Happy Birthday...40 Hours Later

Today is my son's 1st Birthday. Wow has time flown by as all of you parents can attest to. To re-live and celebrate our special day, I decided to re-post my crazy birth story! So here it goes...

Tuesday September 13th. Wake up and did one of my great work out videos! This had become a daily routine for me, and I must say, helped me a lot during pregnancy. I never got any swelling and felt great the entire time, I guess that is where the story starts to go down hill. If you have any easy pregnancy, usually the labor isn't as friendly! Anyways, back to the story....the previous night I had been really crampy, but nothing new just laid down and slept it off. Got up did my video and still kinda felt weird and tired, but then again I was now 1 week overdue...41 weeks pregnant = 10 months and 1 week!!!!! Muddled through the video got myself together, packed my lunch and off to work I went.

Got to work around 9am when I started to feel what I thought were contractions. So I started writing them down on a piece of paper...they were 1.5 to 2 minutes apart. I thought "they aren't supposed to be this close together yet." So I sat at my desk working, trying as much as I could to get something done. By 11am with consistent contractions for 2 hours, I decided this is it!!! I called the hubby who was at work and told him to come get me!! Oh wait...I forgot...I told the girls at work that I would drive myself home......ha ha ha....they were like.....NO YOUR NOT!!! I am stubborn, can you tell? So I walked around the office to help myself with the contractions....this is when my coworker said...."you are having back labor aren't you." Oh no....I have heard the horrors about back labor, and indeed I was!!! Great!! The beginning of the end. 

The hubby finally got there to pick me up...I told him I don't want to go to the hospital yet, I want to go home and take a shower!! The doctors had advised that I do most of the labor at home because it would be more comfortable, so home we went!! It was a rough car ride with contractions every 1-2 minutes! Got home and got in the shower, until the hot water ran out (20 minutes). Then laid on the bed for another hour or two getting through the contractions. For me, since I had back labor, I found that being on hand and knees helped the most with the contractions!! Finally around 3 pm we called the doctor and updated them on our status. They said to head to the hospital.

All I can say about the car ride to the hospital...it was LONG!!! Finally get there, and the valet guys are hustling me out of the car....do they not do this on a regular basis? I am in labor!!!!! I have to wait for inbetween the contractions!! Luckily my husband was like "give her a break, she's in labor with contractions every 1-2 minutes." He put them in their places!!!

I get up to the room you go before you get admitted...they examine me...I was 2 cm dilated, but when they hooked me up to the monitor they were concerned because I was contracting so often. Oh, I forgot to mention, I was a high risk pregnancy as it is...so there was a little concern. I get hooked up to more monitors for a Stress Test on the baby, and he is not cooperating = I fail the test! This is the second time we failed a stress test, so nothing new, I knew the routine! Now I have to go for a 30 min ultrasound to make sure the baby is moving ok...unfortunately they did not see what they wanted to see, so I was going to be admitted either way. But after all the testing, they rechecked me and I was 4 cm...moving right along, or so I thought!

I must say, I was glad they admitted me because I was nervous they would send me home. I heard lots of stories from people going to the hospital too early and having to walk around for hours, or go home!! I was determined this wouldn't happen to me! I also must say that the admitting nurse was kind of nasty! She thought I was being a baby until she saw how often I was contracting, and saw that I was having back labor....she then changed her whole tune!! Thank GOD the rest of the nurses I had were AWESOME!!

So I get the corner suite (as I like to call it) and I continue laboring through the contractions. I sit on the ball for awhile which didn't help at all..then I got into the shower!!! This shower was way better than mine because it had HOT water that could last for days!!!!!!! Ahhhh...was in the shower for probably about 2 hours...then they had to drag me out to get checked again....still 4 cm...bummer....back to the shower I go...a few more hours. Now we are closing in on midnight and they re-check me...still 4-5 cm. Great....I see how this is going to go!! I am already 15 hours in, haven't eaten anything all day, and have been having contractions every 1-2 minutes the entire time!!! Back to the shower..... 

A few hours later, some bright doctor decides they are going to try and break my water...key word being Try. After  at least 30 minutes and 3 unsuccessful attempts, I still have an intact water! Great!!!! Next I am told that because I have spina bifida occulta (a spinal defect) that I can't have an epidural (which was different from what I was told at my anesthesia consult)....so at this point, my only options for pain control are a low dose of some type of morphine cocktail, and a spinal tap (which I am limited to 2). Great options right!!! So I opt for the morphine which knocked me out...and somewhere in between the morphine and me knocking out, they decided to try and break my water again! Not sure how long it took because.....I was knocked out!! But they did break my water...I woke up to them saying thats meconium right!! Oh great that can't be good! I am then checked again a few hours later and it is about 9am...still 4-5 cm...Really? I have been in labor for 24 hours with no progress!!! 

At that point, I use my first Spinal Tap....so now I am anxious because I only have 1 left once this wears off. The difference between a Spinal Tap and Epidural is that the spinal is 1 shot that totally numbs for 1-2 hours where the Epidural is constantly attached and they can keep pumping more into you for hours on end!! I then see another doctor at 9am who strips my membranes, and they start me on pitocin..they assure me that this will progress the labor. Here I am 24 hours in with no progress!!! 

Hours go by, and midday on Wednesday Sept 14th, I tell them I want an epidural!!!! Let me remind you that the only pain meds I had was one spinal tap that lasted 1.5 hours and morphine which "takes the edge off" for 30-45 minutes!!! So in total about 2 hours of pain relief in...lets see...27 hours!!! I demand an epidural....I said "my anestheiologist said I could have an epidural...go find him and ask." Sure enough they found him, and he ok'd it!! Yeah!!! 

So now I have a catheter and a monitor inserted in me to monitor the strength of the contractions. Most uncomfortable thing ever...it felt like all day, they were just waiting for me to do something...like have a baby....and I wasn't getting any closer! By this time the pitocin was to the Maximum dose I could have! Still no progress!! But it all came crashing down when I developed a fever and infection from having my water broke so long ago!! They also had to stop the pitocin because my son's heartrate went sky high!!! Great....so am I ever going to have this baby??

Finally, the same shift of night doctors comes on again...boy were they surprised to see me...one of them said "the entire floor has come and gone...and you are still here." Nice to hear at 36 hours in! So lets recap...on antibiotics, have a fever, bed ridden with 1 monitor and 1 catheter in me, can't have pitocin anymore, no food for 36 hours...and still only 5cm! Oh wait, and the baby is "sunny side up" or head up, which is why I am having back labor. Did I mention that I have 2 uterus'? The baby is in the right uterus...which always complicates things even more.

The night doctors says that she wants to check me again. She now says that I am 6-7cm dilated. She was happy with that progress...I said to her..."how long are you going to let this fun continue? When do we say enough is enough and I get a c-section?" She said, "that's up to you, but you have made progress since 24 hours ago (4 cm)." She then got rushed out of the room for an emergency c-section and my husband and I had to make the decision.

We prayed together and I said "God, give me a clear sign of what you want to happen." Yes, I was demanding from God! After about an hour, there was no sign, but my mom, husband and I (hesitantly) said lets do the c-section. We let the nurse know, who said it would be a few hours because there were 2-3 c-sections in front of me. I got a little sleep, had some ice chips (tasted like ice cream) and then was prepped for surgery. In fact they wanted to pull the epidural out, and give me another spinal tap, but thankfully that was overruled by the chief anesthesiologist! 

As the nurse was pulling out the monitor I had inside she says "huh, that's weird, there is pressure on the monitor." I said "what does that mean?" She says "I want the doctor to check you out before you go in for surgery because it could mean that the baby has gone into the birth canal." So the doctor comes in again and checks me....I am 9-10 cm dilated! Yeah!!! But she then proceeds to tell me that I will have to have a c-section because of a complication because of the 2 uterus'. But I did get my answer to prayer, a pretty clear answer if you ask me! So all this way....40 hours of labor, dilating to 10cm and I have to have a c-section...bummer!!! Oh well...at least I would meet my son soon!!!

I was prepped and they brought me into surgery...with a few complications (I will save that story for another day) and 3 hours later, my son was born on Thursday September 15th at around 2am!!! He did have to be in the NICU for a 3 days, but was healthy afterwards! Thank God! After a 7 day visit to the hospital, my hubby and I finally returned home with our huge blessing!!!