Wow...what a journey to get where we are today! I wanted to journal about Lainey's birth story so I wouldn't forget anything. Unfortunately, it has taken me 10 days to finally sit down in front of the computer long enough to do it but here goes...
Tuesday started out like a normal day. We got up and got dressed and ready for work. I was busy all day but managed to leave a little before 4 p.m. to come home because I knew that the hospital would call between 5 - 10 to let me know when I would be admitted. I came home, changed and finished packing the hospital bag and Troy and I ate some dinner and did some last little things around the house. At 7:30 someone from Rex called asking if we were ready to come in. Um, yeah! So off we went and we arrived at the Birth Center right at 8. We were checked in and I got settled in and changed into my hospital gown. We were so excited...I couldn't believe that we'd soon get to meet our baby!
That night the doctor gave me Cervidil and checked me at around 10 p.m. Apparently I was having some small contractions but was still not dialated at all. At midnight they came back to remove the Cervidil and to check me again (still no progress). They also gave me an Ambian so I could sleep and told me they would come get us up around 6 in the morning. Man, that Ambian did the trick! I went right to sleep and woke up at 6 on the dot. I got up and showered and then the nurses came in and hooked me up to my IV (Pitocin and a saline drip) and monitors (my contractions and the baby's heartbeat) around 8 a.m. And so began a long day of waiting. Family arrived, visited and milled about and I started having contractions. The doctor came and broke my water at 11:45 a.m. to see if that would speed things along because I was only 1 cm dialated. Wow...what a flood! My sister joked about everyone needing gollashes and she was about right. Not to be gross, but I gushed water for hours and had to repeatedly have the bed pads changed. Hours went by of gushing and contracting. During this time, we visited with family and watched the Pirates of the Carribbean movies (the cable was terrible...thanks P&C!). Around 4 p.m. the doctor checked me and I was only at 2 cms. That was a bit discouraging. They said that basically my body wasn't taking the hint and getting the kick start that the Pitocin offered. This wasn't terribly comfortable though because I was having basically back to back contractions with no break in between but the contractions weren't actually being productive. They kept upping the Pitocin level and around 8 p.m. they asked if I was sure I didn't want the epidural. Troy and I talked it over and I decided to get it so I could get a good night's sleep because it seemed I would probably be pushing late that night or early in the morning.
The epidural wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and then the pain relief was great (though it was weird to be all numb). We carried on a bit more and about 10 p.m., the doctor checked me again. There was still no progress and he said that he thought the baby was so large that my contractions were just kind of squeezing my uterus and the baby but not pushing down to get me dialated. He said that it was time to start thinking about maybe a c-section. I was really disappointed to hear that...that was my worst fear: that I would labor for hours and then end up having to have a c-section. The doctor said that I could continue to be in labor all night and we would still probably arrive at needing to have a section so we could either do it now or later. Troy and I talked to it over with the doctor, then the nurse, then each other and then our parents. About 10:30 we called the doctor in and told him that we were going to go that route.
From the time we said go, it was a whirwind of activity. We barely had time to bring our parents up to tell them our decision when the nurse kicked them out to get me ready for the OR. Within 10 minutes they were wheeling me down the hall and zipped me into the OR. That was a bit frightening because Troy had to stay outside and the OR was full of people who were all busy prepping stuff but no one was really talking to me. They moved me onto the operating table and began getting my anesthesia going. Then my doctor came over and talked to me for a minute which was comforting and Troy was able to come in to sit at my head. Side note: we were so exhausted by this point that he actually took a cat nap while waiting for someone to bring him into the OR. Only Troy could fall asleep right before his wife has major surgery and his baby is born! The surgery was really fast...it wasn't painful at all, just lots of pressure and then they pulled our little girl out and she instantly started crying. Troy got to watch the doctor actually pull her out and then he left with the nurse to watch them clean and weigh her.
That was by far the hardest part. I got to see her for just a second and then she and Troy were gone and the most difficult part of the surgery started. There was so much pressure as they stuffed my insides back. All I can remember thinking is, "I wish they would just stop for a minute. If they could just give me a minute, I'd be okay." Apparently, I was totally white and green around the gills and was shaking but I don't remember any of that. The anesthesiologist shot a few things into my IV and that was the last thing I remember. Then next thing I knew I was waking up in a different room and Troy was by my bed with a nurse on either side. I was so out of it...it felt like I was trying to wake up from the deepest, hardest sleep of my life. I was fighting to hard to be awake. I asked Troy how long I had been out and he just told me what time it was which meant nothing to me. Then the nurse said, "Now I'm going to just press down to check your abdomen." Holy cow...I have never felt such pain my life. I gripped the side rails of the bed as hard as I could. I'm not sure what else they did but it was just a few minutes and she had to do it again. That was the worst! Then they were wheeling me off again, this time to my post-partum room. Then I finally got to really see my baby.
So all in all, it was a long and tiring process but this made it all worth it. Elaine "Lainey" Caroline Benton was born at 11:43 p.m. on July 21st weighing 7 lbs 10 oz (yeah, the doctors were totally wrong about her size!) and measuring 20.5 inches long. She is absolutely beautiful and we are so in love with her. We have been taking lots of pictures and I'll of course be updating the blog with those. Right now though...I'm going to go enjoy my sleeping baby. :)
3 comments:
Holly, I know the end result was totally worth it, but I'm so sorry you had to have a c-section. I hope you are having a steady recovery. My third baby was a c-section, and I had a rough time, but you in your youth should (hopefully) bounce tight back. Thinking of you guys. Wishing you lots of rest and healing!! What a beautiful little girl you have!
Lainey's birth story sounds almost exactly like Brooklyn's story. I know its discouraging to labor all day and then end up with a c-section, but sometimes these babies just have their own plan. :-) Hope you are doing well, and Lainey is sooooo sweet!
Congrats!! Yes, that was my first c-section experience too except my water broke on my own and my c-section turned into an emergency one. But the way you described the procedure was mine to a T! They are not the most fun, but my second one went WAY better b/c it was planned! No laboring beforehand. So keep that in mind! Glad you are doing well. She is so sweet!
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