I've been wanting to document Emma's birth story since day 1 and I'm finally getting around to it. I'm going to do my best to remember all 27 hours of fun! Okay, they weren't all fun. :-)
On Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010, Ryan and I went to my 39 week appointment. We had an ultrasound scheduled at 3:00 pm to check on Emma's size. I had an ultrasound at about 32 weeks to check on the possibility of a mature placenta but all turned out okay, except for the fact that baby girl was measuring quite large for her gestational age! Fast forward to 39 weeks and Miss Emma was measuring about 8 1/2 lbs on the ultrasound scan. That's a large baby for little old me! So, I go into the exam room to meet with the doctor. Dr. Clark walks in the room and asks us if we're ready to have a baby?! What?! Seriously?! I was sitting there in complete shock and really didn't think she meant that night! She proceeded to check my cervix and found I was dialated to about 3 cm. Yay for that! I hadn't really had any contractions, just some cramping here and there over the last couple of weeks. I had been just 2 cm the week before. Holy cow...we're going to have a baby tonight (or at least get the process started!)! Dr. Clark asked us to head over to the hospital to get monitored for a little while and they'd make the final decision in a few hours on whether to induce me or not. Apparently my blood pressure was also high and had been for over a month. I had been put on modified bed rest at about 36 weeks due to mild pre-eclampsia. So, Ryan and I headed home to grab my hospital bag. Silly me hadn't finshed packing yet! After quickly grabbing everything we needed, we headed over to McDonalds to grab a quick meal since I had hardly eaten all day. I had chicken nuggets and thoroughly enjoyed my last meal before baby!
We finally arrived at the hospital at 6:30 pm and headed up to L&D. Dr. Little was on. They set me up in a triage room to have my bp monitored for couple of hours. At about 9 pm, they decided to admit me because my bp was still high. I was about 3 1/2 cm dialated at this point and having some contractions. I later found out that Dr. Clark had stripped my membranes to help get things moving along, thus the contractions. It finally made sense why it hurt quite a bit when she checked my cervix earlier!
Jessica and Steve came by the hospital at about 10:30 pm to keep Ryan and I company for a while. It was nice to have friends there since my parents weren't planning on leaving PA until 3 the next morning. I was starting to get hungry again so Steve headed over to Wendy's to grab us all some food. I had quite the overload of fast food that night!
Dr. Little started me on IV fluids and pitocin at about 12:15 am to start the induction process. I was still only dialated to 3 1/2 cm. I was having a few small contractions but nothing that was causing me pain. At about 3 am, I started having stronger contractions. They say pitocin causes more painful contractions. I still wasn't in a lot of pain but I was definitely starting to get more uncomfortable. Ryan and I tried to get some sleep but it wasn't easy! The IV fluids made me have to go to the bathroom constantly and every time I had to get up, Ryan had to unhook my fetal monitor and bp monitor and help me get to the bathroom. It's not easy lugging around an IV drip! By about 6:30 am, my contractions were getting stronger. Dr. Gorsuch started her shift shortly after and ok'd me to get the epidural. Though I was only 4 cm by this point, Dr. G let me have the epidural because pitocin makes contractions stronger than during natural labor. I got the epidural at 8:45 am. The anethesiologist became my best friend! He did a fantastic job. Getting the epidural did hurt but the pain was shortlived. Within about 15 minutes, I was feeling really great. No more pain! It was amazing. The only side effect I had from the epidural was some itchiness all over but that didn't last too long. I was obviously numb from the waist down so I had to have a catheter inserted. It wasn't bad at all because my wonderful nurse waited until I was numb before inserting it. After having to pee constantly for 9 months, it was a huge relief to not have the urge to go!
My parents arrived around noon. It was so good to see them! I hadn't seen my family since August and was thrilled they were able to make it for Emma's birth. Dr. G continued to check on me throughout the day. My cervix showed no change all day. I stayed at 4 cm. Despite increasing the pitocin to the highest amount they give, my uterus failed to contract after 4 cm. At 8:30 pm, Dr. G made the call to go ahead with a c-section because of this. This was a lot for me to take in. I had planned on a normal, vaginal delivery. I had not really read up on c-sections and didn't know too much of what to expect during and after the surgery.
I was wheeled into the OR at about 8:50 pm. The room was much smaller than I thought it would be, and there were a ton of people in there! This wasn't exactly a moment where I wanted a ton of strangers staring down at me but it's all part of the process. It was quite intimidating. I was scared, not knowing if I'd actually come out of the surgery. I've always had this fear of waking up during surgery or not coming out at all. During a normal c-section, they keep you awake. This made the whole situation that much more scary. The dr checked to see if I could feel anything before she started cutting, and yes, with my luck, I could feel her running something pointy across both hips. This scared me, and they had to increase my epidural meds. I was so numb (a good thing!) and felt like I couldn't breathe because of the epidural being so close to my lungs. Getting through the surgery was difficult for me. Along with my breathing issues, all I wanted to do was sleep.
The dr finally started the surgery after 9:00 pm. I swore I could feel the motion of her cutting into me, though I think now it was just my imagination. I couldn't feel any pain but I did feel a lot of pressure and tugging when they pulled Emma out. She was born at 9:21 pm on Wednesday, November 24th (Thanksgiving eve). The dr kept making comments about how big she was! Though Emma was head down, she wasn't in a good position for a normal vaginal delivery so I would have ended up with a c-section even if I had progressed normally on my own.
Hearing Emma cry for the first time was the most incredible sound! The first thing I thought, as tears ran down my face, was "Wow, this little girl has a set of lungs on her!" Emma was whisked away so fast, I didn't get a chance to see her for a while. The nurses were busy cleaning her up and weighing her. She was finally handed to Ryan while I was being stiched up. I wasn't feeling well during the surgery so I didn't get a chance to really stare at her until I got out of recovery. Recovery was not fun. Ryan was sitting there with a screaming baby. I couldn't see them but could hear her loud and clear! I was shaking uncontrollably from the epidural and still felt like I couldn't breathe. Within about 15 minutes, they brought Emma over so I could breastfeed. I was still pretty out of it so the nurse had to help me but we got through it!
Afterwards, I was wheeled back into my room. My parents and Jess were there waiting. I still wasn't feeling great but much better than during the surgery. I spent the next couple of hours getting to know my little girl! I was still in awe that I had just delivered a baby! Life had just changed for Ryan and I in so many ways. We felt so incredibly blessed to have created such a little miracle. There is so much more I could write but I'll just leave with a bit more. We spent Thanksgiving day in the hospital! I don't recommend it. :-) It's defintiely not home cooking! I recovered pretty well over the first few days. Once the catheter was removed and the epidural was gone, I was able to get up and slowly walk around. I was on percocet and ibuprofen for about 2 weeks after delivery. I was in pain but it was manageable with meds. We were discharged on Saturday, November 27...Emma's actual due date. It was a beautiful day to bring home a baby!
That's the story of Emma's birth! I'm sure there's a ton that I'm missing but I wrote enough! It was a tough experience but well worth it! I think I'll wait a few years though before we start thinking about baby number 2!
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