So most of you already know Cooper's birth story but for those who don't, here it is. I'll make this a condensed version...
I was 10 days overdue when I went in to be checked on Sunday the 19th. At my last doc appointment I hadn't dilated at all and they were planning to use prostin gel to help my cervix soften before I got induced the next day. When I went in they determined I didn't need the gel because I was 2cm dilated. So they asked me to call the next morning at 6am to find out when they wanted me to come in for the induction. I called at 6am, but they were too busy and asked me to call back at 8am. So I called at 8am and they said to come in at 10am. We went in at 10am, and they got us settled in a room but no one came to see us for about an hour. When the first midwife came to check me she said I was actually only 1cm dilated now and that she couldn't break my waters because his head was down but not quite in my pelvis. She wanted to wait for a doctor to see me to decide what to do next. So we waited... The doctor who came to see me told me they had decided to use the prostin gel and then check me again in 4-5 hours. The gel started contractions about 3-4 minutes apart, during which I had no pain relief. This went on for about 8-9 hours before I asked if I could have a bath to help with the pain. The hospital had these huge birthing tubs which I had planned originally on using for a water birth! At least I got to use it during labor.
So I was in the bath for about an hour and a half. I was still in a lot of pain, but loved the weightlessness of the bath. I even floated on my belly for awhile. It was a BIG tub ;) After I got out, I started to have real trouble coping with the pain so I asked for the gas+air. They set that up for me, but to be honest it really didn't help with the pain. Just made me a little loopy. But I was clutching that tube and would NOT let go JUST IN CASE it started working! I told the midwife after awhile that it wasn't helping and I needed something else, so she said "would you like me to turn it up?" I'm like HUH??? Why didn't you give me full strength from the beginning!!! Anyway, she turned it up which did help a tiny bit with the pain and made me even more loopy.
After about an hour of that (and the doctor who was supposed to come back in 4 hours STILL had not seen me) they informed me that they were extremely busy and didn't want to break my waters because they were too understaffed to take care of me properly in case something were to go wrong. Since his head was high they would have to do an ARM (assisted rupture of membranes) and this is risky and could result in cord prolapse. They suggested I get morphine to help me sleep and the doctors would check on me in the morning....
So, this created a bit of a snowball effect. After they gave me morphine there was an issue with Cooper's heartbeat. They needed to do internal fetal monitoring where they attach a clip to his head, but my waters were still intact so this meant they had to break my waters. I was on morphine and still sucking on the gas - the morphine wasn't helping. They did the ARM, and then tried 3 times to get the clip on his head. The first two times they thought it wasn't attached, but actually it was just the machine that wasn't working. After they did that, I decided it was time for an epidural. I remembered what my sister told me about how if you end up needing a c section but waited too long to request an epidural you would probably have to be put under for the operation. I wanted to be awake when he was born and I could tell things were not looking good. So they stopped everything and got the epidural for me. It took an hour. So next the doctors come in and tell us they are not happy with how Cooper is doing and they need to get a blood sample from him to check his levels of lactic acid. This is where they insert a big needle to get blood from his head. When they came in to do this they said it normally is extremely painful but since I had the epidural I should be fine. No. I had the morphine, the epidural, still sucking on the gas, and I could feel everything. Oh and they did that twice. At this stage they realized that the epidural was not working and that I needed more. It took three more doses and combinations to get it working.
The results of the blood test came back and they were not good, so they recommended a c section. They were still trying to get the epi working up until I got down to the operating room. They finally got it working enough so they didn't have to put me under thank goodness. Dan was there and I was terrified. I kept asking him to talk to me about something else, so we talked about his birthday which was 2 days later. When they finally got him out (it took three of them pushing to get his head out) all of the docs said "Woah!! This is a BIG baby!" And then they proceeded to start betting on how much he would weigh.
Cooper was born on September 21st at 4:27am. He weighed 9lb 15ozs. My little unit :) He scored 9 both times on the APGAR, and Dan cut the umbilical chord. "Mr. I can't stand the site of blood" did extremely well and was so supportive.
As traumatizing as it was, I would do it all again. He is perfect. Looks just like his Daddy :)
Wow! What a story! So glad everything turned out so great in the end AND that it hasn't deterred you from doing it again! Congrats, Courtney!
ReplyDeleteMan Court, I had no idea! Im so glad you and the baby are okay. Makes me nervous...
ReplyDeleteYou will be fine hun I'm sure :)
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