Our Birth Story
Nothing ever goes as planned. Right? Right.
I will try to keep this short and to-the-point…it will still be hella-long.
At approximately 6:45 am on Saturday, April 28th, my water broke which immediately designating me PROM. I was laying in bed and felt something shift and pop. I jumped up saying “something is wrong” as water gushed all over the floor.
I put a towel between my legs like a diaper and called the midwives.
They were supportive but concerned and warned me that this may be a harder-than-normal process since labor had not yet started.
We tried to stay calm, eat breakfast, and tidy the house…as I soaked 3 towels. I had no idea that you continue to gush amniotic fluid for HOURS.
I felt my first contraction in the shower about 2 hours after my membranes ruptured. It was like the BH but slightly lower and more defined.
Around 9:30, they asked me to come into the birth center to check that it was in fact my bag of waters that had broken (no real question) and to make sure she had not turned breech.
We went, it was, she wasn’t….so we came back home.
I labored at home in relative comfort using HypnoBabies until around 5 pm.
The Hubs kept saying…”I can’t believe this is it!” and “Oh no, what have we done?” and “She has to come out somehow.”… etc.
Around 5pm, the contractions were getting quite strong and if I walked around, they were 3 minutes apart for 30-45 seconds. If I sat still, they would space themselves back out to 8-10 minutes apart. Unfortunately, because of the PROM, we were on a 24-hour clock until c-section time.
At 7pm, we went back to the birth center to get checked and attempt to speed up labor while there. After laboring all day, the midwife could push me to about 2 cms. Talk about disheartening.
We decided to stay there and walk non-stop and sit on the toilet, both of which made the contractions come 2-3 minutes apart for 45-60 seconds each. At midnight, she could push me to 3-3.5 cms. At 3 am, I was going to have to get antibiotics, so we decided to keep going and recheck then. At around 2 am, it was one contraction on top of another…and I was still 3.5 cms—almost 4. I was exhausted and the midwife suggested we consider going to the hospital because she believed I was just not going to dilate…and my time was quickly running out. She thought perhaps Stadol would help me relax.
Off through the underground tunnel we went. I was disappointed but it was obvious that my body was not cooperating. The Stadol did nothing. I labored another hour…still 4 cms. Bring on the epidural. After 20+ hours of contractions…blessed stillness. 3+ hours later, completely relaxed but still able to move my legs…and I was STILL 4 cms.
The hospitalist OB gave my midwife and me a C-section cutoff of noon. If I wasn’t dilated to 10 cms by then, C-section. The midwife suggested a pitocin augmentation (not considered an induction because I was already 4 cms). Fine. Pitocin…2, 4, 8, 16….
I was 7 cms by 9 am. 10 cms by 10am. Score!
I labored down for about 2 hours. My epidural ran out.
I pushed her out in an hour and a half with NO tear!!!! (massage, counter pressure, and oil were being used)
Mabel Alice was born at 2:53 pm on April 29th.
I believe if I had been attended by an OB, I would have had a C-section long before 3 pm.
Now for the kicker…
Within 20 minutes of her being born, my cervix shut back down to 3 cms…retaining my placenta.
The midwife had no luck coaxing it out. The hospitalist was called into the room.
she was a beautiful, super-tall amazon. She didn’t know my epidural had run out. She thought my cervix was still soft even though it was only 3 cms. She rammed her fingers through my cervix…I screamed and leaped up flailing off the bed. The pain far surpassed my pressure waves. My husband turned white as a sheet and a nurse turned to him and said “Your poor wife.” Never a good sign.
Oddly enough, the one time I got violently ill during my pregnancy was after reading about Oak’s retained placenta, although mine was more standard with the cord intact.
Anyhoo…apparently I was gushing blood and the OB yelled for me to be sent to OR. Off I went. Because of my large fibroid, they made me sign a waiver for a c-section, even though I had already delivered my baby girl, AND a hysterectomy JUST IN CASE. At this point, I kind of lost it. A very kind nurse who had been with me all along, helped me reign in my emotions.
The OB started the surgery before the anesthesiologist had bolused my epidural…so more pain. Then she yelled at the him….AWKWARD. Needless to say, he did something and I went completely numb from the belly button down.
Then she removed my placenta in 2 pieces without having to cut me open…using an ultrasound, and lastly, I had a D&C.
**Mabel didn’t tear me but the OB gave me a second degree tear!!!** Ugh.
Off to recovery and my baby girl.
What a crazy ride!
Totally worth it.
She is here…
It was a really hard road to get to this place…but we made it.
Miss Mabel Arrived:
April 29th @ 2:53 pm
6 lbs, 12 ounces
Gory details later….
Her (My) Small, Colorful Nursery
So Mabel, who we keep calling Mayblee, gets the smallest bedroom. She is the smallest family member so we figured this made sense. In reality, it is really my room. I arranged and decorated it how I like things, which isn’t saying much. The room is small but doable. We spent almost nothing. Between Mr. Ology’s kind sister, Salvation Army, stuff from other rooms and my mom (hello, CB rug:), we were pretty much covered.
The Overall Room:
Walking in from Left to right…
The crib with the requisite Ugly Doll. NOTE: Have you seen Zip Sheets? LOVE! Very excited about them.
A sheet encases the mattress and a waterproof pad attached via SUPER STRONG Velcro to the top. So, when she leaks, I can just rip off the top pad and replace it with another!
On to the Salvation Army dresser…
We are set-up to use disposable diapers for the first 2-3 weeks and have 0-3 month clothes and sleepers in the dresser.
The clear bucket has all our cloth Grovia Hybrids and BG AIO diapers. It is sitting on top of the poof that goes in front of the rocker, when nursing time gets here.
Tiny clothes in the closet.
Comfy glider with breast-feeding supplies close at hand.
Lastly, we have everything set-up in our bedroom as well…
We think she will sleep here at night for the first 6 weeks or so…
Exciting!
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