A Little Mommy Talk

Monday, June 4, 2007

Today's request is to write out our birth stories...

Emerson's is located here in my blog already. http://babysaysbaff.blogspot.com/2006/02/welcome-to-world-miss-emerson-faith.html

Madison's birth

Now, Maddie's birth was obviously emotional as we knew she had passed away in utereo as of February 26, 2007. I was induced unsuccessfully from Feb 26-March 2nd, and then sent home to relax over the weekend. The following is Maddie's birth story that I posted a week after Maddie's birth on my baby board.

On Monday, March 5th, at 8 am Keith and I walked up the hallway at PGRH that would take me to Labor and Delivery. This would be my second visit to the ward to be induced, as the induction the previous week (Feb 27-March 2) failed.

We were led to room 214, a different room from last week's 208 (which was the same room I was in for Em's birth). Sharon was my nurse which made me happy as she and I got along well. She expressed surprise that the induction didn't work the previous week, or that I hadn't gone into labor on my own over the weekend.

She told me to get changed, and she would go page Dr. Kingston (the OBGYN) to come get my induction started. Keith kissed me goodbye and says he will call at 10 am to see what is going on. He leaves for work. I spoke to Sharon about 'the power of positive thinking' and how this was going to work today because I didn't want to be away from Keith and Em for another 4 days. She agreed it would work.

Less than 10 minutes later, Dr. Kingston strides into my room. I laugh and tell him that was pretty damn quick being that he was just being paged 10 minutes ago. He laughed and said he was in the hospital already. He sits on my bed and explains that instead of taking the induction drugs orally as I did last week, we would try them vaginally this time. They didn't work orally and they have a better track record being used vaginally. He indicated that they would monitor me closely for signs of infection which was the reason he didn't want to go this route last week. I agree as I didn't want to revisit the failed induction of last week.

Sharon comes in and Dr. Kingston goes over the insertion process with her. It's definitely more invasive as the Mistoprostol is inserted vaginally and sits on the cervix to dissolve. Good news is that we can start at the highest dose, bad news is the nurses have to vaginally insert it every 4 hours. At 9:30(ish), my first dose is inserted and I set up my DVD player to watch videos and my notebook to write in as I wait. At 10 am, Sharon brings me some toast as I have to take my blood pressure meds. We chat about things and I eat my breakfast and take my meds.

At 11 am, the nurse comes to insert my IV. They had difficulties with this last week (took a minimum of 4 tries each time) as I have terrible veins. My arms are bruised from the attempts last week, and I was not looking forward to repeating the experience. Thankfully, the nurse manages to get it going in the first try! Wooohooo!

At 12:30 PM, lunch is brought in. I eat and await my next induction meds. At 1:30 PM, Sharon comes in to insert the meds again. I am feeling a bit discouraged as I didn't feel any different so far. She said the pills from the morning had dissolved, which was good. (Sometimes they can sit in there and not dissolve.) Feeling a bit discouraged, I settle down and watch Friends, Season 1 on the DVD player.

At 5:30, after eating dinner, Sharon comes in to insert the next dose. She is surprised as the 1 PM dose didn't dissolve. She places the new dose against my cervix and repositions the 1 PM dose so it will dissolve. Immediately, I feel pressure from this.

Dr. Kingston comes in around 6 pm and I tell him about the pressure I am feeling. I also had some pink spotting when I went pee. He seems excited by this development (Only an OBGYN could get excited about pressure and spotting! LOL).

Sharon came to say goodnight at 7 pm, right when Emmy and Keith had come in to visit. I introduced Emmy to the nurses that were on, and I had great fun trying to keep her from pulling out my IV. lol At 9 pm, Keith leaves with Emmy. Since Em had spent 4 nights away from home last week, we felt she should stay at home with Keith that night. I warned Keith that I thought I might be in early labor, and he said he would let Poppy know in case he had to drop Em off later.

At 9:30 PM, the new nurse *Evil Hag Nurse (will be refered to as EHN from here on in. You know, for privacy reasons, not because I still hold a grudge or anything) came in to insert my induction drugs. Her and I didn't mesh from the start as this was our first meeting and she was being a bit standoffish. Her first words to me were "I don't know why you can't take these orally, it's much easier." (In reference to the drugs). When I indicated that I had been through 4 days of that with no progress, she shrugged. To say I wanted to hit her would be an understatement. She inserted my meds and I found I was extremely sore in the pelvic region. At 10 pm, I buzzed and asked for my Lorazepam for sleep. I was still feeling a lot of pressure and there was more blood when I wiped. She brought me my meds and I went to sleep.

At 1 AM, EHN flips on the light and immediately starts asking me questions (whether I am feeling progress etc). I indicate that I was asleep so I didn't know and that I had to pee before she put the drugs in. She visably sighed when I said that and I wanted to scream obscenities at her and her attitude. She continued talking to me as I peed, and I ignored her. The rest of my water broke when I stood up after peeing. I told her that and she didn't seem to register what I said. She inserted the meds, and proceeded to take my vitals. I had spiked a fever so she had to get me a shot of antibiotics to ward off infection.

By 2:30 AM, labor was in full swing and I was now aware of what they meant by "You'll know when labor hits". My back was spasming, the tops of my legs would ache with every contraction, and I was hurting. I buzzed for a shot of Demerol or Morphine as I was not a happy camper. They brought me a shot of Demerol and Gravol that did absolutely NOTHING.

At 3 am, I buzzed again and asked if I could have anything else, and she said no. I know my orders had Morphine up to 5 MG every 4 hours, yet she was refusing anything more. I could understand holding back the drugs for Mom's whose babies were going to be coming out alive, but it's not like they were going to hurt my baby by giving me more Morphine. I was not happy but just closed my eyes and tried to relax.

When the contractions would hit, I would breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth as they instructed (HELLO, ONLY HAD A C-SECTION BEFORE THIS! LOL). Yet, even though I was obviously breathing, they would come over and touch me and tell me to breathe. HELLO? WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING??? QUIT TOUCHING ME!!!

At 4:30, they asked if I had called my husband. Well, actually morons, it was listed that you guys were supposed to when you thought it was time for him to come, since I HAVE NO IDEA. I called, and Keith was so dozy, I knew he wouldn't wake up without a few phone calls. I was too grumpy to keep at it and just decided to let him sleep. As you can tell, my tension level was getting pretty high at this point.

At 5 am, when EHN informed me that she had to stick her fingers in my hoo-haw to insert my next induction drugs, I nearly killed her. SERIOUSLY??!?! IN FULL LABOR HERE CHICK, WHY DO WE NEED THOSE? She indicated that she had to insert them because it was 'protocol'. Whatever! To say that her putting the next dose in was uncomfortable would be the understatement of the year.

At this point, contractions were coming every two minutes. My eyes were closed and I was just trying to breathe through them. I heard the other nurse tell EHN that as I was trying to envision ways to maim EHN in my mind. EHN informed me that if Keith didn't come soon, he would probably miss it. I informed her that he wasn't coming. At some point in here, they decide to give me 2 Tylonel 3's for pain. Yes, because those will help. They also give me some Ativan. Hi...how about something that might work for this intense fricken pain, people??? This is a hospital for crying out loud! Give me some good drugs!

At 5:30 ish, they wheel in the gas. I am excited as I now have something to beat EHN with if she tried to come near me again with her freaking induction drugs and her protocol. I never actually get to use it as it takes them the next 1/2 an hour to figure out how to hook it up. By that point, I had delivered. At 5:55 I felt this 'pop' and I felt Maddie slide down the birth canal. It was a surreal feeling as I didn't push, she just sort of fell out of me. I yelled for The Evil Hag Nurse to check me as I felt her sitting there. I then realized why all the other nurses made me pee in the hat...when she decided to come, there was no pushing needed. The nurses come over to deal with the baby. There was no Doctor called at all.

I am scared to open my eyes because I am not sure what Maddie will look like as she had been passed for a week with no amniotic fluid. I wait for a long time for the nurses to talk to me about the baby. Without opening my eyes, I ask whether it was a boy or a girl. EHN says, "Girl I think." YOU THINK? DO YOU THINK YOU COULD VERIFY THAT? I was looking for the gas cannister to beat her with by this point. The second nurse verifies that it is a little girl. I start crying and I open my eyes. They are wrapping Maddie in a blue surgical cloth. They ask if I want to hold her. I say yes. As she's put in my hands, I cry harder. It was almost as if everyone else disappeared in those precious few moments that I had with Maddie. She's so tiny but everything is there and formed. Tiny fingers, tiny toes, tiny precious eyes that are closed in her forever sleep. She weighed so little, and was the length of my hand. She was more red that the average newborn, but absolutely perfect and beautiful. I never wanted to let go.

However, EHN wanted me to pee to have gravity help my placenta out since it wasn't coming out. I let go of Maddie, completely forgetting to get a picture of her and sat on the bedside commode they brought over. I felt something fall out of me, but it was just a blood clot, and not the placenta. I got back into bed, and the next few hours were a blur. I remember Dr. Kingston coming in at 7 and sticking his arm up my uterus and tugging (No one warned me of that pleasantry!). He then decided I needed a D&C since I had only delivered part of my placenta. I was wheeled down to surgery.

I woke up back in my room around 11 am and the anesthesiologist was sitting in the chair. He explains that he broke part of my front tooth when he was removing the breathing tube. Thanks. That's the topper to my week. Ass.

Dr. Kingston comes in and talks about the surgery and the testing they want to send Maddie for. Keith is there at this point and talks me into the testing. I sleep on and off during the early afternoon. Dr. Kingston returns and says I am welcome to stay but I can go if I want. I decide to leave. By 4 pm, we were on our way home.