God blessed me with a very easy, run-of-the-mill pregnancy, complete with going past my due date! Our little girl was due February 6th, and didn't arrive until February 19th! Almost 2 weeks late!
Here's the story!
I was 9 days "overdue" and had set a date to begin induction. Me and my loving husband went to the hospital Thursday (the 16th) to begin Cervadil, a prostaglandin insert. They finally put in the Cervadil after trying to find a vein for an IV. It took them FIVE tries, and me getting nauseous! I was nervous, because if I couldn't handle the silly IV, how was I going to handle going through labor without meds?
The cervadil was put in around 10:30 PM and I started having mild crampy contractions almost right away. But since I had the Cervadil in, I wasn't allowed to get up and walk around, until I got up and used the restroom before they started the pitocin. So that night was AWFUL, and I didn't really sleep much.
At 6 AM they came in and started me on Pitocin. We started at a low dose, and my doula came in right after they started the drip. The contractions weren't that bad! There wasn't much for my doula to do. We got from a "dimple" cervix, to the nurse being able to put her finger in, to a solid 1 by the time afternoon rolled around. I was disappointed that was only as far as we'd gotten, but tried to stay positive. They had the pitocin on its minimum setting because my body reacted well to it, and much higher and the contractions were coming too quickly and stressing the baby.
So we keep going and by 7 PM there hasn't been any more progress. We're at a stand still. We decide to turn off the pit, let me eat, and get some sleep, and then start again in the morning.
I did take some stadol (sp?) to help me sleep because I was still having contractions after they turned off the pitocin. My hubby has a video of me talking because that stuff knocked me out almost immediately and talking through it was HARD!!! But I slept pretty well!
Friday they started me on pitocin at 5 AM, and we started walking, and moving, and trying to stay active. We got all the way to 4 cms by the time noon hit, and they still kept the pit pretty low, it was only set to 2 (and it is often set to like 20 or 30). The contractions started to get more painful, and I had to think about breathing through them. At about noon, my water broke and it was meconium-stained, but Seraphina tolerated the pit-induced contractions REALLY well, and we could watch her "tracing" on the fetal monitor and see that she was okay. We got all the way to 6 cms, but the contractions weren't getting me much farther than that. So the Doctor suggested we put in an intrauterine pressure catheter to see how strong the contractions actually were (it's much more accurate than the machine with the belts since it sits in the uterus and can be zeroed out). It was good that we did, because it revealed that the contractions were about half the strength they needed to be to cause major changes so we upped the pitocin to 3, and then after a few minutes of watching the baby's heartrate, we upped it again to 6.
The pitocin set to 6 caused contractions without breaks between them and was stressing out the baby, so it was turned down to 5. The doctor suggested we try an epidural to help me relax, but I wasn't sure that was what I wanted to do, so me and my hubby and my doula prayed about it, and decided to keep trying. They had to replace my IV which was LAME. It started to make my hand swell so they had to move it to the other hand. Although they got a smaller needle this time and got it on the first try. I was so relieved. The IV was terrible!
My mantra through the really tough contractions was Philippians 4:13. "I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me." I started saying it over and over through the really tough contractions, telling myself mentally that if I can make it to the peak, I can make it through the contraction. And I did. But when I was checked again at 9pm, I was still a 6. I was so disappointed, and I decided to try the epidural. Apparently my body needed the threat of the epidural, because I started having REALLY strong contractions over the next hour and a half. When they came to do the epi, I sat through it and that REALLY sucked, then after they placed it, the nurse checked me and would you believe it, I had gotten to NINE cm in one hour! I was SO FRUSTRATED! I was so close to going med-free, so they offered to turn off the epi, and let it wear off. I decided this was what I wanted to do. The epi never really had time to get to my uterus, so I was still feeling contractions, just my backside was numb, and my feet felt like they had fallen asleep.
So we let the epi wear off. And when the nurse came back in thirty minutes I was a complete 10!!! The baby was only at +1 station though, so I had to "labor the baby down" as the nurses called it.
Pushing wasn't that fun, but it did help me get through the contractions to have something to do with them. My doula suggested we try a different position or two once I got the feeling back in my legs, and then we rolled over onto my back with my knees in the air to get the baby down further (not flat lithotomy position, but with my back propped up). The nurse felt for the baby and suggested that we move my head down some more to make sure I wasn't pushing the baby towards the rectum, but out the birth canal. So we did that.
And then we started getting really close! My DH and my doula held my legs for me while I pushed the baby down and my DH held one foot while I actually pushed the baby out. I started getting so excited when they called the doctor in and the room started to fill up with nurses and pediatrics! I knew I was close then! I labored down for about two hours, and actually pushed her out in about an hour! I couldn't believe it when she actually came out! I couldn't believe it was finally over!!! She was covered in meconium, but they didn't have to do anything more than use the suction bulb to get it out of her mouth and nose. The doctor laid her on my chest and I got to see her pretty little face for the first time.
She is so beautiful. She has TONS of dark hair, that I'm hoping doesn't fall out, because it is beautiful. Her eyes are such a dark blue me and DH disagre on what color they actually are, but she'll probably end up with dark brown eyes like I have.
She weighs 7 lbs, 13 oz, and is 21 inches long! (the ultrasound we had at the beginning of the week said 8lbs 1 oz, so it was pretty close!). She measured at 14.5 inches for head circumference. I LOVED my Doctor. He did his job well, suggesting interventions, but not pressuring me on them, allowing us time to consider everything and giving overall good advice. I'm so thankful that after two days of induction, my little girl is here and doing well!
(The first time Daddy got to hold her.)
I couldn't wait to bring her home!
I was also very sore! Not in the places you'd expect, but my legs, and my back and my arms even from all the different positions I was in! That was the worst part.
But in the end, I got the natural childbirth I was hoping for, even though I faltered a little bit. I am so thankful for a healthy baby and to be going home tomorrow!!! And I couldn't have done it without my AWESOME doula and my sweet Husband. They were incredible through the whole thing.
(Our Doula, Angel, with Seraphina!)
Going home outfit!
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