Jocelyn's Birth Story Part 3
Part One
Part Two
So, I was acting pretty calm about the whole c-section thing. I think part of me knew that the baby was head down and all was well. The maternal-fetal specialist that was on call came in just a few moments later. He was able to assure me that the baby's head was indeed down, however... the baby's head was a little left of center and not engaged at all in my pelvis. No wonder my contractions weren't doing anything! To dilate your cervix properly, you need the the weight of the baby's head to help out. That wasn't happening. Also, most babies are either in the posterior (sunny side up) or anterior birthing position (the preferred position for easy delivery). But this baby was turned to the left side, giving us a lovely profile view.
The maternal-fetal specialist said that I did not have enough amniotic fluid to try to turn the baby into a better position. However, he thought with just a touch of pitocin, the strong synthetic contractions would move baby down into a better position.
Ugh, pitocin. I knew immediately I wanted an epidural. I did not feel like laboring in a bed hooked up to an IV on pitocin without pain relief. Remember, this baby had already given me 19+ hours of painful contractions on two separate occasions. I was just done. I didn't want to feel another contraction ever again. '
By the way, he checked me and I was 5-6 centimeters dilated! So those piddly contractions were doing something! He was sure that my body just needed a jump start and the baby would be out in no time.
While they were trying to get my blood drawn and my epidural started, my friends Amy and Monica showed up for some moral support. Brian had gotten there by this point as well. You're only supposed to have 3 visitors while you are in L&D, but we had four the whole time (Brian, Angie, Amy, and Monica) and no one said a word :) Maybe it was because everyone was so well-behaved?
Let me just tell you.... getting an epidural before your contractions start is very different than getting one when you are in transition like I was with Jaina. It was easy-peasy. Before the anesthesiologist started, I questioned him on his rate of unsuccessful epidurals and how many patients required a spinal patch afterwards. He wasn't put off at all and answered them honestly. I really liked him. I told him that we couldn't name our baby after him, though, because we already had a Jason and a Jayce in our family and those were enough!
I got my epidural around 6 PM and at 6:30 the pitocin was started. It was a really small dose, like 2 mg or some sort of measurement. Immediately I started having contractions on top of each other. I could feel the pressure from the peak of one so I knew when I was having contractions, but I felt no pain. It was the perfect epidural.
At 7 PM, I was dilated to a 7 or 8. They upped the pitocin a bit to 4 and then 8. The mood in the room was super relaxed. Angie was updating Facebook; Amy was taking pictures; Brian was being his annoying self; and Monica left to go get everyone Taco Bell :) I laid in bed and texted all my friends that weren't on Facebook :)
A little before 9 PM, I started to panic a bit. I felt something coming out. And since Jayce came literally flying out of me, I was a little scared that the same scenario would take place again. A nurse checked me and I was completely dilated and the head was down low. Luckily, the baby was not what I felt coming out. It was all that other lovely mucousy stuff that accompanies babies sometimes :) Again, Brian was extremely glad we were not having a homebirth. He hates the mess. At one point, he even noticed that people were tracking my amniotic fluid all over the floor. Oh well... no one said birth wasn't messy!
A doctor I had never met before came in and told me to hold off on pushing until she got everything ready. I asked her if she would delay cord clamping and she said that she would milk the cord and give it a minute before clamping. That was good enough for me. Then I asked if Brian could put on gloves and help deliver. She went above and beyond by actually instructing Brian on what to do every step of the way. It was the most involved he had ever been during a birth!
The baby came out at 9:11 PM. The doctor told Brian to flip her over and announce the gender.
"Its a girl!"
I couldn't believe it. I literally have spent my entire pregnancy with about 95% of people in real life telling me I was having a boy. Only my blog readers and a few friends thought that it might be a girl. I kinda had to do a double take because her girly parts were really swollen and for a second I thought Brian was just an idiot and couldn't tell the sex. But then I saw he was right :)
They handed her straight to me.
I was kind of laying at an awkward angle so I wasn't interested in breastfeeding until they had delivered my placenta and stitched me up. However, that seemed to be taking a really long time. So I passed the baby off to my friends and my husband to hold.
Kinda glad I did that.
And I might want to mention that I am really glad I got an epidural.
Because the next part of the story isn't all that fun.
Stay tuned for the final installment of Jocelyn's birth :)
(imagine maniacal laugh right now. I'm so mean!)
Part Two
So, I was acting pretty calm about the whole c-section thing. I think part of me knew that the baby was head down and all was well. The maternal-fetal specialist that was on call came in just a few moments later. He was able to assure me that the baby's head was indeed down, however... the baby's head was a little left of center and not engaged at all in my pelvis. No wonder my contractions weren't doing anything! To dilate your cervix properly, you need the the weight of the baby's head to help out. That wasn't happening. Also, most babies are either in the posterior (sunny side up) or anterior birthing position (the preferred position for easy delivery). But this baby was turned to the left side, giving us a lovely profile view.
The maternal-fetal specialist said that I did not have enough amniotic fluid to try to turn the baby into a better position. However, he thought with just a touch of pitocin, the strong synthetic contractions would move baby down into a better position.
Ugh, pitocin. I knew immediately I wanted an epidural. I did not feel like laboring in a bed hooked up to an IV on pitocin without pain relief. Remember, this baby had already given me 19+ hours of painful contractions on two separate occasions. I was just done. I didn't want to feel another contraction ever again. '
By the way, he checked me and I was 5-6 centimeters dilated! So those piddly contractions were doing something! He was sure that my body just needed a jump start and the baby would be out in no time.
While they were trying to get my blood drawn and my epidural started, my friends Amy and Monica showed up for some moral support. Brian had gotten there by this point as well. You're only supposed to have 3 visitors while you are in L&D, but we had four the whole time (Brian, Angie, Amy, and Monica) and no one said a word :) Maybe it was because everyone was so well-behaved?
Let me just tell you.... getting an epidural before your contractions start is very different than getting one when you are in transition like I was with Jaina. It was easy-peasy. Before the anesthesiologist started, I questioned him on his rate of unsuccessful epidurals and how many patients required a spinal patch afterwards. He wasn't put off at all and answered them honestly. I really liked him. I told him that we couldn't name our baby after him, though, because we already had a Jason and a Jayce in our family and those were enough!
I got my epidural around 6 PM and at 6:30 the pitocin was started. It was a really small dose, like 2 mg or some sort of measurement. Immediately I started having contractions on top of each other. I could feel the pressure from the peak of one so I knew when I was having contractions, but I felt no pain. It was the perfect epidural.
At 7 PM, I was dilated to a 7 or 8. They upped the pitocin a bit to 4 and then 8. The mood in the room was super relaxed. Angie was updating Facebook; Amy was taking pictures; Brian was being his annoying self; and Monica left to go get everyone Taco Bell :) I laid in bed and texted all my friends that weren't on Facebook :)
A little before 9 PM, I started to panic a bit. I felt something coming out. And since Jayce came literally flying out of me, I was a little scared that the same scenario would take place again. A nurse checked me and I was completely dilated and the head was down low. Luckily, the baby was not what I felt coming out. It was all that other lovely mucousy stuff that accompanies babies sometimes :) Again, Brian was extremely glad we were not having a homebirth. He hates the mess. At one point, he even noticed that people were tracking my amniotic fluid all over the floor. Oh well... no one said birth wasn't messy!
A doctor I had never met before came in and told me to hold off on pushing until she got everything ready. I asked her if she would delay cord clamping and she said that she would milk the cord and give it a minute before clamping. That was good enough for me. Then I asked if Brian could put on gloves and help deliver. She went above and beyond by actually instructing Brian on what to do every step of the way. It was the most involved he had ever been during a birth!
The baby came out at 9:11 PM. The doctor told Brian to flip her over and announce the gender.
"Its a girl!"
I couldn't believe it. I literally have spent my entire pregnancy with about 95% of people in real life telling me I was having a boy. Only my blog readers and a few friends thought that it might be a girl. I kinda had to do a double take because her girly parts were really swollen and for a second I thought Brian was just an idiot and couldn't tell the sex. But then I saw he was right :)
They handed her straight to me.
I was kind of laying at an awkward angle so I wasn't interested in breastfeeding until they had delivered my placenta and stitched me up. However, that seemed to be taking a really long time. So I passed the baby off to my friends and my husband to hold.
Kinda glad I did that.
And I might want to mention that I am really glad I got an epidural.
Because the next part of the story isn't all that fun.
Stay tuned for the final installment of Jocelyn's birth :)
(imagine maniacal laugh right now. I'm so mean!)
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