Originally posted on the September 2005 Expecting Club on iVillage

Tuesday Sept 27 was my 40 week 5 day apt. Had an NST and my exam. Baby was fine, my blood pressure was 154 over 100, so ... I was sent to the hospital to be induced. I cried on my way out of the doctor's office, realizing that this would make my birthing experience a lot less natural than I had hoped, but, the situation warranted induction, and I was showing absolutely no signs of starting anything on my own.

We were at the hospital at 4pm; they started the pitocin drip at 4:45pm. Contractions started pretty fast, even though the monitor didn't pick up much. After a few hours I was told to stay off my back, since the baby didn't like it, her heart rate would drop too much. That was really too bad, because I was able to manage the contractions well while sitting/leaning back.

I got up to go to the bathroom at 7:30pm, feeling a little wet, that's when my water broke. What a wonderful gooey feeling that was ... no one ever told me what it'd feel like to have that warm wet stuff drip out of you during labor. After that the contractions became more intense, and the baby's heart rate kept dropping even more during contractions. Meanwhile, after about 4 hours, I was still only at about 1.5cm. I didn't get many internal exams, but every time a nurse would check I'd get a "oh my this baby's high" (way to make me feel good).

Realizing this was going to take a lot of time, I did opt for the epidural when I was at 2cm. Not being allowed to move from my side made dealing with the contractions very hard. I wasn't allowed to move much at all. The epidural worked well, even though I felt like a wuss for needing it.

Throughout the night it was one adventure of alarms going off due to the baby's low heart rate during a contraction, moving the pit up or down or even turning it off at times. Because I had to be on my side, the monitors didn't pick up my contractions that well. But at some point I started feeling them again, and I liked it that way, that way when the alarm would go off, I'd know it was because of a contraction. Baby's heart rate showed "great variability" and always went right back up when the contraction was over. My ob suspected there was a cord issue, and with the membranes ruptured, it was causing the baby some problems.

My OB is not one to intervene too easily, so he let labor progress at its own slow pace. About 1 cm every 3 hours, but ... progress is progress. At one point the alarm went off at almost every contraction. The contractions became intense again, and we upped the dose, so I would have to see if they'd show up on the monitor. Until it started pressing on my rectal/vaginal area. The epi didn't work for that.

Finally, at 3 pm on 9/28 I felt the urge to push. Told the nurse at the desk I felt the urge to go to the bathroom (NOT clear enough), my DH ended up calling them telling them that "my wife needs to push right now". It was right at shift change so the nurse that was assigned to me quickly introduced herself and told me I had the best doctor (he delivered her 8 kids) She was really awesome. I could start pushing before the doctor got there.

When he arrived he did a quick check, was still facing sideways (I think) but he could see her head. Pushing went okay, could feel the contractions well, until the baby started her gymnastics stretching up against my rib cage. That pain (even with the epi) was quite intense and it was hard to push through that. It was strong enough to prevent me from feeling the contractions.

Things had to hurry up when the doctor found meconium in the amniotic fluid, baby had just pooped it seemed. He used the vacuum extractor on her twice (DH said that was VERY hard to see). This didn't get her out, but gave me enough help to be able to get her head out on the next contraction. 4:03 pm, cord wrapped around her neck, then out she came, not breathing very well, and so TINY. Overdue and 5 lbs 15 oz. Her first apgars were only 4, but she was pinking up fast. Two neo-natal nurses were working on her to clear her lungs, while I was freaking out about my very little girl.

They let me say hi to her for just a few seconds and whisked her away to the nursery, where they kept her until 8:30 that night. She was breathing too fast, even though she was breathing room air at 99%. They did chest x-rays to see if her lungs were clear (they were). DH and my stepsons went to go get her when the nursery called that we could have our little girl with us. Which was awesome :-)

After DH went to drop the boys off at their mom's house I decided to start nursing, called a nurse (who didn't show up until later, it was a busy day in L&D). I figured, hey, this is my child, I can nurse her if I want too ... Dropped my gown and ... there she went. She's still nursing and causing mom a bit of sore nipple pain. She has not had any supplementation, even though DH is worried I'm getting too tired taking care of her and suggests it from time to time.

The pediatrician who came to see me the morning after her birth told me she's very small, but absolutely perfect. Her initial breathing problems generally solved themselves right away. He also told me to feed her whenever she wants, and not to worry about any schedules at all. She has a very strong sucking reflex. The neo-natologist suggested we stay in the hospital one extra night, because she is so tiny.

We're home now, happy and exhausted. I can't believe that finally after 14 years of wishing and hoping, I'm finally a mom. I'm so insanely grateful for this opportunity, I just think about that when she latches on and sucks incredibly hard. Last night I fed her every 2 hours, while DH was snoring in the background.

Katelyn Joanna
9/28/2005
19.5 inches
5 lbs 15 ounces