Birth Story

Well, we have been home from the hospital for over a week now and are starting to settle in. I still can't believe how amazing it is to be a mother. So far she has been a really great baby, fingers crossed it stays that way (knock on wood). I thought I'd go ahead and document her birth story while it is still fresh in my memory.

It all started on Wed, Oct. 14th at my weekly doctor appointment. I went in knowing the Doctor was concerned that I had developed pre-eclampsia and that there was a possibility she would want to induce. While there she decided to send me over to the hospital for further testing. The tests came back ok, so they sent me home. However, I was to return the next day for more testing.

On Thurs, Oct. 15th the tests came back elevated and after about 3 hours of waiting the doctor decided that we needed to go ahead and induce. I called Justin and our parents to deliver the news. Immediately our parents got on booking last minute flights to join us for the birth. The nurses waited to start the cervadil until Justin got there, which was around 9pm Thursday night.

In the morning on Fri, Oct. 16th the nurses let me take a shower and soon after began administering the pitocin. My doctor came in to check my progress at around 10:00am. I was only about 2cm dilated but she went ahead and broke my water. She said that I could go ahead and have the epidural whenever I like. After discussing it with Justin, I decided to go ahead with the epidural.

Unfortunately, I happen to be one of those women in which the epidural never really took, and when it did it was patchy. Throughout the day I progressed from 2cm to 4cm, from 4cm to 6cm, and finally 10cm by 6:00pm in the evening. By that time I was ready to start pushing I was feeling quite a bit of pain, so the anesthesiologist came in and gave me an "emergency" dose. This time the epidural worked too well. I couldn't feel anything, which made pushing very difficult. I pushed and pushed and just wasn't progressing. After about an hour the doctor decided to turn off the epidural so I could regain some feeling to help me push. The feeling came back pretty quickly and before I knew it, I was not only very exhausted from pushing but also feeling the pain at full force. Sadly, I was still not progressing. One problem was that the baby was sunny side up, so the doctor kept trying to turn her so she could better fit through the pelvic bone. However, every time the doctor flipped her, a few moments later she would flip right back. After a total of 3 hours pushing and no progress the doctor suggested a cesarean section. By this time I was fine with this decision. I was extremely exhausted, frustrated, and in quite a bit of pain.

The anesthesiologist came back in and said that the epidural had completely worn off and I was feeling all the pain. The time between deciding to have a c-section and getting the new epidural was by far the worst pain. The contractions were coming very quickly, but I just had to sit through them instead of pushing.

Finally, they wheeled me to the O.R. Justin was instructed to wait in a little room outside, and they would get him when they were ready to start. It seemed like it took awhile for everything to get prepared. Justin said he was in the little room for about 30min. They administered the new epidural and I soon started to feel relief. They did a couple tests to make sure I couldn't feel anything, and then everything went really fast. I started asking, "Where's Justin?" and they said "We are getting him right now." The next thing I knew the anesthesiologist told me they had made the incision. Justin was holding me hand. Soon they told Justin to stand up so he could see his daughter being born.

Finally I heard her cry, it was such an amazing feeling and I started to cry as well. They held her up above the dressing, so I could see her. Unfortunately, I still couldn't see very well because of the angle and I remember asking, "Does she have hair?". They said yes.

Justin accompanied her while they did the Apgar and cleaned her up. She scored 8 & 9 (an overachiever from the start ;) Soon she was in his arms. The two of them returned to my side and I was filled with joy. The anesthesiologist asked if I would like to hold her. This surprised me, as I thought I wouldn't get a chance to hold her until I was in recovery. I was so excited. Justin helped get me situated and soon I was holding my little girl! It was the most wonderful feeling I have ever had. I fell in love instantly.

Shortly after Justin and Raven were off to the nursery. It took about 30min more to finish up my surgery, but I was eventually wheeled off to recovery. There they told me that I had something called cephalopelvic disproportion (CPD), which means my pelvis is too small for a baby to pass through. The doctor said since Raven was a rather small baby (only 6lbs, 8oz), it was unlikely I would ever be able to have a vaginal birth. The CPD diagnosis left me with mixed emotions, but all in all everything was worth it to be able to hold my beautiful, healthy baby girl.