Hi everyone!
I wanted to let you know that we had our baby two and a half weeks early. We had a boy, named Henry Terence who was born on Saturday April 8th. He was 5lbs 15 oz at birth. He seems to have sandy brown hair (or peach fuzz at this point) and dark blue eyes.
We had a repeat cesearean section, after being artifically induced early because of my rising blood pressures and medium severity preclampsia. At my midwife appointment on Thursday, it showed my weight up 15 pounds in two weeks, my edema getting worse, my sleep-deprivation at an all-time high, and protein in my urine, although I had normal blood pressure. They asked me to go to UCSF for a blood pressure check on Friday and it was sky high then. I went over to Labor & Delivery so they could monitor me for a few hours. My pressures were getting higher and higher. Because the baby was considered term at 37 weeks, they urged me to be induced which led to the ultimate medical intervention childbirth experience. Almost every medical intervention you can imagine I experienced this time.
Let me tell you - being artificially induced is no fun, especially when the baby has not dropped and is not ready to be born. I was put on pitocin, starting at the lowest dose and gradually turned up. After 19 hours of being on it, my contractions were horribly intense and painful, and not leading anywhere. The baby was still -3 station and I was only 3 cm dilated. To make matters worse, I could not do all the things that soothe women in labor, like soak in a tub, sit on the ball, slow dance, etc. because all of it led to higher blood pressures for myself. Once I realized that I was going to be bed ridden, I asked for the epidural which did not take because of my scoliosis (curvature of the spine). At that point, the contractions were 1 minute apart and I was still 3 cm dilated, -2 station. I asked them to give me a c-section, which ironically was looking better and better with each passing minute.
Even though the birth was not what I had hoped for, I feel good about it all. Henry was worth every bit of pain and discomfort. Also, the staff at UCSF always gave me the choice for what I wanted, and never pushed anything on me. They were very good about informed consent, and I truly feel like all the things that happened were my choice, which makes it empowering, a far cry from my last birth. My recovery has been good, although I am very sore and tired. Henry is a breastfeeding champ, though. My milk is already fully established so he will be gaining his birth weight back very soon.
I look forward to hearing your birth stories!
I wanted to let you know that we had our baby two and a half weeks early. We had a boy, named Henry Terence who was born on Saturday April 8th. He was 5lbs 15 oz at birth. He seems to have sandy brown hair (or peach fuzz at this point) and dark blue eyes.
We had a repeat cesearean section, after being artifically induced early because of my rising blood pressures and medium severity preclampsia. At my midwife appointment on Thursday, it showed my weight up 15 pounds in two weeks, my edema getting worse, my sleep-deprivation at an all-time high, and protein in my urine, although I had normal blood pressure. They asked me to go to UCSF for a blood pressure check on Friday and it was sky high then. I went over to Labor & Delivery so they could monitor me for a few hours. My pressures were getting higher and higher. Because the baby was considered term at 37 weeks, they urged me to be induced which led to the ultimate medical intervention childbirth experience. Almost every medical intervention you can imagine I experienced this time.
Let me tell you - being artificially induced is no fun, especially when the baby has not dropped and is not ready to be born. I was put on pitocin, starting at the lowest dose and gradually turned up. After 19 hours of being on it, my contractions were horribly intense and painful, and not leading anywhere. The baby was still -3 station and I was only 3 cm dilated. To make matters worse, I could not do all the things that soothe women in labor, like soak in a tub, sit on the ball, slow dance, etc. because all of it led to higher blood pressures for myself. Once I realized that I was going to be bed ridden, I asked for the epidural which did not take because of my scoliosis (curvature of the spine). At that point, the contractions were 1 minute apart and I was still 3 cm dilated, -2 station. I asked them to give me a c-section, which ironically was looking better and better with each passing minute.
Even though the birth was not what I had hoped for, I feel good about it all. Henry was worth every bit of pain and discomfort. Also, the staff at UCSF always gave me the choice for what I wanted, and never pushed anything on me. They were very good about informed consent, and I truly feel like all the things that happened were my choice, which makes it empowering, a far cry from my last birth. My recovery has been good, although I am very sore and tired. Henry is a breastfeeding champ, though. My milk is already fully established so he will be gaining his birth weight back very soon.
I look forward to hearing your birth stories!
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