Charlotte's Birth Story - Part 2

Contractions were still coming fast and furious. My nurse asked if I had taken caster oil...apparently that can cause them to become really strong and constant, or basically right on top of each other. I informed her that I had not and asked if lemon cupcakes could cause that as well. Apparently it was just a coincidence. :)

After I was admitted and in my room with an IV, I inquired about an epidural pretty much right away. Mama has priorities, and given my awesome birth experience (relatively no pain) with Grace, I was ready for a repeat performance if at all possible. I had been admitted around 10am and had gotten an epidural by 11. As he was inserting the epi, I could hear a woman screaming down the hall...literally giving birth. I asked if she had gotten an epidural too and the answer was yes. That should have been my first red flag. Almost immediately I had a huge window on the left side of my body and could feel everything going on in that area. We kept repositioning and reevaluating every 15 minutes. Several 15 minute increments passed with no decrease in the pain. The anesthesiologist came back and bumped up my dosage...finally sweet relief. For about an hour I relaxed, texted with D, and felt waves of pressure, but not the pain I'd been feeling before. I was checked and at a 5! Halfway there.

By the way, through everything D was on standby at the computer. We were able to chat and he was prepped to Skype at a moments notice. He also remembered how things were with Grace and was prepared for a long night.

Around 12:30pm the anesthesiologist peeked back in and asked how I was feeling. I remember noticing that the pressure was more intense than after he initially upped my dosage, but I was honestly feeling fine, so I told him good and he was out the door. Literally 60 seconds later I felt a gush of warm fluid and knew my water had broken. We called in the nurse, got cleaned up, and saw that there was meconium. Babe had taken her first poop in the womb she had refused to leave...that's my girl. Almost right after my water broke, contractions were back even more intense than earlier in the day. It was like I never had an epidural and probably the worst pain I've ever experienced. So for the next hour (?) they tried upping the epi again-- didn't work-- and I felt like a mess, moaning through contractions like the star of a "Baby Story" on TLC.

Two words: Hot. Mess.

After what seemed like forever, but was maybe an hour at most, it was discovered that the epidural had come out about a centimeter and basically was ineffective...so I got another one. Seriously. Thankfully my guy wasn't messing around this time and gave me a good dose, so after about 5 minutes I was pain free. The nurse checked me again and I was a 10. So in about an hour I had progressed from a 5-10, which I guess could explain the horrible contractions that I had gotten to feel over and over with barely minute break in between. (Props to those of you who go natural. You are more woman than me. Or insane. ;)

The nurse asked if I was ready to push, and full disclosure, I did not want to. I was ready for a break. I finally felt like I could breathe for the first time in awhile and everything was just happening so fast. I might have even asked her to give me 5 minutes. I don't know. That's what I get for waiting a month to write everything out! They prepped the room and we did a couple practice pushes. I couldn't feel anything, thank the sweet baby J, but my pushes were somehow still effective...or Charlie was just right there already. My mom quickly got D set up on Skype. Things were moving quickly and he was shocked that it was time, because last he had heard I was at 5 centimeters. We barely got the computer up in time.

I asked for a mirror this time and I'm totally serious when I say it was the best decision I have made and one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I'm regretful that I didn't do it for Grace's delivery and would do it again in a heartbeat. The doctor came in right away. With G I pushed for 2+ hours before it was time for the doctor to set up. We did three sets of 10 count pushes and she was coming fast . As her head came out he could see that the cord was wrapped around her neck and unwrapped it. I knew that between the cord and meconium I probably wouldn't get to hold her right away. We did another couple pushes and Charlotte made a quiet entrance into the world at 1:53pm, on Sunday March 24th after only about 15 minutes of pushing. My mom, her nana got to cut the umbilical cord. :)

I looked back and forth between my mom and the nurses working my little girl. It seemed like forever, but she made a tiny little cry and I felt a rush of relief. Poor D had no idea what was going on. The audio had gone out on Skype and until he noticed people gathering around the warmer behind me, he wasn't even aware that she had been born. Finally it was obvious things were ok, and I had my mom start taking pictures while I got cleaned up and tried to relay everything to D. We started sending him pictures right away, because he wasn't able to see very clearly over the grainy computer. As far away as we were, it was amazing to still be able to share our daughter's birth together as best as we could manage.

 

 

Charlotte is a tough cookie. She had the cord wrapped once around her neck, there was the presence of meconium in the fluid, and signs that the placenta had started to abrupt. She had an initial apgar score of 5 and the second was 9. She weighed a healthy 8 pounds, 13.9 ounces and was 21 1/4 inches long. I thanked my lucky stars that she was another long and lean baby and I came out relatively unscathed. As soon as I passed 39 weeks I had visions of 9 pound babies and my vaj in a cast (kidding...sort of). I would actually say that despite the pain, labor the second go round was much easier and I had another great experience. I was able to walk after my epidural sooner, needed a catheter for less time, and recovery wise I feel like I was able to bounce back faster as well.

 

 

Good thing recovery went well, because I had a 2 year old ball of energy that was ready for me to get home. First, she was able to come and visit her new baby sister in the hospital. A moment I was anxious to share with her...and I'll share more about how it went soon. :)

 

xo,

H

Charlotte's Birth Story - Part 1

My 40 week appointment had come and gone and I'd come to terms with the fact that I would be induced the following week and was no longer anticipating labor. I'd run, had eggplant parm, pineapple, bounced on the exercise ball, had my membranes swept --twice--, taken evening primrose oil, drank red raspberry leaf tea...nothing seemed to help.

C's room, almost ready for her arrival!

I was frustrated. I couldn't get through even a couple hours of the day without getting some sort of text, call, or even comments from random strangers. "Have that baby yet?!" "You are still pregnant?!" That coupled with the advice of "Go home to your husband and get this show on the road! Oh, wait...he's deployed." Kick a preggo while she's down, ya know? I wanted to throw my phone against the wall. I know everyone meant well, but I was just done. My mom had been visiting for almost 2 weeks and I knew every day the baby didn't decide it was go time, was another day I would lose her help after delivery.

On Saturday the 23rd we had a nice day at home. I remember making a new recipe for dinner (which I will share one day when things get less crazy around here!) and my sweet neighbors bringing us over lemon cupcakes. She had researched and lemon was supposed to be another natural labor inducer, so clearly I had two...just in case. ;)

I woke up several times during the night to pee, during each of which I noticed what felt like a real contraction. Nothing that kept me from falling right back to sleep again though. I finally awoke for the day right after 6am, and the contractions were still there and had picked up, to the point that I texted my mom (who was sleeping still) and let her know that this might be the start of something. She came downstairs and decided to shower and get ready immediately and suggested I start doing the same. I really doubted that this would turn into anything, but she wasn't buying it. I was four days overdue and chances were, it was finally time.

8 Weeks

40 Weeks

I showered and slowly started getting myself together. Grace had woken up and was laying in my bed watching her morning shows while I put last minute things in my hospital bag and dried my hair in between contractions. I texted my girlfriend who was on call to watch Grace and let her know things were happening and I'd get back to her later. Not even 30 minutes later I re-texted and asked her to come over within the hour. Things were getting closer together quickly. What started about around 10 minutes apart was now 7 (which was when the hospital suggested I head in), and were lasting about 45 seconds. By the time she arrived and we left, they were over a minute long and maybe closer to 5 minutes apart. It was 9am.

Once we were in the car and driving they started coming every 2 minutes. We had a 30 minute drive...and it was raining. My mom drove like she was in a race and I tried to keep calm timing things on my phone. Nothing was changing. It was every two minutes like clock work.

When we got to the hospital I waddled up to the 4th floor and went to triage. My mom and I wondered how far along I'd be. She guessed 5ish...I knew better based on how slowly I progressed with Grace. The checked me and I was a 3. A freaking 3. I'm pretty sure I burst into tears. They kept me on the monitor and contractions kept coming quickly. They were more painful than I remember them being with G and I started throwing up, which I hoped would let people know I was serious about how bad I felt. I didn't have to wait long, they admitted me and I quickly got a room and IV. It was 10am. I guess the difference between being 37 weeks with Grace and 40.4 with Charlie is that people take things a little more seriously. Thank. God. I prepped for what I was sure would be a long day of labor. I had already thrown up breakfast and recalled how starving I'd be by the time this baby arrived.

Little did I know I'd barely have time for the epidural to be done properly...

More to come. :)

Charlotte Olivia

Charlotte Olivia

Born March 24th, 2013

1:53 pm

8 lbs 13.9 oz + 21 1/4 inches

 

Much more to come! The past 2+ weeks have been some of the most busy, crazy, exhausted times that I've ever had, but we are starting to get our act together over here and I can't wait to share more about Charlie's arrival, Grace's reaction, and how things are going. In the mean time, I try to keep instagram up to date! Hmmorgan1

Be back soon!

xox,
H