Gabs and Giggles: September 2018

It’s funny how different birth stories can be. I mean, I knew all along Everly and Landon would have their own stories but just how different their entrance into the world was, shows me how different their personalities will be.

For weeks they had been keeping an eye on me and the Nugget. Numerous appointments, some regularly scheduled and others added bonuses, left me going to the hospital 2-3 times a week. Baby girl showed minimal growth from week 34 on and always measured quite small. So the end of pregnancy turned into weekly ultrasounds to make sure the placental arteries were functioning properly and she was getting the nutrients she needed, along with 2 non-stress tests a week. They never said it until I was admitted to the hospital for my scheduled induction but the Nugget was considered IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction) and because of that; they wanted to induce at 39 weeks.

The days leading up to her induction were nerve-wrecking. I’m not sure what’s easier to deal with, not knowing when your baby is coming and looking for any sign of labor or the anxiety of knowing when they’re making their debut and worrying about the side effects induction may have. So on August 1, I hugged my first baby extra tight and made his Papa take him to school, only to fall apart in a puddle of tears as soon as the door closed. It was such a surreal feeling, knowing that was the last time he’d be the only little love in my life. A few hours later we had a nice lunch with my parents and around 3pm we loaded up the car and headed to the hospital to do the damn thing!

My sweet (ahem feisty as hell) little girl came into this world fast and furious. When it was time to make her debut, she made it known that she was ready to face the world. And for my own personal record, here’s a little bit about her delivery.

Induction is a big ol waiting game. I thought I’d go in and they’d be jabbing me with a needle for an IV and loading me up with pitocin (which I was honestly terrified of) within an hour of entering the hospital. I was WRONG! With the help of a midwife, we decided to give Cytotec a chance to work it’s magic, a small pill that helps thin the cervix and get the ball rolling. For some women it works great and for others it has minimal effects. But it was a chance to stay away from pitocin for a bit so I was all for it. I got my first 1/2 pill around 6:30pm, at that point I was having some contractions on the monitor but nothing I could really feel. That would allllll change in a few short hours. Around 11:45 I received dose numero two. Contractions starts picking up, actually quite rapidly but not strong enough to do a whole lot. I felt them and there was no relief as they were coming in almost every minute so they gave me a bolus of fluid to help slow them down until they were powerful enough to get the job done. And then we continued waiting. Around 3am the midwife came in to check things out- 3cm dilated and showing great signs of progression. She gave me 2 options:
1. Start pitocin now.
2. Wait 2 hours and check back to see how I’m doing and potentially start pitocin then.
Again, the fear of pitocin led to an easy decision- option 2. I was really set on attempting to deliver without an epidural but in my head I had already predetermined I wouldn’t be able to accomplish that if pitocin was given. And now is where the real fun begins....

Within 45 minutes of checking me and discussing options, the contractions decided to ramp up and make it known that labor was definitely here. Just over an hour later the contractions were killer. And my INCREDIBLE nurse, April, who I will always remember and appreciate, immediately called the midwife to come back in and check things out. She was quite surprised when she realized I went from 3cm to 7cm dilated. About 15ish minutes later she checked again and I was 8cm dilated. She takes off her gloves and tells me she’s going to get supplies and everything in order because this baby was making her way out real soon. She turned around and I yelled for her and said “she’s coming out right now” and her response, with her back still turned was “I just checked you and you’re at 8. I know you’re feeling a lot of pressure but hang in there.” And I quickly told her SHE’S COMING RIGHT NOW!!! and so to appease me she said “let me get some gloves on and I’ll check you again”...

Less than a minute later, before my sweet midwife could get any gloves on, before my nurse even knew what was going on, before Dennis even turned back around....in about 1.5 pushes, I was catching my little Nugget on the bed. She was here in all her glory and everyone in the room was wondering what in the hell just happened 😂 As I said before, fast and furious! She was tiny and perfect and made it known that she was coming on her terms, not someone else’s.

After that, it got chaotic and scary and completely overwhelming. They give you 30 minutes to deliver the placenta, after that your risk of infection increases. I pushed and pushed but absolutely nothing was happening and so they called the OB on call to try a manual removal. If you’re confused as to what that entails, let me give you a wonderful visual...have you ever seen a farmer or vet elbow deep in a cow....yep it’s about the same. It was by far the most horrendous pain I have ever experienced, far worse than labor. And sans an epidural, because I managed to deliver without one. I have never screamed so loud and I probably terrified the other Mamas on the floor waiting to deliver. After a few attempts, some extensive blood loss, and only removing a partial piece they were forced to seek other options and head to the OR. It was a whirlwind experience and pretty scary but nothing could prepare me for what would happen in the OR just minutes before they knocked my ass out. I hysterically said goodbye to Dennis, my Mama, and my baby girl and they wheeled me away. In the OR they’re trying to explain what’s going on with many people swarming around. They’re talking about a partial hysterectomy if things don’t go according to plan, asking about advanced directives, do I want to be resuscitated, etc. As they’re transferring me from the bed to the operating table I start gushing blood (I lost about 2.5L total) and I hear the anesthesiologist say “we don’t have time for an epidural, strap her down now, I’m intubating.” Talk about an absolutely TERRIFYING feeling.

Thankfully they were able to avoid any type of surgery and placed a Bakri balloon with 500ml of fluid to give my uterus something to contract on to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, the size of the balloon and my petite frame caused a substantial amount of pain. From 6:15am when they placed the balloon until 8:30pm when it was removed I continued to have contractions. So essentially it was like I was still in labor. No epidural in place, just a whole lot of misery. I cried because it hurt. I cried because I could barely function and hold my baby, let alone feed and love on her. I cried because this was a completely different experience than Landon’s birth and I felt robbed of the special time I didn’t have with her. They gave me pain medicine around the clock but nothing helped the complete and utter exhaustion and discomfort I felt.

So to say Everly’s birth was an EXPERIENCE is an understatement. It was intense and scary and completely overwhelming BUT we both came out of it healthy and for that, I feel blessed.

But I can assure you, homegirl will be hearing stories about this for the rest of her life.