Birth Story

I figure it is about time that I get this posted, especially since Logan is going on 4 weeks.

Saturday Feb, 20, week before my actual due date
4:45am - I woke up feeling wet in my underwear. Went to the bathroom and I was definitely wet but couldn't tell whether or not I had just peed a little or it was actually my water. So I decided to go back to bed and see what happens. At 7 I wake up to more wetness and I start thinking this must be my waters leaking. I called the Insurance Nurses Line first to see what they thought and the nurse said to call my Dr. Well first Pete had made pancakes so we had breakfast and then I called my Dr. He said I needed to go to the hospital to be checked. I really thought we would be coming right back home and told Pete not to worry about the bags, fortunately he didn't listen and grabbed them anyway. At 8:50 we arrived at the hospital and the nurse checked for amniotic fluid and sure enough I was leaking fluid. Now we are stuck at the hospital. They timed my contractions at 5 mins apart at this time and I wasn't feeling any pain with them. By 10:50am we are in our room. The Dr wanted me up and walking so that is what we did. We walked and walked and walked. I got a blister on each of my little toes we walked so much. I had no idea what I was dilated to since my Dr didn't want to do a check yet but I was still having regular contractions, but they were not painful. Pete snuck me a grilled cheese at noon and this is the last thing I eat (besides jello) for a very long time. At 4:45pm my Dr finally decides to do a cervical check. HOLY HELL the PAIN!! No contraction I had hurt as bad as those cervical checks. Each time he did one I wanted to kick him to make him stop. My first check I was at 3cm, 80% effaced and Logan was at a -2. So the walking wasn't doing much for me but we continued to walk the halls. 9:45pm I get my next cervical check and I am at a 4. So in 5 hours I have only dilated 1cm. 10:30pm the Dr decides to give me a 1/4 of a pill (can't remember what this was called) to help soften my cervix, this keeps me stuck in bed for 2 hrs to be monitored. This brings on much stronger contractions and mostly in my lower back.

Sunday, Feb 21
2:00am I am given another 1/4 of the pill. This leaves me stuck in bed again and the contractions are constant and mostly in my lower back. I am really not able to sleep at all. I am using every breathing technique I have and Pete is trying to apply counter pressure but it really doesn't work. At 6:30am the Dr checks me again and I am still at 4cm however I am now 100% effaced. My water actually broke during this cervical check. Even though I was leaking amniotic fluid when I came in the Dr could still feel a full bag of water so he was not too concerned about it causing infection and lets me continue unmedicated. Not once did anyone ask me if I wanted anything for the pain. The nurses were wonderful and they all respected me wishes for an unmedicated birth. After going through 10 hours of pretty painful contractions that never really let up I decided I had done everything I could and needed some relief. At 9:00am I tell Pete it is time for an epidural! The Dr needs to do a cervical check before giving me anything and of course there has been no progress. He recommends Pitocin and an epidural. The epidural is started right away and it was perfect. I had no side effects and it didn't hurt like I had expected it to. I felt so much better and was able to enjoy the last several hours of my labor and able to take a little nap. At 12:00pm I had another cervical check, so thankful for the epidural and that I didn't have to endure that pain again! I had finally progressed to 6cm. He said he would check again at 2:00 to see where I was. At 1:30pm I told Pete I was feeling like I needed to have a bowel movement and that I was feeling pressure. 15mins later I told him he better go get the Dr. Sure enough Logan's head was right there. I had a mirror to help push but unfortunately it didn't really help. Because of the epidural I wasn't able to push correctly. Logan's heart rate would drop to 90 during a contraction. Even though I had only been pushing for about 10 mins the Dr. decided that the baby had to come out and with the help of forceps Logan was born at 2:13pm! Thank goodness for that epidural because I also had a 3rd tear that I didn't have to feel.

Logan was given to me right away and we tried to get him to latch but he was having trouble breathing so they put an oxygen mask on him. They were also concerned about his weight and that he was too heavy for his gestational age and concerned about infection so he was taken to the nursery pretty quickly. Pete went with him while I was stitched up and delivered the placenta. Pete was able to bring him back to the room and he had a great chance to bond with Logan. Logan had to have an IV and was given antibiotics b/c his white blood cells count was elevated and they were worried about infection. Fortunately there was no infection.

Logan weighed 9lbs 4oz and was 22in long. His apgars was 8 & 9.