On Thursday, December 29th, we were set to have 2 appointments at the doctors office. The first appointment was a repeat ultrasound to check the size of the baby. At the appointment the day before that one, they told us the baby was weighing in at about 8lbs 11oz and the doctor wanted us to repeat the ultrasound because she thought a mistake had been made, that he could not possibly be that big {my stomach was measuring a week behind and I had only gained 25lbs so she thought that was pretty unlikely} If the baby was in fact as big as they said, then we were going to set up a time for a Csection at the second appointment of the day.
We went in for the ultrasound and they were going through there checklist of things and the baby was not completing the last task on the list...practice breathing. He was sleeping and no amount of poking or prodding would wake him up and get him to do what the tech was needing him to do. Since we couldn't "pass the test" they sent us ahead to the doctor who told us that this could be a sign of distress and that we should go ahead to the hospital to have the test repeated and possibly go ahead in for the Csection.
We headed to the hospital where we explained what was going on. They hooked me up to monitor my contractions {which I had been having for weeks}, checked my cervix {which they couldn't find}, and repeated the ultrasound test, which this time was passed with flying colors. After speaking to the doctor on call, he assured me that there was no way the baby was a big as they had said and that a Csection was no longer necessary, I was not dilated enough to stay, and that my contractions were present but not close enough together or strong enough to indicate eminent labor. So after coming in for my original appointment at 10:30 a.m., it was now almost 6:00 p.m. and they sent us on our way and told Luke to take me out for a nice dinner for all our trouble since I was starving to death after only have a blueberry muffin that morning before we went in.
Feeling better about things knowing I wasn't going to need a Csection, I came home to help my mom finish dinner and eat. While cooking, my contractions started to increase in discomfort and become closer and closer together. Since we had several false alarms in the days previous, I chalked it up to being tired and possibly some leftover pressure from the exam I got at the hospital. I filled my plate, finally ready to eat and sat down out on the patio. I had no more taken 3 bites of food when I felt a release of pressure and my pants and chair were wet. Now, we had also had a false alarm in the water breaking department also when I thought it was leaking only to go to the hospital to find out that embarrassingly enough I was just peeing my pants LOL. At this point the contractions were very uncomfortable and about 3 minutes apart. We had only been home from the hospital for maybe 45 minutes so the thought of going back and sitting there all night for another false alarm was not appealing but after more and more leaking and stronger contractions by the minute we bit the bullet and headed back to the hospital.
We checked in at labor and delivery at around 7:30 and by this point the contractions were bringing me to tears. After about 15 minutes of waiting they finally got me to the triage room where they informed us that it was indeed amniotic fluid this time and my water had indeed broke. Apparently everyone in West Palm Beach had decided to have a baby that night and there were no rooms available to be moved to. So...I had to wait. Full on contractions every 2 minutes. After about an hour of laying in the triage room they finally got me to a delivery room where they hooked up my IV and gave me some kind of pain medication {which only made me slur my words and did nothing for the pain} and some anti-nausea meds. I was planning on having an epidural and asked when I was going to be able to get it because at this point I was experiencing contractions that were stronger than I had with my first baby and I wasn't exactly ready for that. The nurse informed me I would have to wait until my labs came back before I could get it. This was around 9:00. I barely noticed when the lady finally came in to give me the epidural. My contractions were so strong and so close together that it was very difficult to hold still while she inserted the cath into my back but I fought through it knowing my pain would soon be over. I waited and waited, every contraction stronger than the last, wondering when it was going to kick in. They had made Luke leave the room so it was just the nurse and the anesthesiologist in the room with me and you could have heard a pin drop. They kept looking at each other and were starting to make me nervous so I asked when it was going to start working. That's when they let Luke and my mom into the room and then told me that I was already dilated to 9 and that unfortunately the epidural was not going to take in time! What!!! I started to freak out. I had an epidural with my first baby and never prepared myself to give birth sans pain meds. I had never taken a class or even read about how to make it through but at this point what could I do?
After a quick meltdown, the doctor came in and it was go time. After having been released from the hospital at around 5:30 p.m. and told not to anticipate baby anytime soon, Jude Lucas Sweet was born a mere 5 or so hours later at 11:13 p.m. He was not 8lbs 11ozs, but a tiny little 7lbs 6oz...
It didn't go the way I had planned, but then what in life does? When all was said and done, he was here, he was healthy, and I could join the All Natural Birth Club...HooRah
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| Brand New |
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| Meeting big sister for the first time |
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| Little angel |
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| Jude and his GG |
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| Trying to share her snacks |
1 comment:
Wow!! What a birth story! I am glad you both are ok and you have beautiful little Jude.
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