly that my contractions were weak. I was given pitocin to hopefully make them stronger, but I had to be watched very carefully because they didn't want my contractions getting any closer together!
The pitocin wasn't helping much, and eventually they stopped giving it to me. I apparently have a "hyperactive uterus" which made dilating was a very slow process. My contractions never got much stronger. After 16 hours I was 8cms, 90% effaced, but still at a -2 station. Isla's head wasn't coming down at all. It was at this point I had 2 doctors both tell me that they didn't think Isla would be able to descend through my pelvis. They told me a c-section was most likely the only way to get her out. I was told I could have 1 more hour to see if I could progress further, but at this point I was so delirious I went ahead with the c-section.
Upon hearing I needed to have a c-section I felt an overwhelming sense of panic and sadness. I was crying uncontrollably for a while because I was scared for both Isla and myself. I didn't want to get cut open, but I wanted to do what was best for my baby. I was wheeled out of the room in tears, trying to focus only on the fact that I got to see my baby girl soon.
The operating room was a very scary place, although I had lots of people reassuring me that I would be okay. Being told I would be numb from the chest down was frightening, especially when the nurse told me I may not be able to feel myself breathing. Andy sat by me the whole time. I made he talk to me to keep my mind off of the fact that I was being completely cut open. Within 15 minutes Isla was born. She immediately started crying and I knew then that everything would be okay. I got to see Isla for a minute, and then she and Andy left while I was being stitched up.
I was told I'd have to stay in an observation room for 1 hour after surgery to be monitored before going upstairs, but it ended up being 2 hours. I remember very little during this time aside from violently shaking. I was given medicine to stop this, and then I drifted in and out of sleep.
Isla was born at 6:50pm and I finally got to see her and hold her around 9pm. Holding her for the first time was almost surreal. I couldn't' believe that she was finally here, and that she was actually mine!
I'm sad I wasn't able to deliver her vaginally and hold her immediately after she was born, but I'm thankfully that she was healthy and there were no complications for either of us.
Isla was born July 28th, 2009. She weighed 8lbs 10oz and was 20 inches long. She is truly the love of my life :)
1 comment:
That last picture where she is looking up at you is priceless! Thanks for sharing your birth story, you were quite the trooper and I would say the end result was all worth it. She is perfect!
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