I woke up at 1:45am on Saturday morning and felt a little pop and a small gush. I jumped out of bed and went to the bathroom to see if my water had indeed broken. I sat on the toilet and some more fluid came out. I woke Bryan up and told him what had happened. We started to pack and called our doula, Lanell. She said to call my doctor. We did and got the doctor on call who was not my doctor. He said to call L&D and give them a heads up and proceed on in to the hospital. I was in a dither but Bryan was perfectly calm, cool and collected. We called our friend Pat and he came over to stay with the kids until our friends could pick them up in the morning. We finished packing and headed to the hospital at about 3:30.
When we got there the nurse checked me- I was 3cm and 80% effaced so I had made some progress since the day before at my appt. I was having contractions at that point, but they were very mild and 5 min or so apart. I was not in active labor. She put in my hep lock and gave me IV antibiotics and I sat in the glider while being monitored. When that was over I got up and we walked around and Lanell arrived. We walked until I was tired and then I sat in the glider while she massaged my feet with lavender oil, trying to rub the pressure points to stimulate labor. I was so relaxed! I also put hot packs on my breasts to try to stimulate the nipples. I sat on the birthing ball for a while too. Active labor had not kicked in though.
Sometime later that morning the doctor came in, around 9 or so, and suggested I start on pitocin. I was a little disappointed because I had hoped to avoid pit. He then came back in and said he had read my birth plan and it was up to me. My main concern was being able to move around to deal with the pain of labor and he assured me that it would not be a problem. So they started the pit at a low dose and my contractions picked up in frequency but not really in intensity. They upped my dose every 15 minutes and gradually the contractions got more intense and I started to really have to work through them. I got into bed and laid on my left side with my girls' picture taped up as a focal point. Bryan stood behind me with a heated rice sock and put pressure on my lower back while Lanell pushed on my knee. The contrax continued to be very intense and with my history of rapid labor I hoped I was making good progress- like to 6 or 7cm. I asked for an internal and I was only 4cm! It was a little discouraging but I kept plugging along. The doctor came in and checked me again and I was only 5cm. At that point I decided I wanted an epidural. The nurse said it would take about 30 minutes before I could get it and by my calculations that meant about 15 more contractions to get through. I sat on the birthing ball again and Lanell talked me through them and she and Bryan continued to apply some counter pressure. They had a hard time monitoring the baby so they put in an internal scalp monitor. Then I got on the bed on my hands and knees and leaned against the head of the bed while Lanell and Bryan pushed on my hips. I was feeling the urge to push and the contractions were horrendous.
Then the anesthesiologist arrived and administered the epi while I clung to Lanell and Bryan for dear life! LOL! It went fast actually and after he got the epi in the contractions gradually lessened in intensity but were still painful so Lanell massaged my feet and I breathed through them. They monitored my blood pressure a few times and it remained stable so the doctor checked me again and I was completely dilated and +1 or +2 station. What a relief!
We got set up to push and they positioned a mirror so I could see and I even had the presence of mind to ask for my glasses! LOL! The doctor was very optimistic that the baby would be out in a few pushes. Pushing was odd for me because although I could feel the pressure of the contractions at the top of my uterus, I was pretty numb down below. I just watched my stomach and concentrated on not pushing in my face. Everyone said I was pushing well. I did that a few times and the doctor decided to check the baby's position. Sure enough, he was face up instead of down which is a more difficult position in which to deliver a baby. The doctor was not alarmed though. He said that the baby would probably rotate while he descended. He didn't rotate at all though so the doctor tried to rotate him in one direction and then the other. He wouldn't budge. This all happened during the course of several more contractions. Apparently at some point the baby's heartrate started to drop and so they gave me some oxygen and poured olive oil on my perineum. The doctor decided the baby needed to come out pretty soon. With the next few pushes they applied a vacuum extractor but the suction kept breaking so then he got out the forceps. He was born on the next push. His head came out and I leaned up and looked over my stomach and watch the rest of him come out. It was pretty cool. They put him up on top of me and I touched him and kissed his head. The cord was between his legs but he looked like a boy to me! A few minutes later that fact was confirmed along with his weight of 9lbs 11oz which was a complete surprise to everyone. We had expected he would weigh about 8lbs.
Unfortunately I had torn so badly that the doctor wanted to repair me in the OR so they wheeled me out while Bryan got acquainted with our new son. I had lost a lot of blood and I almost passed out on the way to the OR. It was kind of scary but I was happy and relaxed because the baby was fine- he had apgars of 8 and 9. After the repair was done- it took 2 hours!- I went back to the room and held and nursed the baby. He did very well.
Jonathan is a little doll, so sweet and a good baby. Phoebe is totally in love with her new brother and I think that in Andie's court the jury is still out! Bryan is home this week so I'm being well taken care of and just trying to adjust to being a mom of three gorgeous kids!
I am so blessed!