abizzzle: Serafina's Delivery

Posted Thursday, June 25, 2009 11:53 AM

"Being on bedrest for two days before labor in a hospital bed was the biggest challenge for me..."

Serafina Nellie arrived on Friday, April 24 at 9:51 a.m. She weighed 6lbs., 12 oz and was 19 ½ inches long. My doctor said it was the most successful failed induction he'd seen!

How it all began...

I was admitted to the hospital Tuesday evening due to my high blood pressure and preeclampsia. I spent two nights being closely monitored and on bed rest with no great improvements, so my doctor called the high-risk doctors at Yale-New Haven hospital for their “blessings” on inducing me at 37 wks and 4 days pregnant. 

Before I was given any medication, I was 1-2 cm dilated and 30% effaced and had been contracting all day on my own. They decided to start the induction Thursday around 9 p.m. by inserting Cervidil. I immediately began cramping and got so uncomfortable.  After suffering for a few hours they decided to take it out around 1 a.m., and when they checked me about 40 minutes later, my cervix had still made no changes. I continued cramping, which led to much stronger contractions, but still NOTHING was showing up on the machines. Finally, around 4 a.m., my doc came in (when I was about 1-2 cm, 70% effaced) and told me they would be getting me the epidural and breaking my water in order to speed me along.

Dealing with the pain

Contractions at this point were horrible. I swear the 1 or 2 hours before my epidural were the absolute worst. My mom and my nurse were absolutely amazing. And yet STILL my contractions were barely showing up on the machine. It was so frustrating because they were SO bad, yet there was no evidence of them.

Since I tested positive for the group B strep, I received two bags of antibiotics -- one before the epidural and the other right before I started pushing. At 7:15, the epidural was in place. Then my doc broke my water, which pushed me to 3 or 4 centimeters dilated. Around 8:20, my nurse came to change the towel and saw a lot of blood from my water breaking. She called the doc in and at 8:30 discovered I was already 9 cm and almost ready to push!

Finally ready

I began pushing at 9:15 and Serafina arrived at 9:51. When she came out, the cord was wrapped so tightly around her neck that she was “shell shocked." Her circulation was horrible and since she arrived early, she was COVERED in vernix. Her Apgars were 6 and 7. She was rushed over to the NICU to be monitored due to the tight wrapping of the cord and spent the first night in their, and the second night with me.

Looking back

I have to say labor was nothing like I imagined -- the contractions were rough. I know everyone says it, but you will just KNOW when you are having the right kind of contractions. Some ladies may hate me for it, but the labor part was a piece of cake for me. I was able to talk and joke between pushes and I could not feel a thing. I would totally do it again; my doctor was great. I did not poop on the table (THANK GOD) but I did have a second degree tear. (It really wasn't too bad though). The first day after the birth was a little sore, but it wasn't too long after that I began to feel much better. Being on bedrest for two days before labor in a hospital bed was the biggest challenge for me. I was so sore and couldn't sleep at all, so when the big time came, I had no stamina.
 
Life with baby

Breastfeeding has been a struggle. I pumped for three weeks and supplemented with formula, but now am just formula feeding. I hope all you ladies have a great birth experience! I hope to stick around the boards, but I don’t know how much time I will have now.

Another challenge I faced was that I went through the pregnancy with a single vessel umbilical cord. The cord did not cause any problems with my LO, but it was a lot thinner than a "normal" one, which may have caused it to be wrapped even tighter around her neck. But thankfully, there were no complications, (despite what Google told me!).

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> Want to share your birth story? Email kstanford@theknot.com.