Leo's Birth Story Part III

Once I was on the bed they checked me and I was 9 cm dilated...ALMOST THERE!  They told me not to push and then they said "We have to get his heart rate up Anna so you need to do what we say."  I was scared but also too occupied to dwell on it.  They had me turn on my sides then get on all fours with my butt in the air.  Then had me on my back again and they started giving me oxygen.  Do you know I don't think there are many things as uncomfortable as I felt at that moment.  My body was literally starting to bear down of its own accord (and I was supposed to stop it), I was coughing alot since I was on my back, the oxygen mask was over my face, and people kept on sticking hands up me (sorry for the visual but we all know what happens during childbirth!) They were using little strips to monitor Leo's heart rate by hooking them onto his scalp which meant they had to get to his head : /
At some point a Doctor had arrived and told me the midwife on-call was busy delivering another baby so she would be there with me.  After a little time had passed (I really don't know how long, it could have been a minute or two for all I know but when you are that uncomfortable it feels alot longer.)  someone said that Leo's heart rate had dropped to 50 bpm and that if they couldn't get it back up then we would need a c-section.  At some point the Dr. came and told me, "Anna we have to take you to the OR to get prepped for surgery.  We will check you one last time to see if you are ready to push but if not we need to be ready to get Leo out."  They had me get on my hands and knees with my butt in the air, threw sheets over me and started wheeling me down the hall.  I don't know if I said it out loud but I was at least thinking "Can Evan come with me?"  I do think I reminded Evan about doing skin-to-skin.  Before I even went into labor I told Evan that if I was not able to do skin-to-skin for whatever reason that he needed to do it so Leo would have that important bonding time.
Unfortunately, Evan wasn't able to come with me into the room as they would need to use General Anesthesia since I hadn't had an epidural.  My (best) worst case scenario was having to be put under and missing Leo's birth and it looked like we were headed in that direction.
Once we got in the OR I was asked to climb onto the operating table (no small feat in my condition) and they started prepping me and they checked me.  A vaginal birth was a no go as I was still at 9 cm and his heart rate was only at 110 bpm...
Last thing I remember was being told I was doing a good job.
 While I was under I am told it took them only a few minutes to cut, open me up, and pull Leo out.  I am told he was screaming before they got him on the table.  His apgar was an 8 at 1 min and a 9 at 5 mins.
Leo Kipling Weaver had arrived at 7lbs 15oz and 21.25 inches long.

First photo with Mimi

The reason for all this hubub... he had the cord wrapped 4 times around his neck.  He didn't have enough traction to descend without injuing one or both of us.  I guess some things work out for the best in the end but I am sad about missing that special moment, those first minutes of his life.  I had been imagining those minutes since before I got pregnant and I guess I will have to go on imagining.  Evan was able to meet him when he was only 2 minutes old and did as I asked with the skin-to-skin.  Leo and I are lucky to have him.
I was left to be stitched up and put back together.  While Evan and my mom went with Leo, I was taken to a recovery room, two actually and I'll spare you the agonizing details of being denied water and coughing right after having major abdominal surgery.  OUCH!  It was two and a half hours before I was able to meet Leo even though I was awake for at least an hour of that.  I realized later I didn't get to meet him on his birthday...it was 1:30 am on the 22nd when we were introduced. : ( Below is a video of Leo being handed to me for the first time...  I can't express how I felt in that moment.  It was too much to handle almost.

Meeting my baby

Leo's Birth Story II

After only an hour or so, they moved me into a labor room.  I was surprised considering when they moved me I was only 3 cm dilated.  The plan was to get me hooked up to some wireless monitors and send me on a walk to get the labor progressing faster.  Once I was hooked up they noticed some variables (fluctuations in the heart rate outside of the normal parameters) so they wanted me to stay in the room hooked up to an IV.  I was pretty unhappy about them giving me an IV line and refused it at first.  The nurse got a little snippy about my refusal but I held my ground and requested to talk with the midwife so that she could explain the reasoning.  I was drinking ALOT of water and it seemed ridiculous especially since those things really bother me.  I always feel a lot of pain despite the fact I am reassured over and over again that I won't feel anything but the initial pinch.  Excuse my implied French but BS.  The midwife explained that while the variables weren't extremely worrisome there were enough that they wanted me prepped for any situation.  She did offer to delay placing it and then discuss it again if I would prefer.  I did prefer so that is what we did.  I think I earned about another hour of needle free time.  We did come back to it and I ended up accepting its placement.  I had them do it in the back of my hand instead of the crook of my arm as I was often folding my arms and leaning over the bed so I didn't want it in the way.  Well that backfired when I needed to be on all fours and my hand was bent right where the IV was so it interfered there too. I have since heard of a woman having it placed in her foot so it wouldn't interfere... not sure that would have worked for me though since I was going to labor in water.
Back to the topic at hand... I asked for a rocking chair since Emily had told me she really enjoyed having that during labor and that is primarily what I used once they brought it in.  I put a small electric heating pad at the small of my back and sat in the rocking chair.  When a contraction hit I would rock faster and Evan would often remind me to relax.  We had heard of a method to make sure I was relaxed I had to make my arm limp and he would shake or pat it to check.  Evan had read parts of The Birth Partner, Third Edition: A Complete Guide to Childbirth for Dads, Doulas, and All Other Labor Companions by Penny Simkin and it was a very valuable tip he used to help me.  In addition, the weekend before I went into labor a woman on my Natural Un-Medicated Childbirth board had posted about a friend of hers who had recommended making a motorboat sound during contractions.  Both the friend and the original person had said it helped immensely so I had put it at the back of my mind as something I could use...and I did!  It did help, both by giving me something to concentrate on and it helped relax my jaw which helps relax your pelvis (they mirror each other).
When I reached 5 cm everyone in the room was very happy!  Labor was progressing nicely and I still hadn't asked for pain meds... yippee for me!  At about 6 cm I asked them if they could get started with the laboring tub business.  I'm glad I asked then because I think I was at 8 cm when I ended up getting in!  It took them awhile both because it was a huge tub and because they had to go get it fill the tub with air then fill it with water.  Shortly before it was filled I went to the bathroom thinking I needed to go (I'd been thinking that for hours it just never happened) and when I got up from the toilet I had a gush of fluid...My WATER!  It had finally broken!  I started feeling more pressure and told them outside of the bathroom that I though my water had broke.  At that point in time I actually felt an urge to push but I didn't want them not allowing me into the water so I kept that info to myself : /  Part of me even thought I could start pushing while in the water and have the waterbirth I so wanted.  Not the smartest idea in hindsight but it did cross my mind.  As I left the bathroom I had more fluid gush out and this time the nurse was able to get a good look at it and she felt like it looked okay (no or very little meconium) but she confirmed it was amniotic fluid.  I was helped into the water which was slightly cold for my taste so they threw warm towels over my shoulders.  My desire to push was getting much stronger at this point and I felt kind set adrift in the tub since I couldn't put one of my hands in the water (the one with the IV) to steady myself.  I was still keeping the pushing desire to myself but I wasn't pushing yet since I knew it was unlikely I was fully dilated.  Well about that time my wireless monitors came loose and the nurse was trying to get them back in place under the water...  It was hard work and every time she thought she had it they would come loose again.  My urge to push got stronger....the pressure was building... and the nurse asked me to get out of the tub.  As I was getting out about four people rushed into my room to help, they ushered me onto the bed...

Stay tuned for Part III

Leo's Birth Story I

Let me begin this harrowing (yet miraculous) tale on Saturday January 19th.   I was 41 weeks that day and so ready to be unpregnant.  My feet were so swollen I couldn't fit into anything comfortably except my slippers, so my slippers were worn very often and to many places (like the grocery store).  I stopped caring what other people thought : )  Sleeping was uncomfortable and so was moving in general.  I felt weighed down by my huge stomach, massive feet, and incredibly fast growing hair.  I had been having some contractions but never anything very painful or consistent so I knew it wasn't quite time yet and I was trying to take it in stride that my guess for his arrival was fast approaching.  In the weeks coming up to Jan 21st, I repeatedly said, "Leo is more then welcome to arrive before the 21st but I will be VERY upset if he takes longer then that."  With the 21st being in my mind since the beginning I felt that I could "make it" until then but not later.  While talking to my sister Carol on Facebook that Saturday, she mentioned that my nephew Tiernan thought Leo would come on Sunday.  I replied "that would be okay with me but what I would really like is to go into labor on Sunday and have Leo at 12:01 am.  Carol confusedly asked... "Why not Sunday?"  My response... "because then I will be right...duh!" LOL Carol quickly understood, but I couldn't help some good natured ribbing about how she should know me well enough to know I would want Leo to be born on the date I guessed so I could be right, ESPECIALLY with it being that close to my day.  

Well Sunday came and around 8:00 that night I started having slightly stronger contractions (still not very painful) and they seemed to be more regular (around 15 minutes apart).  I didn't get my hopes up though...no sense in driving myself crazy all night.
During the night I woke up a few times and thought that my contractions were slightly stronger but since they weren't painful enough to keep me awake I just went back to sleep.  At 5:30 am, on Monday Jan. 21st, I woke up to use the bathroom and had a couple of stronger contractions as I was getting water.  At this point I couldn't have gone back to sleep, what with all the 41 weeks of pregnancy uncomfort, so I made some breakfast and tried to keep track of how often my contractions were coming.  It was hard to time them myself but I could tell they were fairly consistent and not very far apart.  I soon felt a small gush of liquid and wondered if it was my water leaking.  Since it was either my water leaking or pee (since that happens when you're pregnant) I put on a pad to see if I soaked it within an hour.  After about a half an hour I had a little bit more fluid but not very much and my contractions were getting stronger.  I decided to wake Evan up to see if he thought I should call the midwives and to have him help me time my contractions. Evan helped me time a couple of contractions and then I called the midwives to see what they would say. They said to watch the pad and wait a few hours as my contractions were not close enough or regular enough to go in yet (which I expected). Evan decided to go back to sleep for a little bit so that he would be ready for whatever the day brought.  I surfed the web for birth and labor information and after about an hour I could tell my contractions were much closer together and stronger so I woke Evan up again and he helped me time my contractions. At around this time I also called my mom (who was staying at Emily's house) to start getting ready as I was pretty sure it was time.  Evan helped me time my contractions between 7:30 and 8:30am.  They were coming very regularly (about every 3-4 mins) but were only about 50 secs long or shorter.  Now the standards for when to go to the hospital generally follow the 4-1-1 or 5-1-1 rule.  Mins apart, mins long for an hour.  So I wasn't sure what to do, being that the contractions were close enough together but not quite long enough and honestly didn't feel strong enough to me to be "active labor", not that I knew what labor felt like officially...
My mom arrived at our apartment at about 8:30 am and started helping Evan time contractions and get things together for the hospital.  Between contractions I was yelling out items I had decided we might need and sometimes trying to go get them myself.  By the time my contractions were a minute long they were coming every 3-4 mins and we had decided to go ahead to the hospital.  Now because I wanted a natural birth I was trying to labor at home as long as possible but I didn't want my mom or Evan to actually deliver the baby so we loaded up the four or five bags we had managed to accumulate and got in the car.  My contractions were painful enough to have to concentrate on them fully (not talk, breath, and relax my body) and sitting in the car was not very enjoyable.  Leaving at 9:30 am on a Monday morning put us right in rush hour traffic too... FUN!  I called the midwife on call to let them know I was on my way in and of course I was put on hold and had to hand off the phone as soon as the midwife came on as another contraction was starting.  My mom filled her in on the basics and I talked with her once my contraction was over.  Evan dropped us off at the ER so I didn't have to walk (as it is a really long walk through 3 bldgs) and went to park the car.  Once he rejoined us I let the orderly take us up to labor and delivery.  It was apparently a popular day to be giving birth because all of the delivery rooms were full so they moved us into a triage room.  In the triage room, I discovered that I was having regular contractions but that I was only 2 cm dilated. I was disappointed but luckily they decided to keep me there due to my contractions already being so close together.

Stay tuned for Part II...