I had planned to have a completely natural childbirth at the hospital with my midwife, but due to complications, that didn't happen.
I woke up on May 18th at approximately 11PM to what felt like a gush of fluid. I got up and checked in the bathroom and it was kind of bloody so I called my husband at work at told him to come home because I was pretty sure it was time. He came home and we got my bag packed and our camera and charger and phones, etc and headed for the hospital. The staff in the ER wheeled me up to the labour and delivery floor and I got settled in a room. I was 10 days overdue so I was extremely excited and anxious. My midwife came in later and checked me. To my dismay, I was only 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. She said that what I had felt was probably my mucous plug finishing up and coming out. So they monitored the baby for a couple hours and then let me go home. We left at about 5.30AM. When I got home, I was exhausted, so I decided to lie down and take a nap. I woke up at approximately 12PM to a huge gush of fluid. I woke up my husband and told him that I thought my water had broken. I reached down and felt and looked at my fingers and it was bright red. I started crying because I was pretty sure that it wasn't supposed to be bright red. He got me a towel and helped me to the bathroom and as soon as I removed the towel, bright red fluid just kept running down my legs. I started to panic and I told my husband to call the midwife and he brought me my phone and I called my grandma. She said to call 911 because it didn't sound right so I had my husband call 911 and he said that an ambulance was on its way. Meanwhile, I'm literally standing on my bathroom rug with blood just gushing out of me and the then yellow towel is completely red now. I was really scared. The ambulance gets there and soon I'm on my way to the hospital and my husband is driving behind us. As soon as I get there, they bring me to labour and delivery and I try to crack a smile to the nurses and joke about how I had been there just about 6 hours earlier. I get in the bed in my room and they check me and I can tell by their faces that there is something wrong. The nurse was trying to get the baby's heartbeat on the external monitor but she's having problems so they ask me if it's okay to put an internal monitor on her head. I was a little hesitant but with the bleeding I was having, I let them do it and they were able to get her heartbeat. After a half an hour of monitoring and me having some strong contractions, the midwife came in and explained to me that there were some problems. She showed me on the monitor strip that the baby's heart rate would drop after each contraction instead of with each contraction. That was indication of fetal distress. She said that and the bleeding I was having pointed to placental abruption. That means that the placenta was starting to detach before the birth instead of after the birth. This was highly dangerous because if it continued to detach, the baby wouldn't be getting all of the oxygen that she needed to continue with a vaginal birth. She said that they needed to get the baby out right then because if not, she would most likely not make it or have brain damage from lack of oxygen. I started to cry because I was looking forward to my natural birth but I realised that since it was an emergency and I wanted my baby to be perfectly healthy, I consented and before I knew it, I was in the OR getting prepped for surgery. I opted for a spinal instead of an epidural and the anesthesiologist gave me something to numb my back before he gave me the spinal. It was almost instantaneously that from the middle of my back and down, I was completely numb. That is something that I hope I never have to feel again. They helped me lie back and started the surgery. My husband had been gowned up and was sitting with me and holding my hand we waited for the baby. Since it was an emergency, they did a vertical incision on the outside to get in there quickly but the doctor did the normal horizontal incision in my uterus so I could have a chance of a VBAC in the future with my next child. Within 5 minutes, I heard the doctor say that the baby was out and I started crying. When I heard her cry, I was so happy. They were cleaning her off and checking her over and my husband had gone over there. I asked him if she was beautiful and he said yes and I told him I wanted to see her and he said that I would soon. It seemed like forever but when my husband finally brought her over and showed her to me, I couldn't believe it. She was so tiny and so perfect. I kissed her cheek and they took her away while I was sewn up. My husband went with her. The doctor said that my placenta had indeed been partially separated from the uterus and we were really lucky. In recovery, I waited for her and when they brought her to me, I was just so ecstatic. My husband told me that she had swallowed so much blood and they had to suction that blood from her stomach. She got bathed and he said that he took so many pictures. I am so relieved to have a healthy baby girl and she's just perfect. Here's a link to my cafemom profile. I have pictures up there for you all to see.
:
http://www.cafemom.com/home/kireiemiri
I woke up on May 18th at approximately 11PM to what felt like a gush of fluid. I got up and checked in the bathroom and it was kind of bloody so I called my husband at work at told him to come home because I was pretty sure it was time. He came home and we got my bag packed and our camera and charger and phones, etc and headed for the hospital. The staff in the ER wheeled me up to the labour and delivery floor and I got settled in a room. I was 10 days overdue so I was extremely excited and anxious. My midwife came in later and checked me. To my dismay, I was only 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. She said that what I had felt was probably my mucous plug finishing up and coming out. So they monitored the baby for a couple hours and then let me go home. We left at about 5.30AM. When I got home, I was exhausted, so I decided to lie down and take a nap. I woke up at approximately 12PM to a huge gush of fluid. I woke up my husband and told him that I thought my water had broken. I reached down and felt and looked at my fingers and it was bright red. I started crying because I was pretty sure that it wasn't supposed to be bright red. He got me a towel and helped me to the bathroom and as soon as I removed the towel, bright red fluid just kept running down my legs. I started to panic and I told my husband to call the midwife and he brought me my phone and I called my grandma. She said to call 911 because it didn't sound right so I had my husband call 911 and he said that an ambulance was on its way. Meanwhile, I'm literally standing on my bathroom rug with blood just gushing out of me and the then yellow towel is completely red now. I was really scared. The ambulance gets there and soon I'm on my way to the hospital and my husband is driving behind us. As soon as I get there, they bring me to labour and delivery and I try to crack a smile to the nurses and joke about how I had been there just about 6 hours earlier. I get in the bed in my room and they check me and I can tell by their faces that there is something wrong. The nurse was trying to get the baby's heartbeat on the external monitor but she's having problems so they ask me if it's okay to put an internal monitor on her head. I was a little hesitant but with the bleeding I was having, I let them do it and they were able to get her heartbeat. After a half an hour of monitoring and me having some strong contractions, the midwife came in and explained to me that there were some problems. She showed me on the monitor strip that the baby's heart rate would drop after each contraction instead of with each contraction. That was indication of fetal distress. She said that and the bleeding I was having pointed to placental abruption. That means that the placenta was starting to detach before the birth instead of after the birth. This was highly dangerous because if it continued to detach, the baby wouldn't be getting all of the oxygen that she needed to continue with a vaginal birth. She said that they needed to get the baby out right then because if not, she would most likely not make it or have brain damage from lack of oxygen. I started to cry because I was looking forward to my natural birth but I realised that since it was an emergency and I wanted my baby to be perfectly healthy, I consented and before I knew it, I was in the OR getting prepped for surgery. I opted for a spinal instead of an epidural and the anesthesiologist gave me something to numb my back before he gave me the spinal. It was almost instantaneously that from the middle of my back and down, I was completely numb. That is something that I hope I never have to feel again. They helped me lie back and started the surgery. My husband had been gowned up and was sitting with me and holding my hand we waited for the baby. Since it was an emergency, they did a vertical incision on the outside to get in there quickly but the doctor did the normal horizontal incision in my uterus so I could have a chance of a VBAC in the future with my next child. Within 5 minutes, I heard the doctor say that the baby was out and I started crying. When I heard her cry, I was so happy. They were cleaning her off and checking her over and my husband had gone over there. I asked him if she was beautiful and he said yes and I told him I wanted to see her and he said that I would soon. It seemed like forever but when my husband finally brought her over and showed her to me, I couldn't believe it. She was so tiny and so perfect. I kissed her cheek and they took her away while I was sewn up. My husband went with her. The doctor said that my placenta had indeed been partially separated from the uterus and we were really lucky. In recovery, I waited for her and when they brought her to me, I was just so ecstatic. My husband told me that she had swallowed so much blood and they had to suction that blood from her stomach. She got bathed and he said that he took so many pictures. I am so relieved to have a healthy baby girl and she's just perfect. Here's a link to my cafemom profile. I have pictures up there for you all to see.
:http://www.cafemom.com/home/kireiemiri
! I'm glad to hear the nursing is unaffected. We made it without formula or bottles, but it was tough. Really tough.
Congrats!
