My Little Sunny-Side-Up...the birth story

On the Friday morning after Thanksgiving I was expected at work. Danny had the day off and was going to run errands with the kids. We were just waking up when Danny noticed that I was bleeding all over the bed. It wasn't just a little blood, it was a lot. Enough for us to immediately jump into action. I hadn't had any bleeding at all during this pregnancy and now this...well, this was just crazy. I was keeping calm, because I think if I'd have lost it, Danny would have lost it big time, he had a panicked look about him as he bustled around the house. I was glad to feel the baby moving though, that helped me to relax. Danny called his mom, who came over to stay with the big kids. I cleaned up and took a shower while Danny packed a bag.

Once at the hospital, they checked to see if I was still bleeding (I was, but they didn't tell me from where) and they checked my dilation. I was only 3cm. They don't usually admit until you are 4cm but the doctor was hesitant to send me home since I was still bleeding so they checked me into room. This was at around 8:30am.

They started me on a bag of fluids and a very slow Pitocin drip to see if it would aid the dilation. We sat around, watched some TV, tried to nap, Danny walked to the grocery to get snacks...I got to eat ice chips, humph! Good thing I'd eaten a large Thanksgiving dinner the night before!


Just admitted. Hanging out with my Pitocin, waiting for contractions to kick in.

Around 11am, I started getting some strong and long contractions, however there was some concern because after each contraction the baby's heart rate would dip. Apparently it's normal for baby's heart rate to dip during the contraction but they were concerned that the contractions were causing some stress. They put me on an oxygen mask. But since the baby's heart rate kept dipping, they would turn off the Pitocin for an hour or so to see if that would help.

I got the epidural done, which was much better than when I delivered The Boy because I had a button to push if I needed more medication. Also, the anesthesiologist had me lay on my side instead of sitting up when he inserted the needle and it was so much easier to relax. At around 2pm, they checked my dilation...ugh, I was only 3.5cm! They decided to try and break my water. The nurse tried three times and nothing. They assumed that it must have already broken, either when I was bleeding or it had a slow leak. I didn't think that was true since the blood that morning wasn't diluted and I'd not had any leaking.

My mother-in-law came with the kids. The Girl enjoyed the tray of liquid foods that the nurse had brought in earlier. I'd sipped just the cup of broth and sucked more ice chips. The Boy sweetly surveyed me in the bed, hooked up to the IVs and oxygen mask on my face and asked me if I was going to be okay. They stayed just a short while, leaving a balloon that announced "It's a Boy!".


Enjoying the Jell-O I couldn't eat

A few hours later, after the contractions were still getting longer and faster together but I was still not dilated and baby's heart rate was still dipping, they said they were going to put two monitors inside me. One would monitor the strength of the contractions (they didn't want to give me more Pitocin if the contractions were already strong) and the other was a fetal scalp electrode (a small wire screwed into his scalp), which monitors heart rate. When the nurse put in these two monitors, she was having a challenge inserting and that, of course, is when she actually broke my water! Wow, what a mess, they weren't prepared for that. And with me numb from the waist down, they weren't able to change the wet bedding so they just had to pile on more pads & towels. So with the catheter, these two monitors, an oxygen mask, a blood pressure cuff, a heart rate monitor on my finger, an epidural needle, the IV with Pitocin and fluids...I had a lot going on at once!

Our nurse got off at 7pm, so they checked my dilation once more and I was a whopping 4cm...booo!!! She was still very concerned about his heart rate and dips. I was getting lots of pressure though, so I finally pushed the epidural button. When the contractions got heavy, they checked my dilation again at 7:15 and I was at 7cm and when I started REALLY getting a pressure to push at 7:30, they checked me and I was at a 10!! So I dilated 6cm in about 30 mins and it was finally time to push. My mom and mother-in-law walked in together just at that time and were there to help hold up my legs, count and do some cheering.

Whew...it was no picnic. The baby was "sunny side up" so his face was looking at the ceiling, a much harder way for him to manipulate around the pelvic bone. The doctors tried spinning him but no luck, he was stuck with his scalp pressing against my pelvis. It took about 2 hours of pushing and some pretty intense pain especially when he was crowning and I had to wait for contractions to come before I could push again. Sometimes they would just have me breathe through a contraction instead of pushing to let his heart rate rise again and boy, that was HARD.

They warned me between contractions that he'd probably come out looking like he had a "brown egg" on his head. When he finally slipped out and I was able to see him, I could tell what they meant, he was majorly cone-head with what looked like "muffin head", a big bruised bulge on his scalp. But he was crying immediately and had a great pink color.


Just born

Danny cut the cord (I was so proud, usually he gets lightheaded around blood and things like that but he did wonderfully the entire time). They did skin-on-skin for about an hour in recovery. They brought us some sandwiches and we were able to eat before they transferred me to a room.


Bonding with mom



My little Sunny-Side-Up

After Baby D's bath, they set up the other bed for Danny and we were able to get some sleep. I stayed at the hospital that night and then one more night and was able to go home Sunday afternoon. Baby D is very observant, not terribly interested in nursing yet (which is hard because my milk is IN!) but he's very sweet and moves slowly and deliberately, looking around the room and at people when they speak.


Three days old and already so serious

I can't wait to get to know and love this boy.