Our last picture as a 'couple'
The last picture taken of me before Imogen was born. With my Nana, sister (Anna), and mom.
Sorry it's taken me so long to get this posted, but life with a newborn baby is unpredictable at times...as many of you know! Here goes:
Due to my high BP, starting at 38 weeks I was scheduled for weekly non-stress tests at the hospital to check how the baby was doing and also to monitor my BP. My first (non-emergent)one was scheduled for May 22nd, and although I wasn't looking forward to it, I really wasn't concerned since I had already had one the week before. I sat in the chair and the nurse put the BP cuff on my arm and the belts around my belly. The baby was looking perfect on the monitor, but after only 2 BP readings, the nurse said, "Let me go get the doctor." Minutes later, a doctor that shall remain nameless walked in and said, "Congratulations, you're going to be a mother." I said, "Yea....." and he said, "And you're going to be a mother today. We're going to induce you because of your BP and we'll have a nurse wheel you up to labor and delivery." Then he turned around and left!! I was in shock...Chris was in shock. It just wasn't what we expected on a normal Thursday when I was feeling totally fine.
We got up to L&D and I wouldn't let anyone do anything to me until I spoke with my midwives. There were two of them in L&D that day and they were really great and supportive and thought it was best to get the baby out ASAP for my health. So, the induction process started...I won't go into toooooooo many details here, but in a nutshell, after 19 hours on cervidil and pitocin, I was only 1 cm dialated and 80% effaced and the baby was at a -3 station (aka...really high up in there!). So, the midwife suggested to stop pitocin and start another 12 hour round of cervidil, which I did. After that 12 hours, and then an additional 4 hours on pitocin, I still hadn't changed from that initial 1 cm!! I was devastated needless to say. Being induced was the last thing I wanted and then to be faced with a possible c-section because it wasn't working was horrific to me.
As me, Chris, my mom, Anna and Nana were sitting in the room talking about the options on the table, the baby decided she had other plans...and 'POP!' She broke my water! That was at 2:15pm on Saturday. It was honestly a pop that both Chris and I heard -- it was that loud! After it broke, my contractions because 1000 times more painful than the pitocin contractions. After about an hour of attempting to breath through them (more like crying), I had the midwife check me to see how far along I was. I thought if I was already like 8 cm, I would try to hold off on the epidural because I really didn't want one. But she checked and I was only 2 cm!!! I asked for the epi at that point because the back spasms with every contraction were more than I could bear. About an hour after the epidural went in, I got checked and was at 6 cm...I was so elated I can't even describe the feeling. An hour after that, the nurse decided to check me and she was shocked to exclaim that, "Oh my, you are complete and the head is right there!" She called in the midwife because it was time to push. I was scared because I hadn't gotten any rest (like I thought I would with the epi) and was very fatigued -- not eating for 12 hours will cause that. But I was also so excited to meet my little girl, so she kept me going.
I started pushing and after 9 contractions (about 15 minutes) she was out! It was the most amazing, surreal moment of my life. A true miracle is the only real way to describe the entire pregnancy and birth.
And if any of you were wondering why that pesky induction wasn't working, it's because Imogen decided she wanted to be a ballerina while still in the womb -- she came out one arm first and her other arm beside her head which was tilted upward instead on tucked under. So those arms of hers were blocking her from properly dropping into my pelvis and the lack of pressure was causing me to NOT dialate. Go figure. Anyway, my "active labor" time was recorded as 3 hours and 52 minutes because that's how long I was truly in labor. My water broke at 2:15pm and she was born at 6:07pm. Not bad.
Although I didn't want to be induced, when I look back at the whole situation around her arrival, I wouldn't change a thing. I know I made informed decisions regarding all my labor care and that's what I spent the 9 months preparing for. She is an angel, so perfect that I couldn't have dreamed her to be any more perfect. God is great!
Due to my high BP, starting at 38 weeks I was scheduled for weekly non-stress tests at the hospital to check how the baby was doing and also to monitor my BP. My first (non-emergent)one was scheduled for May 22nd, and although I wasn't looking forward to it, I really wasn't concerned since I had already had one the week before. I sat in the chair and the nurse put the BP cuff on my arm and the belts around my belly. The baby was looking perfect on the monitor, but after only 2 BP readings, the nurse said, "Let me go get the doctor." Minutes later, a doctor that shall remain nameless walked in and said, "Congratulations, you're going to be a mother." I said, "Yea....." and he said, "And you're going to be a mother today. We're going to induce you because of your BP and we'll have a nurse wheel you up to labor and delivery." Then he turned around and left!! I was in shock...Chris was in shock. It just wasn't what we expected on a normal Thursday when I was feeling totally fine.
We got up to L&D and I wouldn't let anyone do anything to me until I spoke with my midwives. There were two of them in L&D that day and they were really great and supportive and thought it was best to get the baby out ASAP for my health. So, the induction process started...I won't go into toooooooo many details here, but in a nutshell, after 19 hours on cervidil and pitocin, I was only 1 cm dialated and 80% effaced and the baby was at a -3 station (aka...really high up in there!). So, the midwife suggested to stop pitocin and start another 12 hour round of cervidil, which I did. After that 12 hours, and then an additional 4 hours on pitocin, I still hadn't changed from that initial 1 cm!! I was devastated needless to say. Being induced was the last thing I wanted and then to be faced with a possible c-section because it wasn't working was horrific to me.
As me, Chris, my mom, Anna and Nana were sitting in the room talking about the options on the table, the baby decided she had other plans...and 'POP!' She broke my water! That was at 2:15pm on Saturday. It was honestly a pop that both Chris and I heard -- it was that loud! After it broke, my contractions because 1000 times more painful than the pitocin contractions. After about an hour of attempting to breath through them (more like crying), I had the midwife check me to see how far along I was. I thought if I was already like 8 cm, I would try to hold off on the epidural because I really didn't want one. But she checked and I was only 2 cm!!! I asked for the epi at that point because the back spasms with every contraction were more than I could bear. About an hour after the epidural went in, I got checked and was at 6 cm...I was so elated I can't even describe the feeling. An hour after that, the nurse decided to check me and she was shocked to exclaim that, "Oh my, you are complete and the head is right there!" She called in the midwife because it was time to push. I was scared because I hadn't gotten any rest (like I thought I would with the epi) and was very fatigued -- not eating for 12 hours will cause that. But I was also so excited to meet my little girl, so she kept me going.
I started pushing and after 9 contractions (about 15 minutes) she was out! It was the most amazing, surreal moment of my life. A true miracle is the only real way to describe the entire pregnancy and birth.
And if any of you were wondering why that pesky induction wasn't working, it's because Imogen decided she wanted to be a ballerina while still in the womb -- she came out one arm first and her other arm beside her head which was tilted upward instead on tucked under. So those arms of hers were blocking her from properly dropping into my pelvis and the lack of pressure was causing me to NOT dialate. Go figure. Anyway, my "active labor" time was recorded as 3 hours and 52 minutes because that's how long I was truly in labor. My water broke at 2:15pm and she was born at 6:07pm. Not bad.
Although I didn't want to be induced, when I look back at the whole situation around her arrival, I wouldn't change a thing. I know I made informed decisions regarding all my labor care and that's what I spent the 9 months preparing for. She is an angel, so perfect that I couldn't have dreamed her to be any more perfect. God is great!
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing your story! You are so right: pregnancy and birth are such a miracle! And praise God for epidurals. :)
Thanks for sharing. I'm glad it all worked out and at least when she really decided to come, she came quickly! And yes, let us be thankful for epidurals!
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