Birth Story, Finally

Since our baby was breach, and the external version (described in an earlier post) didn’t work out, we scheduled a Cesarean Section for the following Tuesday morning. Our daughter had a birthday! I repacked all of the hospital bags since I knew I wasn’t going to labor and would have a longer hospital stay. On Monday night, my OB, who I love and trust, called to tell me that he had the flu and could not do the c-section. He said that we could try to wait until he was on again on Thursday, but that he recommended that I go ahead and have it with one of his partners, so that’s what we did. I had seen that doctor several times, so at least it wasn’t a stranger.

We arrived at the hospital, as directed, at 5am. The surgery was scheduled for 7:15. I was admitted and sent to the lab. Only, no one was in the lab because they were out rounding. We waited for about 30 minutes before my husband called up to the L&D floor and explained the situation and we were instructed to come on up. I was really glad to have my husband there, who works in the hospital as a pediatrician and, knew all the nurses in L&D and the nursery. We got to the room (the same one I had been in for the version) and I got changed and settled. I hated the nurse. She was high strung and frantic. She kept talking to another nurse the whole time about another patient and was driving me crazy. I could tell my husband felt the same way. When she left the room, his first words were “shift changes in 30 minutes.” I laughed and figured I could survive that long. They started an IV for fluids and hooked me up to the monitors again.

The shift did finally change and I got a fantastic nurse, much to my relief. She was calm and professional and just what I needed. Unfortunately, the surgery was delayed because another woman came in who was in labor and was having her second c-section. So, I pulled out my magazine and my iPod and settled in for a wait. It went rather quickly and the doctor came in. They did an ultrasound to check position one last time. Of course, she hadn’t moved at all. They gave me the beautiful surgical hat and walked me to the OR. My husband said that the time we were separated there was the hardest part of the day.

I got to the OR and onto the operating table. The anesthesiologist did the spinal, which was nothing. I kept reading about how bad that would be and I think getting my flu shot hurt more. I immediately layed down and they draped the curtain. The worst part was that I wasn’t quite numb when they inserted the catheter. Yikes! Luckily, I numbed up quickly and they brought in DH.

From there, everything went really quickly. Before I knew it, the OB was saying, “Got one foot,” pause. “Okay, here’s the other foot.” Pause. “Here come the girl parts.” And then she came out and I heard all the suctioning and pretty soon, she let out a cry. And so did I. The doctor held her up over the curtain, and I don’t care what anyone else says, she was beautiful straight out of the womb! Sophia was born at 9:35am. She was 7 pounds and 9 ounces and 22.5 inches long. Her cord had been wrapped around her shoulder, which was likely why she couldn’t turn head down.

They cleaned her up and DH went over to see her. The pediatrician attending the section said that our daughter looked like him and then yelled over to me, “don’t worry, she’s beautiful.” Everyone laughed. DH brought her over to me and they untied one arm so that I could touch her, which is what I wanted more than anything. I just stroked her head and the tears were falling. I couldn’t believe that she was here and healthy. A couple of pictures were snapped. You could tell that DH was smiling ear to ear, even though he was wearing a surgical mask.

I thought I’d want DH to stay with me for the rest of the surgery, but once I saw him with Sophia, I didn’t want him to leave her side. Everything was going fine, so I sent him with her. He was able to give her the first bath and be with her in her first moments. Once the baby was gone to the nursery, someone turned on some happy music and the whole tone changed. Everyone was happy and relaxed and chatting. I had a really bad pain in my left shoulder, which was more annoying than anything because I couldn’t move. I was trying to massage it with my free hand, but that didn’t work very well. I told the OB that my doctor had told me that he did the best incisions. The other nurses agreed that it was true, and later on, several nurses looked at my incision and said, “Ah, must’ve been Dr. X.” They finished up and wheeled me back to the L&D room. DH was already there. They brought in Sophia in a short time later.

I can’t even begin to describe holding her for the first time. I was just amazed. She was so calm and alert. We stared at each other, just trying to take it all in. I attempted to nurse, with some help, but didn’t have a lot of success. Both of our mothers made it to the hospital soon after and were able to see and hold the baby. We didn’t call them to come until after we felt like we had sufficient time alone with her.

Eventually, they wheeled me to my room on the post partum floor, which was huge! It was hard not being able to move and trying to hold and nurse and take care of the baby as much as I could. DH did almost everything, because I just couldn’t. But I held her and tried to nurse her as often as I could. Since I didn’t go into labor, I don’t think she was getting anything at first, so she just kept getting frustrated. It was the beginning of quite an ordeal and we didn’t nurse successfully until about a week after she was born. Luckily now, she’s doing great.

The first week was really hard. Walking, standing, sitting, and especially coughing and laughing hurt. I really couldn’t do much and I needed lots of help. I’m glad my DH was home with me. After that, it gradually got better. I never had huge amounts of bleeding, but I’m still spotting occasionally 5 weeks later. Otherwise, I feel pretty much back to normal. I get occasional twinges near the incision, especially if I’ve tried to do too much, but that’s about it.

Breastfeeding is hard work and was really rough at the beginning. Since my milk didn’t come in, we had to supplement. We didn’t want to give her a bottle, so we cup fed her formula for about 4 days and I pumped at every feeding. My milk did come in sometime on the second day, but Sophia still wouldn’t latch. So, we kept going through the routine of trying to get her to latch, her refusal, then cup feeding and pumping. It was exhausting. Finally, on the fourth day, in the afternoon, I was sitting with her and tried to get her to latch and she did. Yay! She got progressively better. I’ve had some other minor issues, but in general, she’s been feeding and growing really well.

Being a mom is hard work. I knew that going in, but like many things in life, you can’t really understand it until you experience it. I love that little girl with all my heart and I still marvel at her beautiful face and that we brought her into the world.

Pictures of our Sweet Little Girl

How is she three weeks old already? And what a three weeks it has been. Hopefully, I'll manage to find the time for some more posts soon. She's wonderful, and healthy, and we're so happy. Nothing can prepare you, though, for having a new baby to care for. It is hard work!

My Beautiful Daughter

Our beautiful, perfect little girl was born on Tuesday, October 13th at 9:35am. She weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces and was 22.5 inches long. Here are a few pictures:

Last Bump Pictures - Baby Coming TOMORROW!

15 Weeks
20 Weeks
39 Weeks

So I decided to pull out the shirt I used for my first "bump" pictures so that we could have a fun comparison. The first one is at 15 weeks, the second at 20 weeks and the last one is 39 weeks. Think I've grown a little?

I can't believe I've made it this far and that she's coming tomorrow. I'm still really, really, really nervous about the c-section tomorrow. I still feel like I messed up somehow. I know it's not true, but I just keep thinking that there must have been something I could have done to get my baby girl to turn her head down. I'm extremely disappointed but I know that we have to deliver her in the safest way possible.

But I'm also insanely excited to finally meet our daughter. DH and I spent the weekend going to our favorite restaurants and enjoying each other, knowing it would be our last couple time for awhile. It was really nice. I didn't get much done around the house and I have a long list of things I need to do today, but I think the time together was more important than having the house perfect.

My mom will be coming to stay tonight since DH has to work late and I'll need the company. She'll stay at our house tomorrow until we call her after the birth of our baby. She'll stay at the house and take care of our dog and cat for a couple of days. If things go well, I'll be discharged Thursday and DH will have to go to work on Friday. She'll come back and help me during the day, if that's the case. Of course, as we've learned in the last couple of weeks, we can't really depend on things going as planned.

So, please remember our family in your thoughts and prayers in the coming days. We just can't wait to meet our little girl and become a family of three.

Shower Pictures

My husband's office was kind enough to throw us a shower last week. We got lots of presents and one big group chipped in and really stocked us up on cloth diapers. Apparently, some of the shipments were delayed and I've been getting more adorable diapers and supplies for the whole week since. They were very generous and we are quite grateful!

External Version

Well, baby Sprout has an independent mind and doesn't think much of the rule that babies should come into the world head-first. The version was unsuccessful, so we're on to a scheduled Cesarean.

I went in yesterday around 10:00. I got through the admissions paperwork, which was not nearly as bad as I expected. They got me to a room in labor and delivery and I changed into a hospital gown. They did a quick ultrasound to make sure that the baby was still breech and then hooked me up to the monitors to make sure baby was doing well and I wasn't contracting. I had been having some contractions the night before and a couple that morning, so I was a little concerned that they'd tell me I was in labor and I'd have to have the baby then. I was just paranoid, though. I didn't have any contractions the whole time I was at the hospital and I haven't had any since.

They also started IV fluids after putting me on the monitor. After they determined that baby and mom were doing well, they gave me a shot of terbutaline to relax my uterus. A side effect of this medication is that it makes you feel nervous and jittery. I definitely experienced this, but it wasn't horrible. Then the doctor came in and talked a little more about the procedure.

They got the ultrasound out to figure out the position of the baby. The nurse held the wand over the baby's heart the whole time so that they could keep a close eye on her heartbeat. Then the real fun began. Dr. L. began manipulating the baby. He got her bottom up out of my pelvis and started trying to turn her. She actually turned a bit at first and got everyone's hopes up. It was pretty painful for me, but I was able to breathe through it all okay. My husband stood at the foot of the bed (there was no room at the head) and massaged my feet the whole time, which was a big help. Dr. L. said he tried a little longer than he would normally because she seemed to want to turn, but he got to a point that he just wasn't willing to force it any more, which was fine with everyone. He seemed like he might be even more disappointed than we were. The actual procedure only took about 15 minutes, but it felt like a lot longer!

After it was over, Dr. L. talked to us for a little while about scheduling the c-section and then he had to go to the OR for a delivery. I was monitored for another hour before they took out the IV and let me change back into my clothes. They gave me the discharge paperwork (on which I had to sign twice that I was taking prenatal vitamins) and we left the hospital.

I was definitely a little sore afterwards, but I was also hungry and thirsty, so we stopped and had a nice lunch and went home. I rested most of the afternoon (doctor's orders). I felt pretty wiped out between the stress and a bad cold I've developed. This morning, I woke up even more sore from the procedure. I feel like the whole top of my belly should be black and blue as it feels really bruised.

I can tell that the baby has shifted somewhat and is in a different position, but is nowhere close to head down. Assuming that she doesn't go bottoms up before then, we've scheduled the c-section for Tuesday morning at 7:15. I'm not excited about delivering this way, but I feel like we've done everything we could and I just have to accept and prepare to meet my baby in a different way. As one of my Peace Corps friends (who is a huge natural birth advocate) said, we are so fortunate to live in a place where we have the option of a safe c-section when it is medically indicated.

So, we are so happy that we are going to be parents next week and having an actual date on the calendar is kind of crazy. We're working out details and making a few decisions still and I hold out a little hope that Sprout will decide that seeing the world head first is a good idea, but have accepted that she has a mind of her own. I'm sure this is not the last time she'll disrupt our plans!

38 Weeks and a Breech Baby

So, we went in to my normal 38 week appointment yesterday. The doctor wanted to do an ultrasound to check on the baby's size. Her size is in the normal/average range (7 lbs. 8 ounces was the estimate), but I didn't really even care when she said that because the tech had already dropped the bombshell - the Sprout was breech.

My OB was shocked, too. He started feeling on my belly and said that he swore her bottom felt like a head. And he's been delivering babies for like a zillion years. So, then we had to make some quick decisions. If we wanted to attempt to turn her, we needed to do it soon because I'm already so far along. We decided to go ahead and give it a try, so we have the External Version scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday). I'm really nervous. The doc gives it about a 50/50 chance of working. In the meantime, I'm trying to talk her into turning on her own, but so far, she's being stubborn.

If the version doesn't work, I'll schedule a cesarean section for Monday. That's so soon! He really doesn't want me to go into labor, because of the way the cord is placed. He said that it could cause problems if my water broke and she settled on top of it. I really, really, really do not want a c-section, but I guess it's pretty much out of my control at this point. I'm sure it's not the last time Sprout will have plans of her own.

I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the whole thing. I did all the classes and I know about as much as I can know about c-sections, I think, but I just really thought I'd have a more stereotypical birth experience. I know that could still happen, but I'm trying to prepare myself. We decided to go into the version thinking it wasn't going to work so that we could be pleasantly surprised if it does.

DH is worried about his work schedule. His vacation isn't scheduled to start until Friday of next week, so it should be interesting. He found someone to cover him for the version tomorrow, but next week is going to take some real effort. I know that his coworkers will do it, but he's just one of those people that always helps everyone else but hates to ask for help himself. There might be some even longer waits at the pediatrician's office next week, if they're short a doctor!

We're supposed to call L&D first thing tomorrow morning to make sure they're not up to their ears in laboring mommies. If there's space, I'll go in early, get settled. They'll put me on monitors for awhile and give me an IV and terbutaline to relax the muscles. Then, my OB will attempt to turn her. He said that he wouldn't push too hard, that in his experience, either the baby wants to turn or doesn't. Then, whether it works or not, I'll be monitored for another half hour or so and then I'll pack up and go home. If it works, I'll wait for labor to start. If it doesn't, we'll officially schedule the cesarean for Monday.

So think upside-down thoughts for me tomorrow!