The Birth Story... Part 1

I'm labeling this part 1 because I'm not sure how much I will be able to type right now. Gracie is downstairs with Daddy, sleeping. (Gracie, not Nick!)

The birth of our baby ended up not being anything like I could have ever imagined. I honestly didn't have any expectations going in. I didn't want a c-section, but was prepared for one, just in case. I was prepared for the unexpected, but I didn't even know that half of what we went through even existed. I was ready to come home, type up my wonderful birth story, already forgetting the pain and wanting to get pregnant again. Right now, I'm not even sure I want to ever be pregnant again, but maybe time really does heal all wounds. I have cried a lot the past two days and everyone keep assuring me it's just because everything happened so fast at the hospital that I didn't have time to process anything. And now that it's over, I can't stop thinking about it. On the bright side though, I am feeling much better and even managed to do some "normal" things today. Physically, I think I'm going to recover just fine. Right now, it's mentally that I'm struggling with. For those that don't know the full story, I'm going to type it out. I'm hoping it will help me start the healing process. I may never read this entry again but I want it down in case there comes a time when I want to.

And I'm sure a disclaimer isn't needed, it is a birth story after all. And I wouldn't be offended if everyone just skipped over it! However, I do want to say before I get started, that I do not regret any of this. Gracie is our very own miracle and I will never forget what we went through for her to be here. She is already the love of our lives and when I get sad or start thinking too much about the labor and delivery, I simply have to pick her up, thank God for everything we have been blessed with and I immediately feel much better. And her little smile melts my heart (even if it is gas at this point!) :-)

Thursday, July 24th
I went to my ultrasound at 3:00 on Thursday, July 24th. They estimated her weight at 8lbs 7ozs. Everything else looked good. At my 3:15 appointment/non-stress test, my blood pressure was still up (140/90) and Gracie was not responding to the non-stress test (again). While Kasey was trying to get Gracie's heartbeat to track on the machine, she talked about induction. She was first thinking of sending us to the hospital Sunday night. After trying for about an hour to get her heartbeat to track, she decided to call a doctor to see what they wanted to do. The doctor said to send me over to the hospital to start the induction. (Oh yeah, Kasey checked my progress and I was still only a fingertip dilated.) Kasey told us what to expect at the hospital and sent us on our way. Nick and I had to run home to get our bags and then we stopped by Wendy's and I got a hamburger and a baked potato. We arrived at the hospital around 6:30pm.
We got checked in and they sent us directly to our labor and delivery room. My first nurse was Heather. I got changed into a gown and got into the bed. They got Gracie hooked up to the non-stress test machine and took my vitals. Then Heather decided to get my IV started and take blood. After the first poke, she said, "I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that I got all the blood I need. The bad news is that the IV won't take and we'll have to find a new spot for it." She had taken either 4 or 5 vials of blood and I was glad that part was over! So she tried another spot for the IV and again said, "I have good news and I have bad news. The bad news is that the IV didn't take. The good news is that I am passing you on." So she called for an anesthesiologist. The lady showed up and I found out that she would also be doing the epidural if I went into labor that night (which I was pretty sure wasn't going to happen.) Anyway, she tried two times and finally got an IV going on the second try. This was around 7:00 because Heather left and Amy took over. As soon as Heather walked out, Amy got a phone call from the lab. All the bloodwork Heather had sent down was no good... it all had to be redone. So Amy requested that someone from lab come and draw it. Maria from the lab showed up and after an initial failed attempt, she got the blood she needed. (So now I'm up to 6 sticks...) The doctor has requested that I be continually monitored so that meant I had to stay in bed. Not only that, if I attempted to move, Gracie would also move and her monitors wouldn't pick her up again. So it seemed like every 15 minutes, they were coming in to adjust her monitors. My hips really started hurting after awhile, but I was determined to be a good patient and not complain (too much!) Also, during this time, the nurse inserted a drug that would cause my cervix to start dilating. A pill was to be inserted every 4 hours for 3 doses until my cervix started to respond. At that time, the plan was to start the drug pitocin through my IV which would start contractions. Mom and Dad got to the hospital around 8 and my best friend Scharlene showed up not long after. I honestly couldn't tell you want time everyone left but I believe by midnight, it was just me and Nick. I finally asked for a sleeping pill because I knew the next day was going to be a long one!

Friday, July 25th
The sleeping pills did not work and I spend most of the night tossing and turning and having the nurse come in to adjust the monitors. I was getting a little cranky from being uncomfortable! A little after midnight, a doctor came to insert the next pill. I learned that I had made no progress and that the nurse had not inserted the first one correctly. (Which was very aggrevating since inserting these pills were TORTURE!!) Around 4am, the doctor came back to insert the next pill and again, no progress. I was really bummed and just kept praying. At 7:00, I got really restless and despite the fact that I knew I was going to knock the monitors off, I sat up in bed. I told Nick that I just needed to sit up for a minute. Nick came over to the side of the bed and was talking to me when I felt a warm gush. Since I hadn't made any progress yet, I thought I had just peed on myself! I told Nick to unplug the monitors because I had to go to the bathroom and when I stood up, more gushed on the floor. It still did not dawn on me that it was my water breaking!!! I just thought I no longer had any control over my bladder!! I ran to the bathroom and told Nick to call the nurse because something was wrong with me...LOL. Of course, it was 7:00, which meant shift change so no one came for awhile. When they did come, they told me to hop back in bed to be checked. Dr. A (one of the doctors from OB office) came in and said he was just going to check me. He lied. Suddenly his "checking" became very painful and it sounded like he was using a drill!! Then I felt a much larger gush of warm water and I actually said, "Please tell me that's my water and that I'm not peeing on you!" He laughed and said, "Yes, that's your water." Turns out, I was now 2-3cm and he had placed an internal monitor on Gracie's head and another one to monitor the contractions. The contractions were coming pretty fast and pretty strong as soon as my water broke and the dr. said I could have an epidural whenever I wanted. The nurse told me that I needed to have one more bag of fluids before I could get the epidural and she asked me if I wanted to get it started. I said yes and she looked down at my arm with the IV and said, "Uh oh." I looked down and my arm was twice the size it should be!! My IV had infiltrated (I think that's what they said.) The nurse took the IV out and called the anesthesiologist. She showed up pretty quickly and introduced herself. She said as soon as we got the IV started again, she would hook up my epidural while I was getting the bag of fluids so I wouldn't have to wait anymore. The contractions were getting really bad at this point but weren't unbearable yet. The anesthesiologist tried twice to get a line started but neither one worked (8 sticks now!) They called in the head anesthesiologist and I think Dr. A came back while all of this was going on. They explained to me that they just couldn't get an IV started and that they were going to have to place a central line. They said they had to have a reliable way to get meds into me if needed during surgery and that a central line was really the only option. In case you don't know (like I didn't know until then), a central line goes in your jugular in your neck!

Well, Nick just came up and Gracie is awake. I'm going to go play for awhile. I'll be back asap to continue the story.