12 years ago
At my 40 week doctors appointment I was dilated to a 3, 70% effaced and at a -2 station which had not changed at all since the previous two weeks. I was having braxton hicks contractions on and off with a few that made me think I was going to be going to the hospital that day..but they all stopped and didn't progress enough for me to go get checked. The doctor was willing to wait it out for a little bit longer but was going to be out of town for the weekend of the 4th of July. So we set an induction date for Wednesday June 29th which was 5 days past my due date. Our doctor (Dr. Loewen) as well as BJ and I were really hoping we wouldn't make it to the induction date especially since I had been having contractions and was dilated.
Sunday was a rough day. I got stopped by several people at church asking me how I was and wondering when I was going to have this baby. I just kept thinking to myself "I sure wish I knew!" I did get one comment that I am sure wasn't meant to be rude but it kind of stung a little. They said, "So...are you doing ANYTHING to help get this baby out?". I replied "yeah, I have been going on lots of walks and just went to Cherry hill a few days ago." I didn't tell her that I have taken long walks telling whoever I was walking with that I was going to walk until this baby was born. Or that I had gone up and down the stairs 20 times a few times in hopes that it would somehow get this baby to come down and start contractions. Or that I followed all but the Castro oil home remedies in hopes to induce the baby myself. I had even heard pineapple helped so I made sure to eat some pineapple in the morning a few times. Ha I even tried pep talking little Connor as I talked to my belly saying, "little buddy, I know you are comfortable in there and you may not have control as to when you come out, but maybe you could just shake it up a little bit in there so my body knows you are ready to come meet us and will help ya out." Well he did listen to the part about "shaking it up" because for the last few weeks I complained of feeling like he had bruised me from the inside on this one spot on my belly. He liked to kick his feet and just lay them there at the exact same spot every time so it got to be pretty sore. SO...Needless to say I was more than ready to have this baby this last week and each day that passed after my due date got harder and harder.
I was nervous to be induced and really wanted my body to go on its own, in fact a few days before the induction day I seriously considered calling off the induction and waiting it out even longer. When I talked to BJ about it he told me that he was more than willing to do whatever I felt was right but if we were going to be induced that he was ready to take this on with me and knew that I could do it even with pitocin. We really felt comfortable with our doctor and since she is was on-call that Wednesday including Wednesday night we felt that it was right to go ahead with the induction for Wednesday morning.
Tuesday night I woke up with a really bad case of diarrhea and cramps that would not go away. The cramps woke me up and continued until I finally woke BJ up and said, "BJ- I need your help as I hunched over and tried to get comfortable". He just looked at me and said, "With what?" I replied, "with me!". He looked at me for a minute and then finally jumped out of bed and walked downstairs with me and helped time the contractions as I sat on the birth ball. They were pretty regular and the most intense they had ever been, but once again they started to become irregular and not as intense until BJ and I both fell asleep downstairs. Kaylee then woke up crying but fell back asleep. 1/2 hour later she woke up crying again but this time wasn't calming down. I took her some warm milk and ended up rocking with her for 1/2 hour or so. She had a stuffy nose and just couldn't breath very good so she was having a hard time sleeping :( poor girl. By the 3rd time she woke up crying I finally woke BJ up and said, "It is your turn! I am birthing a baby tomorrow!" He woke up and took his turn in calming Kaylee down. He hadn't even heard her cry at all that night! Needless to say I didn't get much sleep that night, but luckily all of us slept in till around 8am. We got the call that they were ready for us to come down to the hospital at 8:20am and was told to get there within the next hour. I hurried and called my mom to come pick Kaylee up while BJ and I got ready and ate some breakfast. Kaylee was still asleep when we left so my mom just stayed at our house until she woke up while BJ and I headed to the IMC hospital.
40 weeks + 5 days
Getting ready to go from a family of 3 to a family of 4 :)We got to the hospital just before 9:30 am and after getting all registered and into our room we were ready to get started. They asked me to give a urine sample before they got started. I come out of the bathroom and tell BJ that I lost my mucus plug in the urine sample! He just looks at me and said, "well it is probably ruined now. They will probably have to just get rid of it". lol We laughed about it and even though it was embarrassing to tell the nurse it really helped lighten the mood and help with my anxiety.
BJ took really good notes on the various time as to what happened during labor so you can thank him for the following documentation :) 10:08 am they started my antibiotic for the beta strep and then the nurse did a quick cervix check which was the same as it had been for the past few weeks (dilated to a 3, 70% effaced), so they started the pitocin running at 1 and was to be increased by 2 every 1/2 hour. We watched "America's Got Talent" on my laptop as the nurse kept increasing the pitocin.
I was doing really good. I could feel contractions but they were the exact same as the ones I had been feeling for the past few weeks. I told BJ to go get some lunch now before the contractions got harder. by 12:10pm the pitocin was up to a 7. At this point I was sitting up on the edge of the bed but was still feeling pretty good. Dr. Loewen came in shortly after and told me that they wanted to break my water once once I had received my full dose of the antibiotic which would be at around 2:30pm. I was a little hesitant and decided that BJ and I would decide whether we wanted to do that when it came closer to the time. 1:20pm the nurse came in and increased the pitocin to 11 and asked how I was doing. I was still doing fine. I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes and was starting to use the second stage of lamaze breathing off and on. BJ and I were watching 'Remember the Titans' and I was alternating laying on my left side to sitting on the edge of the bed. I believe I tried sitting on the birthing ball once but it just wasn't something that was helping so got back into bed.
Dr. Loewen was in the middle of clinic so she sent the resident to come break my water. The poor guy was definitely new at doing this because it took him several times to break my water and when he was doing my cervix check it took him a bit to do that as well. lol he even asked the nurse to help him break my water. The nurse and I laughed about it afterwards. I was understanding since I have been a student myself and know that it takes practice to do different things and I didn't feel like he was unsafe...just still learning.
Connor James Tenney was born at 5:07 pm
I was doing really good. I could feel contractions but they were the exact same as the ones I had been feeling for the past few weeks. I told BJ to go get some lunch now before the contractions got harder. by 12:10pm the pitocin was up to a 7. At this point I was sitting up on the edge of the bed but was still feeling pretty good. Dr. Loewen came in shortly after and told me that they wanted to break my water once once I had received my full dose of the antibiotic which would be at around 2:30pm. I was a little hesitant and decided that BJ and I would decide whether we wanted to do that when it came closer to the time. 1:20pm the nurse came in and increased the pitocin to 11 and asked how I was doing. I was still doing fine. I was having contractions every 2-3 minutes and was starting to use the second stage of lamaze breathing off and on. BJ and I were watching 'Remember the Titans' and I was alternating laying on my left side to sitting on the edge of the bed. I believe I tried sitting on the birthing ball once but it just wasn't something that was helping so got back into bed.
Dr. Loewen was in the middle of clinic so she sent the resident to come break my water. The poor guy was definitely new at doing this because it took him several times to break my water and when he was doing my cervix check it took him a bit to do that as well. lol he even asked the nurse to help him break my water. The nurse and I laughed about it afterwards. I was understanding since I have been a student myself and know that it takes practice to do different things and I didn't feel like he was unsafe...just still learning.
After they broke my water things started to progress and that cushion that the water was giving me from the contractions was now gone so they were a little more painful but I was still doing pretty good. They then increased the pitocin to 13 at 2:10pm and by 2:30pm the contractions were 2 minutes apart and I was in my second stage of lamaze breathing. BJ turned off the movie and just stood next to me and started breathing with me. I laugh about it now but I quickly told BJ to stop breathing with me because I could smell his lunch and I was starving. lol So he put in a mint and then just held up his fingers to tell me how often to breath. This is something we learned in our lamaze class. He would put up 2 fingers so I would take one relaxing breath then two he's and then a ho (he he ho). So the "he's" would change with how many fingers he would hold up. It was just a good way to focus on something. It was at this time that I became really dependent on BJ and him as a focal point. I told him that I need him from this point on because the contractions are so much more difficult without him there. At 3:05pm they gave me a 1/2 dose of Fentanyl. It always makes me dizzy so I had to close my eyes but it definitely took the edge off of the contractions and helped me to regroup and relax for a bit.
The rest of the labor is a little bit hard to remember. BJ couldn't write down anything because the contractions were just under 2 minutes apart so he was right by my side until our son was born. So I will do my best but I can't guarantee how accurate the rest is.
Transition seemed like it lasted forever long but BJ thinks it was about 40 minutes. So I am assuming transition started around 4:00pm. I know everyone is different but transition was definitely the hardest thing I have ever done in my life and one of the worst pains I have ever felt. I was trying the third stage of lamaze breathing techniques at this point but it just wasn't working for me. I kept trying to relax and lay down but when the contraction would hit I would JUMP up and sit on the edge of the bed. I squeezed BJ's hand, shoulder, and whatever I could as hard as I could to make it through the contraction. I kept telling myself not to tense up because it makes things worse, but I just couldn't get my body to relax. The nurse came in and told me that it was really important that I tell her when things start feeling different and if I feel the urge to push so that she could get the doctor down there. I remember worrying that I wouldn't tell her in time and kept telling her that I was feeling pressure down there. So She would check me and I was dilated to a 7. The pressure would get to be more so I would tell her and she would check me and I was still a 7. This happened at least 3 or 4 times. I remember praying each time that it would be something different than a freakin 7 or else I would not make it. After the fourth time that she checked and I was still a 7, I broke down and cried and said, "I can't do this". The nurse replied "Christie it is up to you". I knew that I was almost done and that even if I wanted an epidural at this point they wouldn't be able to get me to sit still long enough to give it to me and I really would not want that medicine going in me right before delivery because it could really affect the baby. So I just did my best to make it through each contraction. Finally the urge that everyone had talked about came and it came fast and hard. I told my nurse I have to push right now! She told me I can't and to just pant like a dog to help me get through the urge to push. I started to pant and it really really helped me get through the contractions. I was wishing I had been panting through transition instead of he he ho'ing because it was helping me soo much more. And just as I am doing this and feeling like I can make it through the contraction the nurse tells me to stop panting because I am going to hyperventilate. Ugh Now what am I going to use to cope? Well the urge got stronger and stronger to push. So much so that I am sitting on the edge of the bed and giving small pushes to make it through. Ahh it felt soooo good to push! Finally after what seemed like forever the doctor showed up and checked my cervix. I was dilated to a 9. I knew that I was supposed to be a 10 before pushing but I HAD to push! So she said she would "move my cervix" so I could push. It hurt but I didn't care because I was finally able to push. I remember the nurse getting my focus and saying "Christie, this is really important. You need to listen to Dr. Loewen as she tells you to slow down so you don't have a really bad tear." It was right after this that Dr. Loewen told me to stop pushing. This is what they call the "ring of fire" and honestly it was NOTHING compared to transition. I was worried if I would be able to stop pushing during this but when it came down to it I was totally fine. It was hard but like I said nothing compared to transition. The nurse told me afterwards that when I had stopped pushing the head started to rotate from being posterior (face-up) to the more favorable position face-down..good job baby :) After about 10 minutes of pushing Connor's head came out. Next thing I know they are telling me to push as hard as I can. My nurse was using her vocera to call the NICU team to come in and another nurse comes in and pushes BJ aside, gets up on the bed and tells me "sorry this is going to hurt" and used all of her weight as she pushed her elbow into my stomach to help push the baby out. Connor had what is called "a shoulder dystocia". His head was out but his shoulders were stuck. Since his head was out the umbilical cord was compressed therefore there was no way for blood to get to his head. So they had to get him out ASAP. Luckily this nurse knew what she was doing and got right up on my bed and pushed him out. She apologized after saying I would probably bruise but I didn't care. My baby was here and was breathing and was healthy. I was so filled with emotion I can't even express it. I was crying so hard as was Connor :) He was screaming and it was just the most beautiful sound. BJ had tears in his eyes and just told me how proud he was of me. I couldn't believe it. He was finally here!
Connor James Tenney was born at 5:07 pmWeighing in at 8 lbs 15 ounces
& Measuring 21 1/2 inches long
The nurses checked Connor out real quick to make sure he was ok and wiped him off a bit and then placed him right on me skin to skin. BJ and I just looked at our little boy with tears in our eyes, just so happy to finally meet him.
I ended up getting a small 1 degree tear due to his shoulders but it really wasn't bad at all, especially since he was so big. As the doctor was sewing me up from that tear she said "You may feel a little sting here, sorry." HA I didn't feel anything! I just kept telling her as I am sure I will for the rest of my life "this is nothing compared to transition!".
After I was all stitched up and had bonded with Connor. The nurse took him over to give him his vitamin K shot and put in his erythromycin drops. I got up out of bed and took pictures of it. She looks at me and said, "This is a first! Having the mom take pictures of the vitamin K shots right after delivery." I honestly felt amazing. I was up walking around and ready to go. My family got to the delivery room right before we headed up to recovery. More about the hospital and Kaylee meeting Connor for the first time to come........
Kaylee is a BIG sister! Kaylee loves her Connor....or "nonner" as she calls him.
Kaylee is a BIG sister! Kaylee loves her Connor....or "nonner" as she calls him. Kaylee gave grandma Scott a hard time and wouldn't nap which is why she looks exhausted in this picture.
Post a Comment