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BR- Ryan's LONG Birth Story
On Monday March 8 at 4:30pm I begrudgingly reported to L&D at the hospital to get induced as directed by my doctor. It took a long time to get things started but at 8pm I was in my room and hooked up to all the monitors. I was already having some light contractions all on my own & was 1cm dilated. The Friday before I wasn't dilated at all and didn't have any contractions before that weekend. I was happy to see that things had at least started on their own. By 9pm they had inserted Cervidil ( I think that was the name). They wanted to continually monitor Ryan's heartbeat. He was in a strange position and the hb was hard to find, even though it was strong. I almost had to lay flat, only a little elevated. 11pm came and I already started having more painful contractions and having to lay almost flat was really getting to me at that point. A few times I took the monitors off and got out of the bed to help me deal w/the pain but those nurses would come right in and make me lay down again.
By 2pm my contractions were really painful but I was still only dilated to 2. I was really uncomfortable and begged to change positions or for anything to take even a little of the pain away. They gave me some med that I don't remember the name. They said it didn't really take the pain away but it would make it so that I didn't really remember the pain as well. It worked, I mostly remember that I couldn't keep myself from moaning really loudly and every time a contraction would come, I would hallucinate. I kept seeing the smoke monster from LOST! I was so loopy that I even asked my DH to put on UFC. Usually I hate UFC but it was like white noise that night and anything that distracted me from that pain was welcome!
My pain relief lasted about 2 hours. I begged for more and this time the nurse gave me double the dose. I was so excited for the pain relief (or to not remember the pain) but it never came :-( The smoke monster did though.
I felt my water break or that I pee on myself a little while later. The nurse ran a test to make sure that it was amnioticfluid and it was. The test also showed that Ryan had pooped inside of me. At this point I was drugged up, in insane amounts of pain, going crazy from having to lay almost flat on my back and already getting really tired. I had remembered that a bumpie died a few months ago when her baby pooped inside of her and somehow it got into her fluid. I don't remember all the details but that summed it up. I got really upset and started crying and I tried to ask the nurse questions but words wouldn't come to me. It was like I was trying to speak a foreign language. I felt that she was getting aggravated with me which made me even more upset.
She decided to check my progress and I was almost 6cm dilated. I was pissed because my midwife said I could get the epidural at 3cm and that I would need it because my contractions would be really painful that early on. I could have had that freakin epi way before that point if that nurse would have checked me like I kept asking her to. Now even though I was almost at a 6 I had to get a bag of some fluid in me before she could call the anesthesiologist. She put the fluid so it was going in my IV and left. I was watching and watching that bag and it wasn't going down at all. I called her and managed to tell her it wasn't going in. She said I was waiting for water to boil, that it was going in. Half an hour later (I'm guesssing) she came back and said, "oh you were right, it wasn't going in because your IV was kinked" AHHHHHHH! So now she put something on the bag to make it go in faster. I was so mad that she didn't put it on in the first place.
Finally that bag of fluid went in and the epidural guy came. They gave me the line about having to be really still when he was putting the needle in. I was so nervous because my contractions were insane and it was so hard to stay still. I got to sit up for the first time in hours and hours and guess what? During the whole time that guy was trying to give me the epi (which was awhile) I didn't have one single insane contraction!!!! and he even had to do it 3 times bacause the catheter kept going into my vein on accident. If I could have just MOVED around labor would have been so much more tolerable!
I hear women say that life is wonderful after the epi. They smile and laugh through contractions and just feel some pressure during pushing. I'm very sad to say that it was nothing like that for me. I actually wish that I didn't get the epi because yes it made the pain go away but it so I only had the pressure to focus on. OMG the pressure in my butt!!! It was like having to fart and poop REALLY bad X's 4million! Come to find out Ryan was facing up instead of down causing the back of his head against my pelvic bone. Once the stupid nurse found that out she was much nicer to me. And then she left because her shift was over and I got a really sweet wonderful nurse who would have had mercy on me no matter what I think.
I finally got to 10 cm and my midwife still wouldn't let me push. She said that she wanted the baby to make it's way down the birth canal more. I love my midwife but I wanted to hit her at this point. Another hour and a half of agony and then I couldn't take it anymore. I rang the nurse button and said I'm going to start pushing and they can be there or I'll have my husband deliver my baby. They came right away and I started pushing. Pushing was the ONLY thing that made my contractions bearable. Oh sweet relief!!! It was such hard work but so wonderful to be out of the pain.
My DH was so wonderful during labor and esp. during delivery. He did so good counting and then feeding me ice chips . He even would lift up my oxygen mask and itch inside my nose inbetween contractions since I was so tired! Now that's love huh?!
After pushing for 45 minutes Ryan was soooo close, he was almost there. My midwife said I was one of the best pushers she's ever seen in her 23 years of doing that. Then I had to stop pushing because during the contractions Ryans heartbeat started going down to 60 beats per minute. They called my OB. Thank God their office is right next to the hospital. In just a few minutes it went from just being me,DH, midwife, and nice nurse to probably over 25 people in that room. I started to panic but my midwife & DH calmed me down. My OB used foreceps and gave me an episiotomy and only two contractions later Ryan was born!
I thought it would be this life changing moment but it wasn't for me. I was so pissed about everything from being induced on (now looking back I know the right decisions were made). I saw Ryan's purple butt laying on top of my belly and I couldn't believe how small it was. Then I heard him cry and saw DH cutting the cord. 6lbs 10oz, 20 inches long, both apgar 9.9 after 16 horrific hours of labor. He is so adorable!
Life has been really tough since being home, my LO cries ALL NIGHT LONG! Also I was really sick for awhile. My OB told me to go to the emergency room where after taking pee test, blood test, Xray and Ultrasound they found out that I had a uterine infection and a urinary tract infection. The ER doctor wanted to admit me but I started crying and ER doc called my OB who said I would be fine at home. Things are getting better though, I'm getting better and although I was awake w/ LO a lot of the night, he wasn't screaming!!!
Hope all you girls are well. Thank You all for your well wishes and support. You are a great bunch of girls! Hopefully this weekend I can catch up on everything that I've missed.
Re: BR- Ryan's LONG Birth Story
Alyson & Phil | Planning Bio | Married Bio!
Dates & Quinces Blog
I'm glad Ryan is here and both of you are healthy, but I'm so sorry things went so badly for you. I wonder if the nice nurse would have come on earlier things could have been a little different, also it's frustrating that mean and possibly incompetent (or careless) nurses can cause so much unnecessary drama, pain, and interference!!
The one mean/unhelpful nurse I had made me so tense and really inhibited my labor on top of the fact that is was her that improperly hooked up the monitors (that I should not even had to wear, after talking to my MW she told me I never should have had to be hooked up to them constantly, the girl probably just didn't want to take the time to monitor me via doppler b/c you know, putting on gloves and sitting by the tub for 10 mins every so often would be so troublesome, grrr). Then she thought they were "broken" and then mistakenly thought Jack's heartrate was dropping and therefore made me get in bed - the most painful hour I have ever been through. You are a trooper to make it hours like that!!
OMG hon - I'm sorry you had such a rough time! And I can't believe the nurse wouldn't let you move around...you are a superstar for making it through that kind of pain. I'm so glad Ryan is here!
I love Hawaii!
Tara & Ian . 4/24/2008 . The Kahala Planning . Married
Thanks for sharing. Sorry you had a bad nurse. I was so lucky to have awesome nurses the whole time.
And sorry Ryan's a crybaby. I'm right there with you. Feel free to vent anytime. The girls here have been really helpful making me feel less alone in all that.
Awwww J, I'm sorry it was so bloody tough on you!
I gotta say, I can relate to a lot of your experience, similiar things happened to me this 2nd go-round with Samara and, yep...I got angry about it too.
It sometimes is such a 'luck of the draw' thing with who you get as your MW/nurse. I know that, if I ever have a 3rd baby, I am SO handpicking who delivers the baby. They really CAN make all the difference in a straight-forward labour/delivery.
However, you have an amazing little boy to show for all that. Congrats!!!
Wow Julie, that's quite the ordeal. I am sorry that they made you labor in bed. Once I knew I had to be induced I insisted on being as mobile as possible with all of the IVs and monitors, etc. I can attest that the nurses working with you can determine so much during L&D. I was extremely lucky to get one who was supportive of laboring naturally and she went the extra mile for me...laying on the floor and holding the monitor in place while I was on the yoga ball, etc. I would have been so pissed had they just made me stay in bed, let alone flat on my back! You poor thing.
And I am sorry you had hallucinations....that must have been terrifying. I am glad that Ryan arrived safely despite all of this...hopefully he'll settle down soon and you can begin to enjoy your time with him...it goes so fast and if I remember correctly your maternity leave is over at 6 weeks. I can hardly believe it's already been 8 weeks with Libby and I am headed back to the office...
For his nighttime crying, does his fussiness start when the sun goes down? Could be a touch of colic. Libby started to get slightly colicky around 2.5-3 weeks and I found ColicCalm. Awesome stuff! Looks nasty, tastes good though. It can stain so we do spot treat anything it gets on with OxyClean (except her dipes...seems to wash well out of them and sunning can take out any lingering spots). That, along with the 5S's and Swaddling (Miracle Blanket or SwaddleMe) did the trick in calming her down AND getting her to sleep better and longer. You might give it a try. You can get the swaddlers second hand for cheaper than new (eBay or local consignment). Good luck and congrats! He's adorable and looks a lot like Jay.
TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog
Oh my Julie, what a story! Hope you are feeling much better!
Congratulations again on your beautiful son!
{hugs}
Wow, thanks for sharing your birth story--I'm so sorry to hear how rough it was =( But super props to you for trooping it through. I'm glad Ryan is healthy and doing well--and he's beautiful! Can't wait to see more pics
I hope you feel better too and I hope your infections clear up soon. Hope you get lots of good, much-needed rest!
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
I just had a chance to read your birth story. Thank you for sharing!
That is an unbelieveable story & sorry to hear it was rough, but of course, the silver lining is always your baby. Congratulations on being such a trooper & I hope Ryan gets the hang of things & starts STTN!