Throwback Thursday: Eleina's birth story

So I realize it has been a very long time since my last post... I guess life just really gets in the way sometimes.

Well since it is Thursday, I thought I'd share the story of my labor and birth.  I don't remember every single detail, but I hope you enjoy the story of how I brought my baby girl into the world.

40 weeks and 2 days

On July 24, now 4 days past my due date, my husband and I decided to go to dinner around 5pm at Subway.  This was odd for us since we normally eat around 8.  After I chowed down on a foot long sub, we headed home to relax and workout before bed.  For the past weeks leading up to my due date I had been walking 3 miles a day, and for this particular day I decided I was going to join my husband in his Insanity workout (modified of course).  But we never made it to that.

During our after dinner nap, around 7:45 pm I was woken up suddenly by a gush of fluid.  (Thank GOD Marcos put a water proof mattress pad on the bed)  I jumped up and yelled my water broke!  We got up, Marcos hopped in the shower, and I loaded the car.  When we get to the naval hospital, I have to wait what seems like forever to get a bed in triage.  When I finally get one, it seems like I'm waiting forever to be evaluated.  But finally a nurse comes in, and sure enough I am leaking amniotic fluid! Woohoo!!! Well my excitement quickly diminishes when she then tells me that I am 1cm dilated and Eleina's head station is a "negative up to my ears"... And to top it all off, I'm not really having any contractions.  Great... I have to be induced...

Now I did have a birth plan, kind of.  Go natural, have a midwife deliver (if I'm lucky enough in a naval hospital), listen to music during labor and delivery to calm me, and have the room dark.  I had also decided though that if I had to be induced I was going big or going home, aka, EPIDURAL.

I'm taken to my room where I get all sorts of hooked up to monitors, and various IV plugs.  My first method of induction is the pill that softens your cervix. Not so bad.  Next comes the Fully-Cook blub.  I'm pretty sure this horrible tool was used in the midieval times to torture criminals.  Here is where my story gets a little graphic, but I will do my best to spare you the dirty details.  They insert this long straw that looks like it has two deflated balloons at the end.  The inner most balloon was filled with 80ccs and the outer most was filled similarly.  These balloons pinched my cervix from inside my uterus and outside.  HOLY OUCH.  Then came the constant contractions.  But those weren't enough.  I was given pitocin to hurry the process along.

At this point I am in excruciating pain and getting very sick to my stomach.  The nurse gives me nausea medication and I beeeeeeggggg for the IV pain meds because I can't wait until I'm further along to get the epidural.

*Side note: do not judge me because I used IV drugs to help with my pain.  You were not in my exact situation, therefore you have NO idea exactly how I was feeling at the time.  Thank you.*

I don't remember much leading up to the epidural, nor do I remember the amount of time that has passed at this point.  It might have been around 1:30am ish when I was told I could get the epidural.  I was 6cm at this point and FINALLY the fully bulb was removed.  The anesthesiologist came in with a student.  I sat on this side of the bed with my feet on Marcos' knees and leaned over him while he held my legs and helped keep me still.  Now typically you are given some warning when you're about to be stabbed with a needle.  Well not for me... After getting my back cleaned off and the blue tape thing stuck to me, BAM I get stabbed with the numbing shot with no warning.  Of course I jumped, and the student ask me to please hold still...-_-  As politely as possible (while contracting I might add) I asked him to warn me the next time he was going to stab me... Ugh... Anyways he gets the epidural needle in and I feel nothing. No tingles, no pinches, nothing.  I start thinking to myself what a wonderful idea it was to get the epidural when he says "I can't find the spot."  So he pulls out the needle and tries again.  And nope, still can't find it.  At this point I've been hunched over chin to boobs for about 15 minutes or longer (I really have no clue... I just know it took forever) Finally the anesthesiologist steps in, re-numbs my back, and hits the spot in minutes.  THANK YOU SWEET BABY JESUS.

The next 6ish or so hours are a haze because I was in and out of sleep.  All I remember is being woken up a few times to roll over because Eleina's heart beat would drop.The epidural worked wonders for my contractions. Until I hit 8 cm and my body decided it was time to push.  During the entire labor and delivery, I remember not allowing my body to push and fighting back was the most excruciating pain I had ever experienced.  I cried to my husband telling him I couldn't do it anymore and I was so tired.  Poor guy had them check me every 30 or so minutes until I finally got to 10 cms.  It was time to push after 16 hours of labor.

Now pushing was the most amazing feeling of my labor and delivery.  I was finally able to work with my body and make some real progress.  My midwife was so amazing.  She helped me time my pushes with my contractions, and she massaged my perineum non stop. I consider myself very lucky that I was able to feel the urge to push and my contractions during delivery despite the epidural.  (I could tell that it did dull the pain though.)  About 30 minutes into pushing, Eleina was almost out, but my midwife noticed something extremely unusual.  I had a ligament that stretched across my birth canal connected to each side.  I remember her looking at me and saying exactly this, "Donna, you have a ligament that is stretched across your daughter's head.  You have got to give it all you got or we are going in for an emergency c-section."  You better freaking believe there was no way in hell I was going to get a c-section after the amount of laboring time I had just endured.  My last two rounds of pushing were intense to say the least.  My body let out a war cry with each 8 - 9 -10.  It was so intense that I actually almost passed out from pushing so hard and my nurse not letting me breathe... My midwife stopped everything, let me take three deep breaths, and with that last push, out came my perfect little girl.

My chest was exposed all ready for skin to skin, but her umbilical cord was too short.  So Eleina got to hang out on my stomach until her cord quit pulsing, and daddy cut it.  The next hour was perfect.  I never noticed my placenta or my midwife stitching up my 3rd degree tears on the inside.  All that I saw, knew, and cared about was me, my husband, and our perfect creation laying on my chest.  After our hour was up, Eleina was off to be cleaned, and weighed.  She was 6lbs 9 oz and 20 inches long.

Unfortunately, while Eleina was getting cleaned up, I was still being stitched up.  For another hour... My nurse kept my epidural going, and she even had to give me two shots to keep me numb with my midwife stitched away.  In the naval hospital you are typically allowed to stay in your room after you deliver for 3 hours so that they can see you walk and pee.  Well I still couldn't feel my legs at all after 4...  Despite their regulations, I had to be kicked out of my room because the hospital was full, and a poor woman was ready to deliver in triage.  I was picked up off the bed, into a wheelchair, and wheeled with Eleina to our post-partum room.  I gave birth at 12:44pm and couldn't walk until around 9pm that night.  I had to pee in a bed pan 3 times... I couldn't even shower until the next morning.

I don't remember much the next two days in the hospital, just that I wanted to be home.  When we were finally released, I was so excited to get home and start being the family I had always envisioned.

xoxo,
Donna

Welcome Eleina!

First bath

Meeting daddy

Meeting her grandparents

Ready to get wheeled to our next room

Post-partum room

Getting ready to go home

Time to go home!