Ok-here are some pictures we have uploaded. There are more-which I'll probably post later.
This is a picture of my DP with Reyes.
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...12-22-2007.jpg
Here is Reyes. http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...-2007JPGfJ.jpg
The rest is the birth story. Warning-it's long and disturbing-as unfortunately lots of medical intervention was required. I'm OK with what happened though, and while it was nothing like the birth I planned-it's what happened.......
************************************************** ********
I had been having contractions, and false labor for weeks-but on Wednesday December 19th at 11:15pm, my water broke. Being GBS positive, I knew what this meant-I needed to go to the hospital-and I would require an IV during labor for antibiotics. I was so tired of being pregnant by this point that I did not care. I called my MW and she told me to get some rest-if I started feeling regular ctx to go to the hospital, but to get there by around 7am.
By 8am the next morning, I had been able to get rest and we were at the hospital. Still no labor, so I had to get induced. I was only 3cm dilated at that time as well. I was annoyed-but I felt it was necessary. I got the pitocin, refused pain meds and decided to proceed with what I could of my birth plan (natural childbirth). Of course my movement was limited, but my doula was there, and she got me a birthing ball, a birthing chair, and most importantly, she helped me MOVE!
The entire day, I labored. At first-I was joking about when the pain would start-they kept increasing the pit from 2-and went all the way to 22 by the end of the day. I managed the pain really well. I am actually really proud of myself for how I kicked A$$ with labor. We took pictures of the pit monitor and me at high levels. As long as I stayed moving and off my back I was fine. At around 11pm, they checked me again. I was still only 3cm. I was devastated. They turned off the pit-told me to get some rest-and that the next day they were going to be more aggressive. That night I just cried. I hated being hooked up to so many monitors-hated the fact that I felt my body was failing me-and I was scared about what was to come. I did not want to do another day-but I knew that I had to.
Since I knew my MW's were going to be more aggressive on Friday-I chose to get drugs. I told everyone that I wanted to wake up ready to push. They gave me a narcotic in the morning, which let me sleep well and I woke up around noon in more pain. I knew that they were going to keep upping the pit all day, and I was scared. I also really wanted to sleep. I don't remember too much now about Friday-just that I did choose to get an epidural-and that by 10pm that night I was 9.5cm dilated. I remember getting the paper-and realizing that if my baby was born before midnight that he would be a Sagittarius. My MW was a tad concerned because one part of my cervix would not open. She decided to let me push because apparently you can sometimes push "that lip" out of the way. We pushed for about an hour-there was no progress. I was frustrated because while I could feel some pain-the epidural was not completely effective on my right side-I could not feel well enough to push. So we decided to get rid of the epidural to push. I don't remember much here-except that I experienced the worst pain of my entire life. I was not allowed out of the bed because they did not know how wobbly I would be-I had the worst back pain. I kept thrashing around the bed trying to find some relief. I wanted to die-and I became hysterical. All I remember about this part was that I was swearing at everyone and I made my partner really upset and she could not be with me for a while. They got me back on the epidural and I think they gave me a tranquilizer-by this time it was 1am. My MW decided to get me calm-and try again in the morning. I didn't know what was going on. I was terrified-I kept hearing my baby's heartbeat on the monitor and wondering if he was OK. My partner was asleep-and I think could not be with me, so I called a nurse, who reassured me that things were OK-she stayed with me doing charting for a while.
I decided to just lie there and try to remain calm. What I remember is just breathing from 3am until 7am. The epidural was not working on one side, so I remember asking to be positioned so that I could get evened out. At 7am my MW came and we did some pushing-the baby was just not moving. They decided to position me in a different way to get the baby in a different angle-and let me labor down like that-I was moved in a few different positions-for a awhile. At 10am-we tried again to push. I pushed for another hour-and he would simply not move-the baby was stuck. Since the baby's heartbeat was fine-they told me I could push for as long as I wanted. I however, was done-I asked for a C-section. My MW asked me to try to push for 15 minutes-and if there was still no progress that she would give the go ahead. I pushed for 15 more minutes-nothing.
They lay me back in bed-and the epidural had run out! I again felt so much pain. I lay there for what seemed like hours and waited to be taken into the OR. I was very out of it during the C-section-but remember hearing Reyes cry for the first time. DP stayed with him while they cleaned him up-she went to the nursery and stayed with him while they completed the C-section, and while I was in recovery. When I got to my room, I just held Reyes-and nursed for the rest of the day.
It was a long, awful labor. When I spoke to the ob/gyn who performed the procedure, he said that the baby was stuck in my cervix. He was born with quite a conehead!
We are doing well. I’m recovering-and do not regret anything. I still need to process everything-and if I ever have another child, I’m not sure what kind of birth I will have. In the meantime, my milk has not come in. Having had breast surgery in the past, I knew this was a possibility. I thought something was wrong when Reyes did not have a dirty diaper for 8 hours the day we took him home. So I gave him a bottle of formula. I also used a Supplemental Nursing System (SNS) for awhile-but honestly, I just hate it. It gets in the way of cuddling with him-and we have been struggling during feeding times. I got a hospital grade pump and only one or two drops come out. I am going to keep pumping to see if I can get any milk, but I decided this evening that I will switch to bottles, since he really has only been getting formula. The SNS just gets in the way, and DS gets frustrated, I start feeling inadequate. It interferes with bonding-which just doesn’t make it worth it. So this evening I just held Reyes-we still nurse for comfort-but I know I will not be exclusively BF. I am sad about this-but I just cannot stand seeing him struggle-and I don’t want our feedings to become so laborious and difficult-we both deserve peaceful feedings. I haven’t given up all hope. I am going to pump and see what happens. I am also going to see if I can get a prescription for Domperidone-which is supposed to increase milk supply-we’ll see. I know that it can’t be all or nothing at this point. I have to give my body a chance.
I did however get the best Christmas present I could ever wish for-a beautiful and amazing baby!
This is a picture of my DP with Reyes.
http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...12-22-2007.jpg
Here is Reyes. http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...-2007JPGfJ.jpg
The rest is the birth story. Warning-it's long and disturbing-as unfortunately lots of medical intervention was required. I'm OK with what happened though, and while it was nothing like the birth I planned-it's what happened.......
************************************************** ********
I had been having contractions, and false labor for weeks-but on Wednesday December 19th at 11:15pm, my water broke. Being GBS positive, I knew what this meant-I needed to go to the hospital-and I would require an IV during labor for antibiotics. I was so tired of being pregnant by this point that I did not care. I called my MW and she told me to get some rest-if I started feeling regular ctx to go to the hospital, but to get there by around 7am.
By 8am the next morning, I had been able to get rest and we were at the hospital. Still no labor, so I had to get induced. I was only 3cm dilated at that time as well. I was annoyed-but I felt it was necessary. I got the pitocin, refused pain meds and decided to proceed with what I could of my birth plan (natural childbirth). Of course my movement was limited, but my doula was there, and she got me a birthing ball, a birthing chair, and most importantly, she helped me MOVE!
The entire day, I labored. At first-I was joking about when the pain would start-they kept increasing the pit from 2-and went all the way to 22 by the end of the day. I managed the pain really well. I am actually really proud of myself for how I kicked A$$ with labor. We took pictures of the pit monitor and me at high levels. As long as I stayed moving and off my back I was fine. At around 11pm, they checked me again. I was still only 3cm. I was devastated. They turned off the pit-told me to get some rest-and that the next day they were going to be more aggressive. That night I just cried. I hated being hooked up to so many monitors-hated the fact that I felt my body was failing me-and I was scared about what was to come. I did not want to do another day-but I knew that I had to.
Since I knew my MW's were going to be more aggressive on Friday-I chose to get drugs. I told everyone that I wanted to wake up ready to push. They gave me a narcotic in the morning, which let me sleep well and I woke up around noon in more pain. I knew that they were going to keep upping the pit all day, and I was scared. I also really wanted to sleep. I don't remember too much now about Friday-just that I did choose to get an epidural-and that by 10pm that night I was 9.5cm dilated. I remember getting the paper-and realizing that if my baby was born before midnight that he would be a Sagittarius. My MW was a tad concerned because one part of my cervix would not open. She decided to let me push because apparently you can sometimes push "that lip" out of the way. We pushed for about an hour-there was no progress. I was frustrated because while I could feel some pain-the epidural was not completely effective on my right side-I could not feel well enough to push. So we decided to get rid of the epidural to push. I don't remember much here-except that I experienced the worst pain of my entire life. I was not allowed out of the bed because they did not know how wobbly I would be-I had the worst back pain. I kept thrashing around the bed trying to find some relief. I wanted to die-and I became hysterical. All I remember about this part was that I was swearing at everyone and I made my partner really upset and she could not be with me for a while. They got me back on the epidural and I think they gave me a tranquilizer-by this time it was 1am. My MW decided to get me calm-and try again in the morning. I didn't know what was going on. I was terrified-I kept hearing my baby's heartbeat on the monitor and wondering if he was OK. My partner was asleep-and I think could not be with me, so I called a nurse, who reassured me that things were OK-she stayed with me doing charting for a while.
I decided to just lie there and try to remain calm. What I remember is just breathing from 3am until 7am. The epidural was not working on one side, so I remember asking to be positioned so that I could get evened out. At 7am my MW came and we did some pushing-the baby was just not moving. They decided to position me in a different way to get the baby in a different angle-and let me labor down like that-I was moved in a few different positions-for a awhile. At 10am-we tried again to push. I pushed for another hour-and he would simply not move-the baby was stuck. Since the baby's heartbeat was fine-they told me I could push for as long as I wanted. I however, was done-I asked for a C-section. My MW asked me to try to push for 15 minutes-and if there was still no progress that she would give the go ahead. I pushed for 15 more minutes-nothing.
They lay me back in bed-and the epidural had run out! I again felt so much pain. I lay there for what seemed like hours and waited to be taken into the OR. I was very out of it during the C-section-but remember hearing Reyes cry for the first time. DP stayed with him while they cleaned him up-she went to the nursery and stayed with him while they completed the C-section, and while I was in recovery. When I got to my room, I just held Reyes-and nursed for the rest of the day.
It was a long, awful labor. When I spoke to the ob/gyn who performed the procedure, he said that the baby was stuck in my cervix. He was born with quite a conehead!
We are doing well. I’m recovering-and do not regret anything. I still need to process everything-and if I ever have another child, I’m not sure what kind of birth I will have. In the meantime, my milk has not come in. Having had breast surgery in the past, I knew this was a possibility. I thought something was wrong when Reyes did not have a dirty diaper for 8 hours the day we took him home. So I gave him a bottle of formula. I also used a Supplemental Nursing System (SNS) for awhile-but honestly, I just hate it. It gets in the way of cuddling with him-and we have been struggling during feeding times. I got a hospital grade pump and only one or two drops come out. I am going to keep pumping to see if I can get any milk, but I decided this evening that I will switch to bottles, since he really has only been getting formula. The SNS just gets in the way, and DS gets frustrated, I start feeling inadequate. It interferes with bonding-which just doesn’t make it worth it. So this evening I just held Reyes-we still nurse for comfort-but I know I will not be exclusively BF. I am sad about this-but I just cannot stand seeing him struggle-and I don’t want our feedings to become so laborious and difficult-we both deserve peaceful feedings. I haven’t given up all hope. I am going to pump and see what happens. I am also going to see if I can get a prescription for Domperidone-which is supposed to increase milk supply-we’ll see. I know that it can’t be all or nothing at this point. I have to give my body a chance.
I did however get the best Christmas present I could ever wish for-a beautiful and amazing baby!
WOW! I think that you did AMAZING! 
Your birth had a perfect outcome! He's gorgeous! How are you healing? 3 weeks out from my section, I feel almost completely normal!
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