Birth Story...

Okay, this is a post that I've been wanting to write since we've gotten home, and I have some time before the next feeding (I think) and some energy, and I wanted to get some of this written down before I forget the details. I also have worked on this in about 3 spurts over the last couple weeks. I think I finally have the details down! Warning: this is very long!!

Lila's birth story began on Tuesday, February 17 when we entered the hospital for an induction. I had a terrible time sleeping the night before - it was like a crazy version of Christmas Eve - knowing some wonderful things would be happening the next day, but how was this all going to go? I estimate that I got about 4 hours of sleep. We were up at 6am for showers, final packing, and calling the hospital to make sure they still had room for us. They did, and I tried to choke down some breakfast. The knot in my stomach was growing larger by the minute, but I knew that they were not going to let me eat anything until after she was born - and who knew how long that was going to be! Somehow I got down my english muffin with pb&j and it was time to go.

Driving over, T and I didn't talk much - I think we were both too nervous, anxious, excited, etc. Although on the way there, we did see an SUV driving crazy erratic all over the road, the median, everywhere - which certainly didn't help our nerves! We made it safely away from crazy driver and we made it to Metro on time. Apparently 8am is a popular time to check in, so we waited for about 15 minutes, got our room number, and up to the 2nd floor we went. The rooms and hallways were much more alive than our previous visits to the hospital. We had only ever been there at night when the cafe was closed and visiting hours were over.

We were taken to our labor and delivery room (217 - which I thought was cool since it was 2/17!). I got into my lovely gown and into bed I went. We had a fabulous nurse who was actually from Saranac! Weird. In went my IV and the pitocin drip began. Not surprising, my blood pressure was pretty high - I was a bit nervous about this whole thing. I was checked a couple of times over the next hour and it wasn't going down much so I had to have some blood tests to make sure I did not have pre-eclampsia. Around 9am, an intern and a resident came into the room to see how dilated I was. Still 2.5 - same as the day before. The resident decided that my labor could move along faster if she broke my water. Okay, fine.

OH MY GOD THE PAIN!!!

Apparently my uterus was up a little farther than they expected and it felt like that instrument was going to come up out my mouth she was sticking it up there so high. I seriously thought that I had broken at least a few of T's fingers as I held on to him for dear life. Little did I know that that was going to be the worst of the pain for that day!

As I sat on towels to soak up my water, things were actually pretty pleasant. I sucked on my ice chips and my nurse brought me these yummy lemonade popsicles (just like the ones I buy at Comerica Park!). We watched tv, I read a magazine. My water was steadily coming out, but it wasn't too terrible. I'd get up to go to the bathroom and T would change the towel. After a little over an hour - the flood came. I had no idea there was that much liquid in there!!! I was trying to get up to get to the bathroom, but I couldn't contain it! I sat up a bit and T said "You're sitting in a big puddle!" Yep, that's exactly what was happening and it just wouldn't stop. So I leaked all the way to the bathroom while T and my nurse changed the bed linens. Luckily, that was the worst of the gush. I still had more come, but it was easily contained by the towels. Thankfully!

By noon, I was checked again and I was now at about 3cm. Hmm... not moving very fast. The resident mentioned that some other woman was also being induced and she wasn't moving along very quickly either. Maybe a bad batch of pitocin? We could see contractions on the monitor, but rarely would I feel them. T called my parents - who were going to come to the hospital after lunch and told them to hold off for a while since nothing was going to be happening for a while.

More waiting and by 4pm I was checked again - 4cm! It took 4 hours, but at least something was moving. Around 6pm my parents made it and we all settled in to see what was going to happen. My contractions had been coming more frequently and I had been able to feel most of them. Some were becoming quite uncomfortable. I was able to get some pain meds into my IV which helped a lot. When she first pushed it in, I got quite dizzy, with some blurred vision. I told everyone that I must be getting woozy from not eating any protein all day. About a minute later, I was fine. Well, quite hungry, but fine. And with pain relief!

At 8pm I was checked again and I was now at 6cm. The nurse assured me that the first 5cm usually go pretty slowly and that the last 5cm can go quite quickly. I asked about the other woman on the pitocin and was told that she had delivered about an hour before. Me, being the competitive one, was not happy about that, but then they told me it was her 3rd child. So, that made me feel better. My new night nurse (also awesome), came in and asked how my pain was. I could tell that some of my initial meds were wearing off as I could feel more contractions again. She also said that the anesthesiologist was going to be going into a multi-hour surgery soon and if I did want to get an epidural, I may want to consider getting it soon, since if I asked for one later, it could take quite some time for me to get it. That was fine with me. I had already been outfitted with a monitor inside to more accurately track my contractions and a catheter, so I couldn't get out of bed anyway - why not add the epidural too? So, I got my epidural from an anesthesiologist who was absolutely hysterical and did a great job since all I felt was a small prick and a little burn and then I was good. Nothing to it!

Not long after this, my nurse came in and told me that I had basically topped out on the pitocin and they were going to drop my dose in half to see if the contractions would intensify and things progress a bit quicker.

I was checked a couple more times over the next few hours and I still remained at 6cm each time. The contractions were also coming one on top of the other.

At 10:30, 2 residents and the attending OB came in and said that we needed to start thinking about options. They explained that since the contractions were coming so close together, but weren't as strong as they should be, and that since Lila's head was not down into the birth canal after all this time, we needed to start considering a C-section. That option was fine with us - we just wanted a healthy baby - it didn't matter to us how she got here.

The doctors went through a bunch of scary forms that I had to sign and they said that within 30 minutes, they'd be coming to wheel me into surgery. My nurse brought T all the surgical garb that he was going to need to wear and they put a cap on me and we were ready!

A few minutes later, the doctors came back in and said that there was another woman who needed emergency surgery for an ectopic pregnancy and asked if I minded waiting an hour or so. I had been laying in that bed pretty much all day - what did it matter to me if it was a little longer? Since the c-section option had been taken, they had taken me totally off the pitocin which had made my contractions totally stop - there was no danger to the baby, so we stayed in the room.

I could tell that my parents were having a hard time keeping it together - yes, c-sections are considered routine these days, but I could see the fear in their eyes. The last time that I had been in the hospital, I was 6 years old and had my tonsils out. I can still remember that day - my mom sobbing as I was being wheeled down the hall to surgery. T was rolling with the punches pretty well - I could tell he was nervous, but it wasn't like we had a choice. There was no way we could say, "Um, no thanks, I think we'll just go home."

My parents and T packed up our things in our labor and delivery room (which turned out to be my non-delivery room) to take to our room where we would be staying the rest of the time in the hospital. My nurse came in a few more times with updates about when we'd be going. The other surgery took longer than expected and they were not ready for me until around 1am. So, the February 17th birthday we thought Lila would have, had now turned into the 18th.

The residents and my nurse came to wheel me down to surgery. I said good bye to my parents and down the hall I went.

The doctors and nurses loaded me onto the table - I had no control of my body due to the epidural, so everyone just pulled me around where I needed to be. After I had been there for a few minutes, T came in all suited up and sat on a stool by my head and held my hand. The doctor asked T if he wanted to watch and he said no thanks (I don't blame him!). They put up a drape so we couldn't see and it was time to rock and roll.

Around 1:30am, everything got started. After a few pokes and pulls to make sure I was good and numb, the cutting started. T leaned over and said, "Do you hear what song is on the radio?" I couldn't really hear it - so I listened closely. It was our wedding song - I Could Not Ask For More by Edwin McCain. How crazy is that?!? As for the surgery, I really didn't feel much the whole time. I did feel some pulling, but there was no pain. About 20 minutes later - the doctor said, "Ok, get your camera ready!" I looked at T and he was just frozen there on the stool. The drape had fallen down a bit so he was watching as they pulled her out. I heard her cry and the resident said, "Wow, this is a big baby!" and held up her little slimy body for us to see. T was still frozen there looking at her, so I said "Take her picture!!!" They held her up again and then she was gone to the warming bed to get cleaned up. "One fifty-seven AM," said the anesthesiologist. I told T to go over and be with her (obviously I wasn't going anywhere) and of course take lots of pictures. The doctors said, "Ok, how big do you think she is?" One said 9lbs 2oz, and another said, "No way, she's bigger than that" and another guessed 9lbs 7oz. A moment later the nurse says from the corner, "She's 9lbs 9oz!" Holy crap, I gave birth to a toddler - no wonder she wouldn't fit. I asked how long she was and no one answered me.

The nurse got her all cleaned and swaddled up and brought her over to T and I. T held her and I could move one hand so I could finally touch her. The nurse took our picture - the new family all together! Then another nurse came in and told T that there were some very anxious grandparents waiting outside the nursery to see their new granddaughter. So T and Lila went to the nursery to finish up the exams and then T could let my parents into the nursery. She was about 10 minutes old the first time they saw her.

I was in the operating room for about another 40 minutes getting put back together. During that time, over the staff intercom that my nurse had around her neck, came a voice from the nursery saying, "Tell mom that she's 21.5 inches long." I was happy to hear that she had some length to her since she was already a pretty good weight! When they were finished with me in the operating room, T came with me back to OB triage where I had to stay for about an hour so I could be monitored closely. T was with me for a while, then my mom came back for a while, then my dad. They were all telling me how amazing she was and it made me so anxious to finally be able to see and hold her!! Although, I was pretty loopy and tired at this point. I had thrown up a couple times - nothing much since I hadn't really eaten all day, and my nose was really stuffed up. I tried to blow it, but I couldn't - I didn't have enough control over my breath to be able to do it. That was a freaky thing.

After it was determined that I was okay - they wheeled me to my new room (209). My parents were there, and then they finally brought Lila in so I could see her. By this point it was about 3:30am. The nurses and everyone came in several times in the next 2 hours. My parents went home to our house. I was able to hold her for a while - but I was pretty out of it. I do quite vividly remember her being in her bassinet and starting to fuss a bit. I put my hand out and she wrapped her tiny little hand around my finger so tight and then went back to sleep. It was so cool.

That's the story of how our sweet Miss Lila came into the world. It was definitely not the way that we were anticipating - but she's here and perfect and healthy and that's all that matters.