Our Birth Story

Originally posted August 6, 2012

A lot happened before Little Miss finally came into this world safe and sound...thankfully! I wanted to write her birth story down so I would always remember the details and also so we could be reminded always of how lucky and blessed we truly are!

It all started around 38 weeks on my weekly routine trip to the doctor. I was worried that I was leaking amniotic fluid because I had to pee ALL the time. Like every 5 minutes (it turns out this is just what happens when a baby is pushing on your bladder!) So my doctor checked me out and confirmed that no, in fact I was not leaking just feeling the effects of a little head pushing down all the time! Par for the course. But he did want to check my fluid just in case so he sent me next door for an ultrasound.

The baby looked great on the ultrasound, however what they found was that I had high amniotic fluid levels (this is called polyhydramnios). Now me, not having a clue was thinking "Yea look at me I am a rockstar! My fluid is high and good!" Apparently this is NOT a good thing. My levels weren't super high, but they were elevated enough that my doctor wanted to monitor me and the baby. So he ordered weekly non-stress tests and sonograms in addition to my weekly OB visits (holy co-pays Batman!) but well worth it to be sure my little bee was safe and sound. That night I googled polyhydramnios...DON'T EVER DO THIS! You'd have thought I would've learned by now that google is evil. But I didn't have any clue what it was so I was curious. And then after I consulted Dr. Google I was even more nervous. Moral of the story is DON'T GOOGLE.

So the next day I had to go to the hospital for a non-stress test. Basically they strap electrodes to your belly and you click a button every time the baby moves. It's not bad especially if you can watch old episodes of Grey's Anatomy while you do it. I found that particularly ironic, that I was watching Grey's while IN a hospital. It made me giggle. Thankfully, the baby was A-ok and I got to go home. That night, Andy and I went on a date to the movies. We saw "Prometheus" which is an alien movie and the whole movie the baby was moving and kicking and squirming. I figured it was surround sound!

The next day though, was scary. I didn't feel the baby move for almost 24 hours. Not normal for my little peanut. I usually would feel a lot of movement in the early morning and evening hours before bed. The only thing I felt all day and night was a quick set of hiccups. I was so nervous and scared and the next day when I woke up I called the doctor right away. They got me in first thing for an ultrasound and thankfully the baby was fine. The fluid levels had elevated though, and my doctor wanted to do a biophysical profile (which is basically an extended ultrasound) to make sure the baby was ok. He also ordered non-stress tests twice a week and bio-physicals twice a week. He then suggested the idea of induction at 39 weeks in order to monitor the health of the baby and because with polyhydramnios, there can be a higher risk of uterine rupture, prolapsed cord, placental abruption, etc. if the labor is natural and uncontrolled (thank you Google). I had always wanted to avoid induction if I could but at this point SO many things were happening that were risk factors that I couldn't rightfully leave the office and not consider it an option. Especially when my little one's life was on the line. And I FULLY and completely trust my doctor, so it was never a question of him making me do anything I wasn't comfortable with.

So I continued to do my non-stress tests that day and the following week, and the baby moved less and less during the tests. I had to sit there for longer and had to drink ice water to feel movement. Thankfully I passed the tests, but it just confirmed my decision that we were doing the right thing.

On Tuesday afternoon I went to the doctor for my ultrasound and appointment and it turned out that I was already 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. My doctor was confident that I would progress well and saw no reason not to have a natural childbirth. So that night Andy and I checked in to the hospital where they gave me cervadil which helps to ripen your cervix. Like it's a fruit haha! I was already 2 cm dilated when they gave it to me which was a good thing because it showed my body was doing what it should be doing! And at 39 weeks it was officially safe for the baby to be born (according to the March of dimes!) so I was relieved. Hubs and I played some games on his iPad, I read a little, we watched TV and went to bed. I was very calm and relaxed and had no worries, just nervous about what was to come. But I felt so good to be in a hospital being watched over!

The next morning very early I met my new nurse June who I have to say was missing a few screws. She had NO bedside manner and all she did was complain about the computer and how she didn't know how to use it. Thankfully I was out of it most of the time I was with her because if I was with it I may have snapped! At one point she was hooking up some wires and smacked me in the head with them. My mom and Andy and I looked at each other like OH NO haha! She was not all there at all! So June was an idiot, but I had a wonderful midwife named Jen and of course my great doctor to take care of me. To make things more complicated I have GBS which is just a strain of strep that can live in your intestinal tract. 50% of women have this and it's not a big deal at all except when giving birth. You need a dose of antibiotics before and during labor to be sure the baby it not affected by it. This is one reason I will ALWAYS choose to give birth in a hospital. The other reasons will be obvious after you read the rest of the story. So naturally June messed up and didn't give me my penicillin drip in time before my doctor got there (story of my life!) so he was NOT happy with her. So they quickly got the penicillin finished and they checked me and I was almost 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. Which was great! They hadn't even started the induction yet and I was on my way to having this baby!

At that point my doctor broke my water (which let me tell you is a strange feeling!!!) and they started the pitocin. I started having contractions and was progressing along, however they kept losing the baby's heart rate. So they had to put an internal contraction monitor on me, and an internal monitor on the baby. Which was something I didn't ever want done but when you can no longer hear your baby's heart on the monitor things change and you do whatever it takes! The monitor on the baby kept coming out though and they kept losing the heart beat so they had to reinsert it 4 different times! Not fun at all but I was out of it at that point and in pain! They said it was coming out because it kept getting caught in the baby's hair! So I knew baby was getting ready if they could feel the baby's hair! That kept me motivated as things got harder.

Sometime during the morning the doctor and midwife came in to tell me that they were monitoring mine and the baby's heart rate and that they were concerned because every time I had a contraction the baby's heart rate would slow down. The pitocin had helped start my labor, but the contractions were causing baby to show signs of distress. They decided to stop the pitocin and see how labor progressed on its own. Well around the same time they did an internal exam and found that the baby was now posterior (face up) which is not the ideal position for labor. Just the day before the baby had been in the right position, but the increased amniotic fluid had given baby the time and space to flip. So I had to be on my side in hopes of turning the baby back to the anterior position. Not comfortable for several hours, especially during back labor contractions. Back labor is extremely intense and painful because of how the baby is pressing down when it is in the posterior position.

Once the pitocin was stopped my labor did continue on its own but the baby's heart rate continued to show signs of distress. Not as much as before, but still it dropped. They thought maybe the cord was wrapped so they were monitoring very closely. At one point my blood pressure even plummeted to the point where they had to put an oxygen mask on me. They continued to monitor both me and the baby during this time. During my contractions Andy was a great support. He held my hand, rubbed my back and helped keep me breathing. He finally knew it was time for the epidural when I ripped off the oxygen mask and couldn't be touched anymore. He told me he was so proud of how I handled labor. I never screamed at him or anyone, instead when things got tough I just cried! It HURT! So thankfully I was 5 cm dilated at this point and was able to get the epidural. They made Hubs leave the room and I had to lean on June for support while the gave me the epidural. June actually was pretty good at helping me through it but then after she was still a strange bird.

For those of you wondering, no, they never showed me the needle and no it does not hurt that bad to get the epidural! After contractions and in my case back labor, the needle was nothing. The first is a tiny prick that feels a little like a bee sting. That's the Novocaine to numb the area. Then the epidural itself is like having blood drawn. It starts working within a few minutes and boy were my legs NUMB! It got to the point where I would ask if I was having a contraction because I felt pressure but that was it. Eventually I couldn't feel anything! I was in such a good mood and feeling so well that I was able to fall asleep. This is also when I posted on facebook "Let's get this party started" and checked in at Millard Fillmore hospital! None of which I remember mind you! Hubs gave me my phone to pass the time and apparently I was ALL sorts of busy texting and facebooking! The point is, for hours before this I was in very bad pain and could barely relax all morning. Once I got the epidural it was smooth sailing! My advice to everyone? GET THE EPIDURAL! It makes a world of difference! One funny tidbit about this part of the day: June needed me higher up in the bed so she could flip me over to my side and because I was numb I couldn't move. So she asked Hubs to help her try and move me up. They each grabbed a side of the sheet and lifted and she fell or something (thank God I was in the bed so I wasn't going anywhere!) Then she disappeared for a really long time and when she came back Hubs is trying to relax and calm me and she looks at him and says "I have to fill out an accident report, what's your name?" in a super grouchy voice! Then she never returned! LOL apparently her patient was not as important as that report. Thankfully at this point I was feeling better and didn't need a nurse but STILL haha! It kept things interesting that's for sure!

A while later, the doctor came back in and said I wasn't progressing enough on my own and they were going to try a little bit of pitocin again just to see if it would help. My body actually was regressing going from 5 cm to 4 cm which was discouraging. He said they would monitor very closely with only a little bit of the pit and if the baby was at all in distress they would stop. They told me at this point that there was about a 50/50 chance of a c-section but they would do everything they could to avoid it unless it was absolutely necessary. Once they started the pit, my contractions started again, but the baby was in distress again. The heart rate at one point slipped very low almost in the 60s. I was unaware of all of this but my husband and mom were hearing everything and seeing everything that I couldn't. It amazes me how they kept calm so that I didn't worry more. Everyone kept very under control and calm so as not to upset me which really helped. Had I known how serious it was I would have panicked and things would have been much worse. At that point the midwife came in and said that they were concerned about the baby's well being and needed to get in there and get her out as soon as possible because they couldn't tell what the problem was. They were figuring that when she turned posterior that the cord wrapped and since I wasn't progressing on my own and since she was in distress when I was that it was enough reason to go forward with a c-section. I was perfectly ok with this because at that point I just wanted my baby out and safe.

While they prepped the OR and me, I expressed to Hubs how I was disappointed and felt like such a failure because it wasn't working the way it was supposed to and my whole birth plan (yes I had one!) flew out the window. He reassured me that they were just doing what was necessary to keep our baby safe and that I wasn't any less of a woman because I couldn't naturally deliver. He really helped me feel better and I went into the OR excited and calm and ready to meet our baby!

Since June was nowhere to be found, a few other nurses (Kathy in particular was GREAT! We later found out she was our friend Ashley's MIL-small world!) came in to prep me. They had to spend several minutes untangling all the IV wires because of course June had them all tangled! Seriously, it was like a sitcom! I was so glad June was gone at that point! When they wheeled me into the OR, I was numb from the epidural which was really funny because when I got to the OR they had to give me the spinal but I couldn't move from the gurney to the operating table on my own. Here I am, a naked beached whale and all the nurses had to lift me and roll me over! All I could do was crack jokes because at that point, modesty is out the window! They did tell me that I was a fun patient though. It was honestly very cool because I couldn't feel anything but I was completely awake so I got to see and hear everything.

They got me all prepped and a few minutes later Hubs came in and the show was on the road. My doctor asked if I felt anything (which was him poking me with a scalpel!) and I was doubly numbed from both the epidural and the spinal so I was ready to go. I honestly don't remember much except feeling really nauseous...and rightfully so considering they were moving my insides around! But once the anesthesiologist gave me some oxygen I felt way better. Hubs was right next to me holding my hand and we were so excited we could barely stand it!

Finally Dr. C. said "Ok mom what do you think it is?" and I of course said"I think it's a boy!" and then he said "What about you dad?" and he said "Girl!" Then the doctor said "Dad is right! Congratulations on your beautiful girl!"

I was SHOCKED!!! And SOOOOO excited!!! He held her up over the curtain so I could see her and I immediately reached out for her! She was all goopy and slimy and all I wanted to do was kiss and cuddle her! Obviously they had to put me back together like humpty dumpty so Hubs went over to the warmer to see her but I got to hear her cry and they kept me informed the whole time of how she was doing. But before her went they asked us her name and we looked at each other and I said "I think she's a C" and Andy said "I do too." We agreed that would be her name, and from then on our Little Miss was a part of our family! After she was clean and got an APGAR of 8/9 (way to go baby girl!) Hubs got to hold her and he sat by my head with her until they finished up and then he got to go see our family and show her off.

While he was doing that, the doctor explained to me what the problem had been. Her umbilical cord was half the length of a normal cord. Every time I had a contraction it pulled on her cord (and because she was posterior it made it worse). Thank God my doctor had the wherewithal and instinct to do a c-section right away and not wait. Because she never would have made it down the birth canal. There was no way I'd have been able to deliver her naturally because her cord wouldn't have reached! I can only imagine the many many things that could have gone wrong had I not been in the hospital, had I had her later, had I said I didn't want a c-section, had I said I didn't want to be induced...God was watching over us as he gave me my little girl and I am thankful every single minute of every day that she came into the world unharmed and healthy. My mom went home and Googled (she didn't get my memo about not googling!) the complications and things that could have happened and although she didn't tell me I could tell by the look on her face that it could have been a very different and very tragic scenario had we not gone the route we had.

Needless to say I am SO very thankful for my wonderful doctor, and the midwives and nurses at Millard Fillmore who worked so hard to make sure my baby and I were safe. Had I not been in a hospital or had a doctor with a more "wait and see" approach it might have been a very different outcome.

Little Miss is the light in our day, our perfect little angel, and I already can't imagine our lives without her. I sit here writing this on our second wedding anniversary and can't think of a better gift we could have received to celebrate.  Someday I will share my blogs with her so she can see the journey and road we traveled down as we waited patiently for her arrival. I am so excited for all of the milestones that lay ahead for us and our little peanut! We love you baby girl!

Love and Laughs,

Danielle