All day on Saturday, 12/19, I was wondering if our little one would start making her appearance "on time" (like Mommy) or be late (like Daddy). At our Tuesday appointment with the OB, I was only dilated 1cm and maybe 50% effaced (guessing from what the OB said). We had scheduled a NST for the following Wednesday and talked about possible induction dates if she didn't come before the 27th. I knew as a first-time Mom I might be later, but was prepared for that. We took a long, long walk that day (about 3.5 miles) and took care of lots of things around the house. The only thing on the "to do" list that I didn't get done was vacuum.
At 2am on Sunday, 12/20, I woke from a sound sleep with some menstrual-type cramps and strong pains. By 2:30am, they were not going away and were about 10 minutes apart. I ran into Joe in the hallway (I was sleeping in the guest bedroom so I could spread out with all my pillows!) and told him hat I was cramping and thought I was going into labor. I went downstairs to use my exercise ball and lie on the couch, and told him to go back to bed. He did, but didn't go back to sleep. :)
Between 5am and 10am the contractions slowed to every 30 minutes, and I was worried that this might be "false" labor and they would stop. By 10am, they picked back up and were averaging 5 minutes apart, about 45-50 seconds long. I used the exercise ball and the heat sock, and wasn't doing too badly. That lasted through the afternoon and early evening, and by 5pm the contractions were about 60-70 seconds long and between 4-5 minutes apart. My lower back was starting to hurt, but not too badly.
Around 6pm, we took a short walk around the neighborhood to help me feel better. We looked at the Christmas lights, and when I had a contraction, Joe would help support me. It was such a pretty night, and I really enjoyed getting out of the house. When we got home, I ate some supper and noticed the contractions were getting stronger and closer together. By 10pm, they were about a minute apart and 70 seconds long. I lost my mucous plug around that time, and got very excited!! My back was getting more sore and we were using the heat sock more often. I told Joe it was time to head to the hospital around 11pm.
We got the hospital at 11:30pm and I was dilated 2-3, so they had me walk around some more. After 45 minutes of walking around, I was in pretty excruciating pain and my lower back was killing me. Turns out little Trouble was still posterior and pressing on a nerve. But at least I was dilated 4cm. I couldn't really support myself during my contractions at this point. They were super-strong and because I had no exercise ball and no where I could really get comfortable, I started to feel horrible. Between the sleep deprivation and the lengthy home labor, I was also exhausted.
By the time they got me up to a room, I caved and asked for an epidural. The contractions were amazingly painful. It worked great although was a little strong, I couldn't feel my legs and my contractions slowed down. Unfortunately, after a couple of hours my epidural wore off and when they came in to give me a bolus, the line had moved into a blood vessel and my blood pressure shot up to 174/98, and my ears were ringing. I almost passed out, and they ended up removing the line and giving me a second epidural.
Again, that epidural wore off -- I noticed that it only was working on the left side of my body. The right side of my body was completely normal and felt every contraction and pain. At first I thought I could handle it and at noon, they had me start pushing. I just couldn't do it... the pain was so bad with it only being on one side of my body, and after talking with the head anesthesiologist, I decided on getting the third epidural. It was the last one I could get -- so it was either that or nothing.
It worked great, and wasn't too strong. I pushed and pushed and pushed. Started in curved C position, then did side-lying pushing, and for a half an hour or so, did hands & knees pushing. My cervix still had a small lip on it that was preventing her from coming down, but that finally went away. They were not increasing the pitocin enough, in my hindsight opinion, so my contractions weren't pushing her down enough. She was still posterior, and rotated to the right side of my body.
This is where it gets hazy... the OB comes in (not my regular one, but sadly enough, the one I changed from at the beginning of my pregnancy) and was so annoying. I know he was helping "stretch" me, and that I was so fatigued I could barely push. Joe was amazing, and the nurses were amazing -- kept encouraging me. Eventually they did say they needed to use a vacuum to get her out because she was really wedged in my pelvis. It was the most painful thing I'd ever felt, as the epidural had mostly worn off at that point. But she came out.
And she was beautiful... they put her on my belly and I started to sob. She was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. The nurses had to remind the OB several times that I wanted to let the cord stay intact until it stopped pulsing, and then he cut it. The cord was very small, and my placenta apparently didn't look great, but at that point I didn't care. I had enough energy to push out the placenta and hold my little one. The OB left at some point, saying I was ok. I ended up with one first-degree and two second-degree tears.
At this point I was blissful -- I got two of the three things I wanted. No induction and a vaginal delivery... I'm not ashamed of needing the pain meds!
Things took a turn for bad here....
My tailbone started to hurt, and my pain level spiked. I asked my nurse for help, because I was in so much pain. I even told her I thought I broke my tailbone, and I know I was crying from the pain. The epidural was completely gone at this point, and I was writhing and hurting. The nurse tried to check my uterus but it was too painful, and she couldn't even massage my uterus like she is supposed to after birth. She called in an OB resident and he examined me, and said my uterus was not contracting properly. Then he said something to the effect of needing to get in there and pull out the blood, and he put his hand in *somewhere* and started pulling out blood clots. Big ones. I know I was screaming and crying, and trying to reach down to get him stopped. I begged him to stop. The nurse was so wonderful and got me an order for pain med, and gave it to me through the IV... and then held my hand until the resident was through. Joe said it was a scary amount of blood and clots.
It was finally over, and I was feeling better. We went to our room and got settled in, and at that point it sunk in that my little girl was finally here. When they brought her from the nursery (where she got her first bath), I was amazed at how gorgeous she was.
We stayed the 48 hours in the hospital and then came home. My blood loss was significant... my hemoglobin was 12.3 when I went in the hospital, 10.8 after birth, and then subsequently dropped to 7.3, 6.5, and then the morning before I left, 6.3. I was "borderline" for a transfusion, but I really didn't want to stay another day and so just came home on iron supplements and with strict orders to rest and not walk too much.
Joe has been absolutely amazing, and has taken on so many responsibilities. I couldn't have done this without him. Even with the pain and all the complications, I'm so glad she's here and we're spending this time with her.
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