Labor and Delivery Part II

Part II of my labor and delivery story

Once I was admitted to the hospital I was moved to my room in labor & delivery. I wasn’t ever administered in Pitocin or anything bc I was dilating fast enough.  I was at 4cm and 90 effacement at this point.  My contractions started kicking in and at 6 PM I was finally given my epidural.  Before I got my epidural my blood pressure started to get really high (it got to 176/something at one point.) We had to turn off all the lights, no talking, no sound etc to try to calm me to get it lower.  But the matter of fact was the more pain I was in the higher it got.  Once I got my epidural it stayed about 140-150/something (can’t remember the bottom number) until I delivered that night. 

My Epidural…

Now I don’t know how much you know about epidurals.. Well let me tell you.. They totally suck when they don’t work and it sucks having to sit still during contractions while they are administering it.  Hospital rules were NO ONE was allowed in the room while I was getting my epidural, not even my husband, which scared the heck out of me.  Only my nurse, anesthesiologist, and myself could be in there.  So I sat there on the edge of the bed, kind of hunched over a pillow and also hugging the nurse and the nurse was hugging me so I didn’t move.  Now it was like as soon as they said I was going to go ahead and get my epidural my contractions got hardcore.  I kept shaking from all the pain, I basically had no control over the shaking of my body. 

But long story short, got my epidural and then my legs starting getting this really warm feeling which meant it was working, at this point.  My whole left side of my body got entirely numb. My fingers, and chest, my toes etc.  My right side of the body did NOT.  So I couldn’t feel the contractions at all on my left side but I could total feel them on my right.  I told my anesthesiologist and he looked at me and said “oh that’s not suppose to happen”.. Gee Thanks for freaking me out even more..

So they lay me on my right so “gravity” will make the medicine to my right side of my body and make it numb.. Well a half hour-hour later when my right side does go numb, my left side is not.  He couldn’t give me any more meds bc one side of my body was a 6 and the other was about a 2 and he wanted my body to be a 5.  I ended up talking him into giving me a bolus shot which made my feet more numb but that was it.. Nothing else.

My IV

They originally put my iv in my right hand wrist kind of.. It wasn’t in my hand, she said that is would work better and not hurt as much well also wrong.  It kept like pinching me like the tape was too tight holding the needle in for the iv so it hurt really bad. So I had them put my iv in the top of my left hand.  Well my anesthesiologist put it in for me bc he felt bad about my epidural not taking correctly. (this rarely happens.. I happened to just be an unlucky one).  Well he wasn’t very good at putting iv’s.. He put the needle in, well my hand started bleeding really bad so he is trying to clean in, and hold the needle in while not moving it, OUCH.  I was just having a rough time at this point. 

Anywho, He told me he could redo my whole epidural but honestly I didn’t want to go through having another catheter being put in my back.  That whole “crunching feeling/sound” totally freaked me out.. And at this point I was at 9cm so there seriously was no point. I went from 4cm to 9cm in about 2 hours I think it was.. Within the next 20 mins I was at 10 cm.. My nurse shooed everyone out. So I said my goodbyes to my family and they left.  My nurse said okay we are going to do a trial push.. Well she got down there and looked and said “Oh NO. DO NOT PUSH. I can see her head” So she seriously sat down there making sure I wasn’t pushing or she wasn’t coming out for the next 20 minutes until my doctor arrived at the hospital.  My doctor walked in all happy etc and saw how far we were etc and then started rushing. I mean seriously rushing.  She threw on all her scrub stuff in about 15 seconds flat.

At 10:50 PM I started pushing and Chloe Dean arrived at 11:08 PM.  I basically delivered Miss Chloe all natural since my epidural didn’t work and what did work had worn off a while ago at that point.  I had them lay her on my stomach when she first came out and while Chris clipped the cord.  But they still take her away so fast to get her all cleaned up and make sure she is healthy.

Christopher had the camera and was snapping pictures of Chloe of her getting cleaned up, weight taken, shots, footprints etc.  Stuff I wasn’t able to see bc I was getting cleaned up at that point.

Family was allowed to come in shortly after and see her.  They were only allowed to stay about 15-20 minutes because it was so late at night and I was being taken to my post partum private room and visiting hours stopped at 9:30. 

They say you forget the pain of the contractions and labor doesn’t seem that bad afterwards.  Well to me, that is partly true.  I know I felt like I was being split in half while going through it, but after all it wasn’t that bad.  But it was totally worth every bit of it. 

And We Are Home :) 

Labor Story Part I

Sunday afternoon, the 14^th, I started getting contractions. Well they were about 3 mins apart consistent for 5 hrs.  They were getting somewhat worse, and the more I walked the worse they got. So I called the hospital and we headed there hoping I am going into labor.  We get to the hospital and I go into Triage, pee in a cup, blah blah blah all that fun stuff.  Long story short, 3 hours later they told me to go home. No change in dialation etc. Im like these darn contractions hurt and they said they were just Braxton hicks.  So they sent me home with a sleeping pill pretty much.

Thursday morning, July 18^th, , I woke up bright and early.  Daddy and I headed to my very last baby doctors appointment. 9am we got there and I went into my appointment.

*Background INFO*

My mom was scheduled to go into surgery Monday the 22^nd, my actual due date was the 21^st. So we definetly wanted my mom to be their at the birth so we were trying everything to get me to go into labor. NOTHING WORKED. But anywho, she was scheduled to surgery for exploratory surgery and a hysterectomy.  She has been diagnosed with a second cancer within her abdomen.  She didn’t get out of the hospital until the following Tuesday.

So, I go in and talk to my doctor and tell her what is going on, how I really want my mom there and is there anything we can do. Membrane strip for a second time, inducement etc.  She said I was dilated at 3 CM and 75 effacement. So she said lets to a strip and hope you go into labor naturally today but if you don’t, Ive scheduled you to be induced at 6am tomorrow morning. (Gah I LOVE my doctor)

Now I did NOT want to be induced by any means bc of the risks and def higher risks of a C Section.  But I was going to do what I had to do in order for my mom to be there.

So after that we leave my doctors appointment, mom reschedules all her pre-op appointments for today (Thursday) bc Im going to be induced at this point on tomorrow (Friday). Dad and I go to a couple stores, get a couple dog treats for my babies and head home. At 11:45 am I’m dropping my dad off at his house, I get out of the car and I feel just this small gush of fluid. I’m like what the heck is that? I KNOW I did NOT just pee myself. LOL.  So I ask my mom what the heck that was bc I didn’t know if it was or wasn’t my water. She said call my Doc. And Yes, my water did brake. So I call my doc tell her what just happened and she said yep go to the hospital see you in a bit!

So I text my hubby and say “My water just broke”

All he says in “Okay”.. He thought I was totally joking.

Long story short, he heads home, and we go to the hospital.

After sitting in triage for 2 hours at 3:30 pm, long enough for them to do a test to see if my water actually broke I was finally admitted to Labor and Delivery. Now it was like as soon as I was admitted the contractions definitely started to kick in hardcore. 

Labor and Delivery Part II to be continued….

Weight Gain and Loss

39 Weeks Preggo – 142 lbs. I gained a total of 42 lbs my entire pregnancy. Yes this is a lot for me. But towards the end of my pregnancy my feet, ankles, and my calves were starting to swell.. Really Really BAD. So once I delivered and a few days later when I was swollen anymore the weight just started to fall off. I was a little sad that when we headed home from the hospital I was still weighing 136 lbs, I hoping to leave weighing much less but luckily it all came off the following week.

5 Days Later

At 1 Week Post Partum I was down to 115 lbs.

Now I am back down to 110 lbs.  Before I got pregnant I weighed 100 lbs but I do NOT want to go back down to this weight. I felt like I looked too skinny, but I also couldn’t gain weight. I had tried everything. But now that I am at my ideal weight I definitely want to stay at it.

Chloes First 2 Weeks Home

Chloe’s first two weeks home have been such a blessing for us.  She is such a good baby.  Even though some days we go sleep deprived because our little peanut wont stop screaming, and then we sit there and wonder "okay what are we doing wrong? Why can't we get our child to go to sleep??" It's all part of learning to be parents and I wouldn't trade it for the world.  I have learned just a few things over the past couple weeks..

-My little peanut loves to fall asleep on my chest.  She places her head right where she can hear my heart beat.

-She does NOT like thunder. It spooks her.

-Her bouncer that plays music is a total life saver some nights.

-She loves to be cuddled up in a blanket and to snuggle.

-Breast feeding was NOT for me. (Story for another day)

- She has learned how to grab onto my hair and not let go. “Ouch!”

- She likes to lay on her back on the floor, and watch the tv. I know she can’t really “see” it yet but I think she likes all the colors or something.

-She also loves to do tummy time.