A Birth Story of Sorts

Still working on the written version…but most of you know by now that Nolan was born via emergency c-section. Here is his story in pictures.

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We’re Home!

Nolan was born at 4:34pm on 11/05/09. 7lbs 4oz and 18 inches long.

He does have a huge head. And REALLY long fingers. And HUGE feet. And a big nose.

He is fantastically perfect and I can’t stop kissing and loving on him.

I did not get my VBAC, though I got pretty darn far.

At 5 cm my water broke and Nolan began to crash (his heart was slowing down and looked as though it was going to stop). SO, we had an emergency c-section. Turns out he had a cord prolapse.

I will write a formal birth story soon.

We just got home from the hospital and he is snoozing in his bassinette. He’s a great sleeper – I’m going to wake him up in about 30 minutes to breastfeed him and then I’m going to attempt to sleep.

Breastfeeding is a bit of a struggle, my milk is just baaaarely coming in (today is day 3) and he is a hungry little monster! He is a great breastfeeder (though we are having a few issues with him having a shallow latch) but he wants WAY more food than my body has had to offer. After a 4 hour marathon feeding session after which is was still completely hysterical and rooting like crazy I finally broke down and asked for some formula and a tube and syringe to supplement him. He was a happy camper after that and we’ve been having to wake him up to eat (I let him go for four hours once or twice and still had to wake him).

Today we’ve made it through most of the day without supplementing. YAY!

I’m stressing about my milk coming in though. ::sigh::

That’s about it for now. More to come soon.

The 11th Hour

Actually, I have 17 hours until my induction (unless he decides to get things moving before then…C-MON Nolan!).

After my appointment on Monday I had pretty painful contractions (not unbearable, but enough that I had to stop whatever I was doing and breathe through them) for the rest of the day. BUT they never organized. It was 36 hours of this and then they stopped, almost entirely (yesterday morning at 5am). Nothing since. Total calm. Well, I have the occasional (still fairly painful) contraction, but only a few a day. ::sigh::

I don’t understand why labor doesn’t start on its own. I am 75% effaced and (I’m assuming) dilated to about a 2 by now. What GIVES!?

Hubby has me feeling guilty for being induced tomorrow and not giving it another week (I’m 39 weeks according to their dates, 38.5 according to mine). He almost had me convinced to call and reschedule the induction for next week, but then I remembered that they said that Nolan’s head is HUGE (Evy has a huge head as well). I’m afraid that if we don’t do it now, he won’t fit…this may be my only chance at a VBAC. Besides, you can’t really get any closer to being in labor than I am right now without actually BEING in labor.

I think the issue may be that I’ve been so miserable due to the kidney stones that I hardly ever get out of bed. Maybe if I get up and walk around I will go into labor on my own?

I am considering having Hubby take the day off to walk me and the girls around the mall for a few hours. I hate to have him miss out on the income, but he already missed half the day taking Lennon to a Dr’s appointment this morning. On the other hand, however, what if it just causes more irregular contractions and I end up with another miserable night of “not quite” labor and then have to go in to be induced all cranky and exhausted?

I never did try the caster oil. I have done the Red Raspberry Leaf tea…I drank four cups before having all of those miserable contractions. It seems like it does SOMETHING, but it wasn’t enough. Obviously having my membranes stripped did nothing (like I said though, I’m not sure he really did much).

The only thing that I have been doing that I think really works is the Evening Primrose Oil. I’ve been taking them orally for about a week and inserting them vaginally for the past week (I did it off and on for a week or two before that as well). I have noticed that I efface during the periods when I have been inserting the pills but not during the times when I stopped using them.

I’m rambling, can ya tell I’m nervous?

I’m scared that something is going to go wrong – like a uterine rupture, though I’ve done all of my homework and I know that its only an ADDED risk but not a higher risk than many other complications that ALL laboring women have, VBAC or not. Even though the fact that this is going to be an induction does raise the risk a tiny bit, the fact that I”m already so close makes it pretty safe.

I’m worried that I won’t be able to handle the pain. These contractions I’m having now are really killing me and I know they can’t be anything compared to the “real deal” particularly with the pitocen. I am going to have an epidural…but what if it doesn’t work, or stops working, or they take to long to give it to me….

I guess these are normal fears that everyone must have. I just never got to the point where I had them with the girls, I never had a chance!

Any last minute advice? What to do? What to pack?

Should I eat breakfast before going to the hospital, or skip it?

Should I bother wearing makeup (I have gotten REALLLLLLY bad acne during this pregnancy, so I’d kind of like to…but what’s the point if the labor takes 24 hours or I sweat it all off my face)?

Should I give myself an enema, or not bother since I am leaning towards having the breakfast anyway.

Nolan is on his way!

Last night I started having back pain and random contractions. Of course they won’t organize, it was just enough to keep me awake all night (i.e. nothing until I would start to drift off to sleep, then OUCH!).

Today I had an appointment with a different OB because my usual Dr is on vacation. In the waiting room my contractions started coming more frequently, though still not at regular intervals. He checked me and I am still only 1.5 cm dilated but I have progressed to 75% effaced and he said that the baby is at -1 (I believe) – he said the head was WAY down. We also asked how big the baby was: he is currently just under 6 lbs, but with a huge head apparently. =) The doctor said not to worry about the head though because he is so far down already he’s sure its not going to be a problem.

He also said that he stripped my membranes, but I didn’t feel anything when he did it (I’ve heard that its very painful). I’m also not spotting, so I’m honestly not sure if he really did it or if he did it right…::shrug::

Anyhow, long story short – he offered to induce me. He said that I’m far enough along (effaced, etc) that he feels comfortable giving it a try. He warned me that he will only give me 24 hours before sectioning me, which is honestly fine. I just want a chance to try.

So, the long and the short of it is that I may already BE in labor (I’m pretty miserable right now, but again, the contractions don’t seem to want to “organize”). If not, I will be induced this Thursday morning at 6am. If he’s not here by Friday morning I will have a c-section.

I’m nervous and excited. I know an induction is a bit riskier with a VBAC so I’m not crazy about that…but this is a GREAT hospital, so I am just going to relax (hope things get going on their own before then, seems like they might), and see what happens.

Sorry if this doesn’t make much sense…I’m rather miserable (currently contracting every 2-5 minutes)! But I wanted to keep you all updated.

I will be Tweeting (to your right).

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Thoughts?

All day yesterday Noaln barely moved. At 1 am I got up to use the restroom and then did a kick count…for 45 minutes he didn’t so much as flutter. I woke Hubby up and we tried to find his heart beat with the doppler, we found it but it was really hard to find and took us BOTH a long time. Very strange considering how huge he is at this point – it hasn’t taken us more than a few seconds to find him in months. After that he did start moving, but not tons. We were sufficiently freaked out enough to head down to L & D. I knew as soon as we got down there and got on the monitors that he would go nuts – between the bumpy car ride in my husband’s SUV and the fact that babies HATE those monitors. That’s exactly what happened. It was Nolan aerobics by the time we arrived. However, the nurse also had a difficult time finding his heart beat. I’m not sure what that’s all about.

Oh, but they did discover that I now also have a UTI.

On top of the kidney stones.

Yippie.

What I think is going on are that the pain meds are sedating Nolan and he’s not moving as much because he’s sleeping essentially. The doctors agree (I waited a hour on my next dose while at the hospital during the time that he perked up). So now I don’t want to take the meds, but I’m in pain. The pain has gotten better (it’s bearable, barely).

From the NST that I had on Tuesday and the one from last night I know that I am having  regular, rhythmic “uterine irritability” with intermittent actual contractions. I have NO idea how dilated or effaced I am because no one has checked me. But I did lose my mucous plug, so I am assuming I am more dilated than the 1 cm that I was before (?).

All day today I have been having irregular, semi-painful contractions (false labor again, apparently).

So what I am getting at is:

I am considering going the caster oil route. (I am 38 weeks, and one day according to my Dr’s calculations).

But I wish that there was more solid research available. I have been Googling all day and all I can find is that it does work. But, obviously, I’m scared. I don’t want to do anything that could possibly put Nolan in danger. This seems safe enough – but I just don’t KNOW.

So, wonderfully wise bloggy friends…Thoughts? Experience? Wisdom? Please share.

38 Weeks (tomorrow)

[According to the Dr's dates at least. Again, according to mine, I won't be 38 weeks until Sunday. ]

ANYHOW – I should have mentioned on yesterday’s post that I do NOT have pre eclampscia – though I appreciate the concern. =)

They checked me for it over and over at the hospital and again today at my appointment. In fact, she didn’t even LOOK at my feet today. I told her that they were EXTREMELY swollen and she just said “uh huh”. Oh well.

Since we’re on the topic, she really doesn’t do ANYTHING at my appointments. I’m starting to be annoyed that I even have to go in once a week, its not exactly anywhere near my house.

They weigh me. They check my pee. They check my BP and they check for Nolan’s HB and that’s it. They don’t do any pelvic exams or anything. WTF? Shouldn’t they be checking for dilation and effacement!?

She did send me for an NST because I mentioned that he hadn’t been moving as much. Another waste of time – he got the hic ups as soon as they hooked up the monitor.

About the only exciting thing that has happened is that I lost my mucous plug yesterday (parts of it at least…ew). Though I’ve Googled it obsessively and it appears that losing the mucous plug means basically NOTHING.

Of course.

Who the EFF thought I would carry him this far AND that there would be NO signs of him coming anytime soon?

I think he’s mad that we didn’t let him come when HE wanted to come so he’s decided to just stay.

Forever.

I also think I’m starting to feel a little bit better.

I did pass one TEEEENY stone that I noticed (they gave me a strainer).

Seriously, it was slightly larger than a piece of sand.

They warned me that it would be small and that I would be pissed…but SERIOUSLY!?

I’m still sore in the ribs and having shooting pains in my groin, but overall the pain has lessened quite a bit. Hopefully it stays that way. Maybe I’ll be able to go off the pain meds tomorrow…hopefully that won’t be a huge mistake like last time. =/ I just hate to expose Nolan to all those drugs if I don’t have to. Not to mention that they can be addictive, and these are goooooood meds. I can see how people become addicted to them.

::Whimper::

 

These are what used to be my feet. They are so swollen that I can stick my finger in the flesh and it leaves a hole. I’m like human play-dough. I have no idea if this is normal or not, but I have an appointment tomorrow morning, so we’ll see. The swelling is actually throughout my entire body, but its worst from the waist down. When I walk, it feels like I am encased in jello. Yuck!

I also had the brilliant idea of going off my pain meds today. I have been feeling much less pain and I decided that holding still as much as possible was much more effective than the narcotics anyway. Pffffft.

I’m an IDIOT.

My last dose was due at 10:30am. At 12:30pm I got up to pee and had such SEARING pain in my groin that I ended up crawling back to bed on my hands and knees with my hand clamped over my mouth trying not to scream and wake up the twins.

Yeah. Apparently a) whatever is pissed off in my system has moved from my ribs (which still hurt, but not as badly) to my groin and b) the meds were the only reason I was feeling better.

Brilliant, I tell ya.

::sigh::

Big Update

Remember that pain in my side I was complaining about? Early Thursday morning (about 3am) I woke up SCREAMING in pain. It was one of the worst pains I have ever felt and Hubby took me straight to the ER (my mom had not yet left for her parent’s house, so she stayed with the girls). They kept me overnight and very doped up on drugs, but unfortunately, the only tests they could run on a pregnant woman were an ultrasound and labs.

All that they were able to find was a shadow and some calcification on my left kidney – they think I have kidney stones.

They briefly considered taking Nolan via c section on Thursday night, but decided instead to send me home and to my appointment with my regular OB on Friday.

My mom left for her parent’s house, Hubby ended up having to take the day off work to take me to the appointment because I am on Norco and cannot drive, and his sister (BLESS HER HEART) took the day off work to be with the girls for us.

When we got to the appointment my OB took one look at me and sent us straight back over to the hospital. She said that she wasn’t 100% convinced that it was  kidney stones and she wanted them to check me again for other things. SO, off we went. This time they kept me overnight and ran more labs, once the labs came back with a higher than normal gall bladder enzyme count, but when they ran them again they were normal. After many, many, MANY consults they have decided that it is most likely kidney stones after all.

They have been pumping me full of fluids which for some reason I am having a hard time peeing out (for being on an IV I was NOT going to the bathroom much) and my legs are SO swollen that I can hardly move them.

Sexy.

The problem is that they cannot do any further testing or treatment until after I deliver Nolan.

Today they gave us our options: Either they could take Nolan right then via c section, or I could go home on pain meds and wait until I either go into labor on my own or I can’t take the pain anymore and I come back for a c section. We talked about an induction, but even though I have lots of contractions I am STILL only 1 cm and 60% effaced so I’m not a good candidate and they don’t recommend it with a VBAC.

I was thisclose to signing the papers today and going for the section, but Hubby and I surprised ourselves by taking the other choice.

As I mentioned before, the dates I calculated are slightly behind the dates that my doctors came up with and I think that Nolan will only be 37 weeks tomorrow (rather than 37.5 as they think). So, there is an increased chance of him having breathing difficulties and/or jaundice – neither would be anything too serious, but they could mean NICU time and we all know I’ve done my fair share of NICU time already. I really thought that he would be beyond fine at this point, but they scared the crap out of me at the hospital with all of the NICU talk…Plus, I am really hoping to deliver vaginally. I want to breast feed, I want to hold my baby as soon as he is born, I want the best possible start for ALL of us.

So, I’m home on more Norco. One of my best friends just lost her job on Wednesday – which totally sucks for her but works out great for us because now we have someone we can hire for the girls while I lay in bed and be miserable (a big part of what allowed us to make this decision).

After Thursday night the pain has returned to just feeling extremely sore rather than a stabbing pain and me in complete agony (of course, this is also with the aid of some very heavy narcotics). So its wait and see at this point.

Long story short: I’m home now. On bedrest. My goal is to make it at least another week to give Nolan a bit more time and my body a chance to get a bit more “ripe”. Hopefully I will go into labor on my own very soon, or at least dilate more so that I can be induced. Or maybe I’ll really luck out and I’ll pass the stone (or WHATEVER is going on will resolve itself).

That’s all for now. Wish me luck.

PS I hope this is somewhat coherent, I did mention the drugs…yes?