Sunday, March 10, 2013

Labor Post

So like I said in the last post, this one will be mostly for me, but you can read it if you want.
Charlotte Kaye Higham



We called the hospital at 6:30 AM the morning of January 25th, and we were told to call back because they were just changing shifts and weren't sure when they would be able to have me come in. So I called back at 8:00 and they told me to be there at 9. So we packed Savannah down to the car, and headed out.

Just as we went over the first speed bump to get out of our condos I told Dave I was feeling terribly sick, so he pulled over after the third speed bump and I threw up. Then we were on our way again, after determining that I was done with that bout of nausea and vomiting. Savannah went to my mom's house and got to spend the weekend there.

When we got to the hospital our stubborn baby refused to stay on the monitor! I could feel her moving so I wasn't concerned about her. The problem with her refusing to keep her heartbeat on the monitor is that they can't start you on a pitocin drip until they have 20 minutes of continuous readings for the baby.

The nurse finally decided to quit trying to get her heartbeat on the external monitors and called the doctor to come in and break my water so they could put the internal monitors on and get the readings that way so I could be started on the pitocin.

At around 10:30, the doctor came in and broke my water. Things were finally getting started, and after 20 minutes of monitoring babies heartbeat, we were moving right along! I was dilated to a 3 and 60% effaced when they started me on the pitocin. Every hour they came in and turned the pitocin up which made the contractions harder and longer to keep me progressing.

The contractions weren't super hard, so I was handling them with just breathing. My father in law came to visit and both he and Dave kept telling me that since I was getting an epidural anyway I should just get it and not deal with the pain that I didn't have to feel. I was stubborn though and I kept going until the contractions were really bothering me, to the point that I really wanted them to be done. So I called the nurse in and she called the anesthesiologist.

Getting the epidural hurt really bad. I almost wished I hadn't asked for it while they were putting it in. They give you a local where they are going to thread the catheter in, but for some reason it was just really hurting me. Anyway, he had a hard time even getting the epidural in, which is part of why it hurt so bad. After he finally got it in, he asked if it was starting to work, and I could feel tingles in my leg, so I said yes.

He told me to push the button 15 minutes after he left that delivers an extra dose, so I did that, but for some reason I could still feel all of the contractions, my entire left leg, and my right calf and foot. Well, this went on for quite a while, and I was complaining a lot. Dave was so patient with me though.

The contractions were strong enough that I felt like I should be pushing every time one came! And I was so frustrated that I was still feeling them even after I had an epidural! I told Dave that I needed to push and he just kept saying "Don't push! Don't push!" After hearing that a ridiculous number of times, I completely lost my cool and I became one of those crazy pregnant women who yells at her husband while she is in labor! I felt awful about that later, and now it is something I laugh about.

He kept telling me not to push and my response to him was "The next time you really need to poop, just DON'T PUSH okay?!?!" (I still get a kick out of this, not sure it even remotely compares to the feelings of labor though...) Then the yelling part was all over.

The nurse came in and we told her I was still feeling the contractions and that I was having the urge to push, so she checked me and I was only dilated to a 6! They called the anesthesiologist in and he gave me a dose of something that is 2.5 times stronger than the phentanyl they put in an epidural to help. Well, that sucker didn't work either!

He came back an hour and a half after the epidural had originally gone in and said that sometimes you develop scar tissue in your back after having an epidural before and I asked if that meant that I was going to have to have my baby naturally. His answer was "possibly", I was freaking out!

He said he may need to pull it out and try again, but that it would hurt again and that it may not work, or he could try just pulling the catheter out a little and seeing what that would do. So he pulled the catheter out 2 centimeters, and it is amazing what a difference 2 stinkin' centimeters makes!

I could finally relax through labor, and I was super happy! At around 5:30 the nurse came in and I was close enough that she called my doctor to come in because we were super close to pushing! I was dilated to a 10, but not quite fully effaced. Well, I was ready to push before the doctor got there because of rush hour traffic!

When he finally got there around 6:15 he told the nursery nurse to come quick because we were having a baby, and he told her we were going to race and have the baby before she got there. Well, sure enough, we had a baby before the nurse got there!

Charlotte Kaye Higham made her debut into the world at 6:34 PM on January 25, 2013. The doctor said because the nurse wasn't there her first APGAR got to be a 10, but the labor and delivery nurse said no, she had to be a 9 so she didn't end up in the NICU. Both APGAR scores turned out to be a 9! She was healthy in every way, and just beautiful!

Savannah loves her sister!
Savannah got to come in and meet her sister, and she was so stinking cute about it! She loves Charly to pieces!

1 comment:

Lydia said...

I love the picture! Such cute kids. :)