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belated birth story...long
On 9/8 I went in for an OB appt., I hadn't gained any weight in 3-4 weeks and my belly measurement was also low. I don't ask what my numbers are at the appt, but the Dr.'s usually say everything looks great. At this appointment the Dr. mentioned my belly was measuring 33 cm, I was at 37 weeks and should have meas. 37 cm. Dr. didn't send me for an u/s b/c my appt the following week was with my regular Dr.
After the appt I became concerned about the lack of growth and my weight not increasing (I had only gained 16-17 lbs). I called the nurse for my regular OB and she looked at my chart and my belly measurement and weight had been the same for the past 3 appointments so she scheduled me for an u/s.
My u/s wasn't until the following Tuesday (14th). I wasn't sure what to expect...either they would tell me he is just tiny and needs to stay in as long as possible or that he wasn't going to grow anymore and I would need to be induced. At the u/s most of the measurements were around the 40th percentile but his belly circumference was 2nd percentile, this concerned the Dr. because it meant he didn't have much belly fat. If he hadn't already started to gain fat he probably wouldn't over the next couple of weeks.
We scheduled an induction for Thursday (9/16) morning.
That night we went to Chops for one last dinner with just the 2 of us
and we had our first ATL celebrity siting...Sawyer from Lost was there
with his wife and little girl!!!
We arrived at the hospital at 7:30am Thur and
by 7:45 they had me all hooked up to the Pitocin drip. The dr. came in around 8am and tried
unsuccessfully to break my water. He decided to just let me labor and try later. Every 30 minutes the nurse would turn up the pitocin.
I began to feel contractions but they were not really strong or
uncomfortable.
At 1:30 the Dr. came back in and broke my water,
I was really surprised at how much there was, even a few hours later I
would get little gushes when I moved around (made getting up to use the
bathroom very tricky). When he broke my water I was still only 1 cm
dilated.
By 3:30 the contractions were strong enough that I was ready for an
epidural...best decision ever!! It wasn't that painful to get and I was
completely numb from the waist down after that. Over the next few hours
I could feel the contractions getting stronger (I couldn't feel pain
but could feel my stomach tightening) and was hoping I was making
progress.
The dr. checked me again at 8pm and I was only at 3
cm. My mom went back to our house to get some sleep and DH went out
to get some dinner. Over the next hour the contractions felt different,
more like I was dilating then in my stomach. DH got back around 9pm
and the Dr. checked me at 10pm. I had made some progress and was at
5cm. we were still expecting about 5 more hours. When the dr. checked
me at midnight I was already at 9.5cm. We called mom and she headed
back in.
At 1am I started to push. The epidural was still
pumping and I wasn't feeling any pain, all I could feel was my stomach
squeezing. I pushed for about 45 minutes before the baby was born. I
couldn't believe how easy it was, I didn't even break a sweat! AJ
weighed 5 lbs and 15 oz. we were expecting him to look much smaller
than he did. The nurses checked him over and
everything was great!
Here's the TMI portion...no hemorrhoids and I didn't poop myself during
labor but I did end up with a small episiotomy and a tear. Recovery hasn't been
too bad but the first 2-3 days were definitely more painful than the
whole labor process. Overall I gained 17 lbs, when I came home from the
hospital I had only lost about 6-7 lbs, but within 1 week was back at pre-pg weight (but had lost A LOT of muscle).
Thanks for reading if you made it this far!
Re: belated birth story...long
Southeastern Cycling
My Nest Bio and Cycling Advice
Adventures of A Girl and Her Apron
whoa. whoa. whoa. Hold on there.
You saw SAWYER and you didn't tell anyone?!!?
I kid, I kid.
Its so great he came out looking healthy!
Call me Kat =^..^=
i totally emailed dh after i read that. we actually have a sawyer doll at home
Adventures of A Girl and Her Apron
he is soooo much hotter in person! Also, I love the name Sawyer and it was totally on my baby name list, when we spotted him I told DH is was a sign and we needed to name the baby Sawyer...needless to say, that idea got shot down.
oh, boo on your DH for that! That was SO a sign. I think if I was rarin to go and I saw him IRL, I'm sure I would have made any and all last minute efforts for "Sawyer" to be approved!!! MMmmm, love me some LOST mens.
Call me Kat =^..^=
They diagnosed him as having IUGR (intra-uterine growth restriction) which is basically small gestational age. I don't believe that there is really a known cause for this, it is just a way for the Dr.'s to classify babies who are under the 10th percentile.
My brother also had this when/before he was born so it is possible that there is a genetic component.
I had stopped exercising around 30 weeks because I didn't have the time and also didn't see the point (wasn't gaining weight). I also ate sooo much but it didn't seem to help. I would go to CFA before my dr. appts just to maintain my weight at weigh-ins. There were also quite a few days of double lunches.
I even started to write down what I was eating for the Dr.'s just to make sure it was enough.
I went for my postpartum check-up yesterday and asked my Dr. again about the IUGR and he said they really don't know what causes it.
He is gaining slowly, but the pedi seems satisfied. At his 1-month check up he was 7 lb 15 oz. He is having enough dirty and wet diapers that the pedi is fine with me BFing and we don't need to supplement with formula at all.
How long did it take you to get to 2 cm?
I can't say enough how freaking amazing the epidural is...totally my drug of choice.
Also, his wife is sooo not cute, not even slightly.
That's great that you don't have to supplement!
I think they started the pitocin and 8am and I was at 2 cm fairly quickly. By 3pm I was still at 2 cm. That's when the doctor said, "let's go have this baby" and I agreed. She was also sunnyside up and she really hadn't fully dropped so there was little hope of her coming out that way.