K’s Birth Story

Well guys, we did it again. We had another baby. A pandemic baby. More on that later. 

The Pregnancy

My gut reaction is to say that this pregnancy was easy, because looking back it felt easy. But it wasn’t without its challenges. Namely, gestational diabetes and once again gestational hypertension. Of course “morning” sickness too. But compared to the anxiety I had my last pregnancy? This one felt easy. With the gestational diabetes I had the luxury of pricking my finger to check my glucose levels four times a day, ditching all things carbohydrates, and injecting myself with something like 36 units of insulin each night before bed. With the gestational hypertension, I bought myself weekly biophyisical’s, NST’s, another 37 week induction. I told you, easy.

I was ready to be induced again. Not because I wanted the pregnancy to end, but because I knew what to expect with an induction. I knew the time, place, and process. I am a worrier, so knowing these things are incredibly helpful for my anxiety and dark Google spirals. 

The Labor

We checked in to the birth center at 7:30AM. Our nurse checked me and said I was at one and a half, mayyyybe two centimeters dilated. She also said my cervix was thick and high, so we talked about my options for cervical ripening. Now, I didn’t have any ripening for my first induction, so I was very anxious about doing that. And by anxious I mean pissed. I thought for sure I would be farther along with this pregnancy because it was my second and I had been having contractions for a while already. The nurse apparently did not agree. 

While we waited for the OB/GYN to come talk to me about ripening, our nurse gets me hooked up to the baby monitor. Unfortunately she had no such luck getting her on the monitor so brings in another nurse to give it a shot. She has better luck than our first, but they opt to go with the wireless monitor anyways. I’m here to tell you that if you have the option of the wireless monitor or the regular monitor, go with the wireless monitor!! It is so much more comfortable and just means you have less cords attached to you. The wireless monitor made it much easier to get up and walk around, and move around in the bed. That’s my pitch for the day. 

The OB/GYN comes to check on me and tells me she thinks I’m actually three centimeters, 60% effaced, and high. She recommends we go straight to pitocin and I thank the Lord for hearing my whining prayers. We talk about epidural and she tells me to just make sure I get it before she breaks my water in four hours. 

So the pitocin starts at about 10:15AM and is increased about every 45 minutes. At about 12:45PM my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart but bearable. I found myself really conflicted about what to do with the epidural because at that point I didn’t think I needed one, and felt like I could hold out a bit longer. But I also didn’t want to delay her breaking my waters. I tell my nurse about my concerns and she talks to the doctor who is basically like let me know when you want an epidural and we’ll break it after that. No pressure. 

1:50PM came around and the contractions were less bearable. I wrote in my notes “I think this is where I lose it”. The nurse checks me again at 2PM and I’m four centimeters, 70% effaced. We talk about an epidural again and I tell her I can hold off. Ryan is telling me just to get it because I know I want it, but I want to hold off as long as I can because it seemed to slow things a little bit during my last delivery. The contractions are not great but I can breathe through them a bit better if I’m standing. The problem is that I can’t stand all day long. 

At 3:30PM the contractions have officially hit my back and it’s difficult to breath through them. I  make the decision to order lunch, eat, and then get the epidural. My last meal, if you will. I remember standing over the table, swinging my hips back and forth, eating a pita sandwich. Waiting until I was able to have a last meal was a great decision, but I was in a lot of pain. 

The anesthesiologist rolls in at 5PM and he is all business. He seems super confident and like this is no big deal, which I know it isn’t, but hello it is to me because I’m sitting here contracting and have to hold in place for a certain amount of time and also you’re putting a catheter in my spine. It’s pretty uneventful except me continually telling everyone I was anxious and I didn’t like it. The CRNA came in towards the end and was much more comforting and talked through things a bit more. 

Last time the epidural wore off really quickly and stopped working. This time, I am happy to report that it worked. Although it did make me incredibly itchy just like last time. Like, unbearably itchy. Like, do I prefer contractions or for my whole body to itch? Close call. 

At 6:20PM my waters are broken. At this time I was four and a half or five centimeters dilated, super soft paper thin cervix, and baby came down a little but not a lot from earlier. My blood pressure was checked very regularly and at this time my BP was in the 160’s. The OB was there and said if it happened again in 15 minutes they’d have to diagnose me with severe preeclampsia. In 15 minutes it was 148/80 something which was apparently fine .

At 7:57PM I wrote in my notes “for about the past hour or so baby has had decelerations, so they just keep repositioning me”. The new nurse started setting up all the delivery stuff, including the baby warmer. I laughed and asked her if we would be having a baby that soon and she said “for sure by midnight”. This check in with the nurse, at 7:57PM was also when I told her I was feeling more stuff towards my lower abdomen/pelvic area. She asked me if it was pain or pressure and I just kind of shrugged and told her I didn’t know. It was hard to tell. 

The Birth

At 7:59PM I write in my notes “IT’S PRESSURE” and immediately yell at Ryan to get the nurse. He was in the bathroom, and it happened so quickly and was so intense that I got very upset with him for taking the time to wash his hands. This is where I start to black out a little bit. 

I immediately start crying/moaning/shouting in pain. I don’t know if Ryan got the nurse or she just heard me, but I think he called her on the phone. She came in immediately and another nurse quickly followed her and I heard our nurse tell her to get the doctor. At this point I am hanging on for dear life to the bedrail crying “it’s pressure! it’s pressure! I need to push!” The nurse is urging me to hold on for the doctor and I’m telling her again that I need to push. I’m sobbing and not breathing so she keeps telling me I need to take deep breaths for the baby – this is the only thing that helped me, knowing I needed to breath for the baby. I still screamed and cried but at least I was taking deep breaths in between. 

The doctor came in very quickly, but everyone kept telling me still not to push because she needed to put on her gloves. Joke is on them because at this point my body was basically pushing the baby out for me. As soon as the bottom of the bed broke off and they said I could push, I did. And I pushed maybe two times. 

K was born at 8:05PM. 

(Reminder that I wrote in my notes at 7:59PM that it was pressure.)

The After

It happened so quickly, and was so intense that it took me the entire hospital stay to wrap my head around what just happened. I couldn’t stop telling everyone “this happened so quick. That was so fast.” My first was also a quick delivery, with just 1-2 pushes too. But because the labor seemed rather quick too, it was just all a little overwhelming. 

She was 7lb 7oz, so just a little smaller than her sister. I was super concerned about her potentially needing time in NICU because of the gestational diabetes and being born a little early – 37 weeks isn’t too early, but paired with the gestational diabetes could potentially make her more likely to have low blood sugar – but she didn’t. Her blood sugars were a bit up and down for a while, but eventually evened out after getting some formula and a gel. She was also just a little jaundiced, but not enough that it required phototherapy like our first. 

Anyways. She’s here now, and it’s wild. No one prepares you to have a baby during a pandemic. She’s a month old and I love her more than I thought I could or would. After all, how could I love anything as much as I loved my first daughter? Turns out it is possible. 

xxoo,

Samm