cake and valley: birth story. cake.

well this probably should have been written somewhere around 52-48 weeks ago but it wasn’t; so the most second most appropriate time to share would be right before gerogina’s first birthday . . . right?!?! and now without further adieu the birth story J

it started around 2 pm on Monday march 24^th, which is two days after my assigned due date. I had been feeling some quick sharp tightening in my stomach & pelvic muscles but chalked it up to Braxton hicks {which I had been having since around month six.} I decided I was feeling a bit tired from not sleeping much the night before due to a terrrrrrrible chest cold I had; literally I was coughing up a lung every time I had any sort of throat tickle, it was the worst cold I’ve ever had in my entire life. awesome. so a hot shower and a nap was my plan for the afternoon; but as I laid down I remember thinking these sharp pains are coming pretty regularly; roughly five –six minutes apart. After some inner debate about whether or not I should be worried I finally dozed off for thirty or forty five minutes. I woke up at around 4:15, went down stairs to grab a snack and watch a little TV; I was also timing what I assumed were the beginning contractions, since they were only lasting 10-15 seconds, and they were still coming five-six minutes apart.

At this point I texted my husband and told him what was going on & to my dismay he didn’t respond; his team had just started spring season so I knew they were in the middle of practice but I was annoyed, “hello, I’m three days over due don’t you think you should ALWAYS have you phone on you!!!” after not hearing back from him and with the contractions continuing I took to googling my every inner thought. Probably not the best idea, especially because when I typed in what was going on I found a message board of woman who had had verrrry similar contractions and about half of them said to immediately go to the hospital because their baby came with little warning and very quickly . . . errr okay . . . panic was setting in people. I quickly tried my husband again but no answer. I had to go to the bathroom so I walked over and as soon as I sat down to go, a HUGE gush of water rushed out of me, I couldn’t quite figure out if I had had to go that badly or if my water had just broken. But as soon as I stood up more water kept coming. After changing my clothes I called the hospital and talked to a nurse in labor & delivery and told them what was going on. They weren’t convinced that my water had broken {fair enough, since I had had to pee} but they told me to pack a bag and come in when my husband got home from work. As soon as I got off the phone with them my husband finally called back; he was a little panicked and on his way home. Upon his arrival I quickly instructed him that we were heading for the hospital!

We arrived a little after six pm, checked in, and were ushered into a their front examination room where I was checked out. My water had broken and I was already around 3.5 cm dilated, it was go time {not like go push breath push time but like time to start the whole official hospital thing} Because I tested positive for a bacteria, Group B Streptococcus, I had to be hooked up to an IV immediately in order to safety avoid passing the bacteria to the baby; I needed to be on antibiotics for at least two hours prior to giving birth. We hung out in this front holding room for about an hour so the room I’d be giving birth in could be vacated & cleaned. I don’t recall the contractions getting stronger/longer/closer together at this point; they just kept coming around five minutes apart and for short quick periods. My husband & I texted and talked with family and just kind of relaxed; as much as two people who are about to become parents can J

After awhile our room was ready; we walked over, scoped the place out, and meet our nurse & doctor team. At this point we’d been at the hospital roughly two hours so the doctor’s came in to check me & baby out again. Sad to say I hadn’t really progressed past 4 cm, dang, but we were both still doing great. I was hooked up to a monitor that tracked each contraction and the baby’s heartbeat. Monitoring the baby & me went on for the next few hours or so without too much change. The contractions were getting stronger and more intense but I was determined to stick it out as I could. I always knew I’d want an epidural because as silly as it sounds I wanted to enjoy this day and not look back as the most painful time of my life! HA! So at around 10 pm I told the nurse I was ready for an epidural.

The anesthesiologist came in and watched the contractions for a bit and then began to instruct me on how he’d administer the epidural. Now, if you’ve ever received an epidural it’s not the most pleasant experience; it’s a sharp shooting pain in your spine while you’re having contractions and sitting in the most uncomfortable position a very pregnant woman can sit in {you’re sitting up arched over to look at your feet- think about it!} So, I received my epidural and immediately had my strongest contraction. Both the nurse & anesthesiologist inquired to see if I the pain had subsided at all; I couldn’t tell a difference but was assured that the medicine should kick in soon. An hour went by and still I couldn’t really tell that much of difference, if any, I was feeling the contractions and they were getting more intense. Finally after another thirty minutes or so my nurse made the executive decision to call back the anesthesiologist and have him re-administer the drugs. Then after another thirty-minute wait for him to return he assessed my non-progression and loaded me up again. Just like the last time it wasn’t the most pleasant experience of my life but as soon as he was done my husband asked if I could feel the current contraction and I turned to him and said, “I’m having a contraction?” That’s right folks I could hardly feel a thing, mostly just a little pressure! Finaaaallly I understood what all the hype around an epidural was about!

I was ready to get some sleep; even if just an hour or two!!!! However baby had another idea in mind. Right as my husband and I were getting ready to dose off the nurses & doctors who were monitoring our progression noticed something a little funny; the baby’s heart rate was dropping & spiking in an irregular pattern. They assured me it was nothing too irregular and perhaps the baby was just having a minor reaction to my body being in labor. They quickly looked to see how far I was dilated {only 5 cm,} hooked the baby up to an internal heart rate monitor rather then just the one that was currently stretch across my belly, and gave me an air mask to see if getting more air to the baby would help regulate her heart beat. It should be noted at this point that it was past midnight and I had begun shaking from all the adrenaline running thru my body. The nurses & doctors left the room and reassured us they would be monitoring both the baby and me from the front station in hopes that everything would even it’s self out.

After what seemed like a second of shuteye the doctor returned and shared the news that it appeared that the baby’s heart rate wasn’t evening out & that her oxygen levels were dipping dangerously low. This was when he first mentioned the possibility of having a C-section. Most woman have a very set idea of what type of birth they’d like to have and have a loose birthing plan they’d like to follow, I on the other hand had been clear from the start that I wanted whatever was healthiest for the baby & me. The doctor went over all the risks & recovery of having a C-section and again my husband and I reiterated that whatever was best & healthiest for us both {baby & mom} we were prepared to go that route. He informed us the team would continue to monitor us for the next little bit and we could all make a final decision when the time came.

Roughly around 3:30 that morning about four doctors and my nurse came into my room and informed us that although not an emergency they’d recommend us heading into a C-section surgery pretty much immediately. Everything had been keeping pretty regularly irregular with the baby until the previous five-ten minutes when her oxygen levels were dropping severely low. They quickly went over what the next ten minutes would look like, got my husband into scrubs, and started to prep the OR. When they came to wheel me into the operating room they assured me that they had never forgotten to come back to the room and get the husband & that he would need to stay in the room until I was all set-up in the OR. When they wheeled me away was the scariest moment of the night, as much of a fog as I was in, I’ll never forget seeing my husband standing alone in the hospital room in his scrubs watching me get wheeled away for an immediate major surgery.

Once in the OR I was quickly moved to table, a screen put up from my chest down, my arms tied down so that I could be hooked up with the proper IV equipment {and to help control my shaking,} and being reassured by the whole operating team that my husband would be brought in soon! After what felt like forever getting set up my husband was ushered over to me. He quickly kissed my forehead and began to stroke my forehead and hair, basically the only part of me that wasn’t numb J once they began the procedure the whole thing went pretty quickly. At first it felt like an elephant-sized brick of pressure was on my pelvic region and it just kept getting heavier! Pretty soon I could begin to feel a shift and although I couldn’t see because of the screen I could feel them lift Georgina out and the all the pressure was sucked out of me right after she left my body. It’s hard to describe but I’ll never forget the feeling. As soon as she was weighed, measured, and wrapped up this little bundle of six pounds and eight ounces was handed over to my husband.

Her eyes were wide open and just looking around at everything and taking in all the bright lights of the room. She was just perfect! I couldn’t see her that well and the only question I could think to ask my husband was, “does she look like a Georgina?” and of course she did! It took another 15-20 minutes to get me all fixed back up and ready to wheel back to our room. This was the first time I was going to be able to hold her but I was shaking so hard I was petrified of dropping her! I had to mentally tell myself that I was fine, stop shaking, I’m fine, stop shaking, it worked and I managed to make it back to the room without dropping her. I nursed her almost immediately, which happened very naturally for us both. The next few hours are fuzzy & I’m sure we all napped, ate and generally checked out each other. After a few days we made our way home and the three of us slowly begin our new journey together.