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B's birth story
Alrighty, here it is. Sorry it took so long, I have been posting from my phone during feedings and I get thumb fatigue! My dad is here for the day (quick layover between CA and VT) so he's on A duty for the afternoon...
Went in for my appt on 12/30 at 12 pm (after having contractions for 2 days straight) and my midwife noticed that Berrit's head was sideways-nestled in my left hip. She checked me to see about stripping my membranes to get her to engage and I was sitting at 2 cm and 75% effaced. Did a membrane strip and immediately B shifted and straightened out-putting pressure on my cervix.
Around 3 I noticed the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and lastign for 45 seconds. By 4:30 they started to get painful, and by 6 we called our doula since I couldn't walk to talk through them.
I kept laboring at home until 9 pm, with contractions 2 minutes apart and 60 seconds long, and then we headed over to walk to halls of the hospital to try and keep things going. My midwife suggested that we could get checked at L&D by a nurse to see if I had progressed and not be admitted (she was checking in with us via cell) but labor there if I wanted to since she felt it might help lessen the anxiety I had throughout the pregnancy.
Got checked at L&D at 11pm, contractions were 1 min 45 seconds apart, 70-90 seconds long and I was still 2 cm and 75%. I tried laboring in the tub, walking the halls, squatting, etc... and finally hit 4 cm around 2 am. My midwife came in at 3am and checked me and I was a good 5 and 80%.
From 3am-7:30 I labored with our doula, S and our midwife, and from 6:30-7:30am they thought I was hitting transition: shaking, throwing up, constant contractions. When our midwife checked me I was stuck at 5 cm and 80%-after 5 hours of hard labor.
At that point it was strongly suggested to put me on a pitocin drip since LO was just not putting any pressure on my cervix, plus my previous post partum hemorrhage was becoming more of a repeat possibility with my uterus getting tired from hours of labor-I was at 60-90 seconds between contractions that were 90+ seconds long. We started pit, and by 10 I had barely hit 7, so they upped the dosing. Around 10:30am I broke down and requested something to take the edge off, got a dose of a narcotic pain med and promptly started shaking, vomiting and almost passed out. After the reaction stopped, I finally requested a CSE (Combined Spinal-Epidural), or the "walking" epi, which was placed immediately. Within 10 minutes I finally was able to eat (it had been 24 hours since I had gotten anything in my stomach), and rest a little.
By 12:15pm I could feel tons of pressure and our nurse checked me and I was fianlly complete. She turned off the epi and I started pushing around 12:30pm. Pushing took about 20 minutes and our nurses kept asking "how big was your first?" since our midwife had mentioned that I pushed A out in 3 pushes-about 5 minutes. Finally, once B was out it was obvious why pushing took so long, she was 9 lb 3 oz, where A was 7 lb 8oz, and the reason labor had stalled at 5 was because she had shifted her head into my right hip and had her head sideways. She had a 5 cm hematoma on the left side of her head from the pressure of my contractions and no progression.
After delivery I had another hemorrhage, but not as bad as my first-possibly thanks to the massive amount of red raspberry leaf tea I drank throughout my pregnancy (it can help to reduce the risk of hemorrhage). I also had a 1st and 2nd degree tear and 4 stitches, which have healed very quickly.
And... here's a shot of B and A from when we brought her home...I totally need to upload more pictures
Re: B's birth story
Wow! I can't believe how big A is!!! Very cute picture!
Thanks for sharing!
Can I post this to the blog?
#1-BFP 08-22-09 ~ M/C 08-31-09 at 5 weeks 6 days
#2-BFP 08-6-11 ~ Due 04/18 ~ born via c-section April 22, 2012
My Blog
go for it! her stats were 12/31/2011 at 12:50pm, 9 lb 3 oz and 21 inches
thanks!
thanks for the update! You can an adorable family!
Definitely looking into the "Walking" epi too!
You are wonder woman for making it that far without flipping getting anything! Amazing!
And it sounds as though she will be stubborn
She is beautiful though, I also would like to nom on those little cheeks!