Ask The Pros
Pregnancy Photos
Pregnancy Calendar
Birth Plans
Birth Stories
Bookstore
Boy or Girl
Cesareans
Chat Room
Complications
Doulas
Educators
Episiotomy
FAQs
Feeding Baby
Fertility
Finding a Class
Health
Interactive
Labor
Message Board
Monitoring
Newborns
Newsletter
Postcards
Postpartum
Pregnancy
Reviews/Awards
Search
VBAC
Week by Week
Who We Are

Emma's Birth

Emma was due on December 24. At my doctor's appointment the week before her due date, my doctor became concerned that she may be growing so large that there may not be enough amniotic fluid. The day before her due date we went for another ultrasound and found out everything was a-o.k. The ultrasound technician estimated that Emma's weight was about 7.5 pounds. In a weird way I was disappointed that he didn't want me to be induced immediately. It hadn't been an easy pregnancy, and for the last month everyone (and I do mean everyone)had been telling me how huge I was, that I would go any day, etc. etc.!

Needless to say Christmas came and went, and still no baby. The day after Christmas I went back to the doctor only to be told that my cervix hadn't even thinned yet! I was even more disappointed than I had been a few days before. He told me to come back in a week, and I thought that I surely wouldn't have to wait that long.

New Year's came and went, and I was back in his office. By this time I was really swollen and extremely hormonal! After giving the usual urine sample and having my blood pressure checked I was told that I was experiencing preeclampsia. My doctor decided to induce me yet that day! My husband and I were on cloud nine, especially when the doctor told me I was about 1 centimeter dilated. Although I was thrilled to finally be getting underway, I was pretty apprehensive about the induction because I'd heard horror stories from others.

Two hours later, at 5 p.m. on Thursday, we checked into the hospital. At 6 p.m., I was hooked up to the fetal monitor and given Prostiglandin gel while flat on my back for two hours. After those two hours, I was told I was free to move about, and try to get the contractions going. My doctor said he'd come back at midnight to check my progress, and either give me another Prostiglandin treatment, or let labor progress if things were really happening.

Contractions started coming regularly and fairly strongly by about 11 p.m. When our doctor came in he decided to let my labor progress on its own. He advised me to sleep when I could, and walk when I couldn't. That's just what I did, and at 2 a.m. on Fridy my membranes ruptured. I woke up our nurse, and she and I walked the halls till 4 a.m. I then woke my husband up (he'd dozed off in the meantime)and we walked the halls till 7:30 a.m., when I sent him home to eat some breakfast.

I thought my contractions were becoming less regular, so I kept moving around to try to keep them going. I went to the shower about 8a.m., and my husband returned and helped out by rubbing my back. At 9 a.m. our nurse came to check my progress, and I was only 2 centimeters!! I felt as if the world hated me at that point. Our doctor came at 9:30 and ordered Pitocin, and that was exactly what I'd been trying so hard to avoid. I was hooked up to the fetal monitor and had an intra-uterine monitor inserted as well. I was told that I would have to remain in bed the rest of my labor.

Within half an hour the contractions became very strong and about 2 minutes apart. The nurses and doctor had warned me that they would be much more painful than my previous contractions had been. I labored without medication for about three hours before the doctor gave me Fentynl at 1 p.m. It helped me to relax between the contractions (I even fell asleep between contractions)and regain some strength I had lost. It did not take any pain away, but made it more bearable. It was also during this time that an internal monitor was placed on my daughter's head, I was given an IV antibiotic (it had almost been 12 hours since my membranes ruptured), and I was placed on an automatic blood pressure cuff.

At 2 p.m. our doctor returned to check my progress, and I was stalled out at 6 centimeters. I had been at 6 centimeters since about 11 a.m.! I was horrified, and could hear the doctor, nurses, and my husband discussing the possibility of a C-section if I hadn't made significant progress in the next 2 hours. When the doctor returned at 3:30 p.m., I was ready for the announcement that we were going to have a C-section. Instead, I was finally rewarded with the news of progress--even if it was only 1 more centimeter. My doctor gave me more Pitocin, and said he'd return in about an hour. Our doctor had no more than walked out the door and down the hall when I looked at our nurse and said emphatically, "I need to push!" She thought I was kidding. When she checked my progress, I had dilated 2 1/2 centimeters just that quickly! I was at 9 1/2 centimeters--finally.

Our doctor came and checked me and told me to try not to push until I was fully dilated. He went to check another patient in the meantime, and the nurses started getting ready for the delivery. My husband and I were excited and thrilled to finally be getting underway.

By 4 p.m. the nurses told me to go ahead and push with each contraction. With each push I was certain that this must be the big one. I pushed with the back of the bed all the way up, and with my legs pulled up to my chest. A nurse and my husband held my thighs while I pushed and rested. I had tremendous rectal pressure, but not any pain really.

Our doctor returned and I still kept pushing. He finally palpated my abdomen, and all of us realized that I had not urinated all day!! It was too late to get up to use the bathroom, and I couldn't go in the bedpan. The doctor inserted a catheter and emptied my very full bladder. At 5 p.m. I finally asked the doctor if this baby was ever coming, and he said that the head was not clearing the pubic bone. I kept pushing, and finally, at 5:45 p.m. on Friday Emma Noelle entered this world kicking and screaming. It had been almost 24 hours since the doctor had started my labor. My husband and I were thrilled beyond words, and still continue to marvel at the miracle that is our daughter.

My husband was wonderful during the entire time. He held my hand, rubbed my back, talked softly to me, fed me ice chips, and even held one of my legs while I pushed. He read the contractions on the monitor to me, and told me when I was at the peak of each one. He held our daughter right after she was placed on my chest, and the three of us bonded. It made me cry at the time, and I still do when I think about it.

Our story doesn't quite end there. After Emma was placed on the warming table, the doctor asked me to push to expel the placenta. I pushed, and nothing happened. We tried this about 10 times, and still nothing happened. I looked at our nurse and realized she was checking the blood pressure cuff with a frightening look on her face. I then felt like I would faint. They lowered the head of the bed, and I remember my doctor ordering Demerol and some other drug which, ironically enough,is to make you forget what happens...and I can't remember the name of it--I guess it really works! When I woke up, I felt like I couldn't really talk, and wanted my socks taken off. (I don't know why, but socks were my biggest concern!) The doctor told me I was having trouble speaking because the Demerol had doped me up. Evidently I had retained my placenta, and then began to hemmorhage. They had to remove my placenta, much like a D & C.

I was returned to my original room where my husband was waiting with our daughter. I was shocked to see that the clock on the wall read 7:30 p.m.! I had lost almost an hour and one half with our daugher! It was then that I was allowed to breast feed her for the first time, and she latched on right away. The three of us stayed together until 11 p.m. that night, even though I was exhausted.

When my husband left, the nurses came to get me up to go to the bathroom. Because I had lost so much blood, I passed out when I got off the bed. Again, I was given a bedpan, and again, I had to have a catheter to empty my bladder. (If you've never had a catheter inserted, consider yourself lucky!)

We have all recovered nicely since that time. My husband and I still marvel at Emma as she grows and changes day by day. Despite the difficult delivery, I am still in awe of childbirth and look forward to the next one.