Hours of labor: 28
Days early: 3
Baby birth weight: 7 lbs 10 oz
Baby birth length: 21 inches
Number of people in delivery room: 6 (Dean, Mom, Anita, Midwife, Nurse, med student [Dad was in the waiting room])
Alexandra Grey was born on October 4, 2012 at 2:58 p.m.!
Birth story:
When I woke up in the morning on October 2, at around 7:00 a.m., my pajamas were wet. Not soaked or anything, but wet. There was also some bloody show. I changed my pants, thinking my water probably hadn't broken, since I wasn't soaked, and called my mom. Dean went to work. I got off the phone with my mom at about 9:30 a.m. and my newly changed pants were wet. I called the midwives.
I explained the situation to them and they told me to come in that afternoon to see if I had leaked amniotic fluid or if it was something else. I called Dean, and we met at the midwives office.
They checked me out and said they didn't think it was an amniotic sac rupture. They tested the fluid with a "fern leaf" test that should say if it was amniotic fluid. The test came up negative. The midwife said it was probably very thin mucus. If it happened again, she said, lay down for awhile and then get up suddenly. If fluid runs down my legs, call back.
All the rest of that day, the same thing kept happening. I never felt the liquid leaking, but only noticed when it had gone through my clothes. But it never did run down my legs.
The next morning (Oct 3), it was still happening. I talked to my mom, who said that this was how things had started when she was pregnant with my brother. I called the midwives back, and they said to go to the hospital for an Amniosure test. I got to the hospital at about 10 am. I didn't call Dean because I didn't want to bother him with another false alarm. The Amniosure came up positive. My water had broken, and it had broken at least 27 hours earlier (if not more ... it could have broken anytime in the night before I noticed it at 7 am on the 2nd). The only safe thing to do was induce.
They checked me and I was dilated 1 cm and only 10% effaced. A LONG way to go. I called Dean, he rushed to the hospital, and they started me on the Pitocin. I declined an epidural. They gradually increased the pitocin drip until it was on the max dosage. Dean and I used the Bradley techniques to get through the contractions.
About 10 hours in, the contractions started to get really bad. I felt pretty sure we were nearing transition (from cervix opening labor to push labor), but I was scared to have anyone check. What if they checked and I was only dilated to a 3? Two hours later, we asked to have someone check, because the Bradley method was no longer working to get me through the contractions. They were super intense, and the pitocin was still going full blast. They checked me, at 12 hours into labor, and I was dilated to a 1.5 and 50% effaced. I shot up in bed and shouted, "WHAT?!?!" I was sure I had misheard. 12 hours of labor on pitocin, and that was it? I cried.
Another hour of trying to get through the contractions, and I caved. If I still had 8.5 centimeters to go, and this was what it felt like, I needed an epidural. So, at 13 hours into labor, I got an epidural.
I hated it and loved it. It made me feel really, really cold. I couldn't feel my upper legs at all and my lower legs and feet felt weird. I couldn't stop shivering. But, I also couldn't feel the amped-up contractions that had been so unbearable.
The epidural lasted about 10 hours. Out of nowhere, I started feeling the contractions again. I figured that they had just gotten strong enough that I could feel them through the epidural. The anesthesiologist came back in and gave me a different drug. It seemed to work. Two hours later, the pain was back and it wasn't going anywhere. They said that the epidural catheter had probably migrated and I wasn't getting the pain medication anymore.
Then I got the urge to push, at 26 hours into labor.
It feels IMPOSSIBLE not to push when you get that urge. They checked me and I was at a 9. I was told not to push. It was really, really hard. I thought I was just going to have to push anyway. Alex was coming, and not pushing seemed truly impossible. It was painful not to push, especially with no pain medication in my system. Somehow I held on until they could check me again, 45 minutes later.
Finally, it was time to push. Pushing was also painful, but a great relief. At least I was doing something to make progress. I pushed for 40 minutes. I delivered her head and my contraction had ended (you push with the contractions), but I gave an extra push anyway to get her body out. I heard everyone gasp, "Oh!"
They placed her on my chest, and my first thought was, "She doesn't look anything like me!" But she was beautiful and amazing and my second thought was, "Wow."
Alex is now 3.5 weeks old and we are both doing well. She still doesn't look anything like me. She is her dad, through and through. But she is so beautiful and healthy and strong!
Welcome to the world, Alex! We love you!
Alex at three weeks
Alex at two weeks
