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BR: birth story (looooooong!)
Sorry it's taken me so long to write this!
* * * * *
At 2pm on April 20, I turned up at the hospital for my induction - by 4pm I had an internal exam confirming I wasn't dilated or effaced at all, and given my first Cervidil treatment. I was startled at how quickly it took effect; I was having contractions within 10 minutes, and after half an hour, they were only 2 minutes apart. The next 6 hours passed in a blur of pain - the only relief I found was in standing or sitting in a warm shower...I spent HOURS in that water!
By 10pm the contractions were strong enough and close enough together that the nurse and I were hopeful that I wouldn't need a second dose of Cervidil, but no such luck - another internal exam showed I was only barely dilated (possibly around 1cm) and still not at all effaced. I nearly started crying - the last 6 hours had been so painful that the idea of dealing with those contractions for another 6 hours was agonizing.
I was given the second dose of Cervidil and also offered a pethidine injection, which I gratefully accepted; I was exhausted from the rapid contractions and worried that when the time came for me to actually push I'd be too tired - the injection allowed me to relax and catnap for a little while. After half an hour or so, I got up for yet another shower, and when I stepped inside I felt warm fluid gushing down my leg - my water had broken. I nearly cried with relief, thankful for the confirmation that labor was progressing.
Five hours of painful contractions later, I was exhausted and begging for more pain relief, and another internal exam showed that I was finally 5cm dilated and ready to move to the delivery room! At that point, I'd been having agonizing contractions that were only 1-2 minutes apart for 11 hours and I was exhausted, so when I was offered an epidural, I didn't hesitate to say yes. The actual process of getting the epidural was a bit difficult - the anesthesiologist didn't get the placement correct the first time and had to re-do it - meanwhile, I was in severe pain and trying desperately to keep still during the contractions. The end result though? BLISS. I wasn't numb from the waist down like I expected - in fact, I could still feel everything and even move on my own - but it took the pain away and let me rest for a while.
(Side story: when you get an epidural, you're warned of the possible - though fairly unlikely - side effect of an epidural headache. Pay attention to this! That first failed epidural ended up giving me one, and it was one of the most stunningly painful experiences of my life. I honestly can?t describe just how bad it is?it?s like a incredibly severe migraine, but in addition to photosensitivity, etc., there's positional sensitivity as well ? I could just barely tolerate life if I stayed flat on the bed, but the instant I tried to tilt my head upwards it was like getting smacked in the brain with an axe. I was completely incapacitated for two days before the problem was fixed with an epidural blood patch, and ended up being in the hospital for a total of seven days from the start of my induction to my final discharge.)
Eight long hours and several internal exams later, I started feeling tremendous pressure in addition to the pain from the contractions (the epidural was more or less completely worn off by this point). My doctor had told me to let her know if I experienced a pressure that felt like I needed to poop, but this was different - it felt like I needed to pee. I told the nurse and she asked if I felt a need to push. "Not really," I replied, "Just like I really, REALLY have to pee." When the pressure didn't let up over the course of another 15 minutes or so, I finally asked them to do another internal exam. I was convinced the pressure meant things had progressed, even if it was in the "wrong" place - and sure enough, I was 10cm dilated, fully effaced, the first twin was making his way down the birth canal, and it was time to push!
And push I did, for an hour and a half. And nothing. Nada. The baby wasn't moving at all. At one stage I had two doctors and three nurses staring at my nether regions to make sure I was pushing efficiently and effectively, and I was - but that little boy was stubbornly refusing to negotiate the final curve of the birth canal. By this stage I was incredibly exhausted and in an immense amount of pain but since the twins were still doing fine, my doctors offered to give me another small dose of the epidural to give me a chance to rest and regroup for another try. 45 minutes later, the dose was starting to wear off, and we were ready for round two.
For the better part of an hour, I gave it my all. I'd been put on a Pitocin drip to try to help increase the strength of my contractions and push the babies out, but by the end of round two even that was failing - my body was so exhausted from 19 hours of labor and 3 hours of pushing that my contractions were starting to slow and weaken, even with the drugs pushing them along. Clearly, something had to give.
My lead doctor came and stood by my head. "We can keep going if you want," she said. "Your babies are still doing OK - their heartbeats are fine and neither are in distress. However, you're pretty exhausted and I honestly don't think you will be able to push these babies out. If you want, we can try to help with vacuum extraction, but I don't think it will be very effective and it may cause them to go into distress. You've given this a very good try, but at this point I'd like to recommend a c-section."
I stared at her through a fog of pain and exhaustion. A c-section? I'd known from the beginning that there was a good chance I'd need one with twins, but I'd been so hopeful that I'd be able to have a vaginal birth. I turned and looked at Ben. We didn't really need to discuss it - we'd already talked about this in the weeks leading up to this moment and agreed that we would do whatever was necessary to have a good outcome with two healthy babies...so if that was a c-section, then so be it. We looked at each other for a moment before I quietly nodded and he nodded back at me. I turned back to my doctor - "OK. We'll do the c-section."
Things were a hectic blur from that point. The doctor left immediately to make sure an operating room was ready, and the nurses rushed to get me prepared. A short time later, I was lying on an operating table getting a massive epidural dose and Ben had been taken away to scrub up - I was nearly frantic with nerves by the time he returned. The actual surgery was faster than I imagined - it seemed like only a minute or two before my doctor was holding up the first crying twin and asking Ben if we had a name picked out. "William," my husband beamed, "His name is William." "And this one?" the doctor asked, pulling out the second boy. "Dash. That's Dashiell."
I started crying with happiness when the nurses brought them over so I could see them. I could barely believe it - Will and Dash were finally here!
The stats:
William John
6lbs, 12oz
20 inches
Born April 21, 2010 at 3.40pm
Dashiell Thomas
6lbs, 8oz
19.5 inches
Born April 21, 2010 at 3.42pm
This was them on their birthday (Will is on the left, Dash on the right):
And them last Saturday (Will is on the left again):
Re: BR: birth story (looooooong!)
Wow! Thank you so much for sharing your story! I just got work and read this, and cried a little! Maybe it's because last night in childbirth class we just talked about the final stages of labor, so it seems to close for me. Maybe it's because you tell your story so well! Anyway, you did an amazing job bringing those two little angels into this world, and you should be proud!
Holy moly! That's a LONG time!
The shower was a great thing for me too - although my water had already broken when we left for the hospital. It was just unbelievable how amazing it felt to be in there and what relief it brought!
My surgery seemed to me to take forever! I'm glad yours seemed short! It was kinda funny to see the spacesuit thing they made my husband put on - had it been any other day, I'm sure he wouldn't have put it on! LOL
and CONGRATS on making it through that!
Love me those babies Lisa!!!! They are so handsome!!!!
You are one tough cookie for sure!
| Olowalu, Maui ~ August 6, 2008 |
| Family of 4 ~ April 2, 2011 |
| Family of 5 - October 24, 2012 |
I love reading birthing stories!
You're a trooper! I'm glad that you had a safe c-section. Boo on the epidural HA though! Your baby boys are just beautiful!
Will and Dash. So cute.
Ok, NOW I feel like I pressured you into getting this written! I also love reading the birth stories and your's is quite heroic! Glad you were able to make the choices that were right for you, Ben and your new family!
Enjoy the little guys before they are stuffing pickles up your vacuum hose!
LOL it was a GOOD thing, trust me! Otherwise I'd still be mulling it over when they were 18...
Wow Mama, I didn't realize they were so big! Isn't that pretty big for twins? They are so cute! I can't get enough of their pics. I thought I had missed your birth story too, glad I didn't
Yup, average is about 5.5lbs, so we had quite big, healthy boys and I was carrying about 14lbs of baby (plus the world's biggest placenta lol).
hawaii 10.2008 plan ;P married bio ???
TTC/PG Blog | Mommy Blog
these are almost the exact same words my ob said to me!! except, I had been pushing for about 2.5 hrs and she told me that she has rarely seen any woman push for more than 2.5-3 hrs and then go on to deliver vaginally successfully just b/c of the sheer exhaustion that makes it hard for you to continue
i am sorry you got the spinal headache but look at those babies!! they are precious. congrats again
Jaime & Brent
Oahu, Hawaii | Sept. 9, 2005
My Food Blog - Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats
This made your story PERFECT! Congrats again!
Yup that's pretty much what I was told afterward! And I can understand why - it really is the most exhausting thing I've ever done!