Labor started at about 4am Monday morning. I waited a little bit to make sure it was the real thing before waking Jake. Then we showered and gathered the items that still needed to be packed in our hospital bag. I ate a big helping of clam chowder for breakfast before we left for the hospital since they only allow clear liquids once you get there.
When we arrived at about 8:30am, I was dilated to about 4.5 so they admitted me and took us to a labor room. I had told them I wanted an epidural, so we waited for them to get it started. I was glad I said something right away because by the time they had it in, my pain was getting bad. The guy who put it in was being trained and took 30-40 minutes to do it. I think this was around 11am, and by 1pm I was dilated to 8 or 9.
In those two hours, we had a bit of a scare. I had been listening to the baby's heart monitor and noticed that the heart rate was slowing and then returning to normal. I asked the nurse about it, and she said it was normal for the heart rate to decrease during contractions as long as it returned to normal when the contraction finished. A little later, I was keeping an ear out when the heart rate almost completely stopped. My nurse barged in with at least half a dozen other people and had me put on an oxygen mask (which I wore for the rest of my labor) and turn over onto my hands and knees. They told me that the cord may be getting pinched in different positions. They watched me through a couple contractions before deciding the baby's heart rate still was not responding well.
The OB on call came in to tell me they were taking me to the operating room. She said not to panic because this did not mean I was definitely going to have a C-section, but they needed to take me in there so they could act quickly if the baby's heart rate didn't get better. They wheeled me out, leaving Jake behind. It was very scary. There were a lot of people bustling about the OR moving me around and trying to keep me untangled from all of the tubes and cords attached to me. I don't know how long I was in there before they decided I could return to the labor room.
At around 4pm I was completely dilated and almost ready to start pushing. It was around this time when I noticed my epidural was wearing off. I had them give me more meds through it, but the pain kept getting worse. After I had been pushing for about 2.5 hours without pain relief, they realized my epidural had fallen out and would have to be reinstalled. Luckily, the mentor from my previous epidural put this second one in alone in about 10 minutes because I didn't think I could hold still enough through those contractions for 30-40 minutes.
Once my epidural was in, they decided to have me take a nap for an hour to rest up for more pushing. They had been propping me up on alternating sides with the first epidural to balance the medication on both sides. But this time no one came to roll me to the other side, and I could tell that the propped up side was feeling more and more. So I called the nurse to come roll me. As soon as I rolled the baby's heart rate started acting up again, so she immediately rolled me back. I had only rested for about 20 minutes before they decided I should start pushing again to get the baby out soon. Since I couldn't roll to the other side to get the epidural meds over there, I was again pushing without pain relief. I was completely miserable, and after 2.5 hours of more pushing, the baby's heart was just not doing well. The OB came in again to tell me we were going to the OR, and this time the C-section was really happening.
Since Jake was the only thing helping me hold it at all together through contractions at this point, I pretty much lost it when they took me away from him. I was terrified and in horrible pain. In the OR they started working on my epidural to get my pain relieved before starting the surgery. They kept adjusting the medication and testing my sensation, but they were struggling to get me numb enough for the operation. At this point the OB told the anesthesiologists that she could only give them 2-3 minutes or they would have to put me under because they needed to get the baby out. They finally got it working just in time.
Before the surgery began they had told us that we wouldn't be able to see the baby right away once she was born. There had been meconium (baby poop) in my waters, and they needed to make sure that the baby had not aspirated any of it. They said the baby might not cry but that would be good because crying would make aspiration (?) more likely.
They brought Jake in to be with me once the surgery started. After a few minutes we asked what was going on, and apparently the baby was already out but no one had told us. She was born at 9:52pm. It turns out that the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice and her body once. I guess all of those gymnastics she did in there got her all tangled up, which is why her heart rate kept dropping.
We asked how she was doing, but everyone said they didn't know. It was pretty scary. Finally someone came over to tell us that the meconium wasn't a problem, and they asked if Jake wanted to stay with me or go see the baby. I told him to go be with her. I was catnapping while they stitched me up anyway since I was completely exhausted.
A few minutes later Jake and a nurse came back to say that the baby wasn't retaining oxygen well, and she needed to go to the NICU in a few minutes. I told Jake to go with her. I asked him what she looked like, and he told me she looked like a frog. Haha! Luckily, I was able to hear one little mew from her before they left the room - it was adorable.
I napped on and off through the rest of the surgery, and then they wheeled me into a recovery area where they would monitor me for a couple of hours. I didn't get to hold the baby until two hours after she was born. They brought her to the recovery area about 20 minutes before that and tortured me by making me wait to hold her while they got all of their little armbands (complete with alarms) together to verify that I was the correct mother for this baby. When I finally got to hold her, she was already getting sleepy, but she was adorable, and it was amazing to finally meet her after such a long day.
Natalie and I are both doing very well! Despite all of the struggles she had during and after the birth, she is a healthy and happy baby. I am feeling really good now, too. Funny story: I thought my ankles were swollen when I was pregnant, but they got even worse after Natalie was born. I couldn't get any shoes on my feet! But now they are skinnier than ever - I can't stop looking at them!
Here is the picture I put up during my pregnancy:
And look at them a couple of weeks after Natalie was born:
Anyway, we're glad that both of us ended up healthy and happy!
Natalie and I are both doing very well! Despite all of the struggles she had during and after the birth, she is a healthy and happy baby. I am feeling really good now, too. Funny story: I thought my ankles were swollen when I was pregnant, but they got even worse after Natalie was born. I couldn't get any shoes on my feet! But now they are skinnier than ever - I can't stop looking at them!
Here is the picture I put up during my pregnancy:
This is a few days after Natalie was born (I couldn't wear any shoes!):
And look at them a couple of weeks after Natalie was born:
Anyway, we're glad that both of us ended up healthy and happy!
