Birth Story: Rose

Rose Elizabeth

5/3/2013 at 8:58 am

7 lb, 7 oz, 18.5"

Previous visits to L&D at 35 w, 37 w, and 38 w due to contractions/prelabor

At my 39 week Dr appointment I asked Dr Langley to strip my membranes if it was possible. I was sitting at a stretchy 2 cm and 60% effaced so he went ahead. We went to Cruising Grand that night and walked around. I experienced some strong contractions but nothing consistent. We were officially on nervous baby watch. I felt like I had been in labor on and off for weeks and my body and mind were tired. 

My 40 week Dr appointment ended up being with NMW Erin Phillips who did my first prenatal appointment when expecting Jasmine. My blood pressure had been high at my previous appointment and was again at this appointment. At this stage of pregnancy they don't take high bp very lightly. I was taken across the hall for a NST (non stress test) and quick ultrasound to check on amniotic fluid levels. Everything looked well but I was still sent across the parking lot to get labs drawn. Thankfully there was no protein pointing to Pre-E but the elevated bp was still a concern so I was scheduled to be induced that Thursday am.

Thursday am (40 w + 1 d) I received a call from L&D saying they were full so not to come in but to call the charge nurse at 10am to check on bed status. This similar phone dialog  continued through out the day to the point that Jasmine was returned home and James came to hang out and spend the night instead. Finally at 11pm I got the call saying to come in.

May 3, 2013 (40 w + 2 d)

We arrived to Scripps Encinitas shortly after 12am and got checked into L&D. I got changed into my spiffy butt baring gown then got my IV port put in. There was some difficulty with the IV because the vein on my wrist/forearm kept rolling. So after 2-3 attempts it ended up in the top of my left hand (ouch). Once I was hooked up on the monitors the on-call Dr came in to check me. I asked if we could start as natural as possible and do the water break before starting any Pitocin. When the Dr checked I was dilated 2 1/2 cm and 80% effaced which meant she agreed to break my water. Unlike the water balloon burst I had with Jasmine this one was more of a continued wetting of myself, a weird sensation to say the least. Ha! They let me contract on my own for an hour and a half while being monitored. Contractions kicked off right away but didn't get any closer than 5 min apart. Pitocin started at 2:30am at a 2 and by the end worked its way up to 9. At this point I tried my best to rest between contractions because I thought there was a Long day ahead of me with little chance for rest, much less sleep. I also encouraged Brandon to get a little sleep. Over the next few hours I slept as much as I could but kept being woken by increasingly stronger and closer together contractions. 

Around 6am I woke Brandon up saying I needed his support, the contractions were getting much much stronger. Little did I know they were only going to double in intensity. I really had to focus on breathing through them now and was moaning through most of them too. I definitely couldn't talk through them. Shortly before 7am I was checked again because I was experiencing a lot of pressure. The nurse said 5cm. My initial internal response was "Oh No! I don't think I can keep at this for several more hours! I'm going to have to break down and ask about an epidural, I won't get to have an unmedicated birth anymore" and that thought process coupled with the pain was just too much to bare. I started crying while attempting to process what was going on. Had we made the right decision to go along with the induction?The nurses change over from night to day staff at 7am and came to introduce the day nurse Carolyn while I was covered in tears. The night nurse had pain in her eyes seeing me so upset and said "it's starting to get tough isn't it mama?" while rubbing my leg. She was so sweet. The day nurse was wonderful too, she knew of my wish to keep it as natural as possible and started suggesting different positions and turned on a spa music channel on the TV set next to my bed. I asked her, if I decided to get the epidural what would the process be? She gave a general response along with "but it doesn't sound like you're sure, you tell me when you know you want it". I really appreciated the distraction and change in approach. She helped coach me through several contractions while rubbing my shoulders, back and legs. It was like getting the Doula I had wanted but didn't think was possible. 

Around 7:30am I had Brandon take the hospital gown off by unsnapping it at the shoulders because I didn't want anything on anymore. My sports bra only stayed because it was more helpful than a hinderance.

Around 8:15am I started to reach transition. I was making a lot of deep noise through contractions, wanting to jump out of the bed while knowing I couldn't. I started telling Brandon I was sorry, that I tried but I wanted to get the epidural. He stuck to his training and kept trying to push me off. The contractions were pretty on top of each other at this point so I only had little windows of delirious speech. He finally said "OK, I'll get the nurse" at 8:30am and had me sign the anesthesia consent form that we had pre filled but left unsigned "just in case". The nurse came in with a cart and said that the anesthesiologist was in a c-section and would be at least 20 minutes. I thought there's no way I'll last that long! I started saying "hot!" over and over and was suddenly drenched in sweat. More apologies and some colorful words came out of my mouth when I could talk. The nurse checked me and said I was 7cm dilated and fully effaced. That's it?! Then just after the nurse left I looked at Brandon and said "Oh baby!! Baby!!" I could feel Rose coming down the birth canal. He told me I couldn't push yet that I was only a 7, to which I responded "not again!". I tried so hard to fight the urge to push. I started making animalistic guttural sounds trying to fight the intense contractions and urge to push because I was terrified I was going to do some serious damage. The nurse came back in and said "sounds like somebody is pushing!" and I said "I'm trying not to!". I had no control over the sounds coming out of my mouth anymore, I'm sure I sounded like some kind of animal. This point until Rose's arrival is all a blur for me. There were nurses flying in while trying to page the NMW then trying to page the on-call OB. All the while I could feel Rose getting increasingly closer to officially joining this world. As I could feel her head crowning somebody told me to take my right leg and push how I wanted that my baby was almost here. I barely lifted my leg closer to my chest and Rose's entire body came out at 8:58am.

 

I did it, I birthed my daughter while on Pitocin without the help of any pain medication, and no tears!

Apparently what was really going on during those final moments was Dr. Brody running in from a C-Section where the patient had just gone under. Dr. Brody and the nurses were trying to open all of the sterile baby equipment and get it on the bed in time. Some of the items were still being opened after Rose was born.

It took a second before they were able to scramble and put Rose on my chest where she gave a little cry covered in vernix. Once the cord stopped pulsing they clamped it and Brandon got to cut. Then Rose latched on, first try. I was so happy. After a few minutes though I handed her to Brandon because adrenaline started to take its toll and my entire body was shaking really bad. Thankfully it didn't last too long. 

We spent the next several hours just staring in amazement at each other and soaking up the precious bonding time before having our first nap and tackling the rest of the day.