Around noon my mom called to check on me. I told her what had been going on and she came on my lunch break to check my blood pressure. It was higher than it had ever been - around 155/96. She had me call the doctor's office and they wanted me to come in right away. I decided to finish out the day at work and then head up to the hospital. They sent me to the OB ER again and my mom came with me. Dallin went home to take care of Maggie. Some of my pressures were fine, some were not so good. All my blood tests came back clean and the baby's fluid was good so we thought they were about to let me go when they told me they'd talked to Dr. Sharp and since things were so hot and cold they decided to admit me and induce me. That did not do good things to my blood pressure! Within 45 min. I was set up in my birthing suite and ready to get started. Dallin hurried up to the hospital with my bag I'd packed just the night before.
They started me on Cytotec to soften my cervix. I wasn't dilated at all and really needed a jump start. So they do the pill for 4 hours and check me again. I'm a 1 cm. So another pill for another 4 hours. I'm a 2 maybe a 3. They were going to do a Foley balloon but did another pill for 4 hours first. I started to feel kinda yucky and ended up walking the halls with my mom from about 2:30-4 a.m. to try and get some relief. It actually felt better to get up and walk through the contractions. Dallin tried to get some sleep before the long day a head of us. My doctor then put the kibosh on me walking the halls anymore because of my blood pressure.
I tried to hold off on the epidural for as long as I could since I would be confined to bed without food or water - just ice chips. We had an AWESOME nurse at this time named Sandy and she said if I ate or drank anything while she wasn't around, she didn't know anything. :) She didn't understand how a woman was supposed to run the marathon of labor without any sustenance. I loved her. Dallin helped me take a shower while I labored through. Around 11 am I asked for my epidural. Things were quite uncomfortable and I wasn't able to get any rest through the contractions. They were coming about every 2 min. and if I couldn't get up and walk through them anyway...The epidural wasn't bad at all. It was so great to finally feel some relief and I was able to sleep on and off until 3 p.m. I'm so glad I got it before they placed the Foley ball - I'm sure it would have been VERY uncomfortable to get without an epidural.
Around 3 p.m. they checked me and the Foley ball had done it's job and I was at 5 cm. The doctor said this is the time to turn the corner. If I didn't, they'd do a c-section or if I couldn't handle the pain anymore, they'd do a c-section. The second they started the Pitocin, I felt (almost heard) this THUMP. I called the nurse but no one ever came. After an hour an a half, I called again and my water had broken around the time I heard that thump. The contractions started to get a bit intense and they kept upping the Pitocin.
Around this time, my epidural had worn off on my left side and I was having a really hard time. I felt each contraction just on that side and it was not pleasant. They gave me a couple boosters and nothing was helping so they decided to replace it, that the catheter had probably jiggled loose. So they redid it and I started to go numb again. It felt good to get some relief. My doc had said that he had an engagement from 6-9 p.m. but that I wouldn't have the baby until after 9 p.m. anyway.
After my second epidural, I tried to get a little rest but was pretty unsuccessful. I was getting a lot of pain down the back of my left leg and was worried that things weren't as numb as they should be. I realized that I couldn't feel the contractions in my abdomen and as I was talking to anesthesia, we figured out that the pain only happened during a contraction which meant the baby was sitting right on my sciatic nerve and there wasn't much they could do. The baby's heart rate kept dropping during contractions which meant that the cord was getting pressed somewhere. They kept a pretty close eye on her and it meant I had to lay on that left side to help her as much as possible, which also meant I couldn't adjust to get her off that nerve.
7 p.m. rolled around and I'd been feeling pressure but had just dealt with it. But something clicked at 7 p.m. and I just started crying, I couldn't handle it any more. I knew my options were a c-section or push the baby out and neither sounded appealing. I knew the recovery from a c-section would be horrendous but I was so delirious from lack of sleep and pain I just didn't see how I'd be able to do it. I told my mom about the pressure and how I felt like I needed to push and she had Dallin run and get the nurse. A doctor came in and checked me and I was at 10 cm but still had a little cervical lip and told me I couldn't push until that was gone as to not tear my cervix because that is REALLY bad and they'd check me again in 15 min. Trust me, I was counting the minutes and pressing the nurse button at 15 min. on the dot.Contractions started to come on really hard and strong and that was really the hardest part of labor - trying to keep her in and go against that instinctual urge to push. I've never heard of people talk about having to keep their baby in during labor but I guess it happens frequently - happened to my mom with me. I was totally unprepared with breathing techniques, especially in a situation like that. We hadn't planned on having my mom there, we wanted it to just be the two of us, but were grateful for her there to coach us in breathing and she helped rub cold water on my back and head while I focused on Dallin and breathing and NOT pushing. They checked me in 15 min, still had to wait. Another 15 min., still had to wait. But they got word that my doc was on his way in so that was nice. I really didn't care who delivered my baby at this point, I just wanted to push.
I felt like I was in some other place. I'd be focusing on Dallin on the upward part of a contraction and just feel my eyes close and roll, whether it was from exhaustion or focusing, I'm not sure but I do know that I've never felt more vulnerable in my whole life. I've never done anything so hard, so physically, emotionally and mentally difficult. I've never prayed so hard or felt the veil so thin. There were many sacred moments when I felt surrounded by loved ones who have passed on, who helped me through those absolutely difficult moments.
My doctor came in around 8:20 p.m. He'd finished with his prior engagement and made it back to help deliver. He checked me and it was go time. That was all I needed to hear and just let my body push with the next contraction. They had teams of people flood the room and I just let my body push while they got ready - I didn't care. Once they were all in position, they had me really bare down and she was right there. I did about 4 sets of 3-6 pushes. On the last set her heart rate kept dropping so Dr. Sharp told me he was Jillian (Michaels) and I really needed to get her out and keep pushing. He tried to get his fingers around her head to help her out and I gave it everything and she came flying out. No head, then shoulders, it was her whole body - 8:42 p.m. after about 20 min. of pushing. It was a whirlwind. They put her on my chest but she wasn't pinking up so they took her to the warming table almost immediately. She'd come out so fast that her lungs didn't get wrung out too well and her lungs were rattling. She was doing alright, but not ideal. They brought her by and let me hold her for a moment before they took her to the nursery to work on her.
She weighed in at 8.2 lbs. and 21 in. - our perfect, beautiful, baby girl - Zoey Elizabeth.
2 comments:
You made me cry. You are a trooper and I can't wait to meet little Zoey Elizabeth.
Oh Amy!!!!amazing story!..Glad she is here now!:)
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