Labor and Delivery- part 2

** If you don't want to hear all about my uterus and other girl parts, stop reading and just check out the pictures at the bottom.  This is a record for me and all my girlfriends that want the details of the main event*

As you might recall, this was my second trip to L & D with Braylen.  He gave us a little scare at 24 weeks.  I had to laugh that I was so worried he would come early as I was going on my 24th hour of Pitocin with no dilation changes.  Always expect the unexpected

As I did with Evie, here are the details of Braylen's arrival.  We read back over Evie's as we were hanging out.  It was interesting the compare the two.  I like to have it documented in case I somehow decide I can go through another pregnancy as a diabetic!

We arrived at Howard County General Hospital at 8 am for induction.  We had a super nice nurse, Aimee, who got us settled in.  I told her my IV issues last time.  She was very sweet to give me a numbing agent as she tried over and over to get the IV in.  My veins like to roll.  I was anxious about getting it in and although I couldn't feel it, I got very close to passing out.  So we had to stop while my blood pressure tanked and they settled me back down.  My IV ended up being up higher up in my forearm.  Check.

I saw Dr. Means at 9:40 am.  I was only about 2-3 cm dilated.  She instructed me to stop "pit".  Her goal was  a 3:30/4 delivery.  I would not see her again except in the hallway.  Totally unimpressed with her.  24 hour shift and I saw her ONCE!

The Pitocin didn't give me painful contractions for a while.  My back pain was the biggest issue.  Braylen was most likely sunny side up (his face looking at my belly meaning the hardest part of his head was against my spine).  I tried all kinds of positions to alleviate my pain and hopefully get him to turn.  I sat on the birthing ball, stood/swayed at the bed with my head on pillows, rocked in the chair, lots of lower back massages by Jason, and slow dancing with Jason.  We played cards, watched a little TV, read, blogged, and watched the clock tick away.

By 6:15 PM I was up to 26 units of Pitocin with no dilation changes.  30 is the max for Pitocin.  The Pitocin was turned off at 6:15 PM to give my body a rest and allow me to do some walking, showering, and EAT!  I was very discouraged by the lack of progress after 8 hours of moderate to strong contractions.  I had to remind myself that we were forcing something to happen that shouldn't start until 40 weeks.   After a a long cry, face wash, food, and some laps around the unit, I felt a little more normal.  Too bad we were starting over again at 9 PM.

Back on Pitocin at 9 PM, back down to 2 units, increasing 2 units every 20 minutes.  By this time I was exhausted.  I gave up on trying to get Braylen to turn and rested in bed.  I lost the mucous plug around 10:30 pm giving me slight hope I would have him sometime this month.  The pain wasn't too bad, but the thought of contractions all night and no sleep sounded unhealthy.  I asked for some Nubain to take the edge off around 2 AM.

Wow!  The room started spinning and I felt totally out of it.  The only thing I could do was sleep!  I didn't sleep amazing- my heart was racing, Braylen was doing somersaults (I think he turned the right way! No back pain on Friday), and I was seriously paranoid I was dying.  I did not like the way I felt.  I woke up at 7:30 AM feeling light headed and ready to barf.  Pretty much what you feel like after a night of too much alcohol!

Dr. Sun was the OB working on Friday.  I saw her THREE times before noon!  Imagine that?!  Around 11 AM she said I was getting close to 4 cm and would break my water.  All along we were asking if breaking my water was a good way to get things moving.  Braylen's head wasn't far enough down to safely break my water for a long time.  If they break too soon, the cord could fall before the head settles in making a life threatening situation.  I told her I wanted to wait a little longer.  About 20 minutes later, I heard and felt a pop.  Water broke on its own around 11:30 pm.

At this point the contractions were coming very fast and strong.  After 26 hours, time for the epidural.  By 12:15 pm I was not feeling anything.  I was really numb this time.  Actually, too much for my comfort level. I was told I would feel pressure.  I felt nothing. I slept on and off.  Braylen's heart rate was dropping a little so they put me on oxygen.  I started to get uneasy.  I was shaking and crying.  Dr. Sun checked me around 2:30 pm and was shocked to see the head very, very low.  I had no idea Braylen was so close!  The epidural was way too strong!

Our nurse, Mimi, was awesome.  Dr. Sun needed to check on another patient and told Mimi to have me start pushing.  Mimi refused since she was pretty sure Braylen was coming out in 1 push.  She was right.  I pushed two times and he was out.  My whole lower body was a big marshmallow.  Luckily I had pushing experience and people telling me when to push or I would have not known what to do.

Longest induction ever and finally some silver lining on a long, long pregnancy!  And zero damage to my nether region!  Thanks Braylen!!

I got to hold him right away.  I also got some skin to skin time with him and tried nursing.  All my fears about delivering again at HCGH were for not.  Everything was so much better.  After 30 minutes with us, Braylen went to the nursery for heel sticks and other stuff.  No formula needed!

I loved our nurses (Aimee and Mimi).  I made Dr. sun's job super easy.  I liked her much better than Dr. means.  All in all, a great experience despite being there for 2 days.

I recovered amazingly fast this time.  I was up and walking by Saturday morning.  I didn't need any help from Jason in the bathroom this time :)  Again, finally something going right for me! 

We were discharged around 12:45 PM on Sunday!

Hospital Stay