Filed under: Uncategorized
I just had my 6 week post partum checkup with my OB and had a nice long talk about what happened, what could/should/would have happened, etc. His conclusion was that the space between my tailbone and my pubic bone is really narrow. Oliver was facing up and even a little crooked in that position, his head was not perfectly aligned and did not fit. He doesn’t know for sure, but thinks that perhaps if the baby was perfectly lined up, he may have been able to fit through. But he wasn’t, so we’ll never know. He didn’t have an abnormally big head, in fact, his head circumference was in the 19th percentile. I asked about what my options would be for the next baby and he basically said, there is a good chance that it will happen the same way. There’s also a chance that a different baby will fit differently. But, I have some options and if I don’t want to go through everything again, then we can look into planning on a c-section. It’s tough to really think about it too much until we are put into the situation, but I think I’d like to try to give birth vaginally and without medication, if there are signs that things look good. If everything about it looks like the first pregnancy, then no, I’m not going to go through all the pain, just to have another c-section. So, we’ll see. Oliver truely is a great tempered baby, breast feeding has been smooth (after the pain subsided) and the pregnancy was easy. You can’t have it all, so my bad part was the labor and delivery.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: birth story, c-section, delivery, epidural, natural childbirth
Sorry this has taken a while to post, but here is my side of the story. The hubby plans to add to it later, but for now, here is my take. I am “J” and the hubby is “S.”
So, here are the details of the labor and delivery. Things certainly did not go as we had planned but we have a healthy and happy baby, which is all that matters. The short version: Hard labor for around 28 hours that resulted in a c-section.
Thursday AM: J wakes up feeling a lot more cramping than the last few days and S goes off to work. J starts feeling more contractions and times them around 11am. They are about 10-15 minutes apart and she can still talk through them so they are mild. S comes home from work and decide to take the dog for a walk and have lunch in the park since we know moving around will help. When we get home, the contractions are now 10 minutes apart and becoming more regular. By the time they are consistently 5 minutes apart, we call our Doula. She recommends that we wait an hour and see if they persist. J tries to lay down but can’t really sleep though the contractions. The contractions are more uncomfortable at this point and she is unable to talk through them. We decide to go to the hospital and get set up.
3pm: Arrive at hospital. They check J and she is barely 1cm dilated. (not good) The doctor tells us that we can either go home and try to get some sleep or stay at the hospital, take a sleeping pill and see where we stand in the morning. We decide to stay at the hospital since the room is pretty cozy and the labor tub is set up. J takes a sleeping pill and tries to sleep through the contractions and manages to not to sleep, but to rest between them. They are still every 3-5 minutes, lasting around a minute long.
10pm: J’s pain increases and she goes into the shower for about 2 hours since that seems to help with the pain. She has “bloody show” and is basically dripping blood everywhere. (sorry for that detail but it took her by surprise that she was bleeding so much)
1am: J’s pain increases and she tells the nurses to fill the tub. S calls our doula and she arrives about an hour later. J continues to stay in the shower and then moves to the tub when the Doula arrives. J goes back into the shower while S and the Doula take turns rubbing her back during contractions. J’s pain continues to increase and is still bleeding everywhere.
7am: J is in hell and gets out of the tub to be checked by the nurse. She is only 4cm dialated. Things are moving really slowly and the contractions are now around 2-3 minutes apart, lasting for about 80 seconds. The doctor comes in and offers to break her water. She agrees and he breaks her water.
8:30am: J is getting to her breaking point and is back in the tub. She tells them that she can’t take it anymore and can’t even imagine doing this for 4 more hours (or longer). Thinking that she may be close to the transition point because she starts to feel an urge to push at the end of the contractions. The Doula and S convince her to go for another 2 hours. Her contractions are every 2 minutes lasting for closer to 90 seconds and sometimes her break between them are cut short by another contraction. She feels that her legs are going to come off at any moment and still can’t believe the hell she is in.
10:30am: J has now been in hard labor for 22 hours and starts to weigh her options. She is is excrutiating pain, doesn’t see the end in sight and knows that she is exhausted. She can keep going naturally but fears that she won’t have any energy left to push by the time she gets there and will end up having a c-section. Or, she can get an epidural, have some relief and still have a chance at delivering vaginally. She asks the nurse to check her to see if she is close. She is at a whopping 6.5cm. J’s loses hope and knows that she can’t keep going for another 2-4 hours, she is at her whits end.
11:am: J gets the epidural. It kicks in after about 5 more contractions and she can’t feel anything anymore. She is very thankful that the pain is gone. Her contractions continue on their own although they give her the lowest dose of pitocin to help speed things along. Her contractions never ease up and they take her off the pitocin.
1:30pm: J is almost at 10cm dilation but still has a lip of her cervix in the way. The doctor moves it and she is now ready to push. J pushes really well for 2 hours and still nothing. The baby is capping and not making progress. The doctor comes in and talks over our options. J by this point, has been in hard labor for 24 hours and is utterly exhausted. He tells her that she can keep pushing because he knew that is what we wanted, but also says that in reality, with the nature of this labor (how slow things are moving and that the baby is 11 days late at this point), he wants her to be realistic that pushing again may not do anything and we should be prepared for the possibility of a c-section. J decides to push some more, but knows that she has no energy left. She decides to have everyone leave her room and give her an hour to rest and save up some energy as well as buy some time to see if the baby will move down on his own. J leans on the squat bar to use gravity and tries to rest.
4:30pm: Time to push again and a new nurse comes in. We try multiple different positions, on my side, on my knees, squat bar, the works. Nothing is happening. The nurse even puts her hands around the capping head and tries everything she can to get him to come down. J decides that it is time to have this baby and knows that a c-section is the best option. Her bottom is so swollen from all of the pushing that everyone who comes in winces when they look at her.
J is prepped for the c-section and at 5:37pm, Oliver S is born. J could barely keep her eyes open during the quick surgery but gives a smile when she hears him cry. The doctor says that the space between her tailbone and her pubic bone is very narrow and the baby may have had a chance to fit through if he wasn’t sunny side up. But his head was crooken and his forehead was stuck on her pubic bone, which is why he wouldn’t move down. J’s cervix was also being pinched by his head which may have accounted for all of the bleeding.
All in all, the labor was a nightmare. J has a new tolerance for pain though which has already proved to be helpful as she recovered from the c-section surgery and her sore ass nipples and boobs full of an abundance of milk.
Filed under: delivery | Tags: birth story, c-section, delivery, natural labor
Sorry that I have neglected the blog… Having a newborn sure does put a twist on your priorities. I am still working on my birth story because I am waiting on edits from my husband and Doula but I will post that as soon as it is ready. Here is the short version, however for those of you that are interested:
I went into labor 10 days passed my due date, naturally.
Went through 22 hours of unmedicated, hard labor (can’t talk through contractions) and at that point only dialated to 6.5cm so I asked for an epidural.
2 hours of pushing, followed by an hour of rest and then another 30 min of pushing. Baby wasn’t coming.
C-Section delivery after 28 hours.
Baby Oliver was 7 lbs 10 oz and was born on 08/08/08 (11 days late). The labor and delivery was anything but perfect, in fact a bit traumatizing, but Ollie is absolutely perfect!
Last night I woke up to pee and when I stood up after I was done, I felt this cold sensation on my inner theigh. I turned on the light and saw a huge goober on my leg. I had like two tablespoons of clear, egg white, mucous on my leg. I read through some of my books and it’s either my mucous plug or the bloody show that just wasn’t bloody. Either way, I’m making some forward steps towards this whole “delivery” thing. A couple of my books say that labor could start weeks, days or hours after this happens but most of the time it’s a few days later.
Filed under: 10th month, third trimester | Tags: 8 days overdue, biophysical profile, Non stress test, waiting to be induced
At our doctor’s appointment yesterday, we discussed waiting longer to see if the baby would come on his own and the doctor agreed, as long as we passed a Non Stress Test and Biophysical Profile. We agreed and scheduled the tests for the next day, today.
Both tests were very simple and completely external. For the Non Stress Test, they hooked up two monitors to my belly. One measured my contractions and one measured the baby’s heartbeat. They needed to make sure that the baby’s heart beat increased whenever it moved, sort of like ours does when we exercise. The baby slept for the first half of the test but started moving around later and they were able to see that the baby was perfectly fine. I also was able to tell that I had a big contraction and a medium contraction during those 25 minutes, both of which I didn’t even feel. The Biophysical Profile was done with an ultrasound and they measured the amniotic fluid level, the muscle tone and the breathing movements.
We scored an 8 out of 8 for both of the tests so we are clear to wait another 3-4 days. If the baby doesn’t come by Saturday morning, we will be induced. So, I was due on 7/28 and our induction is scheduled for 8/9 if I don’t go into labor before that. We are happy with that decision and are glad that we bought some more time. So, now all I need is for the baby to decide he’s ready to come out! There is the possibility that this baby will have the 08/08/08 birth date or he will share my birthday, which is 8/10.
I still feel well and am extremely happy that everything checked out okay.
Filed under: 10th month | Tags: castor oil, frustration with waiting for baby, induction., labor cake, past due date, ways to induce labor, zero dilation
So here I am 6 days past my due date. I started my maternity leave last Monday so I’ve had the whole week to experience some real “dirt” on pregnancy. This past week has certainly been an experience and quite frankly, emotionally exhausting. My husband and I are SO ready to be parents and meet this little guy and every morning that we wake up still pregnant, is a moment where disappointment floods our minds, and we struggle to not let the situation get the best of us.
The last appointment I had was on my due date and I still had not dilated at all and the baby wasn’t engaged. The doctor and my husband and I had to have the “induction conversation” and I was not mentally prepared. Being induced is something that I REALLY do not want to happen. And, to not even be dilated at all on my due date was also something I didn’t want to have happen. Without a ripe cervix, I found it hard to be hopeful for anything to happen soon. So, I left the office in tears and a scheduled induction for 9 days passed my due date. I think I was so upset because I want to labor and give birth naturally, without intervention. The idea of being at home for half of the time was also something I have been looking forward to. But, to be induced with pitocin, means I’ll be in the hospital from the start, attached to an I.V. and continuously monitored. Fears of one intervention leading to more and more interventions scares the crap out of me and a c-section scares me even more. My hormones are heightened right now and with all of the excitement, anticipation, disappointment and fear swimming around in my head, makes each day that I wake up still pregnant very tough.
So, here I type 6 days passed my due date with our next doctor’s appointment less than 21 hours away. I can tell you that I was really hoping not to get to this point. I was hoping that I would spontaneously go into labor and I wouldn’t have to have another conversation about being induced. But, I am here facing the reality of what could happen. Instead of being an emotional wreck, depressed because things haven’t gone as I had planned in my head and having what I call “pre-partum depression,” I have chosen to take another route. I know that being stressed and anxious is not good for me. I have managed to relax this past week with a lot of naps, trips to the pool, frequent walks and lunches and dinners with friends and family. It has been nice not being at work and I’m glad I took this past week off. My husband and I have both received numerous phone calls from eager friends and family asking the dreaded question, “So? Have you had the baby yet?” Initially, I didn’t answer many of the calls because having to explain and admit that the baby wasn’t even close to coming and that we really wish the circumstances were different was just too hard. All I really wanted to say was, “Stop freaking asking because if there was news, you would hear about it and asking me all the time isn’t going to change things!” But, everyone is excited for us and just wants to know what’s going on and in reality, I would be the same way if someone I cared for was about to have a baby. So, now I just answer the phone with a smile and make some joke about how this baby is way too cozy and teaching me a life lesson on patience.
The other thing that has helped me cope with all this waiting, are the natural induction theories. Honestly, they are hilarious. Whenever someone hears that we are “overdue” they always chime in with some “proved to work” method of making that baby come and I’ve agreed to try them all. I’ve tried the usual ones, nipple stimulation, sex and going on lots of walks. I’ve also tried spicy foods, porkchops, pineapple (supposed to ripen the cervix), labor cake (see recipe below) and castor oil. The castor oil was probably the most extreme as it makes you have diarrhea and the act of emptying out your bowels is somehow supposed to trigger your uterus to also “empty out.” I definitely cleaned out my bowels but unfortunately did so, without one contraction following suit. I’ve put out a challenge to everyone I know, tell me your “go into labor” tricks and I’ll refute them all. I think the only one left is acupuncture and at this point, I don’t think I’m going to go there. It’s just going to be more money down the drain. This baby just isn’t ready.
I’ll try to fill everyone in after our doctor’s appointment tomorrow. He’s going to do some tests which include a fetal stress test, an ultrasound to check out the baby and gauge the fluid level. If everything looks normal, I may beg for a few more days to stall the induction. If we do end up having to be induced, then I will accept it and know that in the end, all that really matters is that I have a healthy baby. I’m still going to try to do a labor without pain medication, but our plans will be flexible.
Labor Cake Recipe (even without the promised contractions, it was pretty damn delicious!)
1 box of devil’s food cake mix
i box of chocolate instant pudding mix
1 cup of sour cream
1 bag of chocolate chip morsels.
1. Make devils’s food cake according to the box and add the next three ingredients. Cook in a 9×13 pan for about 15-25 minutes longer than it says to. I was told after eating the cake (not the whole thing) I would go into labor 2 days later. Ha! But, good luck to anyone else that tries it.
Filed under: Uncategorized
This is just too cool. Milkscreen- home test for alcohol in breast milk.
Filed under: 10th month, third trimester | Tags: almost at my due date, induction., Waiting for baby to come
Today is my last day of work before I go on maternity leave. Yeah! My due date is on Monday , 7/28, and I’ve decided to go ahead and take off even if the baby doesn’t come for another week. Sitting all day at work really sucks and this way, I can focus my last few days of pregnancy on walking, stretching and relaxing. (and hopefully all of those include going to the pool!) They baby still hasn’t dropped and I really doubt that I’ve dilated any more. The only thing that really has changed since my last 39 week appointment is that if I walk a lot, I have a lot of very mild contractions that go away when I lay down and my hips feel out of alignment. I’ve learned that there is a hormone released to loosen your joints so that the baby can fit through your pelvis so I’m pretty sure that is what’s going on. It feels like I need to pop my hip back into place when I walk but I can’t. I also had another colostrum leak the other night because I woke up with a spot on my shirt.
I’m looking forward to the weekend. I’ve been so tired lately so I can envision lots of naps. I still want to walk a lot so I will be doing that as well to try to get things moving. I’ll have an appointment on Monday and the last time we talked to the doctor, he said he’d let me go a week after my due date before wanted to do some tests to make sure everything looks and responds well. I’m really hoping this baby comes because I don’t want to be induced at all. The less intervention, the better my chances are of doing this naturally.
My husband is getting really excited and he’s having dreams of the baby arriving. I have had a few dreams but my last one was about me waiting and waiting and waiting. A couple of my friends have also had dreams about me having the baby but I keep waking up with no activity! What is it going to take?!
Filed under: 9th month | Tags: baby has not engaged yet, pregnancy 9th month, waiting for baby to drop, zero dilation
At my last OB appt. 4 days ago the doctor confirmed that I was still at 0% effacement and 0 dilation. The baby hadn’t dropped at all either and I asked him to tell me the position of the baby because he was still all up in my ribs and I wanted to know what body part could be to blame. He offered to do a quick ultrasound to find out and I was happy to agree. It was neat to see another ultrasound since I hadn’t seen one since the one to determine the gender at 20 weeks. He confirmed that the head was still face down but he was looking to my side. I asked if I should be concerned because he wasn’t facing my back or my stomach like I have read about. He assured me that all that mattered was that he was head down and would probably turn into the correct position soon enough. The baby’s butt is what has been pushing against my ribs so I’m sure he’s going to get all sorts of big-booty jokes when he’s old enough. : ) We saw the heartbeat and his scrotum. So, we are definitely having a boy still! (You always hear of those rare instances where they tell the parents the gender and then once the baby is born it turns out to be the other gender)
I left feeling good because I was able to see the little guy but still felt discouraged because this baby wasn’t even close to being ready to come out. I’m ready!!!
Then, two days ago, I no longer felt his big booty in my ribs and noticed that he had shifted from laying to side of my stomach area, to the center. I’m happy that he has centered up because that is a much closer position to delivery than hanging out on my side. But, he’s still super high up and hasn’t dropped any. Come on baby, come experience the world! Work with gravity!
People have started to ask me if I have had any contractions yet and my answer is “I think so?” Then they reply with, “Well, you would know if you’ve had one.” All the material in my classes and books tell me that the initial and false labor contractions are so mild that you can sleep through them and function normally. So, if that’s the case, would I still know if what I’m feeling is a contraction or just discomfort? I feel crampy sensations and I’ve felt a few instances of lower back cramping as well. I think that is a contraction but am unsure. Either way, none of what I have been feeling has been consistant enough to warrant excitement (even though I do get a little excited everytime I feel something!) so it really doesn’t matter. I have a few friends who have similar due dates to me and I will be so jealous if their babies come out before mine. My mom keeps reminding me that my brother and I were 7 and 10 days late. I REALLY hope that will not be the case for me. 10 days passed my due date? I would just die.
I’ll have another appointment in 3 days (which is also the day before the 9 month mark) so keep your fingers crossed for me that the little guy finally listens to me when I tell him to go towards the light!
I came across this article and was shocked. “One in five women who gives birth in the U.S. is obese…” That is just ridiculous. I just saw Pixar’s Wall-E, where they have some strong messaging about obesity so the topic is on my mind but 1 in 5?!! I just have to wonder what impact this may have on the upcoming generation of babies. “Light” baby formula? XXL newborn diapers?
