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XP: Had my baby 5 weeks early
I'm mostly just a lurker here these days, but thought some of the old-timers might be interested.
Juliette (see sig) was born on Monday afternoon, at 35weeks, 1 day. She was born after 34 hours of labor, including 1-1/2 hours of pushing & a bit of vacuum assistance at the end. She weighs 5lbs, 13oz. and is 19-1/2 inches long. She's still in the NICU proving she can be a strong eater, but has met all the initial goals they set for her in terms of breathing and staying free from infection. As of last night she was off of all IV meds and nutrition. My milk still hasn't come in yet, so she's on formula for the time being.
Detailed birth story after the jump for those who want to look away ;-) (although it really wasn't too terrible or nasty)
At 3:30am on Sunday I made my usual middle of the night bathroom run and noticed a bit of bloody discharge. Since I had been losing bits my mucus plug over the previous week, I didn't think too much of it initially. I also dismissed the back pain I had as being caused by a bad sleeping position, or too much activity earlier that day. Within the hour though I noticed that my backache was coming and going regularly and that I was having more bloody discharge. At 5am I called L&D, who told me to monitor the situation at home for two hours and come in if things didn't change. From 5am onwards, I had consistent back labor, every 4 minutes, lasting approx a minute each time, with the pain getting worse. We were completely caught off guard as we hadn't started prepping much for the baby, so I threw some things in a bag and we were off to the hospital.
I was checked into L&D triage by 7:30am Sunday & hooked up to monitors. They gave me fluids and two doses of Procardia trying to stop the labor but it was futile. By 10am I had dilated to 3cm and was moved over to a birthing suite. By 12pm the back labor had intensified to a 7/10 on the pain scale and I was ready for an epidural. After getting the epidural, things were fairly blissful, all things considered. We had a consult with a NICU doctor to get an idea of what to expect, met the OB and residents on duty & got a little bit of rest. I continued to make progress up to 7cm, almost 8, by late that afternoon. But then I stalled. Since I was early, the doctor wanted to let nature take its course and let my water break on its own. Things remained status quo until Monday morning at 10am, when the doctor suggested a bit of Pitocin to help things along. After 2 hours of being on Pitocin, I still hadn't dilated more & my water was still intact, so we decided to have the doctor break the bag. Things went quickly after that. Between noon and 1pm I progressed to 9cm, at which point I needed an epidural booster because the pain from the pressure of baby dropping was too much for me. At 1:30pm I started having awful chills and body tremors, which lasted until I started pushing at 2:15pm. I pushed for 1-1/2 hours and I have to say it wasn't as horrible or painful as I thought it would be. Nor did I poo or pee on the bed. I did, however, want to kick the nurse in the head when she kept telling me I wasn't pushing hard enough. When the doctor came in she suggested the vacuum since the baby had been right at the cusp through several pushes and I agreed. And Juliette was born at 3:32pm. :-)
By that point a team from NICU had assembled in our suite and started working on her after she was laid on my chest for a nanosecond. While the doctor stitched up a small second-degree tear on me, the NICU docs continued to assess the baby in our room. She was having labored breathing, so they decided to take her to the NICU nursery instead of letting her room-in. By the end of that night though, she was off of the big tubes and onto a nasal cannula, which was removed by Tuesday morning. She's been making solid progress each day, so we hope she'll be home in just a few more days.
As for me, I am doing alright. A little sore but nothing an occasional Motrin can't fix. I didn't have a birth plan other than "Go to hospital; have baby," so I am actually feeling positive overall about my birth experience even though it was far from ideal. Baby, mom & dad are all doing well and that's what really matters.
Re: XP: Had my baby 5 weeks early
Congrats Mamma! Love, love the name and glad everyone is doing well.
Thank for you sharing your birth story!
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Haley Beth ~ March 3rd, 2011
Thanks for sharing the story, sounds like you did beautifully.
First, Juliette is a beautiful name
Congratulations!!
Second, I'm glad to hear she's doing well and she sounds like such a fighter! I imagine 5 weeks early was quite unexpected, but it sounds like you're all taking it in stride and doing well.
Thank you for sharing your story!! It's a great reminder that babies come when they feel like it.
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