Where did I leave off ... Oh yes the strip had in fact turned blue (as its supposed too). We were going to have a BABY! A little early but not TOO early. We made it to the "safe" zone. My triage nurse called the Dr back in disbelief to let her know we would be having a baby. They moved fairly quickly at this point and moved us to our room. When I realized we wouldnt be leaving without a baby, I started making my calls - to those that needed to know. I called work to let them know I would not be in, I called my mom, and my friend who would be taking care of the animals while we were at the hospital. All people we talked to knew exactly what was going on since I was calling at 6:30AM on a Wednesday morning, not my typical chat time.
Once we got into our room, the nurse asked me 101 questions, started an IV, put all the monitors on me and was giving instructions on shift change that would be happening in just a few minutes. The Dr ordered pitocin. I hadnt really gone over my birth plan with my dr yet as it was still early. They had started the IV as they had to give me the antibiotics since my results hadnt come back yet and better safe than sorry. I wasnt THRILLED with the idea of pitocin since my body had already started on its own, but after talking with the nurse and Dr, I gave the ok. They wanted this baby healthy and in order for that she had to come out within a certain amount of time since she was over a month early and my water broke several hours before. My contractions had been happening since my water had broke, I could feel them (ya know liek from week 18 on) but they didnt bother me. My husband and I settled in, talking about how this was happening, we were in disbelief. Then we started watching a movie "Something About Mary" and just relaxing. The nurse told me if I needed to use the rest room I could just go, to unplug the IV and the monitors and walk in there. I was making NUMEROUS trips since I felt like I had to pee ALOT. Well it was mostly the water dripping. Then I noticed I was bleeding heavily, very heavily. I had never given birth before but I knew this wasnt typical. The nurse was ya know doing her job and trying to keep me calm BUT she now checked me VERY frequently, kept running out to call the dr and stayed in the room alot. All of the sudden baby started having decellerations... The nurse would nonchalantly change my position (talk about 12 pillows stacked up under one side of me, not SUPER comfortable) and give me oxygen. At this point I was breathing THROUGH the contractions... I could talk up until they started to peak and then I had to concentrate on breathing ... They were coming every 30 seconds and lasting about 2 minutes. It was probably 12 Noon at this point. The dr had checked me and said see you at dinner time about 8AM. The nurse said after she left there is NO WAY your are going to go that long. But I was anticipating laboring ALL day. At Noon after not being able to talk through contractions anymore, and just concentrating on getting through them and now there was NO break in between - b.c little did I know then, my husband told me later, they had turned the pitocin up when I was breathing through a contraction earlier. It was rough, but not unbearable. The nurse recommended an epidural to me after I had told her I wanted a natural delivery. I had no idea why she would do that and I was oh so mad at the time. I asked if I could talk to me husband in private so the nurse left for one minute - at which the entire time I had contractions so I couldnt even get anything OUT to my husband. He said he thought I should go ahead with it if the nurse was recommending it. I conceded grudgingly. The anesthiologist came in (the nurse said he was the best on staff), and I asked to make sure I wouldnt get a spinal headache (my WORST fear since I get SUPER bad migraines). He poked my back and said he was 99.9% sure I would NOT get one. He then got the epidural started. Honestly it was less painful than I had anticipated. The worst was holding still with the contractions literally picking me up they were contracting so hard.
The epidural worked in about 10 minutes. All of the sudden I got a sharp stab feeling in my left hip. I told the nurse and she said just click your epidural button. I didnt want anymore and told her I couldnt feel my legs as it was. So she came over and checked me - the expression on her face was priceless. Baby's head was visible. I was OVER completer. Her exact words as she started dailing the doctors number was "DO NOT MOVE, COUGH, LAUGH or EVEN TALK, I dont think the dr is going to make it!" GREAT! She told the dr in her calm but you better hurry voice - that I was complete and the head was visible. Thank goodness the dr office is close to the hospital. Dr. F came FLYING over - She said she was driving like a maniac trying to get there in time. She was changing her top as she ran down the hallway.
They had started setting up as soon as she got off the phone. They called NICU and they sent down a nurse. I literally just laid there trying to hold my breathe and my husband was holding my hand looking a little deer in headlights! Once the Dr sat down they said go ahead and try to push. Two pushes and they told me to stop - the head was out but the cord was wrapped twice around the neck and they couldnt get it off... After two cuts it came off and baby literally came flying out. They placed baby on my belly for about a minute but she was gray and not responsive. So they rushed her over to the warmer and started trying to get her to breathe. I kept asking "Is it a girl?" the answer was yes! After starting her on the CPAP she began to breathe on her own so she was only on it for 5 minutes or so. Apparently cord stunned her ... She finally perked up and let out a screech. The best sound I have ever heard. The entire process was amazing. At the time I was a little disappointed with getting the epidural only 45 minutes prior to her delivery but the nurse and dr both said that they didnt want to scare me but if she hadnt been born with in the hour a c-section would have been required due to all the blood I was losing. They had suspected placenta abruption. They sent my placenta off to the lab for an official diagnosis and sure enough that is exactly what had been happening. Thank goodness she came quickly and was healthy. We love her more and more everyday!
