Our birth story (only one month late!)
Oliver Lukas
Born August 22, 2008 at 6:44 pm
7lbs 1oz & 19 ¾”
37 weeks 6 days
My labor was induced on Wednesday evening August 20th when at my 37 week check-up I had the indicators for Preeclampsia.
I checked into triage at 2pm. My blood pressure was all over the place and my protein levels were high. It looked like I wasn’t going home. It was not the way I envisioned going into labor at all, I didn’t have a bag packed and my cell phone battery was dying. I got in contact with Peter and he went home from work and packed a bag to come out to the hospital.
At 8pm I was started on misoprostol to help my cervix to open and thin. At this point it still looked like I might not be beginning labor the way I imagined, but I would still be able to finish it the way I wanted. Then they dropped the bomb. Because the risk for the mother with Preeclampsia is seizure, they wanted to put me on Magnesium Sulfate to prevent me from having seizures. I was no longer allowed out of bed because it’s a nervous system relaxant and I could fall.
That night Peter and I did our relaxation scripts. He read me my birth affirmations and Harry Potter. We listened to calming music and rested as much as possible. It was so helpful to keep me calm. After 5 doses of the misoprostol I was only 50% thinned and 1 cm dilated. Overall the doctors and nurses were incredibly upbeat and respectful of our wishes. I only had one negative doctor the entire time I was there, Dr. C-section and two people I call Team Epidural.
I was pretty devastated when they did the check before inserting the sixth pill and I had made no progress. At this point I was beginning to think that a vaginal birth was out of my reach. But with a little “what gets the baby in gets the baby out” and a lot more relaxation and birth affirmations, when they came in to do the check before the seventh pill, I had reached the magical 3cm dilation required to start Pitocin. This was now early Friday morning.
In an attempt to get my cervix to thin some more, I was given a seventh dose of the misoprostol before starting the Pitocin. However, during breakfast my water decided to break. It was the best feeling to know my body was going to give it a go on it’s own. Unfortunately even though I was surging on my own, it wasn’t a productive pattern and I was started on Pitocin around 12-12:30. Team Epidural made a stop in to try and convince me to get the Epidural early. It seemed ridiculous to me at this point as my surges weren’t very intense and I was only 3 cm. I have a feeling that if at that point I had agreed to it I would have absolutely had a Cesarean Section.
The beginning of active labor was peculiar. I was pretty deep in hypnosis, I would be a bit alert when I had a surge, and then drop out and go back to sleep. I was having the most bizarre dreams and images. I felt like I was high on something. It was really cool.
They continued to up the Pitocin and my surges continued to be more powerful. It was intense back labor and I had to stay in bed on my sides to keep my blood pressure readings from getting too scary. Laura my Doula and husband were amazing, reminding me to breathe into the surges and keeping heat and counter pressure on my back. I even used the hospital bed table as a leg support to keep my hips open and my pelvis wide.
After about 5 hours of active labor I was checked again. At this point I was only 4 cm dilated but 100% thinned. With some help from the midwife I was supposed to be delivering with, I was allowed out of bed on to a stool next to the bed. Since the doctors were still concerned about me seizing and the well being of the baby, it was all dependant on keeping us both on the monitors.
Being able to get off my hip and out of bed was the best feeling ever. Everything intensified and I felt primal. In the thirty minutes that I was able to be squatting my cervix opened fully and I began to bear down and push the baby out. By the time they got me back into bed, with my awesome side lying table rig, I was 10 cm and the baby was at +2 station. I felt the most intense need to push and working with my surges, without any coaching (other then to slow down!) I delivered my baby in about 20 minutes.
Oliver was perfect. He was placed immediately on my chest. We waited until the cord stopped pulsing before Peter cut it. I did have a 2nd degree tear, the stitching wasn’t a whole lot of fun, I equate it to having your vagina flossed, but the whole time I was able to stare and bond with my new baby and the three of us became a family.
We were able to start breastfeeding immediately, the nurses and staff at UCLA were great about making sure he only got the breast and they were very breast feeding centric. During our stay if they needed him or me for a check or anything if he was eating it was postponed until he was done.
The hardest part of the whole ordeal was not being able to get out of bed. I wasn’t allowed to get up at all until 11pm on Saturday the 23rd and then only with assistance. Thankfully we were discharged on Sunday and our nurse got us out the door first!
It’s been a month now and Oliver is doing fantastic, he’s was 9lbs 4oz at his 2-½ week check-up. I always said he’d be a ten-pound baby and if he’d come on his guess date, September 6th, he would have been close!
Born August 22, 2008 at 6:44 pm
7lbs 1oz & 19 ¾”
37 weeks 6 days
My labor was induced on Wednesday evening August 20th when at my 37 week check-up I had the indicators for Preeclampsia.
I checked into triage at 2pm. My blood pressure was all over the place and my protein levels were high. It looked like I wasn’t going home. It was not the way I envisioned going into labor at all, I didn’t have a bag packed and my cell phone battery was dying. I got in contact with Peter and he went home from work and packed a bag to come out to the hospital.
At 8pm I was started on misoprostol to help my cervix to open and thin. At this point it still looked like I might not be beginning labor the way I imagined, but I would still be able to finish it the way I wanted. Then they dropped the bomb. Because the risk for the mother with Preeclampsia is seizure, they wanted to put me on Magnesium Sulfate to prevent me from having seizures. I was no longer allowed out of bed because it’s a nervous system relaxant and I could fall.
That night Peter and I did our relaxation scripts. He read me my birth affirmations and Harry Potter. We listened to calming music and rested as much as possible. It was so helpful to keep me calm. After 5 doses of the misoprostol I was only 50% thinned and 1 cm dilated. Overall the doctors and nurses were incredibly upbeat and respectful of our wishes. I only had one negative doctor the entire time I was there, Dr. C-section and two people I call Team Epidural.
I was pretty devastated when they did the check before inserting the sixth pill and I had made no progress. At this point I was beginning to think that a vaginal birth was out of my reach. But with a little “what gets the baby in gets the baby out” and a lot more relaxation and birth affirmations, when they came in to do the check before the seventh pill, I had reached the magical 3cm dilation required to start Pitocin. This was now early Friday morning.
In an attempt to get my cervix to thin some more, I was given a seventh dose of the misoprostol before starting the Pitocin. However, during breakfast my water decided to break. It was the best feeling to know my body was going to give it a go on it’s own. Unfortunately even though I was surging on my own, it wasn’t a productive pattern and I was started on Pitocin around 12-12:30. Team Epidural made a stop in to try and convince me to get the Epidural early. It seemed ridiculous to me at this point as my surges weren’t very intense and I was only 3 cm. I have a feeling that if at that point I had agreed to it I would have absolutely had a Cesarean Section.
The beginning of active labor was peculiar. I was pretty deep in hypnosis, I would be a bit alert when I had a surge, and then drop out and go back to sleep. I was having the most bizarre dreams and images. I felt like I was high on something. It was really cool.
They continued to up the Pitocin and my surges continued to be more powerful. It was intense back labor and I had to stay in bed on my sides to keep my blood pressure readings from getting too scary. Laura my Doula and husband were amazing, reminding me to breathe into the surges and keeping heat and counter pressure on my back. I even used the hospital bed table as a leg support to keep my hips open and my pelvis wide.
After about 5 hours of active labor I was checked again. At this point I was only 4 cm dilated but 100% thinned. With some help from the midwife I was supposed to be delivering with, I was allowed out of bed on to a stool next to the bed. Since the doctors were still concerned about me seizing and the well being of the baby, it was all dependant on keeping us both on the monitors.
Being able to get off my hip and out of bed was the best feeling ever. Everything intensified and I felt primal. In the thirty minutes that I was able to be squatting my cervix opened fully and I began to bear down and push the baby out. By the time they got me back into bed, with my awesome side lying table rig, I was 10 cm and the baby was at +2 station. I felt the most intense need to push and working with my surges, without any coaching (other then to slow down!) I delivered my baby in about 20 minutes.
Oliver was perfect. He was placed immediately on my chest. We waited until the cord stopped pulsing before Peter cut it. I did have a 2nd degree tear, the stitching wasn’t a whole lot of fun, I equate it to having your vagina flossed, but the whole time I was able to stare and bond with my new baby and the three of us became a family.
We were able to start breastfeeding immediately, the nurses and staff at UCLA were great about making sure he only got the breast and they were very breast feeding centric. During our stay if they needed him or me for a check or anything if he was eating it was postponed until he was done.
The hardest part of the whole ordeal was not being able to get out of bed. I wasn’t allowed to get up at all until 11pm on Saturday the 23rd and then only with assistance. Thankfully we were discharged on Sunday and our nurse got us out the door first!
It’s been a month now and Oliver is doing fantastic, he’s was 9lbs 4oz at his 2-½ week check-up. I always said he’d be a ten-pound baby and if he’d come on his guess date, September 6th, he would have been close!