Let me start by saying that my goal was to have a 100% natural birth. My water breaking on its own, dilating at a normal rate, no medicine (especially no epidural!). You know, everything natural. I wasn't married to the idea of it, I just really wanted to see if I could do it. I had heard horror stories about epidurals, and how people were still feeling numbness days, weeks, and years later. I was well aware of the fact that I may get into labor and decide that the pain was too much to handle. In which case, James knew that if I said I wanted pain medicine, then I meant it. The only thing I was adamant about was the fact that I did not want to be induced, and I did not want an epidural or a c section.
My due date was May 24th, and as I was nearing that date, I began swelling. My feet were huge, and I had a big knot of swollen tissue in my stomach, right below my belly button. At my 38 week appointment (when I was actually 3 days away from being 39 weeks), the nurse took note of my swollen feet as well as the swelling in my stomach. She noted that my blood pressure was higher than it had been my whole pregnancy, and asked if I had been having head aches lately. I told her that I had head aches that felt like they were located behind my eye balls. She took note of all of the above, and said the doctor would be in shortly. Dr. Kurtz came in and told me that with my swollen feet and stomach, as well as my elevated blood pressure and constant head aches, I was in the early stages of pre-eclampsia. He said it was nothing to be alarmed about immediately, but that he was able to induce at 39 weeks if I was interested in him doing so. (This was Thursday, and I would have been 39 weeks on the following Sunday.) I had never been wild about the idea of being induced, but if I was in the early stages of pre-eclampsia, I was alright with it. He went ahead and scheduled for me to be induced on Tuesday, May 19th. I was to be at the hospital at 6:00 that morning. James and I still hoped that I would go on my own that weekend, so as not to have to be induced, but were still excited for Tuesday to come. Before I left, the nurse told me that if I did happen to go into labor that weekend, that it would be a good weekend to do so, because my doctor was the one that would be on call that weekend. She also told me that if I went into labor in the middle of the night, to go through the ER, but not to stop there, and to just go straight up to Labor & Delivery by way of ER, since those were the only doors that would be open in the middle of the night.
I told my boss that I would be induced on Tuesday, and that I would like for Friday to be my last day at work, so we could have Monday to go to bed early, since we would have to be at the hospital so early Tuesday morning. Friday night, I worked my last night at work, and went home, excited to have the weekend to prepare for our daughter to come home. Friday night, we went to bed, and I could not sleep at all. I was up several times, and tossing and turning all night long.
At 3:45am on Saturday, I woke up with a strange feeling. Almost like I had to go to the bathroom, but different. I sat up to hurry to the bathroom, and I realized that I was soaking wet. I ran to the bathroom, and a huge gush came right as I made it to the toilet. I called for James, and when he woke up I told him that I thought my water broke. He started to get out of the bed and noticed my side of the bed, and agreed with me. He cleaned up the bed, and I told him I'd take a shower and then we could go to the hospital. I cleaned up the bathroom and took a shower while he made sure we had everything in the car. On the way out the door, I grabbed a container of mini white powdered donuts to eat on the way, because I knew they wouldn't let me eat anything once we got to the hospital.
We got to the hospital about 4:30 Saturday morning. We went through the ER, and up to L&D. They put me in a room, and checked to make sure that my water had indeed broken. After the nurse did that, they admitted me. At that time, James called my mom to tell them to make it this way. They had been in New York the previous week, so he wanted to make sure they were on their way back, and wondered where they were. They had stopped half way the night before to sleep, so they were in West Virginia headed this way. He called his parents, and texted his sisters, and I texted my sisters to let them know that my water had broken, so they'd need to be headed this way before Tuesday.
They checked me, and I was at 2 cm at 5:00. She told us that it would be a long day since I was only at 2 cm. She gave me a banana popsicle, and James and I tried to get some rest. At 7:00, the day nurse came in, and checked me. I was still at 2 cm, so she started pitocin to hurry me along. The nurse (Darlene, who I LOVED) checked me every hour, and I was still at 2 cm. Dr. Kurtz came in about 9:00, and checked me. Still at 2 cm, and he commented how far back Olivia was, and that she was going to be a big baby.
At 11:00, Darlene came back in, and I was still at 2 cm. At this point, the pitocin was raised to 25, and I could feel the contractions, but nothing was changing. My blood pressure was starting to get higher, and Olivia's heart rate had dropped a little bit. (Neither one of those were a big enough deal to merit an emergency c section, but I was starting to wonder if I was ever going to progress.) James and I talked when Darlene left the room, and we talked about the options before us. We decided that if they mentioned a c section, then we would go that route as to avoid an emergency situation. Our thinking was that if I wasn't progressing, and it was going to end up in a c section anyway, we might as well go that route instead of having my cervix contract all day long, and put pressure on Olivia. I didn't want a c section to begin with at all, but I knew that if we were going to end up in one anyway, I'd rather it be our choice than an emergency situation.
11:30, Darlene came back in, and sheepishly asked how we felt about a c section if I was still at 2 cm at 12:00. James told her that we had just discussed that, and that we would rather go ahead and do it to avoid an emergency situation than to try to go naturally all day long, and end in the same way. She said she would tell Dr. Kurtz our feelings on it, and that they would both be in at noon. 12:00, Dr. Kurtz and Darlene came in. Dr. Kurtz checked me. Still at 2 cm, and Olivia was still really far back, even though my pitocin was as high as they could give me, and I was feeling the contractions. I texted my family and told them that we would be doing a c section, and that I'd start being prepped at noon. They all started driving to get here.
Dr. Kurtz was really apologetic, and asked me a few times if it was really what I wanted to have a c section. He knew that I wanted all natural, so he wanted to make sure. James asked him if he thought it was necessary, and told him our thoughts. Dr. Kurtz said that he agreed with our thinking, and that he'd rather go ahead and do it than for my blood pressure to keep rising, and Olivia's heart rate to drop more, and then end up in the Operating Room anyway. Dr. Kurtz made sure that we were ok with it, and then told us that I would be prepped for surgery.
At 12:10, the anesthesiologist came in and told me what would happen, and what to expect. Darlene came back in and gave James a pair of scrubs to wear. Darlene left us alone for the last few minutes, and James said a prayer for surgery to go well, and thanked God for us being healthy up to this point.
At 12:20, they wheeled me into the operating room, and told James to wait until they came to get him. The anesthesiologist gave me the shot in my lower back, and prepped me for surgery. At 12:30, I told her that I was feeling nauseous, so she gave me some oxygen, and my nausea began to subside. I heard James and Dr. Kurtz walk in, and I looked at the clock. 12:40. James held my hand while the nurses and Dr. Kurtz did their thing on the other side of the curtain. I could feel pressure, but no pain. I heard Dr. Kurtz telling the nurses that there's no way Olivia could have come out on her own anyway because she was big, and so far back. I heard one nurse say, "Look at that hair!", and then I heard Olivia cry. I remember asking James, "Was that her? Is she here?" He looked over the curtain and nodded yes as he squeezed my hand. The nurse said, "Go take a picture, Daddy!" James kissed my forehead, and I saw them bring Olivia around the curtain to clean her up. I saw her wild and crazy hair all over the place, and that's all I could see as they walked her past me. James went over to the table and took pictures.
The nurse told me she was born at 12:59, weighed 8 pounds and 3 ounces, was 19 1/2 inches long, and that she was perfectly healthy. Not sure if it was the anesthesia, or the fact that the day was such a whirlwind, but after that, it was all a blur. I don't remember going back to the room to recover, but I remember family coming in for a few minutes before Darlene kicked them all out. After 2 hours in L&D unit, they sent us to the Mother Baby unit, and our family came in to see us in shifts.
If you made it this far into reading this post, kudos to you. I'm so thankful for our healthy daughter, who we believe is perfect. At the end of the day, it really didn't matter to me that I had a c section, or that it wasn't exactly how I had planned. I'm just so thankful that she's here, and healthy. And for now, our family is complete.
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