Tag Archives: delivery

Baby Deuce is Here!

I had a premonition that she would arrive before her scheduled date of May 6! We were hoping that she would stay in there until 38 weeks, and she did…by about an hour!

On Saturday, we decided to have a family day at the zoo and the park to celebrate C’s 2nd birthday (more on that this week!). Much to my surprise, I did not experience a single contraction with all of that walking we did. That was really unusual. So what happened later that night shocked me.

At 8:00pm, right after we put C to bed, I started experiencing regular contractions that were 3 minutes apart. They were extremely painful and were accompanied with (TMI alert!) that lovely clear-out-your-system-it’s-go-time diarrhea. Since I’ve had so many regular contractions that end up stopping, I waited until about 9:45pm to call my doctor.

Our lovely babysitter (aka lifesaver!) arrived at 10:30pm to stay with C until my parents were able to get there. They live about two hours from us. Hubster and I headed to the hospital!

We got to the hospital at about 11:00pm. I was 2cm dilated and 60% effaced. Hubster said, “Do you think they’ll send you home?” I looked at him with eyebrows raised and replied, “If this isn’t labor, God help me because I don’t know what is!”

They started prepping me for my c-section at midnight. I started to get a little nervous, remembering my terrible experience last time. They reassured me of some things, like that they wouldn’t put in my catheter until after the anesthesia started to work (last time it was quite painfully done before my epidural kicked in). Unfortunately, I had an interesting little experience during the spinal that made me nervous…

Thankfully, my nurse had my head against her chest and one of her thighs against each of my knees while the anesthesiologist was doing the spinal, because they hit a nerve – twice. Each time, I screamed out and kicked my right leg as I felt what seemed like an electric jolt through my leg. It was so weird, and I started to shake from adrenaline. Apparently it’s relatively common and doesn’t mean I’ll have any effects except for those two jolts; but it was enough to make me a little on edge.

I was more numb during this surgery than my last c-section. Yay! I barely felt a thing except for a little pressure when they were pushing her out. Adrenaline made my teeth chatter throughout the surgery, though. I was freeeeezing. But everything went really well, and my recovery is actually going amazingly better than last time. My entire experience from the moment I arrived at the hospital through my current recovery experience and care has been completely different from last time. It’s so much better that I can’t even compare it!

Baby Deuce, hereby referred to as Baby Jo, was born at 38 weeks on April 28 at 1:13am. She was 6 pounds, 14 ounces and 19 inches long. She is perfectly healthy and so teeny tiny! I think she looks a lot like her brother.

Baby Jo 1 Baby Jo 2

Birth Plans

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All of the pregnancy books tell you to come up with a birth plan so that you know exactly what you want to do when the time comes.

I’ll admit, the thought of a birth plan was a little daunting to me. This was my first pregnancy and I had no idea what to expect from a labor and delivery experience. I was afraid to plan it all out because that meant I had to really think about it ahead of time. My doctor asked me about it during one of my late third trimester appointments. When I said I didn’t really have one, but I knew I wanted an epidural, she just chuckled and said it was probably a good thing. The people who come in with a three-page birth plan, for example, are often disappointed because things never seem to go exactly as planned.

I went in knowing that I wanted an epidural and a vaginal delivery. That was the extent of my birth plan, and I thought of it as very relaxed and “go-with-the-flow.” Hubster can attest to my laid-back approach – I even allowed him to watch the NFL draft on ESPN while I was in labor!

As it turns out, I was not quite as “go-with-the-flow” about everything as I thought.

After 16 hours of laboring in the hospital (preceded by 3 days of early labor at home) and 1.5 hours of pushing, the on-call OBGYN broke the news that I would require a cesarean delivery. I immediately burst into tears. I had only wanted two things out of my birth experience, and a c-section was NOT one of them. I thought about the surgery, the longer recovery time, the fact that I would need c-sections with any future deliveries. I felt like I had failed by not being able to deliver my son vaginally. I had pushed for 1.5 hours, to no avail. Why couldn’t I do it? It was devastating.

Nearly three weeks later, I have the gift of hindsight. In retrospect, my c-section was not a terrible thing. Our little C is here, and he is perfect. My incision is healing very well. Even though I went through surgery, I have TONS more energy than I had at the end of my pregnancy. I was worried about losing weight because I would be less active, but I’ve lost all but 6 pounds of my baby weight already. Yes, I have a long way to go before my incision and abdominal muscles totally heal. Yes, I will need to have a cesarean with my future kids; but on the bright side, I will never need to experience a painful labor again.

While I have been reflecting on this topic myself, I also feel there are additional reasons to blog about it. I have a few friends and family members who are expecting and will be thinking about their birth plans soon. I’ve also seen birth plans mentioned by several people I follow on Twitter. Even though I was pretty laid back about my birth plan, I still was devastated when things didn’t go as I had hoped. I really want to encourage women to go in with a plan of what they would prefer to happen, but to also be open to the very realistic possibility that events could happen that will change that plan. I don’t want anyone to feel like they have failed their baby or themselves because things didn’t go as planned.

If you don’t want drugs, but find you need them – you are NOT a failure. Labor and delivery HURTS. It’s okay to need medication to be more comfortable.

If you need pitocin to move things along – you are NOT a failure.

If your doctor needs to use forceps or a vacuum to assist in your delivery – you are NOT a failure. Your doctor does this all the time and feels that it’s best for your baby to get out faster with assistance.

If you need to have a cesarean – you are NOT a failure.

Events occur during pregnancy, labor and delivery that you may or may not anticipate, but that’s okay. You are giving LIFE, and that is an amazing thing. How your baby arrives here does not matter a day, a week, or a year later. You’ve carried, nourished and given life to a little person. That’s all that is important in the end.

Post-Cesarean Weight Loss

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One of the things that devastated me the most about needing a c-section was the length of recovery. I was so looking forward to starting to work out sooner and losing the baby weight, plus some weight that I had been working off before I found out I was pregnant. I’m still eagerly anticipating getting back into my Tae-Bo, pilates and Jillian Michaels’ 30-Day Shred workouts.

Anyway…despite the advice I received from nurses not to step on the scale for at least three weeks due to water retention, I stepped on the scale. Last week, I had dropped 15 pounds post-partum. I was super pumped about that, considering I hadn’t been able to move around much! Today, after seeing some bony-ness returning to my feet, I decided to jump on the scale again. And now I’m down 20 pounds! Considering I had gained 30 during my pregnancy, I am super excited with my progress. My two-week OB checkup is tomorrow and I’m going to try not to let myself get upset at their scale. I always weigh more there, plus I have an afternoon appointment when my water retention is worse.

My goal is to have all of the baby weight gone by my six-week checkup. I’m looking forward to going for family walks to help me in this endeavor.

How did you lose weight after a c-section?

A Delivery Story

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Our son has arrived! Labor and delivery definitely didn’t turn out as I had expected or hoped for. The recovery process is going to be way longer than I wanted, but our beautiful baby boy is here and he’s perfect in every way. I can’t believe how cute he is. And it’s crazy to think that we MADE him.

I went into early labor on Tuesday. Wednesday we went to the hospital because I had bleeding and cramping…turns out the bleeding was okay and the cramps were actually contractions, but I wasn’t dilating quickly enough for them to admit me. Thursday afternoon, my contractions became 3-5 minutes apart, so we trekked back to the hospital and checked in. I was 3cm dilated at that point (on Wednesday I had been 2.5cm when I was sent home). When I got to 4cm, I ordered the epidural. I was terrified of getting it (the thought of a needle getting stuck in your spine is a little scary!), but it really was not nearly as bad as I anticipated. I would definitely recommend it to any woman!

They gave me pitocin to speed along the dilation and I couldn’t even feel my contractions. The epi was bliss and I was more comfortable than I’d been in weeks…but that was short-lived…

By 4am, I had completely dilated and began to push. I pushed for 1.5 hours when the doctor came in to see how I was progressing. C still hadn’t pushed past my cervix, so the doctor ordered a c-section. I was devastated and started crying. I had really hoped to avoid a c-section because of the recovery time. I was also so exhausted at that point that I was just super emotional. They capped the epi to prepare me for the transfer to the OR, where I was to receive a stronger medication to completely numb me for surgery. Then…the epi wore off.

O.M.G., the pain of C being stuck against my tailbone combined with contractions and being told not to push…I really thought I was going to pass out from the pain. I have never experienced so much pain in my life. It seemed to take forever to get to the OR. People were coming in and out and drawing blood, prepping me for surgery, and somehow I signed a consent form during that time even though I don’t even remember being able to open my eyes. Hubster was awesome and I couldn’t have done it without him holding my hand – I thought I would die! I finally got taken to the OR, where they put some stronger stuff in my epidural and I got some relief. Before I knew it, there was a significant amount of pulling and tugging (along with searing vaginal pain because the epi doesn’t reach there and they had to pull out C’s head). Hubster was able to stand up to look over the draping and saw them pull C out. He cut the cord. They brought C over to me so I could see him before taking him to the nursery, but my eyes couldn’t focus from being so tired and having so much pain so I barely even saw my baby! Hubster left with him when they went to the nursery. C had expelled meconium in the womb and had some in his lungs, so they had to monitor him and suck it out.

It took the doctor about 20 minutes to finish the surgery. When he was done, he told me that there was no way C would have come out vaginally. Not only was he facing up, but he would not have fit through my pelvis. It made me feel better emotionally that even if I had tried more pushing, I wouldn’t have been able to get him out. At the same time, though….I’m guessing that means I’ll have to have a c-section with every future baby because C’s only 8lbs 4oz and my pelvis was too small for him.

I got wheeled to recovery and it took them FOREVER to get me some pain killers. I was there for an hour and the whole time I was thinking how much I just wanted to see my baby. Finally, Hubster was able to come in and brought C with him. He laid him on my chest so I could at least look at him.

I think the hardest part about having a c-section is not being able to do everything you want for your baby. For example, I couldn’t hold him for a while. I wasn’t able to leave the bed until the following morning (24 hours after surgery), so the first time I changed his diaper was that afternoon. I can’t stand up with him, so someone always has to bring him to me/take him from me when I’m changing positions. It’s sad!

We’re so glad that he’s finally here! He’s awesome and we adore him. :)

Introducing…Baby C!

I Love When My Doctor Gives Good News!

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Although my appointment was Friday, I had to go in today to be sure I wasn’t leaking fluid. While it turns out that I’m not (that’s a good thing, as I’m 36 weeks today and he’s not yet full-term), my doctor did an exam and said that I’ll likely be delivering early! I am so excited!

She didn’t want to put a time frame on it, but said it will be early. Right now I’m 1 cm dilated, cervix is soft, baby’s head is low. I have to say, I’m very relieved that I’ve made progress that way. With all the pain and discomfort I’ve been experiencing, I would have been devastated if there was zero progress.

My doctor is due to have her baby the day before I am, so I’m hoping that I beat her and am able to have my baby before she stops delivering patients! That would mean he’ll have to come before April 14…

Why Every Pregnant Woman Needs an Exercise Ball

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About a year ago when Hubster wanted to get an exercise ball, I was against it. I pictured this big ol’ ball taking up what precious little floor space we had. I pictured it sitting there collecting dust because neither of us would ever use it.

Then I got pregnant.

Toward the end of my second trimester when the aches and pains starting to really set in, I begged him to pull that deflated exercise ball (which, I was correct, had never been used) out of the closet and pump some life into it. I had heard the benefits of an exercise ball for labor (aka a birthing ball). If it helped ease pain in labor, it had to help during pregnancy, right?!

It. Is. Wonderful.

I bounce on that thing almost every day. Unlike sitting in a chair, laying down or standing, the exercise ball takes all pressure off of my lower back and pelvis. Last night, I think it saved me from a trip to labor & delivery. Cramping and back pain set in and my doctor suggested that it might be the baby’s position on a nerve. If I had an exercise ball, I could move my hips around to try and put baby in a different position. That’s when that little light above my head (you know, the cartoon light that pops on when you have a fabulous idea) sputtered to life. ”Yes, I have an exercise ball!” If the pain didn’t subside, I’d have to take a trip into the hospital to get checked out.

I proceeded to bounce my little heart out on that exercise ball and – alas! – Baby C must have been sitting on a nerve, because the pain started to subside. Hooray!

I strongly recommend an exercise ball for every pregnant woman! Whether you have issues with back pain or just for a strange instance such as the one I had last night, it could save you from popping pills for your pain, suffering in silence, or even from a trip to labor & delivery.