My Labor and Delivery Story- Part 2

Warning- This post is super long!

Thursday October 6, 2011

When I woke up at 6am for the pitocin to start I was happy to know that I had 2 doses of the cytotec the night before and that my cervix was finally softening!  Sadly the nurse told me that I hadn't started to dilate yet.  I got a new nurse at 7am who was super great (really, all of my nurses were super great) and she told me how she was going to help get this baby out today.  She was very upbeat and was good at explaining things to me as she went along.  My doctor showed up sometime around 8am and checked me.  He quickly decided that he could force an opening to break my water (Brian woke up in a panic when he heard this) and the next thing I knew, the nurse handed my doctor the instrument used to break the waters.  I hardly had time to react or grab Brian, but I know that I screamed out and was crying.  It was the worst feeling ever!  I was freaking out too because it felt like I had no bladder control and I was peeing in the bed (don't worry...I wasn't).  Not a fan!  Once this happened, boy were those contractions strong!  Ouch!  I held out until 9:30am for the epidural.  I felt like such a wimp because I still wasn't dilated, but the contractions really hurt and I didn't know how long it would take to start dilating.  The anesthesiologist was really nice and also explained how things were going to work.  I felt confident in her ability and wasn't as scared as I thought I would be.  Brian was a sport and sat in front of me holding my leg while the epidural was put in place.  Can I just say that I felt instant relief!  Best thing ever!  I was back to my happy self.

So, long story short...it took me all day to dilate just a little bit.  And I mean ALL DAY!  We had a few ups and downs with the baby's heart rate (I pretty much wore the oxygen mask all day) and the pitocin dosage.  We had to completely start over with that in the afternoon.  Also, the nurse decided it would be easier to attach internal monitors to check the baby's heart rate and my contractions.  I was grateful to lose those annoying bands across my belly which had been itching for the last day and a half.  If only the blood pressure cuff (which would go off every 15 minutes) could have come off too!  I also had to get an additional dose of stronger epidural drugs because they started to wear off.  The stronger drug did wonders though.  Around 3pm the doctor said I was 3-4cm and that the baby might be arriving around midnight. 

When my nurse left at 7pm we were sad because I was only at 5cm and she really wanted to be a part of my delivery.  The good news was that I got the same night nurse as I had had the night before so we knew each other and I thought she had been really attentive too.  I continued to dilate slowly and Brian and I sent both sets of parents off around 10:30pm so they could sleep. 

Friday October 7, 2011

Finally around 12:30am I hit 9cm and the end was in sight!  We were so excited, but I was so tired too.  I called my parents who insisted on coming back to the hospital right then (we mentioned that it could still be awhile based on how things had been).  I fell back asleep and then woke up around 1am with a desire to push.  The nurse said that I was practically fully dilated, but that part of my cervix was still in the way and my baby was still a little high in the birth canal.  We decided that pushing might help though.  Poor Brian woke up at that point...hearing the nurse say, "okay, let's get ready to push."  I had been shouting at him for the previous 15 minutes, but he didn't hear me and there was nothing that I could have thrown at him.  :)

I started pushing around 2am and needed to get additional meds because I was starting to feel the contractions again.  Boy was the pushing exhausting...especially so early in the morning!  I pushed and pushed but nothing was happening.  Our little boy was still too high in the birth canal.  When the doctor arrived he found that the baby was facing the wrong direction (not breech, but he was positioned to be face up instead of face down for delivery).  The doctor attempted to twist him with his hand but wasn't able to.  He even used the vacuum but found that our baby's head was stuck on something in there not allowing him to descend further.  This was around 4am and I was just spent.  We asked the doctor what our options were...  I could either a) lay on my side for the next hour in a certain position to see if it allowed our baby to move down (and then push some more) or b) go do a c-section right away.  We were going to have to get the baby out within the next 4 hours somehow because it would have been 24 hours since my waters had broke and it's best to get the baby out within 24 hours to decrease the risk of infection to him.  I felt so tired and heartbroken that my baby was stuck and I couldn't get him out, but we felt that going and doing a c-section would be the best thing.  Honestly, I felt like a failure at first, but we wanted our baby healthy and quickly.  :)  It was 5am when we made the decision.  I was immediately prepped for the operating room and Brian was put into sterile clothes.  Once in the OR the amazing anesthesiologist explained things again to me about what I might be able to feel and what the doctor was doing.

Here's Brian in his sterile clothes.

Both of us behind the "curtain".

At 5:23am my baby was finally born!  He came out super sleepy and didn't cry right away.  When he finally did cry, so did Brian and I.  Brian was able to get up and take some pictures while our little guy got cleaned up.  He also got to hold our baby while I was getting cleaned up. 

My poor baby's misshapen head from the vacuum.  So cute!

We were quickly moved to the recovery area where I finally got to hold my son!

Our first family picture!

Brian and I took a good look at our baby and decided on his name:

LUKE BARRETT INGRAM

7lbs 11oz

20 1/2 inches

Luke was a name that both Brian and I liked and sounded good.  Brian also likes it because of his love for Star Wars.  I was totally fine with this association.  We had been trying to find a middle name that fit Luke and while I had been looking in a book of baby names over the summer I discovered the name Barrett.  Barrett means, "strong as a bear".  We thought it was perfect because Luke was referred to as Little Cub while he was in my stomach and will probably still be called Little Cub because we're attached to that name too.

We introduced Luke to both sets of grandparents who had been waiting quite some time in the waiting area for his arrival.  It was a fun moment to have everyone hold him and to finally reveal his name.

The new Taylor Grandparents

The Ingram's

He is completely and totally perfect and Brian and I are so in love with him!