amclain60: Hailey's Birth Story

Posted Wednesday, June 18, 2008 11:14 AM

"I am so ready to do it again and I'm the biggest chicken in the world! If I can do it, anyone can..."

The beginning 

I knew before I was even pregnant that the only way I was going to make it through labor was to get an epidural. I had walked around 2 cm dilated and 100% effaced for two weeks and even though my doctors were amazed that I hadn't went into labor yet, I was convinced that I was going to be overdue. I was 39 weeks exactly when I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and came back to bed to feel a warm gush. I went back into the bathroom and examined my underwear when I felt another small gush. I went in and woke up my husband, who was sure that I had just peed my pants. I decided to take a shower and then see how I felt. One I got out of the shower, I still kept on feeling small gushes. Every time I moved, it trickled more! After waiting for an hour and feeling no contractions yet, I finally convinced my husband that we needed to go to the hospital.

Once I got the the hospital they called me on-call OB and he said to go ahead and start my Pitocin around 5 a.m. Even by now my contractions weren't regular. When the OB came in around 7:30 to check me, I was at 3 cm. He decided to up my Pitocin and keep it coming every 20 minutes. Around 9:30 a.m., I decided to go ahead and get the epidural. I was in pain, but it wasn't unbearable; I was mostly worried about the pain I was going to feel!

The epidural 

The epidural was a breeze. It was hard staying still during contractions, but I knew relief was on the way. I could feel the pressure and knew something was in my back, but it didn't hurt. It took about 10 minutes for the epidural to take effect, but once it did I could not stop shaking. I was shaking like a mad woman! They even tried putting hot blankets on me, but nothing worked. This was around the time of the shift change, and my new nurse (who ended up being the absolute best) thought that I needed to be checked, since I hadn't been since 7:30. The doctors also had changed, and around 11 a.m. the new OB came in and saw that I was at 10 cm! I was in shock, because I had thought for sure it would be after dinnertime by the time I had this baby.

 
The doctor decided to go ahead and let me start pushing with the nurse, but Hailey was sideways, so I had to push on my sides for awhile. Again, I cannot tell you how much this nurse helped my husband and I -- she was so amazing, and helped keep both of us calm. At first I could not feel the contractions or know when I needed to push, so they had to tell me; but it wasn't long before I started feeling the pressure. They had turned up my Pitocin even more and my contractions still weren't following any set pattern. I wasn't feeling pain as much as I was feeling such extreme pressure. Finally, after about an hour of pushing, Hailey was beginning to crown and the doctor came in. But right after he came in, they had to come and get him for an emergency delivery!

Holding back 

So for about 30 minutes I had to sit there with Hailey crowning and wasn't allowed to push.This was probably the worse part of all. I was definitely in pain now, probably just from trying to hold her in. The OB finally came back in and within a couple of minutes, she was out! They put her on my chest right away and my husband cut the cord. Hailey came out face up, which caused me to tear up instead of down, but it was still only a first degree tear. I also tore on the inside, which also required some stitches. I could feel the doctor stitching me up, but as soon as I told him, he gave me a numbing shot and I didn't feel a thing.

Hailey weighed 8 lbs even, was 20.5 inches long, and scored nines on her Apgar's. She is absolutely amazing and being a mom is the greatest thing in the world. My husband was truly changed by this experience and now is just amazed by women. I am so ready to do it again and I'm the biggest chicken in the world! If I can do it, anyone can!

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