Birth Story

On Tuesday, July 15th, I went to my weekly doctors appointment. My BP had been getting progressively higher with each appointment and I already had an induction scheduled for July 26th… 5 days before my July 31st EDD. Well this check-up really made my doctor nervous. Not only was my BP increasing, but we knew that my baby was also measuring big. Carter’s estimated weight at my 35 week growth ultrasound showed that he well over 7 lbs.

So, during the appointment, my doctor decided to have me come back for a BP check on Friday morning, July 18th. If my BP was still high, then I would be sent over to L&D for my induction right away. If my BP was considered “safe,” then I would hold off until Monday, July 21st and would be induced then. My doc wanted me to make it as close to 39 weeks as I could, as long as both myself and Carter were healthy.

I woke up on Friday morning, July 18th, and I was soooo ready to have my baby. I was both physically ready, but, more importantly, emotionally ready. I was not nervous or scared about labor and/or being induced. I was just… ready. I made Bob go to work in the morning. My sister, Kristi, (who has the summer off) took me to my appointment. I didn’t want Bob to waste a day off if I was sent home after the appointment. Heck, I even worked up until the day before!

When I got to the office, I had my BP taken. It was high. The doc made me lay down for 10 minutes and then she took it again. Still high. I also had a significant amount of protein in my urine. They immediately sent me to L&D. I got a piece of paper with the “Pitocin Orders” that I had to give to the nurses at the hospital. I laughed right away because it was literally Carter’s eviction notice (I’ve been telling him that he might get evicted for weeks, lol.) I called Bob and told him to head to the hospital with our bags! We were both so excited! I was exactly 38 weeks and 0 days pregnant.

I got to the hospital with my sister and got checked in. I had to wait about 30 mins in the induction waiting area for a room. Bob came in and met us there. I was so excited that I just kept walking around and calling people. I was taking a ton of pictures too. We finally got called into our room at 11:00am. I got changed and hooked up to my IV’s and started on the Pitocin. My doc then came right in to break my water. All this was done by 11:15am, so it moved pretty fast. I asked for my epi right away, but ended up waiting almost an hour and a half for it to come.

The Pitocin worked immediately. My doc was shocked at just how strong and close my contractions were already. They were coming every 90 seconds and were a minute long for the entire day. Luckily, I only had to go without the epi until 12:30pm. I was a crazy person to think, throughout my pregnancy, that I would not know the difference between real contractions and Braxton hicks contractions. The difference is- real contractions make you feel like you want to shoot yourself.

The epi hurt pretty bad, but it was pure heaven once it kicked in. For most of the day I just hung out and talked to Bob, my mom, and my sister (while texting a million other people, lol.) The nurse was in and out a lot and my doc would come in every few hours to check my progress. At 2pm I had only progressed from 3cm (which is what I had been since 36 weeks) to 4cm. When she came back and checked on me at 4:15pm, I had progressed from 4cm-9.5cm!! The doc came back at 5pm and I was 10cm and ready to go, but the baby was not. She said that she wanted to wait until the baby was at least +2 station before she would allow me to push, or else it would just be a waste of energy for me. She checked me at 5:45 and then again at 6:15pm and I was finally ready to start pushing. Thank gawd.

Pushing was one of the hardest things to do. Ever. I felt like I should have trained for a marathon before hand. The doc told me to push whenever I felt a contraction coming. She wanted me to take breaks in between contractions, but I just wanted my baby out. So instead of pushing on every third or forth contraction, I decided that I wanted to push on every. single. one. The doc was so impressed at my pushing skills (who knew?) and I was lucky enough to only push for 30 minutes.

Carter Robert was born at 6:45pm on July 18, 2008. My chunky monkey weighed in at 9lbs 5oz and was 21.5in long.

I immediately started crying as soon as I heard him. It was the most beautiful sound in the world. They laid him on my chest while they cleaned him off and the doc was stitching up my 2nd degree tears. I started talking to Carter and he calmed down right away. I was amazed that he recognized my voice. He was looking right at me and he was so perfect and beautiful. I was finally meeting my son.

They took Carter over to weigh him and finish cleaning him off. I delivered the placenta and the doc left to allow the nurses to finish with both me and Carter. The one nurse started pushing on my belly to get everything out, and she was not prepared for what she got. Blood was gushing out like a fire hydrant. My BP dropped so low that I passed out.  The nurse immediately called the doctor b/c she could not stop the bleeding. The doc was back in 10 minutes and found that I had huge blood clots. Once she was able to get them out and get the bleeding under control, she pumped me with fluids, meds to stabilize my BP and more Pitocin to keep my uterus contracting. It took them about 45 mintues to get me stabilized. I felt so bad for my mom and Bob who were both so scared for me. Bob was crying and he said he just felt so helpless. Poor guy. I felt a million times better once they were able to get my BP back up. I stayed in L&D for an additional 4 hours after so that they could continue to push on my belly (lovely) and monitor my BP. I then had to wear a BP cuff for my entire hospital stay.  It went off every 15 minutes.  So lovely, let me tell ya.

After all of that, I got my beautiful son. It was amazing to finally get to hold him. Bob has been absolutely wonderful with him and I am so lucky to be married to such a great man.

Sorry that this story got a little long, but I want to remember every detail of what has been one of the best (and scariest) days of my life.