I will for warn you, this is a very long post, and I decided to forgo pictures and just write the story, as I needed to get it all down before I forgot more and more! Prepare yourself and grab a drink!
I guess the beginning of this story really started at our OB appointment on the 12th of February, when we were almost induced at that point because of high blood pressure. Luckily my blood work came back fine, my blood pressure meds were increased with hopes of buying us one more week to bring us to 37 weeks. But we were officially on borrowed time. My OB's opinion was that "my wheels were falling off my wagon".
So home we went, I decided it would be best to take it easy to help us make it the whole week, so I stayed home, essentially on bed rest, sitting on the couch doing nothing. We noticed my blood pressure was starting to climb in the evening, but we got it to come back down after 2 hours. At this point I wasn't feeling over confident that we would make it the week without having a baby.
Come Friday, I sat around, getting blog posts ready to schedule, crocheting, sitting around, trying to get caught up on my PVR, my blood pressure was doing great! I actually thought to myself that maybe we will last the week. I decided to bake some cookies, checking my blood pressure throughout, and it was still good! M had some running around to do for the fire departments big wing night. During his travels he dropped off dinner to me and that is when I noticed my blood pressure starting to climb. I let him know, and we decided to watch it and see if it comes down like it did the night before. However that was not the case, it was climbing at a steady rate. M was doing set up for the event, and I decided after not seeing the numbers come down, and having a headache, that I better call him to come home around 8 PM. He came right home, my bags were packed for the most part, just had to throw in the last minute items, as well as some extra pjs and my crocheting to entertain me, I was sure they would either send me home or admit me for observation. My BP when leaving the house was 172/110 - the highest I had seen it! I was sure by the time we arrived at the hospital, it would be fine.
I texted my friend J to let her know I was heading in to the hospital and hoped she would let the dogs out later just in case we weren't home. M's parents were still in St. Maartin, which is who we were going to have watch the dogs when it came to having the baby, luckily I had made alternative arrangements as my back up plan.
We arrived at the hospital around 9:30 PM, headed straight to labor and delivery triage, where they took me back right away. They checked my blood pressure and sure enough it was up - 167/107. The nurse checked it 5 times, before bringing in a resident to double check it. They checked my urine and sure enough there was protein. By 10 PM I had an ultrasound to double check my placenta where they found calcification, but otherwise baby was doing well and no other concerns. They gave me a fast-acting blood pressure medication to help bring it down and then told us we were having a baby. They were inducing us that night - M and I were surprised and had very little information on induction. But they weren't fooling around, this when things started moving quickly. I had a nurse come in and start an IV, she informed me that I would be going on a medication to help protect me from having a seizure/stroke, since my BP was so high, which was magnesium sulphate - horrible stuff.
Within 10 minutes I was changed into a gown and taken down to have a Foley catheter inserted to help dilate my cervix, which was at a 1. This process was far from fun or easy, because my cervix was soo high, she had issues getting the balloon catheter in place after trying twice, before bringing in a senior resident, who got it on his first try, but of course it took a while and was very uncomfortable. I wont lie, a few tears were shed, but once it was in, it wasn't horrible.
We were then taken down to labor and delivery to our room, where we would be staying until after the baby was born. We had a great nurse, who walked me through the whole process, as we hadn't really looked into induction. I loved that the nurse we had was in our room the whole time, I wasn't left alone at all, when she had a break, another nurse would cover for her. We actually ended up with the same nurses for the most part after their 12 hour shifts. I was given the magnesium sulphate in my IV, as well as a catheter. I was contracting regularly every 3-4 minutes with ease. Shortly after the catheter was in place, the Foley catheter ended up coming out around 3 AM. They checked me at 4 AM and I was at 2 cm dilated, my cervix was still high. They tried to break my water, with no success. It was horrible, not sure how M slept through that part, as I was soo very uncomfortable and I am sure tears came again at that point. They decided to give me more time, and rechecked me around 7:30 AM, where I was maybe 2.5 cm, still high cervix and no luck with breaking my water. At this point they recommended getting the epidural, which would further help with my blood pressure, as well as the fact that they were about to start the oxytocin to get my contractions more regulated.
Around 8 AM it was time for the epidural, which I was scared to get. But in all honesty it wasn't bad pain wise. I did end up almost passing out, but I think it was more from the unknown and anxiety of it than anything else, which of course made M not feel soo hot as I was leaning against him. It took a while for his skin color to come back! M was sure he could handle anything coming his way, being trained to deal with emergencies as a firefighter, but he admitted seeing me in pain/anxious, the size of the needle, etc., made him feel not so good. He handled IVF twice and was by my side the whole time throughout everything, so I was surprised by his reaction. But he handled it, chalked it up to being hungry on top of everything else.
The immediate after effects of the epidural were amazing after I was able to lay down and feel better, as my BP had dropped significantly. I couldn't lift my legs, passed the ice cube test - I had no idea they tested the success of an epidural with an ice cube! I didn't feel anything. Best few hours of the whole labor process. They checked me again at 10:30 AM and I was no further ahead. She could feel feel the head, but they said the baby was bobbing, not secure in the birth canal. I was contracting every 2.5/3 minutes comfortably.
I slept for 4 hours, they checked me at 2 PM and they were finally able to break my water, although I was still only at 2.5 cm dilated. We were ever hopeful that things would pick up at this point, as they I was at the full dose of oxytocin and contracting every 1.5-2 minutes, feeling more and more, as my epidural was becoming spotty. I could feel different parts of my body during the ice cube test.
Around 3:30pm they tried to readjust my epidural, as it was just too spotty and I was uncomfortable. There was minimal relief after, which lead to discussions of redoing it completely, which I was not a fan of! By this point I was soo in need of water, the magnesium sulphate had made my mouth dryer than a desert.
My sister showed up around 5:30ish (I think, time was becoming a blur as exhaustion was setting in).
They checked me around 9 PM and still no progress. I felt defeated! I was sure that things should have picked up by now! I was anxious and upset, I really wanted water, an ice cube anything other than the sponge to wet my mouth.
They rechecked my epidural around 10pm as back labor had set in and I was soo incredibly uncomfortable. The doctor readjusted it again, but it didn't touch the back labor!
By this point crazy Ashley was on board. I was sooo incredibly uncomfortable, thirsty, and overwhelmed. The pain was bad. I couldn't lay on my side, or else contractions would stop for some reason. Midnight came around and my nurse checked me and discovered I was at a 3 cm. Only 3!! I became soo upset, I was done! I couldn't imagine labouring further like this. The anaesthesiologist came in to discuss further pain management adding Fentanyl in my epidural, which I was against, knowing it would transfer to the baby! The baby's heart rate was already lower than we had ever seen it at 110, with no fluctuations, which was a cause for concern. My urine in my catheter bag was now complete blood because of the mag sulphate. I was beyond upset at this point.
They brought the doctor in to discuss my options, because at this point I was ready for a c-section, which M was trying to talk me out of. The doctors tried to talk me out of it as well, but I told them all I was worried about the baby, trusting my gut instinct, knowing my body couldn't go much further. I needed water, and that is when the compromises started. The doctor on call allowed me ice cubes and a sip of water if I agreed to try 6 more hours of labor before agreeing to a c-section had I not progressed to 5cm by 6 AM. If I was 5 cm by 6AM, I would go all the way, but I wasn't even considered to be in active labor at this point. The last 30 hours were nothing in their eyes, they started counting from when my water broke. She recommended adding Fentanyl to my epidural reassuring it would not have a negative effect on the baby, that was in deed safe and would be out of the baby's system if I needed a c-section. So I agreed to try it.
I slept lightly with the new pain meds, but still continued to feel the back labor. I woke around 5 AM, discussed c-section with M and my sister, and decided I was going to push forward with it, had I not progressed. M finally saw my point of view, he was just worried because it is major surgery. They checked me at 5:30AM and I had made it to 4cm. The doctor came in, rechecked me and I opted for the c-section, which she agreed to. They stopped all meds at this point, aside from my epidural, but stopped the Fentanyl. I was supposed to go in at 7 AM, but got bumped for an emergency c-section. My contractions had stopped completely off the meds.
At 8 AM I was wheeled down to the OR, we quickly gave guesses as to what we were having. I guessed boy, M guessed girl and my sister guessed boy too, along with my nurse. I figured I would be nervous going into surgery, but I felt soo calm, knowing this is what I needed to do to bring my baby into this world.
They positioned me on the table, amped up my epidural and did the ice cube test. I could feel it cold, but not "as" cold, but the anestheologist reassured me they would recheck before cutting. The doctor came in, the room was full of people, but M was not in there yet. Next I know I could feel the scapal ripping through my skin, and I could literally feel my skin ripping apart. It wasn't necessarily painful, but a feeling I will never forget. I quickly announced that I could feel that. The anesthiologist was like feel what? I described what I felt, he reassured me it was just a test to try to keep me calm and from panicking and told me they were putting me out. Before I could even think to react, there was a mask on my face and I was out.
M was gowning up while I was in the OR being prepped and next thing he knew the nurse came out to tell him he wasn't going to be coming in because they ended up putting me out. About 15 minutes later the nurse came back to grab something and reassured M that we were both fine, the baby was born and she asked if he wanted to know the sex. M said no he wanted to see for himself. Half an hour later they came to get M and brought him into the resuscitation room, where he met our son for the first time. He had tubes and wires all over and M was surely overwhelmed. They reassured him it was all precautionary, as when the baby came out he wasn't breathing. His heart was beating, but he didn't gasp for air and cry like most babies do. He was born blue. He was intubated at this point, but he was doing 95% of the breathing on his own at this point. He was just a little lazy. He was wheeled over to the NICU and M just sat by his side.
I really don't remember waking up, it's all a blur, but I remember being upset to hear my son was in the NICU, but that he was fine. I remember feeling pain, but didn't want meds as I wanted to stay awake to meet my son, but they told me I wasn't able to go. My sister had pictures and videos of him and my Dad was at my side. M followed my instructions to stay with the baby no matter what. I maybe saw M 2 hours after the baby was born, when my sister switched off with him. I was still a mess. I wanted nothing more but to see, and touch my son. My heart was breaking being a way from him. It felt good to have M's reassurance that he was fine, but no one could reassure me more than seeing him for myself. So I started compromising again. I promised I would sleep after I saw my son, but I knew I wouldn't be able to settle until then.
Since this post is soo incredibly long, I will do a separate post on meeting my son, along with the rest of our hospital stay! Stay tuned!!
If you got through this whole post you now deserve a snack!! I didn't want to tell you to get a snack just in case your tummy got queasy.
