Vance's Birth Story (Part 1)

I must preface this with a couple of facts that will make you understand my story a little better:
1. I had two "due dates". According to an early ultrasound I was due January 16th, 2012, but according to my last menstrual period and an ultrasound a few weeks later I was due January 10th, 2012. I  believed the 10th to be the more "correct", even though I believe it's an arbitrary date. I asked my doctor to officially put the 16th on my file though so that it would give me another week of pregnancy before the pressure of an induction would be placed upon me (because a lot of places don't like you going over 40 weeks, even though 42 weeks is completely within the realm of normal).

2. We had talked to our doctor extensively about our plans to have a natural, drug free birth using Hypnobirthing and she seemed completely on board; excited even.

3. I had some early labor starting around 32 weeks and my doctor told us that we would for sure be seeing this baby before the end of the year and more than likely before Christmas (I would be 37 weeks on December 20th). I also had a one time episode of high blood pressure and swelling around 36 weeks that required me to do a 24 hour urine collection.

4. At my "official" 37 week appointment (unofficial 38 week), she asked me if I wanted to be induced and I said something along the lines of, "I'm not inducing unless something absolutely crazy happens", and she said okay, we'll just wait a little longer.

40 weeks. My "due date"

The story...
I woke up on Tuesday January 17th, 2012 at 6:00 am with a contraction. Yes, a full week after my "unofficial due date" and not early like we were told to expect. Matt went ahead off to work because they were coming at about 15 minutes apart and I figured we had awhile. We also had an appointment scheduled at 2 that afternoon for an ultrasound and non-stress test (because all woman at their "official due date" have to have one). I had been off work since the beginning of the year, so I went about my day by bouncing on a yoga ball in front of the TV and getting things together. Contractions were still only about 10-15 minutes apart by the time I pick Matt up from work and we head over to the doctor's office.

Me at 41 weeks exactly 

Headed out the door to the doctor

When we get there I am given a non-stress test and ultrasound to confirm that everything is okay. I even told Matt on the way over that I had a feeling she would talk induction and we would have no part in that; especially because I was already in (early) labor. Everything seems to go okay during our appointment until the doctor walks in the room. She immediately tells us that she has bad news and that "something is wrong with our son". She says he has pockets of swelling on his body and she has no idea what that means. She mentioned a condition called, "hydrops", but said she really didn't think that was it. She wanted us to go straight to the hospital "and get this baby out immediately". We asked her if this was our only option and she said, "We can wait a couple days and do another ultrasound, but if in that time it gets worse, you will have to figure out if you will ever be able to forgive yourself". I started bawling and Matt and I discussed it and decided to go to the hospital. She called the hospital and told them I was on the way and to administer "Cytotec", to which I screamed, "NO CYTOTEC" (look it up, scary stuff), and changed it for me to be administered "Cervidil". Apparently, the hospital was completely full of women being induced that night. She did a membrane sweep and told me I was 3cm and 50% effaced and she would see me "well before morning time". With that, Matt and I drove 45 minutes back to our apartment, grabbed our bags, and headed all the way back to the hospital.

We got checked in to the hospital at around 6pm and immediately faced some challenges. This particular hospital has labor tubs and when I requested a room with one, we were given a weird look and told they didn't have one available. I told them that was fine, but the second one became available I would want to be moved in there because I was not doing this without a tub. They ended up finding a room with a tub, but it just had to be cleaned. The nurse assigned to me (nurse #1) was nice-ish, but not overly so and ended up being a huge bitch. She and the lab tech ended up making a comment to me when asked my due date that it was impossible for me to be 41 weeks because no one is allowed to go past their due date without being induced.

Around 8pm nurse 1 placed the Cervidil and began me on the monitors. All my contractions were concentrated at the bottom of the uterus and not the top. I told her this after she placed the contraction monitor at the top of my belly and she told me that it didn't matter and it would pick all of them up. After an hour or so I begged to get up and walk around because the contractions were horrible in the bed. While Matt and I were roaming the halls, I was in such extreme pain it was hard to handle and would have to stop and rest a second, but I noticed it wasn't as much contraction hurt as just pain in my vagina. After a few laps I couldn't handle it anymore and we headed back to the room. I asked nurse 1 if I could get in the tub and she told me no because of the cervidil. I had already asked my doctor if it was okay and now I was asking the nurse to call the doctor and confirm it because I was going to get in....

I got back to the room, went to the bathroom, and my Cervidil fell out which made me feel a little better. When I told the nurse this, she inserted another one and it was so painful and raw inside that I let out a little cry. Nurse 1 offered me a sleeping pill and I declined it because I had heard of women taking a sleeping pill and then their water breaking and they did their whole delivery in a fog. Plus, I just really don't like taking medicine. I was in so much pain in my vagina that I asked for an ice pack to put up there. Numbing it was the only thing I could do to try and cope with the pain. She also informed me at this point that my contractions were barely a blip on the screen and that they would be spiking all the way to the top before this was over with. I felt defeated already and ended up crying myself into a halfway asleep daze...

Around 3 am on Wednesday, January 18th, I got a new nurse (nurse #2), the first thing she said to me was "I'm your baby's nurse, not just yours and I do things for your baby first". She must have saw the look on my face, like I had just been slapped (was she accusing me of not doing anything for my son?) and she quickly became very friendly and overall ended up being one of my favorite nurses. I told her about my contractions (now about 3-5 minutes apart) being all on the bottom of my uterus and could she please move the monitor down there just to humor me. When she did that, the contraction monitor made spikes that went almost all the way to the top. I finally felt like I wasn't perceived as a huge liar and making up how strong my contractions were. Around 4 or 5am the nurse told me I could get in the tub and what sweet relief that was. After about 45 minutes of soaking I felt like I was a new person with renewed strength and I could get through this.

At 6:30 am (a full 24 hours of labor), my doctor finally showed up and we decided to break my water because I was still only at 3cm and 50% effaced. After that my contractions really picked up pace, about 1-3 minutes apart, and strengthened in intensity. The rest is kind of a blur between getting in and out of the tub, bouncing on the birthing ball, and getting cervical checks.

Around 3pm, the doctor comes in and I am still 3cm and only 75% effaced. I am devastated. She says that it's time to start Pitocin. I begged for them to promise me that they would not give me a huge dose or up it really quickly. I wanted it to mimic the natural progression of oxytocin as much as possible. I wasn't allowed back in the tub anymore and my contractions were right on top of each other and some even with double peaks. My back labor was intense and even the hospital massage therapist doing counter pressure didn't seem to help. I gave up. I let the nervousness of introducing Pitocin take over my mind, my hypnobirthing strategies were out the window, and I was exhausted.

 The doctor came in around 5:30pm, checked me and I was still only 3cm and maybe 90% effaced, and told me that basically I had to have the epidural. She said that there was no way I was going to make it 10cm and be able to push because I was so mentally and physically tired. I was bawling my eyes out, but consented to the epidural because I desperately needed relief and also because I didn't want to come this far and not make it. That next 30 minutes before the anesthesiologist arrived was the longest, hardest 30 minutes because I was so far past having any mental strength left, it took everything I had to hobble along. I now had a new nurse (nurse #3) for about an hour, who was a kind older woman, who was so gentle and sweet. When the anesthesiologist finally got there around 6pm (hour 36 of labor) I was hysterical and saying "What am I doing, I don't want this". I think they had to ask me a few times if I really wanted it because they were getting such mixed signals. The epidural was awful. I hated every second of not being able to feel my lower half. The only positive thing was that I did get to slip in and out of a very light sleep for about an hour and a half.


Vance's Birth Story (part 2).... coming soon!