Morgan's Birth Story
Morgan is a week old today, and I think I'm finally up to this!
I had been saying for weeks and weeks that I would have her the day after Thanksgiving. I figured I'd stuff myself on Thanksgiving, feel like crap, and go into labor between 11pm and 1am that night. Contractions actually started at 2:30am, so I was off by about 90 minutes!
I waited about an hour before waking up hubby, because I figured I'd just roll over and everything would stop. It didn't. I woke hubby up at 3:30 am to tell him what was going on, and told him to try and get some rest while I called the doctor. Meanwhile, the contractions were continuing to intensify and get closer. Hubby decided against going back to sleep.
I got my doctor on the phone, who told me to head over to the hospital. I called my mom and let her know, and she started asking me a million questions. Unfortunately, by this time I was nearly unable to speak.
The hospital is only five minutes away, but the car ride seemed like an eternity. We went in through the ED, who knew we were coming. The security guard offered a wheelchair, which I declined because walking is supposed to be good for labor! While I'm sure it is, I should have grabbed that chair! It was hell getting up to L&D. Once the L&D staff took one look at me, the decision was made that I was going to be admitted, and not just thrown into the observation room.
My doc arrived shortly thereafter. I was 100% effaced, and 6cm dilated. She asked if I thought I might want an epidural. Now, I had been absolutely terrified of the epidural, but I figured I'd take the liter of IV fluids in case I changed my mind about the epidural. They got that running, gave me a bit of Stadol, drew labs, and got my antibiotics running for the group B strep.
From this point, I have no concept of time, or really what order things were happening in. I know the pain got worse, and I wasn't able to bear it. I asked for more Stadol, but I think I had maxed out the allowed dosage. So I decided to go for the epidural. At that point, I no longer cared about getting a needle stuck in my back, I just wanted the pain to stop.
And the epidural was not bad at all. It felt very strange, but compared to the pain I was in, it was nothing. It served several purposes: it allowed me to rest and stop screaming for a bit; and it also slowed down labor. Slowing labor was something we actually wanted to do, because of the antibiotics for the group B strep. It was recommended that the antibiotics have four hours to work before giving birth. It also allowed time for the lab results to come back. I was told about two hours after receiving the epidural that I had severe preeclampsia. At no point during my pregnancy had I had hight blood pressure. I had no risk factors, and no signs or symptoms. But my labs were clear. The magnesium sulfate was then hung, and this pretty much started a nightmare that lasted a day and a half.
At about 9:30am, I was told it was time to start pushing. I had been fully effaced and dilated for hours at this time, and I was completely looped on the magnesium sulfate. My contractions at this time were about five minutes apart, and while I could detect them, they didn't seem to be very effective.
I pushed through every contraction for the next three and a half hours. Nothing. She was +1 station, and wouldn't budge from there. I tried all sorts of different positions and techniques to get her to move, but she wouldn't. The OB was trying to see if she could get her down far enough to guide her out, of grab her with forceps, but she simply wouldn't move. At some point during all this, the OB finished breaking my water, as it hadn't completely happened. Of course there was some meconium.
After three and a half hours of pushing, my OB said it was time for a c-section, due to arrest of descent. I pretty much lost it. I just didn't want a section. But I was so tired, and really had no energy left. I'm sure this was a combination of fatigue and the magnesium sulfate.
The anesthesiologist was a bright spot in all of this. I told him that I did not want my arms tied down, and that I did not want him to give me any benzodiazapines. No problem with any of this. Both he and the OB allowed not just my husband, but my mom to come into the OR with me, which is very atypical. Usually it's just one person, and that is it.
Prep for the OR happened really quickly, and soon enough they were making the first incision. The anesthesiologist was right at my head, narrating exactly what was happening. It was really helpful to me to have this going on.
Soon enough, she was out. I had asked for the drape to be lowered, but they held her up over the drape so I could see her, and she dripped all over me! Of course she took her first breath before they could suction out the meconium! My mom and husband both came to tell me just how beautiful she was, and hubby got to cut the cord. I had really wanted to see this, but at least there were pictures.
Morgan Elena arrived on November 28, 2008, at 1:45pm via c-section. She was 7lbs, 13 ounces and 20.5 inches long. And yes, absolutely beautiful.
I had been saying for weeks and weeks that I would have her the day after Thanksgiving. I figured I'd stuff myself on Thanksgiving, feel like crap, and go into labor between 11pm and 1am that night. Contractions actually started at 2:30am, so I was off by about 90 minutes!
I waited about an hour before waking up hubby, because I figured I'd just roll over and everything would stop. It didn't. I woke hubby up at 3:30 am to tell him what was going on, and told him to try and get some rest while I called the doctor. Meanwhile, the contractions were continuing to intensify and get closer. Hubby decided against going back to sleep.
I got my doctor on the phone, who told me to head over to the hospital. I called my mom and let her know, and she started asking me a million questions. Unfortunately, by this time I was nearly unable to speak.
The hospital is only five minutes away, but the car ride seemed like an eternity. We went in through the ED, who knew we were coming. The security guard offered a wheelchair, which I declined because walking is supposed to be good for labor! While I'm sure it is, I should have grabbed that chair! It was hell getting up to L&D. Once the L&D staff took one look at me, the decision was made that I was going to be admitted, and not just thrown into the observation room.
My doc arrived shortly thereafter. I was 100% effaced, and 6cm dilated. She asked if I thought I might want an epidural. Now, I had been absolutely terrified of the epidural, but I figured I'd take the liter of IV fluids in case I changed my mind about the epidural. They got that running, gave me a bit of Stadol, drew labs, and got my antibiotics running for the group B strep.
From this point, I have no concept of time, or really what order things were happening in. I know the pain got worse, and I wasn't able to bear it. I asked for more Stadol, but I think I had maxed out the allowed dosage. So I decided to go for the epidural. At that point, I no longer cared about getting a needle stuck in my back, I just wanted the pain to stop.
And the epidural was not bad at all. It felt very strange, but compared to the pain I was in, it was nothing. It served several purposes: it allowed me to rest and stop screaming for a bit; and it also slowed down labor. Slowing labor was something we actually wanted to do, because of the antibiotics for the group B strep. It was recommended that the antibiotics have four hours to work before giving birth. It also allowed time for the lab results to come back. I was told about two hours after receiving the epidural that I had severe preeclampsia. At no point during my pregnancy had I had hight blood pressure. I had no risk factors, and no signs or symptoms. But my labs were clear. The magnesium sulfate was then hung, and this pretty much started a nightmare that lasted a day and a half.
At about 9:30am, I was told it was time to start pushing. I had been fully effaced and dilated for hours at this time, and I was completely looped on the magnesium sulfate. My contractions at this time were about five minutes apart, and while I could detect them, they didn't seem to be very effective.
I pushed through every contraction for the next three and a half hours. Nothing. She was +1 station, and wouldn't budge from there. I tried all sorts of different positions and techniques to get her to move, but she wouldn't. The OB was trying to see if she could get her down far enough to guide her out, of grab her with forceps, but she simply wouldn't move. At some point during all this, the OB finished breaking my water, as it hadn't completely happened. Of course there was some meconium.
After three and a half hours of pushing, my OB said it was time for a c-section, due to arrest of descent. I pretty much lost it. I just didn't want a section. But I was so tired, and really had no energy left. I'm sure this was a combination of fatigue and the magnesium sulfate.
The anesthesiologist was a bright spot in all of this. I told him that I did not want my arms tied down, and that I did not want him to give me any benzodiazapines. No problem with any of this. Both he and the OB allowed not just my husband, but my mom to come into the OR with me, which is very atypical. Usually it's just one person, and that is it.
Prep for the OR happened really quickly, and soon enough they were making the first incision. The anesthesiologist was right at my head, narrating exactly what was happening. It was really helpful to me to have this going on.
Soon enough, she was out. I had asked for the drape to be lowered, but they held her up over the drape so I could see her, and she dripped all over me! Of course she took her first breath before they could suction out the meconium! My mom and husband both came to tell me just how beautiful she was, and hubby got to cut the cord. I had really wanted to see this, but at least there were pictures.
Morgan Elena arrived on November 28, 2008, at 1:45pm via c-section. She was 7lbs, 13 ounces and 20.5 inches long. And yes, absolutely beautiful.