For better or worse due to a memory issues, I present you with my birth story. We had originally planned a homebirth, but we ended up with a c/s in the hospital.
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Wednesday, July 14 I tried inducing labor with castor oil only to have my regular, light contractions peter out. Thursday my midwife suggested going to the hospital for a contraction stress test (CST), but I wanted to wait and see what would happen with the contractions which had picked up again, but were totally irregular. Friday, July 16 we had another appointment with my midwife for another NST and this time babys heart rate plummeted with a contraction. She had been feeling as if something was off with the baby for most of the week which is why we tried inducing on Wednesday. She sent us to the hospital for a CST, informing me that it very likely might kick-start active labor since I'd been having irregular contractions for a few days. When we got to the hospital DP was so nervous that he caused a fender-bender in the parking lot. But we found the car owners in L&D, lol. They weren't too interested in doing paperwork either. By the time we got set up and hooked up and the test run, it was late evening. The test results were that the baby did not react well to contractions in any postion except when I was lying on my left side. So I guess he must have had some cord compression issues. I was sent sometime later to the doctor for an amnioscopy because there seemed to be something - possibly meconium floating around in the amniotic fluid. She said the fluid was greenish and that I ought to be induced. I also had bloody show at some point before this exam. The midwives wanted to induce straight away, but I was hesitant. I was still having contractions which were stronger than during the CST and wanted to see if they would evolve into something more on their own. So we got to stay the night in one of the L&D rooms and I got NST's intermittently during the night. DP fell pretty much instantly asleep but woke to complain at one point about missing the birth. I had a good laugh at that. At two points I managed to fall asleep myself for 2 hours before being awoken by a major contraction. But after the second wake up call the contractions stalled and all but disappeared. I was sent midmorning to the top doc for another amnioscopy for confirmation on the green fluid. He agreed with the doc from the night before, but said that my cervix was now open to 3 cm and that they would like to induce me with castor oil and not pitocin. I was really happy. I thought they would want to either do a c/s directly or induce in the usual manner. However, the hospital was flooded with preggo chicks all wanting to have their baby that day. We got booted out of our comfy L&D room and I got sent to a room in the maternity ward where three other soon to be moms were hanging out chatting and receiving visitors. I was in tears. I had to gulp down the nasty castor oil without all the trimmings besides juice, and I was in an environment not conducive to quiet laboring. I could completely forget my hypnobabies between all the monitoring, exams and chatter. But a nurse did eventually inform me that the breakfast room was completely empty and that I could labor there in peace if I'd like. I also got a ball from the nurse and DP brought my lunch to me there as well. Eventually I relaxed, and we talked about what we needed to do. I was due back in two hours for another check up and we decided that DP ought to go home to feed the cats and bring a few more items. We took a short walk and I called my midwife to let her know what was going on, and then I went back up to my room to lie down. Not even an hour later my water broke. Excitement set in as I was told to stay in bed, I texted DP with the news and was hauled off back to L&D and put in the waiting/laboring room and on a monitor. I stayed there for almost another hour breathing through the contractions which were much more intense and coming regularly, but still quite manageable. A midwife eventually came to check me - after kicking everyone out - and low and behold I was already at 7 cm. I think that was between 3 and 4 pm. I was worried that DP really would miss the birth afterall. Since all the L&D rooms were occupied, they decided to turn the waiting room into an L&D room, bringing in supplies. DP arrived just in time right before I think I went into transition. We were joking about the baby maybe coming at 17:07 (5:15 pm) since the date was July 17. Soon enough I started shaking really bad, was sweating profusely and suddenly vomitted numerous times on the floor. I had him hit the call button for a midwife to come, thinking I was going to have the baby NOW. But nope, not quite. I still had a ways to go. A student midwife brought me a bowl of disposable cloths in cold water to wipe me down and I stripped off all of my clothes. I got to use the restroom a few times, was given suppositories to help soften my cervix up some more, and then I got to lie down again on my left side for another NST, during which I felt the baby reposition himself. I'm not sure if this was our downfall or not, if his last-minute move was due to the position, but I didn't have much of a choice. He wasn't dealing with the contractions well and needed plenty of "breaks". Shortly afterwards an L&D room freed up and they wanted me in there as soon as I could walk between contractions. I got wrapped in a sheet and moved my butt down that long hall as fast as I could and made it. Yeah! No screaming naked in the hallway.
In the L&D room the midwives and student midwives kept their distance, kneeling respectively and waiting if we needed help with anything. When I wasn't being monitored I was free to labor in any position I could find comfortable. I was amazed at how well I was dealing with the labor and transition. Maybe the hypnobabies did help somehow. I can't say that labor wasn't painful - and I was told later that it was probably more painful than it should have been due to the bad head positioning - but it was a lot more manageable that my last pregnancy. At some point I realized that DP had stripped down to his boxershorts, which I thought was wierd but it made sense after a moment. Afterall, he didn't have a change of clothes with him, and anyone coming into contact with me was going to get smeared with SOMETHING. I was pulling on him or using him as some sort of support in nearly every position. He had really sore muscles for a few days after that. Anyhow, I don't know when I reached 10 cm since I wasn't being checked regularly for that, but I did eventually make it. I kept pushing when I felt like it, except when I was being monitored and they asked me not to - that was hard! Eventually, I was told not to push anymore at all. I was given tocolytics at least 3 different times - once as a shot and twice on IV, to give the baby a break. I was eventually given a PDA so that I could have a break because despite not having anymore contractions, the baby's head was pushing down on my pubic bone so hard that I was in aweful pain. Sometimes I felt it in the small of my back, but thankfully not often. My cervix still had a lip on it and I was given something homeopathic to deal with that, which worked well and it was then that they realized that his head was presenting wrong. The midwife tried repositioning his head, but it wasn't working. I was instructed to lie first on one side for 10 minutes and then switch sides every 10 minutes to get the baby to reposition himself. At some point, we agreed to having a test done - baby's head was pricked for a blood sample and tested. The test came back ok and we were told we could continue trying to change his position and push him out for a while longer. (ETA: pit) I was put on pitocin to help my contractions out and the pda was renewed so I could save my energy for pushing. But nothing was happening. No matter what we did or how hard I pushed, he just wasn't budging. Eventually we agreed that the only thing left was a c/s - not even vacuum extraction was thought to be helpful - so the doctor was called in and I signed all the papers and I got hauled in, prepped and the surgery was done with DP at my head. It was really wierd since I didn't expect it to be that brutal. Instead I felt like the doctors were trying to tug all of my insides out. Maybe the baby was really stuck and there needed a little more umph to get him out. Either way, it turned out that the little turkey had both his hands up by his head which is the reason why his head got cocked to one side and wasn't going anywhere. Probably he had his fingers in his ears trying to drown out all of my roaring. He was born at 10:08 pm. So altogether about 9 hours of active labor with 6 of those hours being transition and pushing and prepping for surgery.
I can NOT understand why anyone would voluntarily want to have a c/s done on them. I'm 3 weeks pp and my belly still hurts and I can't feel when my bladder is full. I'm just glad we're all ok and that I'm taking this wayward birth in stride. It's a farcry from my dream of a homebirth, that's for sure. Still, I'm really proud of myself for getting through all the way to 10 cm naturally. And I still find this birth in some ways more satisfying than the last birth by simple things like inducing with castor oil instead of pitocin, actually having bloody show this time and feeling my waters break on their own. The hospital - Vinzenz Palotti Krankenhaus - was also really great, the staff just awesome. After a few days we got a family room just for the four of us and although my cell phone got stolen and DP's wallet went missing during an outing with DD (it turned up later as someone found it) and all his cards got blocked by the bank, we enjoyed pretty much every minute of this popcorn-worthy birth event.
************************************************** *********
Wednesday, July 14 I tried inducing labor with castor oil only to have my regular, light contractions peter out. Thursday my midwife suggested going to the hospital for a contraction stress test (CST), but I wanted to wait and see what would happen with the contractions which had picked up again, but were totally irregular. Friday, July 16 we had another appointment with my midwife for another NST and this time babys heart rate plummeted with a contraction. She had been feeling as if something was off with the baby for most of the week which is why we tried inducing on Wednesday. She sent us to the hospital for a CST, informing me that it very likely might kick-start active labor since I'd been having irregular contractions for a few days. When we got to the hospital DP was so nervous that he caused a fender-bender in the parking lot. But we found the car owners in L&D, lol. They weren't too interested in doing paperwork either. By the time we got set up and hooked up and the test run, it was late evening. The test results were that the baby did not react well to contractions in any postion except when I was lying on my left side. So I guess he must have had some cord compression issues. I was sent sometime later to the doctor for an amnioscopy because there seemed to be something - possibly meconium floating around in the amniotic fluid. She said the fluid was greenish and that I ought to be induced. I also had bloody show at some point before this exam. The midwives wanted to induce straight away, but I was hesitant. I was still having contractions which were stronger than during the CST and wanted to see if they would evolve into something more on their own. So we got to stay the night in one of the L&D rooms and I got NST's intermittently during the night. DP fell pretty much instantly asleep but woke to complain at one point about missing the birth. I had a good laugh at that. At two points I managed to fall asleep myself for 2 hours before being awoken by a major contraction. But after the second wake up call the contractions stalled and all but disappeared. I was sent midmorning to the top doc for another amnioscopy for confirmation on the green fluid. He agreed with the doc from the night before, but said that my cervix was now open to 3 cm and that they would like to induce me with castor oil and not pitocin. I was really happy. I thought they would want to either do a c/s directly or induce in the usual manner. However, the hospital was flooded with preggo chicks all wanting to have their baby that day. We got booted out of our comfy L&D room and I got sent to a room in the maternity ward where three other soon to be moms were hanging out chatting and receiving visitors. I was in tears. I had to gulp down the nasty castor oil without all the trimmings besides juice, and I was in an environment not conducive to quiet laboring. I could completely forget my hypnobabies between all the monitoring, exams and chatter. But a nurse did eventually inform me that the breakfast room was completely empty and that I could labor there in peace if I'd like. I also got a ball from the nurse and DP brought my lunch to me there as well. Eventually I relaxed, and we talked about what we needed to do. I was due back in two hours for another check up and we decided that DP ought to go home to feed the cats and bring a few more items. We took a short walk and I called my midwife to let her know what was going on, and then I went back up to my room to lie down. Not even an hour later my water broke. Excitement set in as I was told to stay in bed, I texted DP with the news and was hauled off back to L&D and put in the waiting/laboring room and on a monitor. I stayed there for almost another hour breathing through the contractions which were much more intense and coming regularly, but still quite manageable. A midwife eventually came to check me - after kicking everyone out - and low and behold I was already at 7 cm. I think that was between 3 and 4 pm. I was worried that DP really would miss the birth afterall. Since all the L&D rooms were occupied, they decided to turn the waiting room into an L&D room, bringing in supplies. DP arrived just in time right before I think I went into transition. We were joking about the baby maybe coming at 17:07 (5:15 pm) since the date was July 17. Soon enough I started shaking really bad, was sweating profusely and suddenly vomitted numerous times on the floor. I had him hit the call button for a midwife to come, thinking I was going to have the baby NOW. But nope, not quite. I still had a ways to go. A student midwife brought me a bowl of disposable cloths in cold water to wipe me down and I stripped off all of my clothes. I got to use the restroom a few times, was given suppositories to help soften my cervix up some more, and then I got to lie down again on my left side for another NST, during which I felt the baby reposition himself. I'm not sure if this was our downfall or not, if his last-minute move was due to the position, but I didn't have much of a choice. He wasn't dealing with the contractions well and needed plenty of "breaks". Shortly afterwards an L&D room freed up and they wanted me in there as soon as I could walk between contractions. I got wrapped in a sheet and moved my butt down that long hall as fast as I could and made it. Yeah! No screaming naked in the hallway.
In the L&D room the midwives and student midwives kept their distance, kneeling respectively and waiting if we needed help with anything. When I wasn't being monitored I was free to labor in any position I could find comfortable. I was amazed at how well I was dealing with the labor and transition. Maybe the hypnobabies did help somehow. I can't say that labor wasn't painful - and I was told later that it was probably more painful than it should have been due to the bad head positioning - but it was a lot more manageable that my last pregnancy. At some point I realized that DP had stripped down to his boxershorts, which I thought was wierd but it made sense after a moment. Afterall, he didn't have a change of clothes with him, and anyone coming into contact with me was going to get smeared with SOMETHING. I was pulling on him or using him as some sort of support in nearly every position. He had really sore muscles for a few days after that. Anyhow, I don't know when I reached 10 cm since I wasn't being checked regularly for that, but I did eventually make it. I kept pushing when I felt like it, except when I was being monitored and they asked me not to - that was hard! Eventually, I was told not to push anymore at all. I was given tocolytics at least 3 different times - once as a shot and twice on IV, to give the baby a break. I was eventually given a PDA so that I could have a break because despite not having anymore contractions, the baby's head was pushing down on my pubic bone so hard that I was in aweful pain. Sometimes I felt it in the small of my back, but thankfully not often. My cervix still had a lip on it and I was given something homeopathic to deal with that, which worked well and it was then that they realized that his head was presenting wrong. The midwife tried repositioning his head, but it wasn't working. I was instructed to lie first on one side for 10 minutes and then switch sides every 10 minutes to get the baby to reposition himself. At some point, we agreed to having a test done - baby's head was pricked for a blood sample and tested. The test came back ok and we were told we could continue trying to change his position and push him out for a while longer. (ETA: pit) I was put on pitocin to help my contractions out and the pda was renewed so I could save my energy for pushing. But nothing was happening. No matter what we did or how hard I pushed, he just wasn't budging. Eventually we agreed that the only thing left was a c/s - not even vacuum extraction was thought to be helpful - so the doctor was called in and I signed all the papers and I got hauled in, prepped and the surgery was done with DP at my head. It was really wierd since I didn't expect it to be that brutal. Instead I felt like the doctors were trying to tug all of my insides out. Maybe the baby was really stuck and there needed a little more umph to get him out. Either way, it turned out that the little turkey had both his hands up by his head which is the reason why his head got cocked to one side and wasn't going anywhere. Probably he had his fingers in his ears trying to drown out all of my roaring. He was born at 10:08 pm. So altogether about 9 hours of active labor with 6 of those hours being transition and pushing and prepping for surgery.
I can NOT understand why anyone would voluntarily want to have a c/s done on them. I'm 3 weeks pp and my belly still hurts and I can't feel when my bladder is full. I'm just glad we're all ok and that I'm taking this wayward birth in stride. It's a farcry from my dream of a homebirth, that's for sure. Still, I'm really proud of myself for getting through all the way to 10 cm naturally. And I still find this birth in some ways more satisfying than the last birth by simple things like inducing with castor oil instead of pitocin, actually having bloody show this time and feeling my waters break on their own. The hospital - Vinzenz Palotti Krankenhaus - was also really great, the staff just awesome. After a few days we got a family room just for the four of us and although my cell phone got stolen and DP's wallet went missing during an outing with DD (it turned up later as someone found it) and all his cards got blocked by the bank, we enjoyed pretty much every minute of this popcorn-worthy birth event.
