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

Lauren's Birth

Stats: Lauren Marie Kock, born 2/1/96 at 5:41 am. Weight 5 lbs 7 oz, length 18.5 inches.

Well folks, since it was a looooong labor, this is going to be long too!

I was admitted at noon on Tuesday, 1/30. They did an ultrasound and determined that baby just wasn't going to be growing anymore, because of my high blood pressure. I was put on a monitor, and found that I was having some quite strong, regular contractions already. I felt a tightness, but no pain. Around 6:00 they gave me a dose of gel. I had found at my exam Monday that internal exams were *very* painful, and that certainly continued to be true throughout this ordeal!

I was at 0% dilation and effacement when admitted, so we had a long way to go. The gel seemed to be working very well, so though they had planned on giving me three doses, I only got one. Continued to be monitored and continued strong, painless contractions throughout the night. Felt very well, hungry, and bored out of my skull. Hubby was great about keeping me company though! The room had a chair that folded into a bed for him to spend the night.

Next morning, Wed., at 5 am they moved me into an LDR room. Was put on a pitocin IV, which hurt a lot going in and continued to be sore throughout! Now I could only get out of bed to go to the bathroom, which was a major drag because I was sooo bored and had to lug the IV pole with me, unplug the monitor cords. First the upped the pitocin level every half hour, and I was getting strong contractions but if I lay on my side, I didn't even feel them. If I sat up or lay on my back, I felt them but they didn't hurt. This was true for much of my labor. Then they started upping the pit level every 20 min, then 15 min...all the way up to the maximum dosage. Waited, waited...

Was checked for dilation. 1 cm...hours later, 1 1/2 cm...hours later 2 cm... They did let me sit up for a while in a rocking chair, but then they decided that my blood pressure was too high and made me lay down again. At 4 pm I was half asleep when I heard a "pop" and my water *gushed* out. It was so weird! Told the nurses, and they checked and I was still only 2 cm. They didn't tell me, but hubby found out that I had till 4 the next day to dilate all the way and deliver or else I'd get a c-section. Was frightened at that prospect!

The contractions got a bit painful, then a bit more painful, and they talked me into taking some Stadol, 1/2 in the IV and 1/2 in the hip. First dose worked great, 2nd dose did hardly nothing. Was then suffering a bit, but it was bearable. A bit later the pain got *horrible!!!* I was against an epidural at first, and they came in and tried to talk me into it but by that point I just wanted them to stop trying to talk me into it and GIVE IT TO ME! I was nearly delirious from the pain. It got pretty hairy there for a bit, but after the epidural it was smooth sailing, at least for a few hours. (Yes, I'm one who could've kissed my anesthesiast). It was marvelous! We had no idea how long the pain would last, and it certainly wasn't going to get any easier! And I freely admit I was very lucky that my epidural worked as well as it did, a lot of women have problems with them. I made it through most of the labor without any medication at all, which surprised most of the attendants. I'm pretty sure that if I weren't induced and the labor was quicker, I'd probably have a good chance of making it through the whole thing without med. Maybe next time! :-) It was a pain being numb and not being able to move my legs, but well worth the trade off! ("Could you take this for another 10 hours", they said!)

Several hours later, the epidural was starting to wear off and it hurt! They gave me another dose, which only seemed to go to one leg. But I dealt with it, feeling so wretched that I didn't even want to tell them so they could simply turn me over. I just shifted a bit and waited, hoping it would kick in elsewhere. They measured me and I was *only 3 cm!* I was starting to get upset, discouraged, and kinda crazy! But still I somehow managed to doze off. They woke me up I don't know how long after to check me again, and said the most wonderful words to me...

"Okay, you're done! It's time to push!" HOORAY!

The OB came in, and they set up the room for delivery. They gave me another dose of epidural. I was ecstatic. Problem was, I started *shaking* from the epidural so hard I could hardly breathe right! They gave me an oxygen mask but I think it was more for the baby than for me. I was shaking so hard it was tough to hold it to my face between pushes. Another problem was that right then I started puking. It's very hard, let me tell you, to throw up when your stomach muscles are numb! But I managed.

They said I was pushing very well despite the epidural. Hubby helped hold my leg up, and kept wiping my face with this washcloth and telling me to breathe when I held my breath at the wrong time and generally driving me crazy! But I was glad of it even so, just for the support and encouragement. I think I pushed through maybe 10-12 contractions, three to four pushes each, and she was born! They asked me if I wanted to watch, but I was shaking so bad and didn't have my glasses on anyway I said no, hell no. She had her hand up around her neck, and they thought at first it was her cord. She started crying as soon as her head came out, and the doctor said "why are you crying already? Your lungs haven't been born yet! And she popped out, and they put her on my stomach and I cried! Hubby cut the cord and beamed down at me. The placenta came out easily, and I hardly tore at all. No episiotomy, just a few stitches. This was 5:41 am, Thursday, 2/1.

They took her to be examined and I tried very hard to stop shaking. It took a while! She was having a little trouble breathing, grunting a bit. She has a little bit of a heart murmur, but they said that's very common. They put her in "special care" for a while, but she was moved out and into my room around 1 pm. As for me, as soon as the epidural wore off I got up and peed. No problem! Hardly needed any pain medication at all. I just wanted to leave, I'd been there so long. And I wanted that damn IV out of my arm!

Then they brought me breakfast, which included a *danish with icing*!!! Yay! Sugar! I was soooo hungry (had been hungry and not allowed to eat since the pitocin started.) And I simply could not believe how thirsty I was! Must have drank *gallons* of water. The doctors and nurses were all amazed at how well I was recovering from such a long ordeal. I got to sleep on my stomach! Yay! We started breastfeeding, but it was very hard because she'd gone so long after the delivery before we started, and she was too sleepy. Only this evening has it become somewhat easier.

She is beautiful, perfect, and all ours! I can't believe we've been blessed with such a miracle. Hubby says that he looked around, and out of all the babies in there ours is the best looking. And he says he's not biased, not at all... :-) :-) We're so happy! Everything is going so well I can't believe it's true!

Well, I'll quit for now. But I'll gush more about this amazing experience soon, I'm sure!

Good luck to all! I'm euphoric! No postpartum blues for me! :-)

Pam