Thread: Aug '07 Pregnant~TTC~Arrivals~Birthstories~Resources

Okay, now that she's 5 days old - I finally feel like I have time to write this birth story!

Well on Friday I started feeling kinda wet - and I was worried my water was getting a slow leak - but I finally came to the conclusion that it was just increased CM.... and it continued through till labor started. By Saturday I had began to spot pink, and so I knew something was happening, but figured it would still be quite a while since I still felt totally normal and no contractions, etc.... This continued on till Sunday. Then Sunday DH and I decided to run some errands because my sister was coming to stay with us for a week or two and we wanted to go get some groceries so she could help me cook some casseroles while we waited for baby to arrive. I truely believed I'd go overdue (but she was born at exactly 39 weeks).

Sunday mornign I was still spotting, DH and I started making the shopping list and he made a pot of coffee. But the coffee pot decided to not work anymore - and so we also wrote on our list to go to the kitchen/bath shop to get another because we were having a homebirth and figured the MW's might want some coffee...... I called the MW's just to let them know I'd been spotting for a couple days (because just Tuesday when i had seen them, I had no signs of labor at all) but neither of them answered and I decided it wasn't a big deal and I didn't leave a message.
So we went to the store - they didn't have the kind of cofee pot we wanted, and then we went to the grocery store. We got all our groceries and while we were in the check-out line, I felt a little gush of fluid - not much really - so I assumed it was just more CM.... then I got another gush - bigger this time and I began to worry that it was my water that had broken and I knew by how it felt that my pantiliner was now full. But it still wasn't so much fluid that it was dripping or anything and I wasn't totally convinced that it was my water. (this was 3:30pm on Sunday).... So we checked out our groceries - and walked to the parking lot. Dh loaded the groceries in the trunk and I went to sit down in the car, this time another small gush - so I was pretty sure it was my water.... I was wearing a dress and a pair of shorts underneath and by now i could tell some of my shorts were damp. So before we left the parking lot - i called my MW's - but niether of them answered their phones - and I didn't leave messages yet, wanted to see if things would pick up....

So we drove the 30 minutes home - without a coffee pot and DH started noticing I was rubbing my tummy - I told him it was feeling crampy off and on and that I think my water broke a little bit.... so he timed me everytime I held my tummy. I was having contractions every 9-12 minutes and they were lasting about 40 seconds.

So we got home and i just timed my contractions every once and a while. I called my MW back and she answered - I told her that I think my water had broken and the contractions were still spoardic. She told me to call back when they got into a good pattern and were 5 minutes apart. Plus - I never got the GBS test run because I decided I'd want antibiotics regardless at 18-24 hours if my water broke early - positive or not..... which meant I had a time-limit. So the contractions got to about 8 minutes apart and lasting 45-60 seconds. They were annoying - but not painful.

At 8pm, my MW called me back to check on me. She was kinda disappointed to learn that my contractions weren't getting stronger, and sent me out to get some castor oil (because at this point I had to get baby out by 10am Monday - or else my homebirth would have to transfer to hospital...... So DH and I went back out and I sent him in to get the oil, and some rootbeer to make a float with to drink the oil - but the pharmacy didn't have any rootbeer, either did the gas station - so we ended up going back to the grocery store. By now my contractions were 7-8 minutes, but still not strong.

I got home, made myself a rootbeer/castor oil float and just as I finished it, my MW's called back - still not much going on, so they told me to call them in the middle of the night or whenever I needed them to come over for the birth. They also wanted me to try some nipple stimulation to get things going stronger - I tried it, but it didn't help - so I used my electric pump for about 45 minutes - that did nothing either, so around 10pm I went to bed. I slept through my contractions till around 11:45 when I was woken up by cramping and a stronger contraction that lasted almost a minute. I decided it was just gas pain from the castor oil and drifted off back to sleep - but was woken back up with another about 7 minutes later. So I laid there for a third one and finally decided to get out of bed to help things along.

I let DH sleep. At around 2am my contractions started coming every 4 minutes - lasting about 45 seconds - not quite strong enough to need the MW's, but I thought I should call them since they live about an hour from my house... The MW told me to call back when they were painful enough to breathe through them. So I went back to laboring on my ball in the living room and pacing around the house trying to keep the contractions going. DH woke up around 3:30 and checked on me. The MW's called back around 4 and said they were coming over even though they thought it would still be a while. By now I started having several loose stools, which meant the castor oil was working. Just about 4:30 I got sick and threw up - and It made my contractions start coming a bit stronger, but not much. The MW's arrived at 5am. and checked me. I was 3cm and 0 station, and she easily stretched me to 4cm.

The MW's drank tea - and coffee DH made by tea-bag method by tying a coffee filter shut. DH and I walked for a while, I tried more nipple stim in the shower, sat on the birth ball, etc. but nothing seemed to make the contractions much stronger. I did finally get to the point where I had to breathe through them - but still not too bad. All the pain was in my tummy and it felt good to lean forward on DH.

By 9am,. the MW's wanted to go on a walk with us down our 1/4 mile long dirt road. I only had an hour left to get the baby born before being transfered to the hospital. At the end of our walk we talked about what to do - they agreed to let me stay home till 11 if I wanted, just to see, but that it may not be enough time - depending on how my cervix was doing - and the fact that my contractions were still only 4-5 minutes apart. So I decided that they could check me now and if I was not close - I'd go to the hospital to get antibiotics. We thought that if a good doc was on call - that they may just give the antibioitics and I could come back home - but the OB on-call was not willing to do that. So they checked me at 10, and I was 5cm and kinda stretchy, so they figured I would probably be a 6 soon - but that an 11:00 baby didn't look very likely. So we packed up some stuff and the MW drove us to the hospital.

I didn't have a single contraction during the entire 30 minute drive. One of my MW's is actually also a labor and delivery nurse at my hospital - and was due to work her shift that night from 3-11...... so I was lucky that she got to be my "nurse" as well.

Once I got to the hospital, I still had no contractions - and so the MW's went to the cafeteria to get some lunch while I got my antibiotics and was hooked to the monitor for 20 minutes. I took a little cat-nap and finally around 2 my contractions started back up - much stronger now.

The MW'S came back and noticed right away something was different. So they sat with me and DH while I labored. It was so nice having them all there. At 3 one of my MW's (Debbi) left to get her nurse clothes on and sign-in to work. She came back as my nurse and my other MW was still there (Marla) - sorta being my doula (since niether have delievery privleges at the hospital due to policy problems in VA)....

Ever since my contractions started back up at the hospital - It hurt in my tailbone and back a LOT.... and so DH was with me- letting me lean on him, and my MW Marla was putting pressure on my tailbone. It helped - but not much.

At 4pm (24 hour after my water broke) the OB came in. She was not my doctor - but I'd met her before and she was really good (she delivered 2 of my doula clients babies). She checked me and said I was at 7cm.

When she left - I labored by leaning on the birthball that was on the bed and Debbi filled the tub. I got in the tub and tried all sorts of positions to ge comfortable - but the tail-bone labor was too intense, nothing was making it feel better - not even the pressure Marla was doing was helping at all anymore. I was on my hands and knees in the tub for about an hour and then decided to sit - that kinda helped - but by then my contractions were coming with only about 30 seconds between them. They were very intense - and I thought for sure my tailbone was going to break off.....

Debbi came back in and checked me at 5. I was 9cm - almost 10. and I started feeling pushy....So she told me not to push if I could help it.... but by the 3rd contraction I couldn't help it....so the MW checked again and said I was fully dilated - but had a lip of cervix and so she held it back on my next contraction and it went away.

I had about 6 more contractions while in the tub and Marla and DH were rubbing my back and helping me stay focused. The pushing got so strong that I couldn't do anything but push - and it made me push REALLY long (like 30 second long pushes). It was so intense I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep it up. Plus my tailbone was SOOO painful by now! Debbi said that she paged the OB (who had to catch the baby even though I would rather have had Marla or Debbie do it).... and I planned to get out of the tub and be on my hands and knees for pushing, or maybe squatting.... because I knew from research/doula-ing that being on your back/tailbone makes you more likely to tear......

But when I got out of the tub- the only way I could be with those strong pushing contractions was sitting on my tailbone. any other position was terrible. I think it was the counterpressure that made sitting tolerable. The OB came in and watched me push through one contraction - she said I was a great pusher and couldn't believe that I was pushing that hard for 40 seconds or more without taking a break. She kept trying to tell me to do 3-4 pushes per contraction - but I could only ever get 1 or 2 pushes in because they were just SOOOOOOO long and SOOOOO strong that I couldn't have stopped them if I tried.

My sister had been driving all day to VA from GA to be there for us - and she arrived at 5:50pm - and Rosalie was born at 6:04.

I ended up having a 2nd degree tear partially because of my position, and partially because I couldn't ease up on my pushing at all when she was crowning and coming too fast and hard because of how I was pushing - but I couldn't stop when they told me to slow down my pushing.....

Rosalie's apgars were 9 and 9 and she took several tries to start nursing, but now she is really good at it. I think everything went really well! I was so happy to have my 2 MW's, DH and my sister there. And though I was SOOO hoping for a HB etc., I know that I did the best thing because I would have been a worry-wart these first few days if I would not have gotten the antibiotics since my water was broken for so long. I'm really happy about how everything turned out

Here's a couple pictures from the hospital:



If you read all this - you deserve a medal! That was long!!!!!

-Jodi

Originally Posted by emmy206

I was totally expecting an August baby. I had my induction date set for August 9th and both my doctor and I thought I would make it till then.... but, the baby had different ideas.

DH and I went to get pizza and go grocery shopping on Friday. At noon we were eating pizza and I started having contractions that were about 7 minutes apart. The didn't really hurt though, just a little painful and really uncomfortable. We still went shopping and it was still three weeks till my due date so I thought that there was no way this was it. Well, 6pm I called the doctor because the contractions were 5 minutes apart, but not really any stronger. He said to rest for an hour and if they were still there, to go to the hospital just to get checked out. So, an hour later they were still there, though no more intense than before so we went to the hospital to have things checked out. We dropped DD off at my friends house just incase. When I got there I was 3cm dialated (up from 2 at my doc appt on Monday) They monitered me for two hours and checked me again and I hadn't dialated anmore and since the contractions were regular, but not getting more intense, they said it would probably still be a few days and they sent me home. We went and picked up DD and on the way home, the contractions started to get a little stronger, but still not bad. We got home and I layed down right away to go to sleep. Immediately the contractions went to two minutes apart lasting about 90 seconds and they were VERY strong!! I moaned thru a few of them and then told DH that I thought we needed to go back to the hospital. So.... back in the car and we took DD back to my friends house and headed to the birth care center. By the time we got there I was in some serious pain. They got me in a room and checked me and said I wasn't going anywhere becasuse I was 6cm and was going to have a baby. I asked for an epidural and they got right in there and gave it to me. I had no problems with it. They checked me right after I got the epidural and was at 8cm. About an hour later I could still feel contractions, but they weren't that bad and I started to feel like I had to push. They checked and I was at a 10. They broke my water because it still hadn't broken and the nurse called the doctor and said I could start pushing. I started to push and almost right away she told me to stop pushing because the baby was coming so fast and we needed to wait for the doctor. The doctor came running in and I knew there was something wrong with the epi because I could feel everything. The doctor told me not to push an I was getting upset becasue I really HAD to push. She was really hurring and said she just needed me to wait till she could get her gloves on. She got her gloves on and he was born. From start of pushing till he was out was only 17 minutes. He was perfect and his apgar scores were 8 and 9. He surprised everyone and was a lot smaller than we thought he would be even for being three weeks early. He weighed 6 lbs 1 oz and was 17.75 inches long. We hadn't decided on a name for sure yet, but when he was born DH and I both thought he looked like a Zachary, which was one of our choices, so we named him Zachary John Thomas. He is catching onto breastfeeding and doing good. Despite him being so small, I got a second degree tear. The doctor said that it was where I had my old scar from my epesiotomy from when I had DD. I am pretty sore, but doing very well and enjoying my son!! DH was amazing durring labor and helped me a lot.

Well, that's my birth story. I have a lot of pics and I will post some of them soon!

Originally Posted by yoga-mommy

What an interesting couple of days I had in the hospital!

I went in for my induction on Friday at 7 AM- They had me change and lay on a bed until about 2 PM and nothing happened. They didn't induce me yet, they barely even checked me or anything. Around 4 PM they finally gave me something to help my cervix to dilate and to see if I would go on my own- waited 2 hours and then I walked around the hospital for about 1 1/2 hours- by this time its almost 8 PM and the nurse checks me and I am 3 CM dilated- Yay!

Instead of giving me pit right away they wanted to wait around to see if I would dilate on my own- I was contracting like CRAZY- well turns out 3 /5 hours later that I was still 3 CM. They finally decided that we would go ahead and give me pit later on that night to get things rolling.

I finally was giving pit on 7/28 at 3 AM and received the epi- I went back and forth with the idea of having one- but ended up getting it because the guy would be giving it to me wouldn't be there the next day- so it was now or never. No turning back LOL

I think it was around 9 AM and I was only 4 CM. No real progression.

I was getting frustrated- so when I talked to my dr. we decided to break my water and not have the pit going anymore.

They broke my water at 11 AM and by 1:30 I was dilated to 5. I started feeling HORRIBLE around 3 PM and I asked the nurse to check me because the contractions were EXTREMELY painful even with the epi- turns out I was 10 and READY TO PUSH!!!

I started pushing at 4 PM on 7/28 and little Raymond made it into the world at 4:31 PM!

I am amazed at how much it didn't hurt to push- the contractions were the hardest thing to get through.

I had a forth degree tear- that is the most painful thing of all

Here are some pictures- I love him so much. HE IS perfect.

Originally Posted by erh3d

I went to the OB office on Friday for an u/s. After that, they did an NST. It showed I was having irregular contractions. They were just cramping, no tightening, so I thought it was nothing – as did the doctors. They continued all day, and were slightly painful, but mostly were just uncomfortable. Chris and I went to see the Simpson’s Movie and I remember being in the theater thinking how they did not make theater seats for pregnant women. They continued throughout the night, but I was able to pretty much sleep through them until 4am when I had my first real contraction. It hurt so bad I started crying. I stayed in the bathroom for an hour and had about 5 or 6 more. I woke Chris up, mostly because I was in a ton of pain and it was his fault so I figured he should at least be up with me. Despite the pain, neither of us thought it was real labor. I couldn’t go back to sleep – pain too severe – so I got up and tried to walk through the contractions. I started timing them, but they were all over the place, so I definitely figured it was only false labor. Around 9 Chris & I went to the grocery store. Still had contractions all through it, oh well. We got back to the house and unloaded the groceries. We had to pick up Chris’ car from the dealership because he’d gotten the oil changed. I was in too much pain to drive, so I called my parents and they said they’d come down and help us out. Chris and my dad left to pick up his car.
I was timing my contractions. They were by then 3 minutes apart and had been for about 50 minutes. (By the way, contractionmaster.com rocks and I highly recommend it.) I figured 10 more minutes and we go into the hospital (they said wait an hour, right?). My mom fortunately saw my faulty logic, especially seeing it would be heavy traffic and we are 20 minutes from the hospital without any at all. She started throwing bags in the car and yelled at me to get in it. She called my dad and Chris and told them I was having the baby and they needed to just meet us at the hospital. Chris still didn’t believe her – he was in worse denial than I was. He also wasn’t in so much pain he couldn’t talk. So we got to the hospital. They checked me in and examined me right away. I was 5 cm dilated. No more denying it – I was definitely in labor. So I puked. So much for my lunch of cookie dough. Everyone – bring Tic Tacs in your labor bag!
I asked for the epidural right away, but it was another hour and a half until I finally got it. Turns out I nearly missed the window because the doctor checked me a few minutes after the epidural and I was – get this – 9 cm dilated. They broke my water and I went down to 8 cm. About 30 minutes later I was at 10. They told me it was time to start pushing and I decided I wasn’t ready and needed more time. Baby had different plans. I started pushing and was pretty sure that I wasn’t going to make it. Chris and my mom were in the room with me and they talked me through it all. I definitely couldn't have made it without them. I felt like I’d been doing it forever, but it turns out it was only 15 minutes. Even with the epidural, I could tell when I needed to push. It felt like a really strong burning that intensified when I needed to push. I ended up needed an episiotomy so his head could come out, but I still tore in multiple places. The worst one was 4th degree. Someone kill me now – that hurt like hell. The doc had to give me a local because I could feel him stitching me up. But the epidural did help beyond comprehension. After about 15 minutes of pushing, he was out and screaming louder than anything I’ve ever heard – it was amazing. He of course came out sunny side up, which meant that dumbass me went through back labor for 13 hours to 9 cm dilated without any drugs. So if you are getting an epi – GET THERE EARLY!!!! I was at the hospital less than 4 hours before he was born.
The rest is kind of a blur. They plopped him on my chest and it was just the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced. I really can’t put it into words. We were discharged 48 hours later and he’s doing amazing. Breastfeeding is a challenge, but I think we are getting better at it. It’s a learning experience. My dogs are amazing with him. I’ll have to take some pics of them all together and post them. I’ll post pictures we took at the hospital as soon as I get them uploaded to photobucket.
We spent a few hours starring at him before Chris decided he looked like a Jacob. I decided that would work. So we named him Jacob Warren – Warren after my dad, his very proud grandpa. There really is no way to describe how I feel, but you all get it. I’m just so amazed by him. He’s perfect.

Here are his stats:

Jacob Warren
Born July 28, 2007 at 5:45 pm
6 pounds 4 ounces
19 inches long (he’s a skinny little guy)
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Emily

ISABEL WAS BORN AT 39 WEEKS, 2 DAYS

I went in on Thursday night (July 26th) for my induction. I got cervidil inserted around 8pm that night. The cervidil caused a lot of painful contractions but other than that didn't work that time... they gave me another dose of cervidil Friday (July 27th) in the afternoon... still nothing.

I got my third dose of cervidil Friday evening and it finally worked. Saturday morning (July 28th) I was having a lot of labor contractions and was dialated to 3cm. So they took the cervidil out and gave me my epidural. I barely felt the epidural being inserted and it was so helpful in numbing down there. The cervical checks and everything weren't so uncomfortable after I got my epidural.

About 1.5 hours hours later I kept feeling like my epidural was wearing off on my lower back and they kept checking it and giving me some more pain meds but said it was probably caused by her head being down there. They checked me and I was 5-6 cm dialated.

About 1/2 hour later they checked me again and I was 8 cm dialated. Then about 1/2 hour after that I asked them to check again because I felt extreme pressure down there. I felt the need to start pushing soon. They checked and I was 10cm and the baby's head was right there!

So... the nurse called my OB and it took her forever to get there. She finally did and I had to put my legs in stirrups and I was really nervous/scared. I tried pushing for 10-15 minutes and felt like I couldn't breathe at all. My OB was really rude the whole time and pretty much was yelling at me the whole time... it felt very degrading. I wasn't making any progress pushing and it was so uncomfortable and I really felt like I was going to die because I was so out of breath.

I was crying and told everyone that I can't do it. I was so frustrated. They tried to get me to keep going but I just felt so down and didn't think I could push her out. The OB asked me if I wanted a c-section and I said yes. She asked me if I wanted to be asleep or awake and I said I didn't care... I just couldn't do it. The OB went to talk to some people about the c-section and while she was gone I was able to put my legs up on the bed without those uncomfortable stirrups.

I still felt an uncontrollable urge to push because I could feel her head in there. I started pushing by myself on the bed and told them I couldn't wait for the section because she was coming out. They didn't believe me but then checked and sure enough I was right. After about 5 minutes of pushing she arrived. As soon as her head came out her entire body just flopped out. They didn't have to pull her out all.

I then learned I was bleeding very badly. I had a 2nd degree tear... so they used 4 boxes of stitches to clean me up and it took over an hour. I didn't get to hold Isabel until they were done. My OB was really rude and said "next time you think about family planning, remember this" I thought that was a terrible thing to say. I won't be going back to her again.

So... Isabel Claire arrived at 1:45pm and weighed 6 pounds, 9 ounces and was 19 inches long. She has really long arms and legs. I personally think she's super cute!

OK. Whew! What a week. I'm so exhausted! At last I can sit down and write a half decent birth story. I know my DD#1 wrote a quick one to inform you of Maya's birth but I thought I would include a few more details.

The day of my 39 week OB appt, the doc said I was 2 cm dilated. The next morning on July 26th I noticed a bloody show. I freaked a bit...the 25th was my last (half) day of work. I took it easy on the 26th....just waiting for things to happen.

After Britt and I went home from having dinner at my parents, it was around 9pm that I logged online and started surfing. I then received a phone call from Marc (baby's dad) and ironically, we began talking about when we thought the baby would arrive, July or August....

....after about 5 minutes talking to him, I could feel a gush of warm fluid coming out of my privates! I knew it wasn't pee! I panicked on the phone to Marc, who asked me if it was time and I told him I'd call him right back! I phoned the hospital and they said to come right away.

Marc arrived 20 minutes later, my dad and mom too. We all drove to the hospital which was only 5 minutes away. I was admitted at 10pm. Marc, Britt and I went to the L&D room and the staff hooked me up to monitors and IV drips. Apparently I had tested positive for GBS. Great! Anyhow, they gave me antibiotic drip for it.

We all knew it was going to be a long night ahead so I told Marc and Britt to get comfy in the chairs. Britt was really good though, she never complained once about being tired. Marc fell asleep an hour after we got there (typical).

They gave me Pitocin to start the contractions going....man that was wild pain; I never knew such pain even existed! A few hours I was given the Pitocin I was starting to dilate more. After I could no longer be brave I asked the nurse for an epidural. The guy came and did it and it only worked on the bottom half! I was numb from the hips down and could still feel lots of PAIN.

So then I really started dilating faster, 6-7 then boom 10cm dilated, the nurse said I had to start pushing...and hard! I couldn't feel half my body and pushing was difficult. Marc and Britt stood right beside me and watched the baby's head crowning....Apparently I had a poop! (So embarrasing!) Thank God I couldn't feel it or even knew it at the time. After 5-6 good pushes she came out at 5:23am Friday July 27! They put her on me for a few minutes and then whisked her away to get weighed and check her vitals. The doc stitched me up as I tore a bit.

So nothing too crazy happened, it was a run of the mill delivery....I was just so happy to know she was here and healthy!! It was a very special time since my older daughter was there to see Maya being born and her daddy was there to assist me and take it all in. So all in all it was a wonderful experience (minus the pain!)

I gave birth to Donovan on Thursday, August 2nd at 6:22 p.m.!!!! He was 6 lbs 12 oz at 19 inches. after 5 hours of labor (3 in the hospital) and 15 pushes later! I will post his birth story as soon as I healed just a bit longer (maybe Monday)!! I'm so excited. I love him so much!!!

Here's the story:

Earlier on Thursday, I posted a thread about how I left my DA being 3 cm and how my doctor wanted to use induction instead of waiting since I wasn't going to make my due date. I told her no and that I preferred to wait it out. No problem, no biggie. So, I left the office and went home. I ate lunch, but I was having some contractions. Once again, I went no biggie and laid down thinking they were mild.

However, around 11:30 am, I decided to time them since they felt stronger than usual. They came at ten minutes apart. I nervously thought to myself, "Okay, maybe this weekend." Noon came and they became more regular having jumped to 8 minutes apart. I started to get nervous and called my DH to see what the next step should be. He decided to come home and take a chance to visit the L&D, just in case. On his way home, I called his cell phone to tell him that they were getting stronger and more regular. Once he got home, he ate some food (I insisted) and we called his mom to come scoop Christopher up. When she arrived, I really knew it was time to go!!!!

We arrived at the hospital. I could barely make it into the atrium. The volunteer and a nurse at the desk called the L&D area to inform them that I was on my way up!! I got to the desk (Ladies, make sure you are pre-registered where you are giving birth!!! Time goes by so much faster!!). A triage nurse met me within seconds. I was in the triage area being looked at when I was I was 4 cm!!!! Okay, I'm staying!!! Baby D's on his way!!

I was put into the LDR room and the pain was intense. Once again, I was checked. I had jumped to 5 cm within an half hour (yes, second and more births are definitely quick!! ) and I was given the epidural I had requested!! Alleluia, I'm free!!! Thanks, doc!!! However, I got some major acid reflux (which I was battling my entire third trimester!) and threw up a few times. I thought my husband was going to be sick, lol. I was cleaned up quickly. Once again, I was checked within the same hour. No change, I was still 5 cm! With the epidural intact, I didn't mind.

My doctor approached and laughed at me. "So you decided to come in on your own?" We both laughed. Having been on my back for a while, I changed to lie on my left side, I felt pressure as if I had to make a bowel movement. Having remember with Chris's birth, I was ready to go and push! The nurses reminded me not to until I was checked! Sure enough, I had jumped from 5 cm to 8 cm! My doctor checked me and I was about 9 cm (when she arrived). I could finally push!!!

After about 15 minutes and about 5-6 pushes, he arrived!!! Yes, I was cut. Yes, I'm feeling it now. Yes, I'm crazy for wanting to get ready for my third and last in two years, lol.

I will update this thread with pics since we forgot our digital camera and had to buy a few disposibles!
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Originally Posted by irmieland

Hey girls! sorry its taken so long for me to make this posting the baby and I are doing fine we're home and me and DH are still getting used to life with a baby. Here's our birth story and some pictures.

On Wednesday, July 25th, I had an appointment with the perinatologist for amniocentesis. My parents arrived from P.R. that morning. Jacob and I picked them up at the airport and brought them home to get settled while we went to the doctor’s office. The docs wanted to confirm that the baby’s lungs were mature before I was induced.

The next day, my obstetrician called around noon to say that the results were in. The baby’s lungs were mature and we were ready for induction. She said we were expected at the hospital at 3pm. I called Jacob at work and told him he should wrap things up because we had to go. Jacob was home by 2pm. We grabbed a few last minute things. Dad came with us on the ride to the hospital. We made a pit stop at a bodega to pick up snacks for Jacob (good thing we did!) We parked just up the street from the hospital and walked while Dad recorded the events.

In the hospital, I was admitted right away. We were ushered into the triage area where they monitored mine and the baby’s vitals. Once the order for induction was confirmed by our doctor, Veridiano, we were taken to a maternity observation room where we and two other couples were… (get ready for the redundancy) were being observed. At 6:00pm Dr. Veridiano showed up to insert the first Cervidil. From this point on began the never-ending plea for bathroom breaks. We were told it could take up to 12 hours for the Cervidil to work so Jacob got comfortable in his chair next to my hospital bed. Our parents showed up at about 8:00pm to visit us and to bring Jacob some food (as I couldn’t eat just in case I had to have surgery).

After our parents left, the nurses encouraged me to get some rest. Jacob fell asleep leaned forward in his chair with his head on a pillow at my feet. With the IV drip, I woke up every 2 hours to pee. It really didn’t feel like I was getting much rest. I finally woke up at 6am hoping that I was showing some progress as the nurses said I was having mild contractions most of the night, even though I wasn’t feeling them. A doctor came in to check me. She said that the Cervidil had worked “very little” and she had come to put in a new Cervidil. So I sat in bed waiting until my 2 hour bed grounding was over so I could go pee again.

Around noon, my doctor came by. She said it didn’t look like the Cervidil was working and it may be time to try the next thing: Cytotec. Jacob went home earlier in the day while my mother came to keep me company. At around 3:00pm the doctor gave me another dose of Cytotec. At 6:15pm two more doctors came and said that the 2nd dose was not working either so a third dose was ordered, all the while I tried to rest while my mother sat in the chair watching game shows.

At 8:00pm, right after Wheel of Fortune, I figured I would go and brush my teeth since Jacob would be on his way back soon. My mother helped me unplug the monitors and push the I.V. into the restroom. I peed making sure I emptied my bladder completely the way everyone says that you should. Then I waddled over to the sink and began to brush my teeth. When I brushed my tongue I pushed the toothbrush a little too far into my mouth and gagged a little and I felt what I thought was a stream of urine so I tightened my muscles and thought, “That was weird. I just peed”, and when I relaxed and leaned over to spit a gush of water hit the floor. I called out “Mom my water broke!” I heard her stumble on her way to the door, tripping over the chair she had been sitting in. She helped me back into bed and she called the nurses. Once it was confirmed that my water broke. I called Jacob at 8:17pm and urged him to get to the hospital soon not giving him any real detail as to what was going on. Jacob arrived with my father and was excited to hear that I was experiencing contractions since my water had broken. We were so close we could taste it!

My parents quickly felt in the way and left for home, by 10:00pm the contractions were so strong I was begging for an epidural, it was at this time that we were finally transferred to a Labor & Delivery room. The anesthesiologist came in and made me the happiest woman on earth. (I’ll never forget his name: Donnie Isseroff). It felt like being really drunk when your body is all tingly and numb but your mind is completely clear. The anesthesiologist walked into the room and joked that when he first walked into the room he didn’t even think I spoke English; I seemed like a whole different person now that the pain was gone. After Dr. Veridiano checked me, she told us that I was 4 centimeters dilated.

The details are fuzzy from this point on. I slept a lot. I do remember asking Jacob to get the cameras ready; I wanted to make sure everything was handy once the baby was born. I woke up around 4:00am and asked Jacob to get me some ice chips when I realized I was trembling, Jacob gave me his sweater and went to go find a nurse to give us more blankets. As Jacob was speaking to the nurse the doctor in passing overheard what Jacob was saying and said that the trembling was a sign of advanced labor and that I would be ready to deliver soon. She came in to look in on me and told us that we were 7 centimeters. I told her I was feeling pressure and she told me try pushing for her but after trying we realized it was still too soon.

I woke up at 6:00am and told the doctor I thought I was ready she checked and confirmed, she got the nurse, they set up and I started pushing at 6:30am. At 7:53am on July 28th 2007 our son Luis Archimedes was born. He weighed 5lbs 11oz and was 18-1/2” inches long. The nurses cleaned him up we got to take a few pictures and he was whisked away to the nursery.

We got to hang out in the Labor & Delivery room for 2 more hours. I was finally given solid food for the first time in 2 days, although Jacob ate most of it (it really wasn’t that good). At 10:00am we were told that there were no more beds in the maternity ward due to Sabbath which meant a lot of the patients were not leaving until sundown. We were placed into a post partum observation area in a hallway of the hospital. Here I was propped up on a stretcher and tried to relax while waiting to see my son. It was nearly 12:00pm before they brought him down to me. I was told that I should probably try to feed him because it had been more than 4 hours since he was born. There was no lactation consultant available to help me with this, a nurse came by and rather unsuccessfully tried to help. By 1:00pm they had come to fetch the baby again. Our parents soon arrived to congratulate us and I was finally moved into a room.

Jacob spent most of the next 2 days with me leaving only to rest after visiting hours were over. On Monday July 30th 2007 we finally got to bring home our little boy on our 2nd wedding anniversary. We were all just so happy to be home and together again.

Originally Posted by rosebud

Abigail Grace & Arianna Faith arrived at 37 weeks 1 day...they are doing awesome and we are so glad to have them here!!!



The short version of the story is they were born on August 1st, vaginally.
Abigail Grace was 6lbs 4.5oz, born at 3:47pm, 19 3/4 in long.
Arianna Faith was 6lbs, born at 3:50 pm, 18 in long.

The long version of the story is below...enjoy if you like reading books haha!

Birth Story

Monday, July 30/07
I woke up on Monday feeling just really quite awful. I just wanted to crawl back into bed and stay there all day. Seriously though, my 5 & 3 yr old asked if they could have cookies and I said sure – it was 8:30AM and they hadn’t had breakfast. That is NOT normal haha!

I had a doctor appointment that day at 3pm. Upon checking me, he said I was 4cm dilated and 50% effaced. He wanted to send me to the hospital right then. I was not very willing to go though, and argued that I wasn’t having any contractions. So he relented and said that as soon as contractions started I needed to go in, because these babies could make a quick appearance and he didn’t want me having them at home. Sounds good I thought, and headed home.

By the time I got home with Katie & Jake in tow, I started feeling even more awful. Realizing at least that my time was soon running out, I started to pack my bags for the hospital (yes I hadn’t done that yet LOL). I packed up Katie & Jake first. Around then, Mike’s Mom called to see how the doctor appointment went and I told her what had gone on. She was ready to pick up the kids if we needed…and I somewhat thought that wasn’t a bad idea since it’d be better now than at 2am (if that’s when contracts started or something). Anyways, by 6pm, I was still packing some stuff and really just wanted to sleep. My back was hurting and I didn’t feel myself. Mike called from work around then and I told him what was going on. He arrived home from work not long after. By this time, I started to notice that my crampy back was actually cramping at regular intervals…hmmm contractions. Mike was pretty set that we were going to the hospital, even though I would have been happy just to lay down and sleep. So his Mom & step-Dad came and picked up the kids, while he and I finished packing some things. We stopped at McDonalds for a bite to eat, because I knew the hospital wouldn’t let me eat and I was starving.

So at the hospital, I get registered and set up for an NST. The babies are doing great and yes I’m contracting. I’m now measuring 5cm and am 75% effaced. Of course we’re not being sent home. We asked for the nicer room (larger with cable TV and a meal ticket & pull out bed for hubby’s) and we were able to get it. It’s first come – first serve, but you have to pay for it. So we get all settled in there by 9pm or 9:30pm. Not much to do, so we watched TV for awhile and then tried to get some sleep.

Contracts continued throughout the night…not really painful…but they’d wake me up and I’d have to just breathe through them. They were not close together, so I could get 20-30 mins of rest in between.

Tuesday, July 31
So Tuesday morning comes and no babies. We called all our family to let them know nothing was happening. The pathetic thing was that contractions really petered out as well. We spent most of Tuesday watching TV, walking around (trying to start contracts again), playing crib, and just hanging out.

My OB was the doctor on call this day, so he was hoping they’d make their appearance. (There are a few OBs and whoever is on call for the day is the OB who would deliver the twins). He came to see me around 6pm to see how things were going. Of course they were not going. By this point, contracts were down to maybe one every 45 mins. So he checked me out – 6cms and almost entirely effaced. I think he roughed up the cervix a bit after that, because contracts definitely started after that, but again they were not regular.

So again during the night, Mike slept, but I kept waking up every 30 mins or so with some pretty hard contracts. They were definitely harder, but still very irregular.

Wednesday, August 1
So by this point, I’m starting to think I’m going to be in here for a week! However, at 6:30AM, they came to wheel me to labor and delivery, because my OB wanted to start the drip on me to get the contracts regular and kick my uterus into gear. So yay! Finally we’re getting somewhere. The drip started slowly and contracts were not near as bad as I thought from it. They kept increasing it and even though they were hard contracts, they were extremely short (like 20-30 seconds) so I could continue to breathe through them. By 10AM, I was 8-9cms and contracting regularly. So they turned off the drip hoping my uterus would just finish off the job. Unfortunately, contracts started slowing down again. I was still doing fine with them, but was somewhat getting tired of not going anywhere.

Around 2:30pm the anesthesiologist came in wondering if I was getting an epi. I told him I didn’t really want one and he was really concerned because if I ended up with an emergency c/s, I wouldn’t have time to get one and would have to be put out. He wasn’t very happy and went for coffee while Mike & I talked about options. I wasn’t very keen on getting one because I just really didn’t like it with Katie. I didn’t have one with Jake and did just fine. However, by this point (nearly 3pm) I was still measuring 8-9cms and that was a bit frustrating. By this time they’d turned the drip back on, so I was contracting pretty good, but not really going anywhere. So around 3pm the epi guy came back and we told him I’d decided to get one in case of emergency c/s. The thought of being put out was not appealing in the slightest. So he put the epi in…and while it wasn’t too bad, you have to understand that I just can’t handle that kind of thing. It was all I could do to focus on something else and not pass out. I was really lightheaded because I was just grossed out. I really had to fight back tears at that point, because I really just wanted to go home and be done with this haha! I didn’t want an epi, but here I was getting one and I wasn’t overly happy about it.

Very soon though, the edge was gone from the contracts and I could just focus on getting myself relaxed and ready for these babies. They checked me after the epi was in and found I was 10cm and nearly ready to go. We just had to wait until I had the urge to push. So around 3:30pm, I gave a little push with one contraction and the waters were bulging out. All the nurses & the resident doctors were excited. (Oh I forgot to mention that I had a couple nurses assigned to me all day and the 2 resident doctors were checking on me all day too).

So they started wheeling me to the OR, cause twins have to be delivered in there. Well this place was a hub of activity. They had to have to OR staff on hand in case of emergency c/s. The nurses were there for me, the resident doctors, the OB on call (not my OB), the nurses for the babies, the epi guy, and who knows who else…seriously there must have been 20 people in there. Mike didn’t even know where to stand! It was like a bee hive. I was somewhat freezing as they had to put me in a different bed and my legs were in stirrups and stuff. But finally they got me warm and finally they asked me to push.

Pushing I can do! So with a few good pushes, Twin A makes her appearance! It’s only 3:47pm. They rush her away and I can see her a little ways from me being checked out by the nurses. The doctors in the meantime had done a quick u/s check and see Twin B is head down and ready to go. They said that I could push anytime. I opted to take a deep breath and wait a sec haha! Then with about 2 pushes, Twin B made her appearance only 3 mins later (3:50pm). Off she goes to be checked out by the nurses and everything too.

Wow, I could hardly believe that all that labor was over in a matter of maybe 10 mins in the OR. They stitched me up, as I’d had a small tear. It was a bit entertaining to hear the OB teach the residents…he stitched up the harder parts and then the girl resident stitched up the easier part. The girl resident was also super excited about my placenta. She held it up for me to see and while I thought it was gross, I was amazed at how huge it was – seriously. Apparently they are sending it away to be analyzed…hopefully that will determine if the twins are identical or not. I guess twin placentas are very interesting things to study – who knew.

Anyways, while this is going on, I’d asked Mike to go check on the girls and see how they are doing. He came back to report that Twin B was doing great and Twin A was being hooked up to cpap? And had oxygen and such being given her as she came out not doing as well. He said everything was fine though and I wasn’t worried. I guess she was a little pale and they were concerned.

I got moved back to the L & D room where I’d been most of the day. I had to stay there for an hour, so I got to eat and I got to nurse Twin B. I was starved so food was good haha! Mike was of course phoning everyone by this point to let them know what was going on. Some of our family was getting pretty worried about us since we’d been in so long.

We eventually got moved back to our room. We hung out and some of our family came to visit. Katie & Jake were brought too and I was so happy to see them! They could only see Twin B because baby A was under observation in the nursery. No matter, they were delighted to see us and know that all was well.

Thursday, August 2
So I got to nurse Twin B during the night and early in the morning they came to tell me that Baby A was screaming in the nursery for food, so I could come nurse her. That was music to my ears as I hadn’t even really got to see her yet. She nursed like a champ and was removed from most of the monitors…just the IV had to stay. So I nursed both babies that morning.

Mike came in while I was nursing and we finally got to see the babies side by side and put some names to them. Baby A was now Abigail Grace and Baby B was now Arianna Faith. They were beautiful and we were quite delighted to just sit there and look at the two together. They looked very similar, but had a few differences too.

The day went by pretty quietly. Some family came to visit. I continued to nurse and Arianna shared my room with me. Mike picked up the kids and came to the hospital for supper with me.

I went to bed pretty early cause I was tired. One of the nurses offered to keep Arianna in the nursery too so I could get some rest…that was super nice. I got a decent sleep.

Friday, August 3
They removed Abigail’s IV this morning – YAY! So now both girls were rooming with me. They were sleeping in the same basinet and looked so cute! Both were nursing pretty good and we were working on keeping them eating every 3hrs.

I was really starting to get homesick by today. I watched some TV and I filled out a lot of the Baby Books I’d bought. When Mike & the kids left that night to go home for the night I really fought to hold back tears. I was missing my family pretty badly by this point.

Saturday, August 4
All day I wondered if I could get to go home. I even got dressed hoping I could! The girls were doing great! They were both nursing well and I could see no reason they would make me stay. The pediatrician said I had to stay another day. But when I found that out, I asked the nurses to please call her and please ask if I can go…they were referred to my doctor (who was on holidays) and eventually they got an ok from him to let me go home – YAY! So at around 5pm we were walking out the doors of the hospital with our two new bundles in hand.

Things have been going great ever since…we are so blessed and life is good!!!

Originally Posted by Christi3715

Well, we got to the hospital a little after 5 for me to be induced. I was pretty nervous, trying to prepare myself for the worst. I started getting pitocin around 7, and then my doctor came in at 7:30 and broke my water. She said to be prepared for a long labor... and not long after she broke my water I started getting contractions, mainly back labor. I was dilated to a 4 and 60% effaced at this time, and he had moved up a little from my Tuesday appointment to a -2 station.

So, contractions go on for a while and are pretty painful - pretty much all in my back. DH was SO AMAZING and rubbed my back almost constantly with a tennis ball. That helped a ton. The nurse gave me the lowest dose of Demerol because she said it would help with the pain, but it didn't at all. It just made me pretty drowsy (apparently I started talking realllly sloooowwwly, lol). So, the contractions started feeling stronger and around 11:30 am I asked the nurse to check me again to see if he had lowered and I could get my epidural. She checked me and got a strange look on her face, so for an instant I got a little nervous. Then she said, "Oh, Christi, you're completely dilated, and he is LOW!" She said she felt like I could do it without an epidural at this point, although she gave the impression that I could get one if I really wanted to. At that point the urge to push was sooooo strong that I felt like maybe I could do it, so we went for it.

I had no idea what pushing would feel like, but it really did feel like I just needed to go to the bathroom really bad. They had me push with each contraction - take a deep breath and let it out, then take a deep breath, hold and push several times for each contraction. I pushed for a little over an hour but it only felt like 30 minutes or so to me. And the pushing, although it wasn't what I would call pleasant, actually felt good in a way because it masked the pain of the contraction. It burned a little when he crowned but not anything like I thought it would be. My doctor was great about stretching me while I pushed. I ended up with a 2nd degree tear but I didn't feel it at all because she gave me a numbing shot down there before I started pushing. Anyway, Jackson was born at 12:50 pm - 8 pounds even, 20 inches long, 8 & 9 on his apgars. They did all the cleaning and everything in the room, which was great, and my doctor delivered the placenta (just pushed on my stomach and gently pulled it out) and sewed me up. The sewing hurt a little but then she gave me another shot and that helped.

So, all in all I really feel like it couldn't have gone any better! Aside from being sore from the stitches I feel great and it was very empowering. DH and I are both tired and will probably head to bed now but I had to write you all and share my story because I am so excited with how everything went. My prayers for a safe and healthy delivery were definitely answered. Breastfeeding is going so-so... we are going to try again tomorrow and hopefully it will go better then.

Thanks to everyone for all your ELV's!