Nest Kate: Audrey's Birth Story

Posted Wednesday, February 06, 2008 7:28 PM

"Baby Audrey is finally here! She was born on Sunday, January 20th at 5:39 pm after about 12 hours of labor total (about 7 of that being active labor)."

 
The Unexpected Beginning

I woke up on Sunday at about 5:45am and I instantly knew that something weird was going on. About 3 seconds later and I felt a gush of water and ran to the bathroom. I?m pretty sure I haven?t moved that quickly in about 4 months. My husband followed me in and I told him, no doubt, my water broke. We called the Dr?s office a few minutes later and the on-call doc (who would later deliver Audrey) told me to wait about 2-3 hours to see if I started feeling any contraction. So, we tried to busy ourselves and I called him back in 2 hours to tell him I was having contractions but they were totally irregular. Since my water had broken, he said we should come on in to the hospital to monitor the baby and see if we couldn?t get something going. This whole thing was a TOTAL shock since I had an appointment that Friday where my doctor had basically said there was not a thing going on and she?d surely see me at my next weekly. I guess the baby had other plans.

The Hospital

We got to the hospital, checked in and I was immediately hooked to a bunch of monitors and examined. Our baby still hadn?t dropped and was still sunny-side up. At my last appointment my doc had asked me to mentally prepare myself for a potential c-section, but it definitely wasn?t what I was hoping would happen. They then told me that they wanted to start me on Pitocin to get the contractions going ? they wanted to give me the chance to labor for a couple of hours to see if she?d drop or turn so that I could deliver vaginally. I hemmed and hawed quite a bit about the Pitocin because I really didn?t want to be induced. The on-call doctor was really great about talking it out with me and it basically came down to the fact that we were on borrowed time now that my water had broken. They started me on Pitocin, admitted me, and put me in a birthing room where my husband and I watched ? before all was said and done ? about 5 or 6 hours of an America?s Next Top Model marathon. I think I may be able to convince him to watch the next season with me. ?

Trying Everything

The contractions were pretty rough. I have a high pain tolerance -- I thought anyway -- and I handled them pretty well for quite a while but after 2 hours or so I said I?d take the epidural. I?ve heard that Pit can make the contractions worse so that may have played a part. I?m totally squeamish about both medications and needles so getting the epidural was NOT fun. The nurses were really great though in talking to me the whole time so that I was distracted. After I got the epidural, it was like nothing was going on. The contractions were barely noticeable at all. They brought in a doctor who is apparently skilled at turning babies and she gave it a shot but the baby wasn?t turning and still hadn?t dropped at all. They said that we would give pushing a try for a while and see if we made any progress ? if not, it was going to be a c-section. I pushed for probably about 30 minutes or so and the doctors were also pushing to try and get the baby down, but nothing. At this point, they took my temperature and discovered that I had a fever. Everything moved at lightening speed after that. They all suited up and we went in for the section.

Cesarean It Is

Like I said, I?m super squeamish about medication so the section was rough for me just because of the numbing of my lower half. I was shaking like crazy and I?m not sure if it was from the different medication or the fact that I was giving myself a mini panic attack. The procedure itself went by very very quickly but my heart rate was sky rocketing just because I was so panicked. Plus, no one had showed my husband where to get scrubs so I was freaking out that he was going to miss everything. He ran in and about 4 minutes later Audrey was born.

She's Here!

Any bit of panic I had about the medication, needles, etc just totally vanished when I heard her for the first time. Seriously, the most amazing thing I?ve ever heard. The doctor said my heart rate went down immediately. They showed her to me and I knew she was an Audrey instantly (we had been going back and forth on names.) She was 7 lbs 10 oz and loud and HUNGRY. She was screaming her heart out but when they brought her over to me and I talked to her she quieted down immediately. Just totally amazing. 

Healthy Baby, Happy Mommy

So, even though the birth was not even kind of what I had been hoping for as far as trying to go without meds and delivering vaginally, it really didn?t matter about 1 second after I heard her little cry. If anything, I wish I?d gone a little bit easier on myself and gone with the flow a bit better instead of obsessing over the meds and the delivery method. She?s healthy, happy, and that?s what really matters. She had to be in the NICU for the first night because I had a fever and they had to perform some cultures before bringing her up to me which was a little disappointing because I desperately wanted to spend time with her and I also wanted to start breastfeeding. Luckily she passed the first 24 hours so they brought her up early and told me a I had a special visitor. Best surprise ever.

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