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Week by Week

Kayleigh Downing

Tuesday morning, the 30th of September, I went to the hospital by myself for my first prostaglandin gel application. I was monitored for 15 minutes, then checked. I was still 1cm, 50%, soft and -2. I'd been hanging there for nearly three weeks.

Now, last time I got the gel with my son, they applied it with what looked like a baby medicine dropper; it had a rounded tip and was fairly short. This time, the nurse used a syringe with a small tube attached to the end. She reached up with her fingers and the tube and actually placed the gel right on the cervix. It hurt quite a bit. They monitored me for another half hour, then told me to go home and come back at noon.

While I was driving myself home, I started to feel really crampy. Not exactly the best feeling when you're trying to be a safe driver! When I got home, I tried to help get the bedroom ready for the baby, but felt too awful. Todd got about halfway done when it was time to pick up Tyler from preschool. We got him, grabbed some fast food, then got to the hospital for my noon check.

The nurse monitored me and said I was contracting too much for a second gel application. She was a little concerned that the baby's heartrate would drop a little bit during a few contractions, but after talking to the doctor and noticing that she was otherwise reactive, they figured that was ok. It wasn't dropping very far or for very long. The contractions were not very strong, but were about 3 minutes apart. She told me to go home and come back in at 4.

Since I had gotten maybe two hours of sleep the night before, I figured I'd spend what little time I had sleeping. I got in a fitful hour, then went back to the hospital. The contractions hadn't slowed down, and they were much stronger. I was having a really hard time sitting still and was breathing through most of the pain.

The nurse put me back on the monitor and checked me again. I was 4cm, but still high and 50%. She told me to go home and come back for a check at 7, but I told her I didn't think that would be a good idea. We had already called my MIL and SIL to come and take our son, but they were stuck in traffic and hadn't arrived yet.

I wandered around the hospital floor with Tyler, who was helping me to breathe in his own three year old way - he would speed up his breathing until he was panting like a puppydog, then he'd run up to the nurses station and pant at them! They thought this was so funny. If I had been in better shape, I would have laughed, myself. When the contractions started to get really bad, Todd called a friend of his who worked downtown to come keep an eye on Tyler while we were waiting for family to show. I started to break down right about then, only about 1/2 hour after the nurse had told me to go home. The nurses were already on it, though, and were ready to give me a room.

They gave me the room with the nice view, but I was in no mood to enjoy it. Besides, the low clouds blocked most of it anyway and it was getting dark. They checked me, and I was already 7cm. The minute I walked into the room I told them I wanted an epidural started "yesterday", but the anesthesiologist was backed up and I was third on the list! Ack! They called the doctor and told him to get there asap. Everything started happening really fast after that. My friend Renee showed up to help, and MIL and her hubby, and SIL and her baby showed up and took Tyler to dinner, and my hubby's friend took off before anyone could thank him for watching Tyler. I was in a lot of pain and not enjoying anything at all until I got my epidural. He only took about 15 minutes to get there I think, but it seemed like forever. After the epi took effect, I was able to get on with things.

I started to feel some pressure about 1/2 hour later, and told the nurse and doctor I was thinking about getting ready to push. They checked me and decided that there was just a little lip of cervix left that was very soft, so if I bore down a couple of times they would be able to push the lip out of the way and get on with the real pushing.

I only pushed for about 1 1/2 hours. Most of the pushing took place with my feet on the sides of the birthing bar, holding on to Renee and Todd's hands. At one point, I felt the need to switch positions, so I turned on to my hands and knees to push. It got the pressure off the space between my vagina and my rectum, and I think this helped in the end, because I didn't tear so badly. But I turned back onto my back and grabbed my knees for the last part. Renee helped by holding my shoulders up, and Todd gave me updates on what was happening and what he could see.

When Kayleigh came out, Todd said "You have a little girl!" The doctor said "Oh no you don't!" I was sure he meant she wasn't a girl, and I sat up as best I could and said "WHAT?!?!" The doctor looked up at me fast and said "Oh, I'm sorry, I mean she's not little! She IS a girl!" Kayleigh Grace came into the world looking right at me! :)

8 lbs, 13 oz, 21 inches long, 14 1/2 inch head. Born at 8:24pm on the 30th of September - almost 42 weeks on the nose. Apgars were 9 and 9. She nurses like a champ and has a good, strong suck. She's pretty yellow right now, but her bili level is only around 15, so the doctor isn't ready to stick her on lights just yet. He's hoping my breastfeeding will clear it up, and it seems to be. She's less yellow now than she was this morning (the 3rd). She feeds for a good 20 minutes every 2 hours now. I had forgotten how much starting breastfeeding hurts though. Can't wait until my breasts get used to it again.

The tubal ligation didn't happen until the afternoon of the day after the birth. I was in a lot of pain, and they had to give my 5 shots of demerol to make me comfortable. I'm on percocet and ibuprofen now, and that keeps the pain away. It hurts most when my uterus is actively contracting (like during feedings). I'm very glad it was done right away, though. I like getting all the painful stuff out of the way all at once. mailto:starbug@blarg.net http://www.blarg.net/~starbug