Thursday, April 29, 2010

Aurelia's Birth Story

I was due April 7th, and at my Dr. appt. on Tuesday the 13th there was no change in my cervix, I had had no contractions and I had been trying everything; what got the baby in should get it out, using my breast pump, bouncing on an exercise ball, evening primrose oil, a low dose of castor oil. Nothing was getting anything started. I went to bed at about 11:30 Tuesday night, as I was just about to fall asleep remember thinking "If my water would just break, that would get things going" And as if on cue I felt a little gush, nothing major, but I got up to go to the bathroom, and when I sat down on the pot, about 1/4 c. more fluid gushed out, and that was it, no leaking or anything.

Small contractions started and I called my sister/doula, Gina. She told me to go back to bed, if labor intensified, call her later. I slept a little bit, but the contractions got worse in bed and I had to start breathing through them, nothing too painful, but enough change that I called Gina at about 4:30 and she got ready and came up, getting to our house at about 6:30. By that time contractions had hit a lull and I was sleeping on the couch.

We called my Dr. around 7:00 and she wanted me to come in right away cause my water broke. However, we knew that if we went in the clock would start ticking and they would want to augment labor, since I wasn't in a good labor 'pattern' as they put it. I told my Dr. that my water broke at 4:00 :) to give us some more time, and she was surprised, since my cervix was not preparing when she checked me the day before. Gina and I stayed at home for a while, we went for a long walk and contractions would come about every 5 min, but nothing I couldn't walk through.

When we got back from our walk we called the Dr. again and she wanted us to come in so she could check me and also confirm that my water broke. So we called Nate, and told him to come home, he had gone in to work. We headed out for the hospital and got there at about 11:00.

to be continued...

We got settled in our room and the Dr. came in and checked my progress at about noon, I was 2 cm dilated and 80% effaced and -2 station. She was very pleased with this progress, since I was at zero the day before. However, she was already threatening pitocin, since I was not having a "good labor pattern" of contractions, which is having a contraction every 1-3 minutes! She usually starts women on pitocin 2 hours after their water breaks if they are not having a regular pattern! 2 hours, that is hardly any time if you want to have a natural labor and delivery! Anyways, we had gone way past her 2 hour limit, plus another 4 and 1/2 hours, since she didn't get the accurate time that my water broke. So, if I wasn't having good contractions by 2:30, she wanted to start me on pit!

They monitored the baby and she was doing fine, so I got up and walked the halls, but didn't have regular contractions, and the ones I did have were activity induced and not terribly strong, things were not looking good for having a natural labor. At 4:00 the nurse finally got the pit going, in an IV that was very painful I might add. The dose was 2 ml units, increased by 2 every 20 minutes. I walked the halls as much as I could on portable monitoring, but when I moved around the sensor would slide down and loose the baby's heart rate, so I ended up having to stay in my room eventually. At 5:00 I had a supper of clear liquids.

My friend Stephanie was in town on an errand, so she stopped by to see how things were going. We visited a while but by 6:50 contractions took all my attention to get through and Stephanie decided to get going. By 7:15 the pitocin was up to 12 and I asked them to turn it back to 10 because the contractions were so painful and so close together. The nurse said that they don't usually turn it down, but I must have sounded pretty desperate, cause she did. To help with the pain of the contractions Nate and Gina took turns pushing into my lower back to provide counter pressure.

At 8:15 we decided to have the nurse check me to see how much progress I had made on the pitocin. I was 3 cm and zero station, which was some change, but for over 4 hours of pitocin contractions, I knew I wasn't going to be able to make it to 10 cm with out some relief from the pain. When the nurse told me I was only 3 cm, I fell apart. I said that I couldn't do it any more and we decided that I would get the epidural. At 8:35 they gave me a dose of Numorphan, which helped relieve a bit of the pain, and relaxed me between the contractions. At 9:00 a very polite and efficient Anesthesiologist gave me an epidural. RELIEF!! I could feel the pressure of the baby pushing on the top of my belly, but from my navel down, I couldn't feel anything.

My doctor came in to check my progress at 10:15 and before she even examined me she began to preparing me for a C-section, cause she didn't think I was making enough progress. However, when she finally checked, I was 6-7 cm and +1 station. Progress!!! She said she would stay at the hospital and be back when it was time to start pushing. About an hour and a half later I started to feel gushing with the contractions. I knew things were getting close now. At 11:55 the nurse checked me and I was complete. We took our time before I started pushing, letting the baby come down on it's own and getting everything set up.

At 12:45 I started pushing. At 1:23 Aurelia Ann was born. They put her up on my chest and she started crying, what a beautiful sound! Her apgar scores were 7 and 9. She had the cord wrapped around her neck and also had a bowel movement when she was born, a sign of stress. She was doing fine though, we had a healthy baby girl! The Dr. assisted the placenta so she could stitch me up, I had a 2nd degree tear.

Aurelia weighed in at 8 lbs. 2 oz. and she was 20 1/2 inches long. Nate gave her her first bath with the nurse's instruction, he was very concerned about doing everything the right way. I got up, with the help of Gina and the nurse, and took a sitz bath, then changed into a fresh gown. Things settled down then. I tried nursing Aurelia, but she didn't latch on very well. At about 4:00 a.m. Nate and Gina headed back to the house to get some sleep and I snuggled with precious baby girl.

Just born, screaming mad! :)


Getting weighed


Daddy meets his little girl


All of us after the birth, I look a little worse for wear!
Baby Aurelia later that morning.

Up next: Aurelia's Visitors

Monday, April 5, 2010

Cushion Cover

I got this glider rocking chair at an auction this past fall for $17.50. I didn't take a before picture, but the back cushion is the original material. I spray painted the chair black, it was a blond wood before.


New Chair!!!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Baby's Room

I got the crib put together today and rearranged the baby's room to fit all the furniture better. Everything is set up. We are ready and waiting for baby to arrive.


Changing table/dresser


Crib, we are getting a mattress from a friend soon and the quilt is from Nate's grandmother.


One side of the room


Looking into the room from the hall


The other side of the room, that is the closet, which I also cleaned out today.