Fertility Friday: Minnie's Birth Story, 11/28/2009

On Tuesday evening before Thanksgiving… November 24th all of a sudden my hands, feet and stomach were CRAZY itchy… little red bumps popped up and sleeping that night was FAIRLY miserable… Husband and I had an appt in the AM on Wednesday at the OB’s and I told him I would be PSYCHED if they wanted Minnie to come that day just to be rid of whatever this rash was. Thankfully I talked to Mama H that evening on the phone and she experienced PUPPS as well with her PGCY so I knew that it would eventually go away… but oh.my.goodness.

Wednesday AM we went to the docs and came up with an “exit strategy” for Minnie to be induced on Monday, November 30th… We were to check into the hospital at 8AM and they would start the process then. I was thrilled that they were giving me an OPTION for a natural birth vs. just signing me up for a c-section like I had been told and thought once she popped up at an estimated 9lbs 3oz. In the meantime they gave me two Rx’s for steroids and sent us on our way…

The steroids didn’t work. The only thing that SEEMED to help for about 20 min. at a time was bathing myself in a vinegar/water mixture so you can imagine how delicious I smelled. We joked that at Thanksgiving Brando would be the only one who would sit next to me because I smelled like his favorite chips. Nasty.

Let's call this my 39 week belly shot one day early :)
How I spent MUCH of Thanksgiving Day...
On Friday AM Husband and I headed to the “big city” for my twice a week U/S but because my Dr’s office was closed we went to the hospital. I had been a little concerned because my sugars had DEF. Been running low which was WEIRD for the things I had eaten Thanksgiving and after so I asked the U/S techs to specifically check my placenta. My RN’s had told me all along that when I started to have unexplained low blood sugars it COULD be a concern that my placenta was starting to “crap out”. :)(for lack of a better term). The techs assured me that it “looked” fine on the U/S and sent us on our way… we headed home and I literally laid on the couch and napped off and on ALL day… I also could NOT keep my sugar above 50-60. Around 3:30ish I asked Husband what he thought we should do and we decided to check-in with the on-call docs because of my blood sugars.

The Dr. that called me back just HAPPENS to be ~Laurie, SIL L AND SIL Bets OB/GYN. I knew I was in good hands when she called back. We talked about just coming in the next AM for a non-stress test but before we were off the phone she decided that we should just come up that afternoon to be certain that baby and I were fine. Better to be safe than sorry and I appreciated that but I, in my mind, thought everything was fine so was convinced we would be coming home. We did NOT bring the bags, we had a turkey in the oven and we took Rebound with us (he hates to stay home alone :))

We arrived in Triage around 5ish and were immediate greeted by a Labor and Delivery RN Melinda, that immediately put us at ease… ish. :) She is the daughter of a woman that Husband teaches with, she was the L/D RN for SIL Bets when she delivered Chloe and she was the same girl that told me to “get down here you DON’T want to miss this miracle!!!” when Chloe was born. Oh it was nice to have a familiar face. She got me all hooked up to the non-stress test and I was her only patient so she chit chatted and made me feel so good. Or as good as you can when you are in a hospital jonny watching your Braxton Hicks on the computer screen.

The resident Dr. came in to check my cervix and then went back out to consult with the on-call doc. At 6:30 the resident came back in and said… you are not leaving. Uh. What? I have a turkey in the oven. My dog is in the car. I asked if I could just leave and PROMISE to come back and they giggled and looked at Husband. They said “YOU can leave but SHE is staying” My next comment was… “then you’d better get your sister to come and baby-sit me because I’m NOT staying here alone!!!” I don’t DO alone well, and I certainly don’t do it in a HOSPITAL!!!!

THANKFULLY Betsy dropped what she was doing (and the poor girl had been up since 4AM for Black Friday shopping) and she raced to the hospital to stay with me while Husband went to tie up all the lose ends. Honestly would NOT have stayed strapped to that bed had she not shown up. Thanks for coming Bets and thanks for the distraction :)

At 7:15PM after being moved to my Labor and Delivery room the resident came back in to put in Cervadil to start the process. This drug was supposed to stay in for 12 hours. Melinda stuck with me until 11ish only leaving to go to the OR and help deliver a c-section baby.

At 9PM, Husband got back to the hospital after dropping Rebound off with L&L, the turkey off with MIL and getting our bags. Betsy hung out until 11PM when Husband hit the sack.

I was hooked up to an IV, the monitors to watch baby and keep an eye on my contractions. They were coming every 2-3 minutes all night and I didn’t sleep a wink. My new RN, Danielle, continued to check on me especially towards the 3AM hour when the contractions were coming every 1-2 min.

Around 2:10 I sent J.T. a text message: U up?? And we texted a few times back and forth… around 2:30 she called and we chit chatted about all that was going on until I needed to focus on what was going on…

At 4:30AM I had to wake up Husband. I couldn’t do it by myself anymore. It was around that time that Danielle came back in and said that she was going to page the Doc to see about taking the Cervadil out early because the contractions were coming faster and harder. At 5AM it came out. Once they took it out they said they would monitor me for a couple of hours to see how my body responded and if I would need to go on Pitocin to continue the labor pattern…

Thankfully, my body TOOK over and I was in full on labor. At 6:00 AM Danielle suggested getting in the shower or the tub to try and relax and I thought I would like to get in the shower…I started to shave my legs and hang out with the hot water, thankfully I was connected to wireless monitors so they could still keep track of baby and I and I could move around… and at about 6:30AM I heard and FELT the pop and knew my water had broken.

For the girl who isn’t a huge fan of being messy… that was perfect. Except… for the fact that things went SPIRLING out of control for me. I was in definite sensory overload and yelled to Husband to come and help me get the seat down in the shower so I could sit. The contractions were BRUTAL all of a sudden, I thought I was going to be sick, I was freezing cold, I wanted the monitors off my belly, I wanted OUT of the shower and I had to go potty. I honestly could NOT keep it together at that point. Husband was AMAZING at just doing whatever I needed… getting the monitors off, getting me dried off and in my tank top again, pulling the trash can over and just BEING THERE.

At 7AM my GODDESS of an RN showed up. Her name was Pam. Had we not already picked Minnie’s REAL name it might have ended up PAM. :) I told her I NEEDED something for the pain. She suggested Nubain which went ½ as a shot in my arm and the other ½ as a dose in my IV. It was like a MARGARITA in my blood. I was happier and dizzy and relaxed and could DEF. still feel the contractions but I just didn’t seem to care as much. This drug lasts about 2 hours in your system but I had about 30 minutes of relief.

Pam kept me distracted, she had me labor on the exercise ball and gave me about a 45 minute massage on the ball. Apparently at some point in the time on the ball I did get up to use the potty and she and Husband had a little “chat”. She told him that they had to work together to keep me distracted because if I had an epidural the chances for a c-section would dramatically increase. Husband was ON board. He knew that I did not want a c-section if I didn’t have to have one and that I was really kinda nervous about that.

They worked together between having me on the ball and on the birthing stool. Around 10AM I was back on the ball and having strange sensations that I had to go potty again. I was also in quite a bit more pain. Pam suggested checking me and then she said I might like to get in the tub to relax things and rest. Once she checked me there was no time for the tub. I was at 10 CM and ready to start pushing.

She let me push on the birthing stool for the most part. I was SOOOO uncomfortable in the bed because Minnie really hadn’t moved DOWN so her behind was grating right under my ribs every time I contracted. Laying down was NOT a good position for me. They had me on my hands and knees so that I could use the leverage of the bed and just kept me moving.

Husband was my water boy, my blood sugar checker, my pump monitor, my forehead wiper, my oxygen giver, and my LOVE. That guy was a ROCK throughout the whole process (I’m talking the whole 9 months) But especially when it came down to crunch time. He monitored my pump and blood sugars. Made adjustments as necessary and kept my sugar from going any higher than 140 and any lower than 107. Around noontime he took my pump off so we could avoid a low and he could stay focused on giving me sips of water between pushes.

FOUR HOURS later the team of doctors finally showed up because I was “ready”. They had me on my back which I HATED but was necessary and had been giving me some oxygen because it appeared that Minnie just needed a little extra. I managed to get her head out and then there was much talk and telling me to just relax. MMMMM Country Mouse was not doing much “relaxing” at that point :) There might have been some yelling and hollering at the doctors. I mean REALLY there are THREE of you down there. SOMEONE get this child out of my PERSONS!!

But Minnie had what is referred to as “hand presentation” and they needed the time to be able to get her arm out without hurting her or me. I’m thankful for the job that they did.

She was born at 2:05PM, at 8lbs 9oz and 21 1/2 inches long, to spa music that we had on repeat and ESPN that was on the TV. :) She was immediately put on my chest, was given some oxygen right there on me and she took a few minutes to REALLY find her lungs but she didn’t have to leave me. We waited for the cord to stop pulsing in order for her to get ALL the nutrients from me that she would need in those first few minutes and then Husband cut the cord. (Which I completely missed! :( )

My first reaction to my child being put on my chest… “OH.MY.GOODNESS. She looks JUST like SKY!” :)

This is the child I prayed for. I know that God will give us the desires of our heart I guess my faith just wasn’t big enough to realize He would honestly go right down to her dark hair and dark skin and looking just like her Daddy. I couldn’t be MORE thrilled. Now if the green eyes and dimples pop out a little later… watch out. Pretty sure her Daddy is going to lock her in her room until she’s 50! :)

We are def. riding high the next day... I love this man more than I ever anticipated loving ANYONE. He is PERFECT for ME and no one else would "put up" with me like him :) God def. knew what He was doing in arranging for us to be together forever.

I am so thankful that this is the story I get to tell. Virtually med free, natural and with only 2nd degree repairs after 4 hours of pushing. I found out after about Husband and Pam's ka-hoots and I also found out that the doctors were all talking in the hallway that if I'd had an epidural they would have sent me for a c-section because they "thought" Minnie was NOT so MINI! I'm so thankful for the RN that listened to Husband and I, that gave me the opportunity to do the work and that didn't give up on us. I could not have imagined a better birth story for me. :)

Thanks for all being along on the "Fertility Friday" journey... It sure has been a crazy wild ride :)