Week 41 - Our Birth Story

Lets rewind a bit to our nonstress test.  Our nonstress test came back great. She is just real cozy in there, handling contractions well.  I had a few contractions while we were there, nothing painful.  It felt like a little bit of pressure in my belly, kinda like she was shifting around.  So maybe I have had a few more contractions than I thought.  At any rate, after 20 minutes on the monitor, kicking back in a comfy chair, drinking some apple juice....we made our appointment for 41 weeks and headed home.

I was actually pretty frustrated with having to make that appointment.  Our Dr. was completely right, there is something in your brain that shifts once you go a few days past your due date.  She described it as "say you tell a child that Christmas is 6 months away.  Then that six months comes and you tell them 'just kidding a few more days'".  That, my friends, was spot on.  1-2 days past my due date....no biggie.  5-6 days past.... Done.  Done.  Done.  Your closet presents even fewer options than before.  You only receive a text, email, or phone call once every other hour asking if you have had the baby, (Which I know are sent with great intentions, and excitement, and anxiousness) which only reminds you...that in fact, you are still preggs and have no control over that situation.

I had a smidge of a breakdown on Sunday.  Maybe two minutes of intermittent tears.  I knew I was going to have to be induced and that meant I wasn't going to be able to have her at the, more convenient, Birth Care Center.  I was uncomfortable, constantly had to have my feet up to be able to beat any swelling, so I felt pinned to the couch (which is not good for a busy body). I had been working from home, so I had cabin fever.  I was bored...my clothes weren't fitting.  You name it, I was there.  

So we had an appointment at 12:20 on Monday March 17th.  We knew that we would be setting an induction date because little lady was headed nowhere fast :). So when we still weren't making any process when we were checked, wasn't much of a shocker :)  Dr. Taylor said "so do you want to have her tomorrow, tonight, 3 days ago?"  Um.... Yes.  So she called the hospital to see if we could come in at 7 to get the process started, getting my cervix ready, then start induction in the morning.

Here I am at 41 weeks... right before we headed to the hospital

We checked in, got hooked up.  I had to have a foley bulb put in, which I expected to be much more painful than it was.  (Google with caution, lol, it may freak you out a bit, or at least it did me)  We played phase 10 in between contractions.  Which were really fun at first *sarcasm* but got better.  At first I thought I was going to have to ask for pain meds like 20 min after they put it in.  They did warn me that it could cause cramping.  Either I got used to it or something, because I didn't get worse, and I was actually able to handle the cramping that it brought with it.    

I slept for a couple hours through the night.  At 5 am, they started me on Potocin to get my contractions going.  I was able to sleep the first two hours after they started the process.  I expected there to be intense contractions right away, but was pleasantly surprised by how manageable they were.

We had an awesome nurse named Hang, who was so great about telling us exactly what she was monitoring, what was good and what wasn't.  She would explain why she was having me do certain things, and what medicines she was putting in me, or any increase in dosages, and what to expect.  We didn't even have to ask.  She never did anything without explaining it.  Awesome.  I pretty much need to send her a Thank You note for making our experience so wonderful.

At 8:34 am, my OB came in and she broke my water.  Weird/painful experience.  Painful only because they have to make sure they can get to where they need to be, and when you aren't fully dilated, they have to try harder (catch my drift?!? ;) )  I was dilated to 4.  The OB couldn't believe I didn't have an epidural yet.  But honestly, the contractions weren't that bad.  The worst part was when they would check on my progress.  

I got an epidural around 10 am when I was 5 cm dilated.  At that point my contractions were getting to be pretty intense.  On the pain chart I would say around a 6 (which they have labeled as severe pain).  It was enough to have Jay ask me whether I was ready for one.  I was able to breathe through them, however I knew if it got much worse, I may not be able to hold still to receive one.  

Now a little bit about this epidural.  I was a little nervous to get it, after watching the video in our birthing class, they said it burned when they injected medicine to numb your skin and the area.  And I remember the lady in the video complaining about the burning sensation.  Well, either I have a high tolerance for pain, or I found the worlds greatest anesthesiologist.  I felt a pinch when they numbed me, and I didn't feel anything else.  They kept asking me "you didn't feel that!?!?"  Nope.  Not. A. Thing.  And I tell you what.... That epidural was the best decision.  I went from a pain level 5 or 6 to like a zero.  Awesome.

I got checked around 11 am (even being checked is better with an epidural, because the checks may be more painful than a contraction, it just doesn't last as long) I was at a 6 or 7.  The nurse said 6 outter/7 inner.  The resident that checked me said 7.  

Have I mentioned that epidural are awesome?  I would also like to give a huge shout out to those ladies brave enough to do it without an epidural.  You, my friends, are a million times tougher than I will ever be.  I felt like I was handling everything pretty well, but I wanted to be able to enjoy part of my experience, and at 5 cm, it was no longer enjoyable, and I was only halfway to full dilation.

I had to have an internal contraction monitor places, because I wasn't moving from a 7, but the monitor on my belly was showing decent contractions.  The internal one is much more accurate.  So I got it put in and they determined I needed more Potocin.  I stayed at a 7 until 5:30 where I measured an 8-9.

And then something fun happened.  Baby girl became asynclitic (the head of the baby is down but is tilted toward the shoulder, causing the head to no longer be in line with the birth canal).  I had to have a sonogram just to make sure that it was in fact her head and not a butt, because the resident said that it just didn't feel right.  So instead of taking the chance of trying to push out a breech baby, a quick sonogram confirmed that it was in fact a head.  So in order to try and fix this, I had to flip in the bed from side to side about every 20 minutes.

At 7:30, and 2 hours at 8-9 cm, and still asynclitic, it was determined that I would have to have a c-section.  After 24 hours in labor, I didn't care what I had to do to get her out of me.  They told me and the resident said "wow, you took that well, normally that is when the tears come."  I was just so ready to be done.  AND...I'm an accountant, not a doctor.  I'm not going to argue with you if you tell me she won't come out the way she is positioned.  We have officially stepped out of my arena and into yours :)  You tell me what needs to be done, and we will do it.

I went back for my c-section at 8 pm.  They got me all prepped, and said it would take 5-10 minutes to get her out.  They started the surgery at 8:07 and at 8:13 she was born.  She was perfection and it was definitely love at first sight.  She was a lot bigger than we anticipated, and my OB said there was a good chance that because of her size, we would have had to have a c-section anyways, probably after an hour of pushing.

So after 41 weeks and 1 day, over a day of labor, and one surgery later, please meet....

Tenleigh Kayte

8 pounds 14 ounces

20 inches

March 18th, 8:13 pm.