I haven't written about my birth story yet...I haven't written about a lot of things I've planned on writing about, but that's neither here nor there....
I want to start this post with how I prepared to give birth.
I tend to be extremely type A in a lot of ways and I like to be in control, so finding out that I was pregnant was extremely scare to me because that was something that was completely out of my control. The way that I prepared for that was by educating myself...sometimes too much.
In that education process, I came across someone named Sarah Lavone on Youtube who is a nurse and has birthing classes and I think she may be a midwife or a doula or something...you can research her past that if you would like.
Anyways, Sarah's whole thing is that birth (and life) is nothing but flex and flow. Being type A, this is something that I struggle with on a daily basis.
My birth plan:
As time for me to give birth neared, I talked to my doctor and asked her if I needed to write a birth plan down. She told me that if there was something specific that I felt very strongly about to write it down, but the hospital already did delayed cord clamping, immediate skin to skin, etc...
We discussed what I would put on it. The only thing I was passionate about was laboring my own way, not being induced, and avoiding a c-section at all cost. She said, "that's our plan too."
Again, I realized that at the end of the day, the only thing/person/being that actually had control was God and the universe...so I tried my damnedest to flex and flow and expect it to all go to Hell.
Maternal Fetal Medicine:
Throughout the whole pregnancy I had to go to maternal fetal medicine (MFM). Everything looked perfect...until the last visit that is...
***key the foreshadowing from the paragraph above***
The last visit the doctor told me that I'm going to have to be induced. Now keep in mind that I have never seen this doctor and they are not my primary doctors. She was pretty rude when telling me why, and I'll be honest, I shut down and freaked out once I heard her say induction. All I heard was something about the umbilical cord and then the doctor said, "I'm not sure why you're surprised, you're here for high blood pressure, we always suggest induction when you're here for that." (BTW, I was there for possible high blood pressure and my blood pressure had been fine throughout my whole pregnancy.) I went straight to my primary doctor's office and told them that I needed to see my primary doctor. She wasn't there that day, but they did reschedule my appointment so that I could see her the next day.
The appointment:
The next day was my appointment with my primary OBGYN...whom I absolutely adore. She knows that I like to be informed and I like to ask questions. So she was looked that the MFM report to see why they said I was going to have to be induced. She explained to me that somewhere the blood flow to the baby was restricted, which is why she was measuring smaller and in those cases they induce because it can cause the baby to be stillborn. I, of course, cried more and my husband and I talked about it and decided to schedule the induction for the next Monday. This was also my primary OBs on-call day, so she would be delivering my baby, which was actually extremely important to me.
Birth Day:
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| Ready to go! |
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| Officially on the way to the hospital after a huge breakfast at Waffle House! |
Oh that day...remember I said I was trying to flex and flow over here.
I get to the hospital and check in. I kind of expected them to do other techniques to induce first, but nope, they just jumped in with the pitocin. The contractions started and it was painful...as expected...however, I was not allowed to get up and move around because Lorelei's heart rate had to be monitored. I was able to get up and go to the bathroom. Let me tell you, those contractions felt a hell of a lot better when I was standing up. Honestly, I probably would have been able to avoid the epidural, but since I was in that damned hospital bed...I was hella uncomfortable.
While having contractions, the doctor and the nurse noticed that Lorelei's heart rate kept dropping.
At one point, the doctor came in and checked to see how far I was dilated. I was at 6 cm. She told me that she would check me in two hours and she thought that it would be time to have a baby.
About 45 minutes later, the nurse rushed back in and started watching the heart rate. My doctor was quick after her. While walking in, she looked at the nurse and said, "good you're in here." She wanted to check me again and I was dilated to 8 cm. They both stood there and watched it. My husband was also watching. All of the sudden, my doctor looked at me and said, "Kathy, sweetie, we're going to have to prepare you for a c-section." Next thing I know, they're ripping cords out of the walls and rushing me to the OR and my doctor is basically yelling for people to get the OR ready STAT. While this was happening I felt that my crotch was hanging out, so I'm trying my damnedest to make sure I'm covered up. My doctor knows me well enough to know that I like to be informed. So while she was yelling for people to get things ready, she was in my ear explaining to me what was going on and comforting me.
The surgery went wonderfully. Although, I'm still disappointed that I did not get to physically push my child out, it was the most surreal feeling to feel the pressure of your child being pulled out of you...it was kind of cool, to be honest.
The first thing that the doctor said when she pulled Lorelei out was, "My God, she's beautiful!" My husband leaned over and said, "It's definitely a girl."
My heart completely melted when I heard her cry for the first time. I could not quit crying and repeating, "where is my baby?! I wanna see my baby!"
They cleaned her up and brought her to me as soon as possible.
After stitching me up and gluing me back together, they wheeled me to recovery and brought me my baby girl for skin to skin. While cleaning me up, another nurse came to my nurse and said, "They're about to call a code red. There's a light smoking in one of the rooms." Within minutes, the code was called. Again, they started ripping cords out of the walls and rushed me away as fast as possible and put me in my room. I like to say she was born at 5 lbs 15 oz and 18 1/2 inches, and she came burning the world down.
The Conclusion:
At the end, I have a healthy and BEAUTIFUL baby girl. Being a mom has been a learning experience. It hasn't been easy at all...but I've loved it. I'll have to go back to work soon and it will break my heart into a million pieces. Luckily, my husband's dad and step-mom is going to keep her until at least January for us.
Thank you for taking the time to read my birth story! I hope some one can relate or take something from it. The lactation consultant that I see also teaches birthing classes. She asked me at one appointment if there was any advice to give the people in it. My advice is to just expect it to all go to Hell. Even though I took finding out that I had to have an induction really hard, and then a c-section on top of that, I'm really glad that I had prepared the way that I did because I was able to be more relaxed the day of.
While having contractions, the doctor and the nurse noticed that Lorelei's heart rate kept dropping.
At one point, the doctor came in and checked to see how far I was dilated. I was at 6 cm. She told me that she would check me in two hours and she thought that it would be time to have a baby.
About 45 minutes later, the nurse rushed back in and started watching the heart rate. My doctor was quick after her. While walking in, she looked at the nurse and said, "good you're in here." She wanted to check me again and I was dilated to 8 cm. They both stood there and watched it. My husband was also watching. All of the sudden, my doctor looked at me and said, "Kathy, sweetie, we're going to have to prepare you for a c-section." Next thing I know, they're ripping cords out of the walls and rushing me to the OR and my doctor is basically yelling for people to get the OR ready STAT. While this was happening I felt that my crotch was hanging out, so I'm trying my damnedest to make sure I'm covered up. My doctor knows me well enough to know that I like to be informed. So while she was yelling for people to get things ready, she was in my ear explaining to me what was going on and comforting me.
The surgery went wonderfully. Although, I'm still disappointed that I did not get to physically push my child out, it was the most surreal feeling to feel the pressure of your child being pulled out of you...it was kind of cool, to be honest.
The first thing that the doctor said when she pulled Lorelei out was, "My God, she's beautiful!" My husband leaned over and said, "It's definitely a girl."
My heart completely melted when I heard her cry for the first time. I could not quit crying and repeating, "where is my baby?! I wanna see my baby!"
They cleaned her up and brought her to me as soon as possible.
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| The first time seeing her |
After stitching me up and gluing me back together, they wheeled me to recovery and brought me my baby girl for skin to skin. While cleaning me up, another nurse came to my nurse and said, "They're about to call a code red. There's a light smoking in one of the rooms." Within minutes, the code was called. Again, they started ripping cords out of the walls and rushed me away as fast as possible and put me in my room. I like to say she was born at 5 lbs 15 oz and 18 1/2 inches, and she came burning the world down.
The Conclusion:
At the end, I have a healthy and BEAUTIFUL baby girl. Being a mom has been a learning experience. It hasn't been easy at all...but I've loved it. I'll have to go back to work soon and it will break my heart into a million pieces. Luckily, my husband's dad and step-mom is going to keep her until at least January for us.
Thank you for taking the time to read my birth story! I hope some one can relate or take something from it. The lactation consultant that I see also teaches birthing classes. She asked me at one appointment if there was any advice to give the people in it. My advice is to just expect it to all go to Hell. Even though I took finding out that I had to have an induction really hard, and then a c-section on top of that, I'm really glad that I had prepared the way that I did because I was able to be more relaxed the day of.
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