My due date was October 5th and I was frustrated and uncomfortable when it came and went with no baby. I started all the induction methods I could think of to get baby to come, including Accupressure. I saw my midwife 2 days after my due date and she told me that my cervix was soft but not yet effaced or dilated. She recommended that I hold off on the castor oil until the next week because she didn't think it would help. She tried to strip my membranes but couldn't due to the position and the lack of dilation in my cervix. I had some spotting afterwards but still no signs of labor. I went to see Karlo Berger the next day for an induction accupressure massage. He told me that my pressure points didn't react the way he thought they should and so he thought it may not work. Indeed I was still pregnant four days later and a week past my due date. I had been set up for post dates testing due to concerns about my aging placenta. The morning of my appointment for post dates I went out with my mother for coffee and had too much and felt dehydrated. Everyone told me that didn't factor into what happened later.
At the office I went in for my NST first. Tristan's heart rate was consistent for 30-40 minutes but at one point had a major drop, of course I wasn't being monitored at that point but was still hooked up to the machine. He was plenty active and they told me everything looked good. I then went to get an ultrasound. The tech turned on the machine and told me that she had to check my fluid levels first. She began to check and got a funny look on her face and said "Oh honey your fluid is way to low. You are going to have to go to the hospital." I was shocked. I think I said something like "Right now?" She said you are going to have to speak to your midwife but you are going to have to deliver that baby today. I was shocked and upset. I called Graham and said go home and get my bags I am going to the hospital. I met with a midwife who told me that they were going to try to ripen my cervix and then induce labor and that I would be admitted to the hospital overnight. She told me to go home and pack my stuff and the hospital would call and tell me when to come in.
I got home at 5:00 and waited for the call. We ate dinner at 6:00 and the hospital called and told me to come in for admission at 7:30. We got to the hospital and checked in and went to a room to stay overnight. I met with a midwife, Lucie, and she told me they were going to try two things to ripen my cervix. First they would insert a foley catheter into my cervix and then inject water into it to expand my cervix. In addition they would insert cervidel to help ripen my cervix. The procedure actually didn't hurt that much and Lucie told me it was the easiest foley that she had ever inserted. I went back to my room ready to get comfortable and stay the night until my induction the next morning. Fifteen minutes later as I was lying in bed talking to my husband and mother my water broke. The nurse came in and took out the foley catheter. She did it while I was standing in the bathroom and I almost passed out. Immediately after that contractions started. They were close together about 2 minutes apart. I hardly got any break. They were strong and intense. I started to try my breathing but was hooked up to a fetal monitor and had trouble finding a comfortable position and had difficulty breathing through it. I got out of bed to go to the bathroom and my contractions intensified. I was having contractions one on top of the other and they hurt. I began to panic and had a breakdown. I decided I really wanted an epidural. Lucie came in about 1 hr after contractions started and said I was 1 cm dilated. I was upset because I didn't think that I could get an epidural and also that it would take a long time. Lucie told me that I had made a lot of progress in the last hour and that was why labor was so intense. It was happening really fast. She got me a room on the LDR and I was sent down and about 1:30am, about 3 hrs after my water broke. I later received an epidural. They had me hooked up to the monitor and found that Tristan's heart rate was taking a big hit every time I had a contraction and he was really stressed. They said I might have to have a C-section. Lucie told me that if I continued to have problems they were going to try a amnio-infusion to replace my low amniotic fluid levels and protect the baby. This actually worked and saved me from a c-section. I was so happy. I really credit Lucie for this and her helping me avoid a procedure she knew I wanted to avoid.
At about 7:30am Lucie checked my and said I was 8-9 cm dialted. I was shocked labor was progressing so quickly, especially since I had an epidural and was lying down the entire time trying to find a position where Tristan's heart rate stayed steady. His heart rate really stabilized after the amnio-infusion but they were concerned about pushing and told me I wasn't out of the woods for a c-section. I thought delivery was close but after this my contractions really slowed down. At about 11 my contractions were still slow and I wasn't really progressing. They decided to add some pitocin to the mix. At this point I had a catheter in my bladder, a catheter in my uterus, an IV, and an epidural. I didn't think I could get any more tubes inside me. They started to pitocin off low and increased it over time. They told me they were going to have me wait to push until the contractions pushed him into the birth canal to +2 station. Another midwife, Nicole, was on call by this point and checked me around 12 and said that my contractions were indicating it was time to push and that his head was low. I began to push, which was difficult because I couldn't feel anything. His heart rate did drop and started to not recover after each contraction. They were concerned and called in the OB on call, Dr. Cavanaugh. They told me they wanted to have an "assisted delivery" which meant forceps or vaccum. I was anxious about tearing so pushed as hard as I could to try to get him out. Dr. Cavanaugh tried to use the vaccum and it broke and popped off his head. It took them a minute to find another one. In the mean time the Dr. began to use the forceps and he was born with one contraction. I had an 2nd degree episiotomy from the forceps but otherwise everything was great and he was healthy and in my arms within minutes of delivery.
No comments:
Post a Comment