This is a special release blog post about my labor and delivery experience, including Phil’s input regarding the events (because he saw things I didn’t know were happening!). I’ll start with a fun Pregnancy Checklist I created to remember some of the stats and specifics of the past 37 weeks and 2 days.
Pregnancy Checklist:
# of positive pregnancy tests: 1 (3/15/10) @ 4.5 wks pregnant
# ER visits: 1 (7/16 @ 22 wks pregnant) due to intense heartburn that felt like a heart attack
# outie belly buttons: 0
# of intact belly button rings: 1
# of stretch marks: 0 (although my breasts have stretch marks now that I’m home and my milk has come in!)
# of linea negra lines (dark vertical line on a pregnant belly): 1 (it showed up during delivery…it wasn’t there when I went to the hospital)
# of normal (vaginal) births: 1
# of healthy babies born: 1- Rock David Rupprecht
Total pounds gained: 28lbs
Total waist measurement: 39.25”
Total hours at Sky Ridge before Rock arrived: 51 hours, 34 minutes
Total hours in labor (defined as time after contractions started): 37 hours, 34 minutes
# of weeks pregnant when I delivered: 37 weeks, 2 days
# OBGYN appts: 16 (6 appts had ultrasounds- @ 8 wks, 20 wks, 28 wks, 30 wks, 30.5 wks, 31.5 wks)
# OBX (specialist) appts: 6 (all 6 had ultrasounds- @ 28 wks, 32 wks, 33wks, 34 wks, 35 wks, 36 wks)
During my 28 wk appt (glucose test) the fluid concerns started. Appts were monthly up until the 6th appt @ 28 wks, then 7th appt 2 weeks later, then starting with the 8th appointment they were 2 times/week!
# of ultrasound photos: 36 photos
# of potty stops throughout the nights: too many to count
# of movements felt: SOOOO many!!! I loved that!!!
# of things I loved about being pregnant: almost everything!
# of things I disliked about being pregnant: 8 things…my skin broke out during the 2nd trimester, heartburn, doctor precautions/appointments, frequent potty stops, sore hips…ouch!, sleep restricted to my right and left sides (no back or stomach sleeping), food limitations, and cervical exams
The labor and delivery process started at 6pm on Thursday, October 28th, when Phil and I arrived at Sky Ridge Medical Center to check in for my scheduled induction. By 6:10pm we were already moved into labor and delivery room 11 and by 6:30pm I already had a blood pressure monitor and hep-lock hooked up to my left and right arms (respectively). At 7:30pm the night nurse arrived to start the induction process by doing a cervical exam (which hurt so bad I cried!) and inserted the Cervidil medicine for its 12 hour time-released medication. That nurse told us I was 1cm dilated (which was completely contradicted when my doctor completed a cervical exam at noon on Friday and said I wasn’t dilated at all!!! Talk about bursting my bubble!!!).
After the Cervidil’s 12 hour time period, the day nurse removed the medication around 7:45am Friday and started me on another induction medication called Cytotec (instead of resorting to Pitocin before my body was ready). Only 15 minutes later, around 8am, contractions started and were consistently 2-3 minutes apart until Rock arrived (except for one time when contractions slowed for 15 minutes and the nurses finally resorted to Pitocin).
Both the Cervidil and Cytotec medications allowed me to be mobile (where Pitocin is administered through an IV which required me to remain in the hospital bed). Those two medications and our doctor’s patience made a HUGE difference in the birth process for both of us because we never expected the positive benefits of both…like being able to leave my hospital room to wander the halls and look at babies in the nursery, or taking a bath during labor. It was so wonderful!
At noon Friday (10/29), my OB doctor (Dr. John Stallworth) completed the cervical exam I mentioned earlier and said I was <1cm dilated and a -3 station (“stations” define the movement of the baby’s descent and range from a -5 meaning the baby hasn’t dropped at all, to +5 meaning the baby is crowing). Dr. Stallworth warned us ahead of time that this would be a LONG process, so we brought movies (The Lion King and Green Zone) and entertained ourselves with guests (small group, family, and other friends) who stopped by.
Dr. Stallworth checked back at 5:30pm Friday and I was still <1cm dilated, but Rock had moved down a little more. The doctor said I was allowed to have an epidural at any point after that, if I wanted one…but I was still trying to hold out to see if I really NEEDED one. Around 3am Saturday morning my contractions slowed down and had a 15 minute gap, which finally motivated one night nurse to start Pitocin. By this point, Phil and I were exhausted. We hadn’t slept much since we arrived Thursday night and my contractions were getting more uncomfortable (although not unbearable) so I couldn’t sleep through them. Phil was SO exhausted he wouldn’t even wake up when I yelled his name. That’s when I found an angel named Connie, who was my night nurse. She had red hair and we instantly bonded. Each of the nurses only had one patient that night and I was all Connie’s…so she ended up sitting with me talking during the wee hours of the morning. Connie even told me she would wait to complete another cervical exam until after I got an epidural, if I was considering one. THAT sealed the deal! Between an epidural decreasing the sensation of the contractions enough that I would be able to sleep AND the promise that I wouldn’t be able to feel any more cervical exams…I was SOLD. I couldn’t get it quick enough at that point!
So, at 6am Saturday morning (10/30), I finally gave in and got an epidural. That was one of the BEST decisions I made during the entire process. I never realized HOW much an epidural decreases labor pains and all other feeling! I thought labor was supposed to be screaming pain and curse words, but instead it was calm determination to deliver a baby…pain free! After the epidural, you can’t leave the bed, so a bladder catheter was inserted. And I was no longer allowed to drink fluids. I could only have ice chips and popsicles.
At 7am Saturday, the doctor said I was 1.5cm dilated so he was able to break my water. He also inserted a heart rate monitor on Rock’s head in my uterus and another internal monitor to gauge the intensity of my contractions. I was 70% effaced (which is the thinning of your cervix) and -2 station at that point.
At 11am, I was 3cm dilated, which doubled my previous measurement of 1.5cm, so the doctor said things would start moving forward more quickly. He was right! By 1pm, I was 4cm dilated and 80% effaced. At 2pm, I was 5cm, 90% effaced, and -1 station. At 3pm, I was 6cm. And by 4pm there was much faster movement…I was 7.5cm dilated, fully effaced, and +1 station! And within 45 minutes the nurse measured me at 8-9cm dilated and she moved the birthing table into the room (which contains all of the tools Dr. Stallworth would need when Rock arrived).
By 5:30pm, I was a full 10cm and +2 station. The doctor could still feel my cervix so he decided to allow us to continue our patience with trying ‘passive descent’ which meant just waiting for the baby to move down a little more on his own. It worked! By 6:30pm I got to start pushing!!!
The time and patience the doctor showed was all for the benefit of our son. Since Rock was being induced 3 weeks early, none of us wanted him to react negatively to the induction. So the slower process was perfect! Rock’s heart rate was great! It increased with my contractions (which is good) and the only time it ever fell was when I would shift onto my left side in the hospital bed. So I had to stay on my right side, which meant the epidural took 100% of the feeling out of my right side (especially my leg!) and less of an effect on my left side. That only proved to be comical because at one point my right leg slid off the bed and I had to ask Phil to pick it up for me because I had absolutely no sensation or control over it!
There was so little sensation that when it came time to push, the nurses were touching my girl parts telling me where to focus my pushing, but I had NO IDEA where I was pushing. My face was all crinkled up and I was pushing hard, but who knows where! I was pushing so aggressively that I threw up a few times early on. And I was terribly hot and had such a dry mouth that Phil started passing me my water after each contraction so I could swish water in my mouth and spit it out. (He later told me he thought of that because my mouth smelled gross after puking). Phil and my mom also started wetting washcloths to put on my forehead, neck and chest because I was so hot. The doctor then started me on an antibiotic because I peaked a 101 degree fever and he thought there may have been an infection in my uterus since so much time had passed since they broke my water.
I was instructed to push anytime I felt a contraction…but since I couldn’t feel much of anything, I just pushed whenever I felt pressure on my girl parts. Phil later told me he was watching the monitors and a lot of my pushing wasn’t during contractions, but it was working so well he didn’t tell me! At some point, I requested “the mirror” so I could see the progress that the nurse and Phil kept enthusiastically praising me for, but that proved to be a major de-motivator for me because I didn’t see much progress between pushes AT ALL! So I stopped looking relatively quick.
During my final pushes, Phil (later) told me Rock’s heart rate dropped dramatically and the doctor sped up his preparations to deliver him. I noticed the doctor grabbed his scissors at one point, which I knew meant an episiotomy, but I didn’t care. Whatever needed to happen for Rock’s safety was fine with me. Phil also told me the umbilical cord was wrapped around Rock’s neck, which was likely the cause of the decreased heart rate. Dr. Stallworth worked his hands around Rock’s neck to loosen the cord and simply delivered his body through the loosened cord.
At some point I remember asking if Rock was ever going to come out and someone told me to open my eyes and look in the mirror…that’s when I saw his head and shoulders already out. That was great motivation to push the rest of him out!!!
The doctor told me he was going to have Rock go to the warming table, which I knew was not the normal routine, but I didn’t ask any questions. Within a few minutes Rock was cleaned off and brought back over to me so Phil and I could meet him. It was amazing! Even though Rock only weighed 5lbs 11oz, I had to ask Phil to hold him because he was too heavy for my fatigued arms since I’d been pushing for 3 hours. We were both thrilled to find out that Rock weighed an entire one pound more than the specialist had estimated and his length was 18.75 inches. He was healthy and handsome and all ours! His official arrival time was 9:34pm.
The rest was a blur because everything happened so fast to get me stitched up, Rock cleaned up, and Phil packed up to move rooms. We got to see Rock’s first bath in the nursery around 1am and got to our postpartum room around 2am and by then it was time to feed him again. That’s been the same story for the past 19 days…feed, change diapers, relax for one minute and do it all again. But it’s a routine that I’ll forever love if it means being blessed with another healthy perfect little baby!
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