Thread: July Firefly Master Info! Spaces,Arrivals and Stats!

To Rylee Elizabeth. Your Birth Story

Born July 11, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Weighed 6 lbs 14 oz and 20 inches long

Thursday, July 10th I had a weekly doctor's appt. I was checked and told that I was 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced. Doc said that she thought I would be going into labor very soon...Little did she know that just 6 hours later I would start to have my first real contractions.

At around 8:30 pm I began to notice that my BH contractions were changing a bit. I also noticed that they were happening more often. I wasn't timing them, just noticing the difference and time they started. By 10:00 pm I was getting a little anxious. The contractions were consistently 5 minutes apart, but not really strong. I went to the rest room and noticed I had some bloody show. This got me really awake and I decided I'd stay up for a bit longer to see what would happen. I told Ray to go to sleep because if this wasn't the real thing, I didn't want him exhausted for work the next day.

Well, around 11:30 and timing my contractions, they were around 4 minutes apart. I decided to call my doctor and see what he thought. He told me to come in and get checked out. I would be monitored for about an hour and then decide if I should be admitted. I wake Ray up and we head to the hospital. I checked in at 12:30 am and at 1:30 am I was admitted to Labor and Delivery. I was assigned an AWSOME nurse and we made it until 4:00 am with no meds. At this point I knew I wasn't going to have my baby until morning and I was getting exhausted. I reluctantly asked for an epidural to help me sleep and prepare for the arrival of my little girl.

At 8:30 am on July 11th I was checked and found I was fully dilated and 100% effaced. I would start pushing at 9:00 am. I was SO excited!!! I knew the end was close and that I had the control now. I began to push and put all my power behind each one. The doc came in every now and then to check on me. They broke my water to help speed things up and that's when they first noticed that Rylee was 'sunny side up'. The doctor tried to manually rotate her. I then tried to push on my right side. Then I would turn and push on my left side. My contractions were slowing down so I agreed to a dose of pitocin to help me along. At this point I still had no idea I could not deliver this child on my own.

It was after 2.5 hours of pushing that I find that Rylee had rotated herself again and that she was not able to get her head passed my pelvis. My doctor said that I had two options. 1) Continue pushing for another half hour and see if any progress is made or 2) Opt for a c-section and get this child out. I began to cry immediately. I had never thought a c-section would be necessary for me. Ray and I discussed behind closed doors and he knew I was scared to do a c-section. I wanted to keep trying. When we told this to the doc, she said she had said that to try to make me feel better, but more pushing just wasn't an option. Rylee's heart rate had increased and she felt that my child may be in danger if we didn't get her out right now. Ray and I finally consented to the c-section...what choice did we have?

At 12:00 pm I got wheeled into the OR shaking with fear. I suppose it was a typical c-section. I was opened up and my baby was born at 12:15 pm. She was whisked away immediately and checked out. Her Apgar scores were 1 and 9. Ray got to be with her through all her tests and cleanings. I didn't get the chance to see my little girl until about 20 minutes after she was born. I kept staring at the door waiting to get a glimpse of my child, but I was left with nothing for quite a while. I got to touch her cheek as Ray showed her to me for 2 seconds, and then they were taken away again. I was left all alone on that table with tears of happiness streaming from my eyes. I some how fell asleep while I was being put together and sewn up. I woke up as I was being taken out of the OR. I was still shaking, but this time with anticipation of seeing my child. She was still in the isolate when I got into my recovery room, so I still had not gotten a good look at my little girl. FINALLY after 5 minutes they brought my little bug to me. She was beautiful and perfect in every way.

I found out afterward that I was pushing so hard that I tore my uterus. They said I was an excellent pusher, I but my pelvis was just too narrow for her head. With this knowledge, I know I will never have the option of a VBAC. I am coming to terms with this, but I think it will still be hard should Ray and I decide to expand our family beyond the perfect number of 3.

I started having contractions after midnight on July 3rd (well technically the 4th already) They were coming every 3 to 5 minutes apart and pain was pretty mild. After about an hour of timing the contractions I decided to get up and move around, because I still needed to wash clothes, lol! After spending about an hour picking up and cleaning around the house, the contractions were holding steady at about 3 minutes apart and becoming more intense, so I decided to get in the tub. Now mind you I'm home alone with Shaun in bed because Kenndall was on 24 hour duty at the hospital that night. When I went to get in the bath I noticed I lost a considerable amount of my mucus plug, so I decided it was time to call Kenndall! I told him not to rush, I didn't need him in any kind of accident, lol! While on the phone with him on his way home the contractions were way more intense lasting more than a minute and coming every 2 minutes. I told Kenndall to go ahead and shower so I had time to pack a bag and eat some yogurt. We got Shaun up and headed to the hospital. We got there and they hooked me up to the monitors at about 4 am she came to check me, I was 3cm dilated and 80 to 90% effaced, and Alyssa was still high. The on call obgyn suggested I walk around for a couple of hours and get checked again. So we walked around the hospital, I ate a poptart and got some water. At this point I couldn't walk through the contractions, I had to stop and bend over. After 2 hours of walking I had dilated to 5cm with a bulging bag of water. I was officially admitted, in a room and hooked up to the monitors at 7am. One of the on call obs and the anestegiologist(sp?) came in to talk me into an epidural. I didn't want labor to be slowed so I was reluctant. I agreed because he said he would run it low and they wanted it there for reassurance because of my prior c/section. At that time Kenndall had to take Shaun to a friends house because he was tired and acting out. After the epidural was in, I saw 2 different obs, one of which broke my water and the other who was the on call delivering Ob. At the time my water was broke, the ob said he could feel a head full of hair and I was still at 5cm, they hooked me and baby up to the internal monitors. They monitered me for a while and noticed that there were decelerations in Alyssa's heart beat, so they gave me oxygen and turned me to my side. After a while of that not being successful the ob expressed his concerns with it and suggested we think about going already with the c/section. We decided it would be best to just go ahead with it, since Alyssa being born healthy was the most important thing. I cried when talking about it, not out of disappointment more out of tiredness and being emotional because I knew it would not be long before she was here. Alyssa Kate was born on July 4th at 11:26 a.m. weight 7lbs and 14oz (1lb exactly less than her brother was) and was 20.75 inches long. She's truly an amazing baby, she rarely cries and when she does it's not for long. She's nursing well, I hope she continues to do so. Shaun is one proud big brother. He loves holding her and giving her kisses. He will even hum or sing twinkle twinkle little star to her. It's too precious!! We are now one big happy family, it couldn't get any better than this!!

I'd been having all sorts of aches and pains for weeks before I actually went into labour and the 1st was no different. I had a few aches and pains here and there all day and as such got hardly any sleep that night. I must have dozed off at some point though because I woke up at about 6am with some more pain, now don't laugh, but I genuinely did not realise I was actually in labour because I'd gotten used to having allsorts of weird aches and pains and just assumed I had bad wind or something.

Anyway, I was laying in bed fidgeting in pain every so often and it was actually Chris who suggested that I might be in labour. I was so convinced that I was going to be overdue that I actually told Chris not to be so bloody stupid, that was until about 45 mins later when the pains were getting worse and I started making chimp noises according to Chris... nice of him to point out such things when I'm in labour huh?

So Chris tells me to have a shower while he rings the hospital who tell me to come up as soon as because I need to have antibiotics while in labour.

We got to the hospital about 8:30am and I still wasn't entirely convinced I was actually in labour.
Maybe two hours after we got to the hospital I was only 3cm and desperate for pain relief so I had some pethidine which did absolutely nothing for the pain, but succeeded in making me want to sleep and making me sound like I was very drunk.
A little while later I decided that pethidine was definitely not enough so they gave me some gas and air... which also didn't take the pain away and made me seem even more drunk.

The midwife encouraged me to walk about which I did for about two seconds before deciding I would rather curl up on the bed.
I'm not sure exactly what time, but at some point I began crying for an epidural. I was told that the anesthetist had just gone into theatre to do a caeserian and I'd have to wait a while.

I'm not sure how long I waited, but it felt like an absolute age, I just wanted the pain to go away.
Chris eventually went to see whether the anesthetist was free and was told he was done and would be with us shortly.

I never got an epidural because when the midwife came back in I told her I felt like pushing and she had a look and told me I was actually 9cm and if I felt like pushing I should push, which I did.
And it was honestly the most exhausting thing I've ever done, all I wanted to do was sleep, I was that knackered that I couldn't really even feel the pain anymore.

I'm not sure how long I was pushing, but eventually, after roughly 9 hours of labour, Charlotte was born.
I had a slight tear, but no stitches and I think that was probably only because she was so little.

The whole thing is a complete blur really, and I still can't believe I did it, all without swearing at anyone or punching Chris in the face...

I'm sure it was just because of all the pain relief, but the whole thing was just one of the most surreal experiences of my entire life, and like I said, a complete blur, which is why the whole account of it is very disjointed, but I recalled it as best I could for anyone who's interested...

Natalee Renee M**** was born on July 10, 2008 at 2:27 in the afternoon. She is absolutly the most beautiful baby I have ever seen. I can't help but just stare at her in awe and be amazed by the little bundle of cuteness that Ryan and I created. I have never seen a man so attached to a newborn like he is to her. I love watching him hold her and talk to her. She looks for him when she wakes up. I never thought that I could be this happy. I have the perfect little family now.

The dr, Ryan, and I decided that the pain and discomfort I was feeling was not good for Natalee or for me so induction was the best solution we could come up with. I went in at 6am on the 10th to get induced. When I got there I spent an hour answering what seemed like a million questions. Around 8:30 Dr. Alten came in and broke my water and started the pitocin drip. Shortly after I started having really strong contractions so I decided it was time to get an epidural. It didn't seem like it took at first so they gave me a booster. I had to get a few boosters over the course of the delivery because I started feeling pain when I shouldn't have been. It took a while for me to dialate. I went in as a 1cm and around 12pm I was around 3cm. When Dr. Alten came in to check me around 1:45 or so I was ready to push. We couldn't believe how fast it went. I had an amazing support system. Ryan, my mom, and Nurse Nancy saved me. I couldn't have made it through without them. I wound up having to have an episiotomy (sp?) which required stiches. Those are really hard to get over. I am still in severe pain whenever I have to move. Anyway Natalee was born at 2:27pm. Her APGARS were 7 and 9. She weighed 8 pounds, 6 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.

She is having a really hard time breastfeeding so for the time being I am exclusively pumping. I just wanted to update everyone on how we are. I promise I will post pictures when I get them up.

Catherine born 7/8/08
10:06 pm
8lbs. 4oz.

Birth story:
On Monday July 7th, Michael and I went to the OBGYN for my 40 weeks appointment. Three of the doctors were unhappy that we did not want an induction at 40 weeks and the fourth was ok with waiting until 41 weeks. At this point, I had not had a cervical check and had woken up that morning at 5am terrified that Dr. T would be the doctor that day since I had agreed to a cervical check that day. He had always been mean to me and I felt like a cervical check from him would feel like being assaulted. I was happy to find out that one of the lady docs was on that day. I was a pinky dialated but very soft and my bishop score was 7. This doctor again urged us to go ahead with an induction due to that fact that there are studies that show a woman with gestational diabetes' risk of stillbirth increases dramatically after 40 weeks. I spoke to the one doctor who had treated me with some respect throughout my time with them and he also said that it would be best if I went ahead with the induction. I knew that those studies probably did not apply to me because I had stayed on my diet and always taken my pills on time and kept my sugars low so we asked for some time to think.

My husband, Michael, and I sat in a room alone discussing these facts but in the end we thought that any chance something could happen to our child was just not worth it and therefore agreed to the induction. We went home and had dinner and grabbed my bags and headed back to the hospital to begin.

We arrived back at the hospital at about 7:30pm and by 9pm the Dr. K, one of the lady docs had put in the cervidil, which was to stay in for the next 12 hours. I sent Michael home to get some sleep and took an Ambian to help me get some sleep. Apparently, I'm one of the only people Ambian does not help sleep. I was up constantly going to the bathroom and unhooking the monitor, which was driving the nurse crazy. In the end, I got two hours of sleep that night. We had timed this all out so that the doctor I trusted would be there for the actual delivery. In the meantime, the induction was being overseen by the youngest doctor in the group who loved the phrase "standard protocol." I don't think she realized that was practically a curse word to me.

At about 5am, my water broke and I called my husband and doula to come to the hospital. My membrane had ruptured but her head acted like a cork and it came out in small gushes here and there. She was still at a -2 station. They were about to start the Pitocin and this doctor told me I needed to stay in bed because it would be easier to monitor me. I told her they would just have to work around it because staying in bed was not an option. I was very tired at this point since I had very little sleep and asked her if there was a chance of cord prolapse. In my mind, I was picturing the baby up higher and my water leaking out and it just occurred to me and I blurted it out. I learned later that there really was no danger at all but she said "yes, there is that possibility." She fed on the one thing that she could grasp and my fear of cord prolapse made me agree to stay in bed. The fact that I could get up and go to the bathroom did not dawn on me as strange.

So, in bed I stayed and the Pitocin contractions began. At first, I could handle them. I just breathed through and used my hypnobabies and kept my body relaxed. As the hours went by, they got closer and stronger and my mind started to panic. My husband and doula said it didn't look like I was in that much pain because I just moaned through the contractions. I knew if I allowed myself to "freak" it would only be worse but in my head I was screaming. After six hours, I asked to please have the epidural. I knew I was not far away from losing it. The contactions were only a couple of minutes apart and sometimes there was only a 30 second break. My doula asked me for 10 more contractions and I looked at my husband with that look of "I am dead serious!" They both kept urging me to stick it out because they knew that is what I wanted but I knew there was just no way I could handle transition if it was this bad in active labor. I did receive the epi which was a relief at the time. I was able to get some sleep.

I knew going into this that Catie was ROA and would have to turn. The six hours I did feel the contractions, it was back labor. A couple of hours after getting the epi, around 1 or 2pm I got checked and was at 5cm. They assumed by 8 or 9 pm I would be ready to push. The good doctor came in at 7pm and checked me. I was still at 5cm and my cervix was very swollen. Catie had turned posterior but seemed to have gotten stuck there. He said we would see what happens over the next couple of hours and hope that she turns. Of course, I couldn't get out of bed and therefore couldn't use any of the techniques to help her turn. I had a bad feeling about this. When he came back, my cervix was more swollen and I was still at 5cm. I could tell he felt really bad. He knew how much I did not want a c-section but she just wasn't coming out. I understood that and knew a c-section was the only option at this point.

It was the weirdest thing being totally numb and having them pull out this baby and my husband bringing her around the curtain. I felt like "who's baby is that." It just didn't feel like giving birth. I couple of days of nursing fixed that and we bonded completely. They told Michael they were going to take her for 4 hours and he said "oh no you are not." He knew I wanted to her to nurse as soon as possible. They brought her into the recovery room once I was sewn up. My arms were shaking from coming off the anethesia and my doula had to latch her on for me because my arms were to weak to hold her. Michael never left her and made sure that nothing but the vitamin K was given to her. I was very proud of him.

In the end, I am not unhappy with any decision I made. All were the best I could make at the time and second guessing myself would not do any of us any good. Catie is absolutely beautiful and an amazing baby. She was 8lbs 4oz and 20in long. Her head was a little coned at first where she kept hitting my cervix. I am just so happy to have my little girl I cannot even express my joy. Being a Mother is the best thing that has every happened to me! The recovery has been rough, but I have tried not to let it slow me down too much and have been out and about enjoying all of the time Michael and I got to spend with eachother and our daughter. Now he is back to work and it is just me and Catie. I must say this is the first job I have ever truly enjoyed.

moved to july space

Shawn Karius W.
On Thursday July 17th i was scheduled for an induction. This was at exactly 41 weeks. We were first supposed to go in at 6 in the morning and then on Wednesday night we got a call saying they had triple booked 6 and asked if i could go in at 7. That was just fine with me that ment an hour more sleep. Well Thursday morning comes and DH and i get up at 5:30 so we could shower and get everything ready to go to the hospital. At 6:30 we get another call from the hospital saying that my doctor was up at another hospital with another patient that was having a baby and we were asked to wait till she was ready for us. At around 9:30 we got a call from the hospital that we could come in some time within the hour but we didn't need to hurry. So we gather things up check up on some last minute things and then we were off to the hospital. When we got to admitting we got another call asking if we could stall for just a little bit longer. By this time i was starting to get a little frustrated. So we did the admitting process very slowely, joked around with the girl admitting us, things like that. We then go up to labor and delivery and when we got to the nurses station they get a call from my doctor and we over hear them tell her that they didn't have a room for me and had me wait. Okay that's not what they told me, of course what they did tell me was true but they could have just said they didn't have a room ready for me yet rather than just keep calling and asking us to stall. But oh well. We got into the room and they put my IV in, which they had to do twice because they went through my first vien, and started me on the pit drip at some time around 11:30. Not long after that i felt my contractions get stronger and i could tell they were actually doing something i was so excited. About an hour and a half later they came in and checked my progress, i was at a 2 plus and about 70% effaced, i staqrted at a 1 and 60%. Around 2 in the afternoon my doctor came in and checked me i was now at a 3 plus and about 80% effaced and she broke my water. That was the strangest sensation out of the entire thing. After she broke my water my contractions really started to get stronger. By 6pm they were so strong i couldn't handle it. They were every 2 minutes and lasted about a minute, so i didn't get much of a break between the contractions to recover. Sad thing is, is i was still about 3 plus and 80% effaced. So i decided to get my epidural. Right after i got my epidural and they layed me down my contractions went crazy. They were every 90 seconds and as soon as i came out of a contraction i would go right back into one and the baby went into distress. So they stopped the drip and everything went crazy. I had a nurse come in and practicly rip my blankets off of me and shove her hand up me. Thank goodness i had the epi in or else i would have been in a world of hurt. The doctor came in and checked things out and watched the baby's heart rate for a little while and all i heard during this entire process was possible c-section. So the doctor that would be assisting my doctor for the c-section, if needed, came in and it just so happened to be one of the doctors i didn't like. Well they checked things out and decided to monitor the baby for an hour and see what happens and then if everything looked good they would start the drip back up. After an hour everything looked good and they started the drip back up on the lowest amount. Every hour and a half or so they would come in and check my progression and i progressed about a cm each time. By around midnight i was starting to feel a lot of pressure and by about 12:30 i started to feel like a had to push a little bit. I was at 8cm and 90% effaced. By 1:15 i was fully effaced and dialated but i still had a little lip. The nurse didn't want me to push. By this time i was having a really really really hard time not pushing. She kept checking and that lip wouldn't go away. So she finally decided to let me push and low and behold the lip went away. Hmmm. She got the baby to crown and then went and got the doctor. As i was pushing they noticed the baby's heart rate drop each time and after i pushed it would go back up. The doctor then realized that the cord was around the baby's neck. She had me push one last time just to make sure and sure enough the same thing happened. She she got the Kiwi pump and got the baby's head out very quickly. In the end i ended up with an episiotomy and a third degree tear and pushed for about 50 minutes. But the little guy is worth it!

He was 6Ibs 7oz
20 inches long
born on July 18th, 2008 at 2:05am
apgar's were 8,9

Hello and best wishes to all you brand new moms! My daughter is expecting twin girls in August. I'm hoping you can tell me the best ways to help her out after the babies are here. Her DH will be able to take off about 2 weeks after they are here. She will most likely have a c-section because baby A is breech. How can I help her the best to enjoy them and feel as good as possible. What was/or is it that you long for help with? Would love to hear from you (when you have a minute)LOL!

The story of Brady’s birth
July 14th, 2008

Owen Riley
July 6, 3:55 PM
7lbs 4oz, 20.5 inches

my birth story…..
Let’s just start by saying that a birth preference sheet is a nice wish list but if you want it set in stone you are crazy. As my Doctor said, who encouraged my hypnobirthing and birth plan (he sent me a sample that I used), once you write the plan just throw it out the window because in the end you have no control.
I had the worst possible scenario. I broke my water early with absolutely no signs of labor; no dilation and no labor at 3AM on Saturday morning, July 5, 2008. But if my Hypnobirthing class taught me one thing it was to stay calm. I made Joe go to work. I was in a state of denial and insisted I just had a UTI and that’s why I couldn’t control my pee. I called my parents after 5 am to tell them I needed a lift. My mom in her half-asleep state thought I was stuck in a chair or something. So I said I needed a ride and she asked me to where……um……the hospital? LOL. My parents drove me in at 6 AM. I went to the hospital to make sure but because of fear of infection they don’t let you leave with premature release of membraine. When we knew for sure Joe left work to come in to be with me. We then started to just walk and listen to the meditations and read scripts hoping things would start on there own. I was “surging” about every three to five minutes. They check you as little as possible so not to increase your chance of infection so they waited the whole 12 hours before seeing how far I had progressed. My doctor had warned me that I was coming in on the worst possible scenario with my water released but my body didn’t know it. NOTHING. I hadn’t dilated at all! I felt completely heart broken that after months of listening to how my body knew what to do that it really didn’t. I then very eagerly elected for the cervadil to get things going which it did. The problem with any intervention is that you no longer can be off monitors so I was stuck in bed or in the rocker unless I had to go to the bathroom. At 2:30 AM the cervadil fell out and by 4 AM I was 4CM dilated. Unfortunately by 5-ish? Maybe 6-ish? I was already exhausted for being up for 24 hours with barely any sleep despite the nurse getting my some good sleep meds. I remember sitting on the toilet crying when the nurse came in and asked what I wanted to do. It had been over 24 hours since I any labor had started and I needed relief. That’s when I fell in love with my anesthesiologist . The epi got me much needed rest but just as I expected it stalled my labor to 5cm. Then came the pit. Which jumped things up and I dilated quite quickly but I was in pain again. I got a little booster that got me to 10 cm with plus 2 station and I could still feel the pressure but the pain was controlled. I pushed for about an hour (them telling me average is two) and I pushed with all my strength and energy but I knew he wasn’t budging. I just couldn’t get him under my pelvic bone. That’s when his heart rate started changing ( and let me tell you through the previous 36 hours it was rock steady) and I spiked a fever. That’s when the options were discussed and frankly not fast enough. Even after another boost of meds I could still feel the need to push which was strange in itself but that’s when the second part of the craziness started…… They couldn’t numb me and keep me awake at the same time is what it came down to. Apparently morphine doesn’t affect me at all. They threw so much drug in my system I had hallucinations that made the seventies look drug free. Every time they tried to wake me to see owen I would start screaming in pain. I knew I was feeling pain, I would think I need to scream, or say something……and next thing I knew someone in the room was screaming or saying ow or saying what I was thinking but I didn’t know it was coming from my mouth. It was truly out of body. I do remember owen crying and I do remember moments of Joe talking to me. I also remember touching owen’s face even though I couldn’t see him. That is a sensation I will never forget.
After I was wheeled to recovery they asked if I wanted to see anyone. I was so high I could have cared less. So everyone pretty much got to hold Owen before me but at the time I didn’t care. Once I did get to hold him I could care less about the previous day and a half. He was worth every minute. After everyone left, it was just three of us (and the world’s best nurse, Rose).My vision was finally coming into focus and I had the two most beautiful sights ever, my baby and my husband. I couldn’t wait to try breast feeding because I was just so thrilled to see him looking around hungrily. I stopped worrying about any bonding issues because he knew who I was! It seemed to take forever to get into MIC. They took Owen to get his bath and all those fun tests they do but they brought him back in about 1AM to try and feed again. I then let them keep him until morning so I could get some sleep but that was a joke because the morphine button did nothing for my pain at all so I got no sleep. The nurses tried to get them to fix it but I basicly got relief the next day when switched me to pain pills. So now I know……. Morphine doesn’t work. To sum up the rest. The hospital stay wasn’t bad once the soreness from the labor and pushing subsided and all I had was surgery pain. I loved getting to know Owen and I loved getting to know a new side of Joe. He is by far the world’s greatest husband and father.
It is amazing how it has only been a couple weeks and it feels like Owen has always been a part of our lives. I can’t imagine how we got along without him! Now I look forward to all the milestones to come.