August 18, 2012, we checked into Frederick Memorial Hospital around 12 noon for round two of labor and delivery. This time we were not leaving without a baby, even if we had to opt for the C-section. I had Mike take one last bump picture before the nurse came in to start the list of questions, and the IV.
At about 12:50pm, the nurse was able to get the IV started, and the fluids going. At 1:10pm, she took a urine sample, and by the looks of my urine, she thought that my water had already broken. Boy, wouldn't that be sweet?!?!?! Although I don't ever remember feeling that gush. Unfortunately the swab test came out negative, but we were going to get this show on the road anyways!
At 2:07pm, one of my favorite doctors, Amy Heymen, came in to check my dialation, and see where we were starting from, and find out exactly what our game plan was. She had mentioned that Dr. Jonathan Hodor (Our high risk doctor, that had been by our side every step of the way) had called this morning to tell her exactly what was going to happen this weekend, but she wanted to hear it from us. When she checked me, she said I was a "good" 1cm dialated and 75% effaced. We mentioned that we weren't leaving this time without a baby in our arms, and she completely understood, and mentioned that was what Dr. Hodor had informed her. She mentioned that she was here all weekend (On the weekends they start Friday at 5pm, and don't leave until Sunday at 6pm.) Mike was thrilled! One doctor to tell our game plan to, and no one to tell us otherwise! It was obnoxious in round one, that once we had our game plan, a new doctor would be there. At least now we were able to sit down with one doctor, tell her our game plan, and no one else could come in and change ANYTHING. So, Dr. Amy Heymen mentioned that she would be here until Sunday at 6pm, and then Dr. Renee Thomas-Spencer (My other favorite doctor) would be in Sunday at 6pm. Dr. Heymen suggested that we give it a good 48 hours, and if at that time, nothing has happened, Dr. Thomas-Spencer could do a C-section. We mentioned that we would rather deal with just one doctor for our entire labor and delivery. We told Dr. Heymen our game plan was if nothing happened by 4:00pm Sunday, we would do a C-section. (Although that wasn't my first choice by any means.) I wanted to remember the experience, and feel what it's like to have a vaginal delivery, and actually remember what it was like seeing Alex for the first time. So, we reiterated that if nothing was happening by 4:00pm, we would plan for a scheduled C-section at 4:30pm. She said OK, but if at anytime you decide you don't want to do a C-section, and you are OK waiting one more day, Dr. Renee Thomas-Spencer would take excellent care, and she would gladly do a C-section if it came to that on Monday.
So, let the games begin! Labor and delivery round two begins! At 2:10pm I took a quarter of a pill of cytotec. We would wait around for 4 hours, and then I would take a 2nd dose at 6:10pm if all looked good. The only thing with cytotec is you aren't allowed to get out of bed. It's not like pitocin or cervadil where they can stop or remove the drug if the contractions get too strong. So 6:10pm came around, all looked good, so I took another quarter pill of cytotec. Man, so far this labor thing is great! 4 hours, and I didn't even move yet! Boy did I speak too soon.
At 8:05pm, they had to start rushing bolus' of IV fluids in me like they did in labor "round 1," because Alex's heart rate was going crazy again. They kept having me lay on my side, and that did wonders on my ribs! YOWZAS! At around 8:40pm her heart rate started to calm down, I was able to move to my back, and they allowed me to shower. Unfortunately I had to shower with a special cleanser because I tested positive for MRSA in labor round one....but, it felt amazing to be able to shower one more time before delivery.
At 10:10pm Dr. Amy Heymen checked my dialation once again, and I was still only 1cm dialated, but I improved to 80% effaced. WOO HOO! I hadn't really felt any contractions, so I really didn't expect a huge change, but I was hopeful. She decided that I was ready for the next step of induction to try and speed the process along. Cervadil, was the next step in the induction process for most doctors at Capitol Women's Care. I went to the bathroom one last time before they inserted the cervadil at 10:15pm. (It's like a tampon that they insert way up inside you) Man, that was not comfortable at all! (They checked me AND inserted the cervadil at the same time! WOWZAS!) Maybe I'm NOT going to be able to pass on the epidural.
With the cervadil comes leg massagers...you'd think WOW, that sounds amazing, until you realize you have to unhook them and unstrap them from around your legs every single time you have to go to the bathroom. You are required to wear the massagers to keep the blood flowing in your legs and prevent blood clots. So, at 10:17pm Nancy, (the nurse) comes waltzing in with these huge blue velcro leg massagers. I didn't mind them at first, and it actually felt pretty good. I was doing just fine, although it was way past my bedtime, and I couldn't sleep with those darn things on. (Not that I could sleep without them! You are attached to 500 other things!) Mike was comfy on his little sofa, bundled up under his Green Bay Packers blanket, and here I was attached to leg massagers, an IV, a contraction monitor, and a fetal heart monitor.
At 11:25pm I decided I was going to cut myself off! No food, no water, and no ice. (the anesthesiologist on call wouldn't even let you have ice chips!) That way in case I HAD to have a C-section, I was good to go. The last thing I wanted was to have to wait ANOTHER 12 hours food, water, and ice free, just to have a C-section.
Another long day of labor under my belt. Now we were getting into the wee hours of the am, and WAY past my bedtime! But here I was, wide awake, and it was D-day! (Delivery day!) Although I really didn't know it yet.
12:24am on August 19, 2012, and the leg massagers came off. Good ol' Nancy (The nurse) got so tired of me ringing the bell to help me go to the bathroom. Sheesh! I only went twice! Isn't that your job!?!?! At 1:25am, the cervadil had been in for just 3 hours, and I was definitely having some contractions. At this point Mike was sound asleep, and snoring away. UGH! So jealous! I was putting our birthing class to good use at this point, and I was definitely having to breathe through the contractions. At this point, they were about 2 minutes apart. I was breathing heavy enough that you would have thought Mike would have woken up. HELLO, what happened to my birthing partner? Eventually I was to the point where I was moaning! Finally Mike woke up, and asked if I was OK, and I told him no, the contractions are strong as hell! Something HAS to be happening here! He finally woke up a little, came to and buzzed the nurse. At 2:45am Nancy checked me, and was only 1.5cm, 80% effaced, and at 0 station. That's it? You would have thought this baby was coming already! I told Nancy I was ready for the epidural, NOW! I seriously couldn't take it. Sheesh! What a baby I was, only 1.5 cm, and I already needed the epidural! What in the world was I going to do at a 7 or 8? They would have heard me all the way in St. Thomas!
At this point Mike was helping me breathe through the contractions, even though he was half asleep. The anesthesiologist was currently working on an epidural, and had one other in front of me. Oh gosh, please hurry! Now I'm having flashbacks to TLC's "A Baby Story." Mike kept telling me to relax and keep breathing!
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the anesthesiologist came into the room. She asked that Mike move all his stuff, and mentioned she needed a specific work area. She was sterilized from head to toe, and started asking me a long list of questions. Well, I guess it was a good thing I hadn't eaten since 11:25pm! Each delivery room had an entire cart just for epidurals and prepping. Holy smacks, this was a process! My entire back was frozen between the alcohol or whatever they had to rub on it. This anesthesiologist wanted you to bend over the bed. I remember leaning on one of the wheelie bedside tables. At this point I was so uncomfortable, so exhausted, so cold, my ribs were hurting so bad, and I was still contracting like crazy. I had Mike in front of me, and I was just trying to hold onto him, and get through this. At 3:45am, the epidural was officially in. It was a weird pinch, and tingly feeling all throughout my back. She tried to do it high enough up to see if I could get some relief from the rib pain, but she didn't want to go too high and not have push and contraction relief.
At 4am they ended up putting a catheter in because I couldn't walk after the epidural. My legs were so heavy I couldn't even move them. Anytime I wanted to move my legs, Mike would have to come pick them up, and move them for me. I could touch my legs with my hands, but anytime I tried to use my strength and muscles to move my legs on my own, they wouldn't budge! What a weird feeling! It was almost like my entire body, butt to toes was asleep.
The cervadil was causing my body to over contract, and Alex's heart rate was getting all wacky on us again. Bolus after bolus, and more tears for me! I was afraid they were going to have to take the cervadil out early. They normally keep cervadil in for 8 hours at a time.
Wahoo! Guess who made it the full 8 hours?!?!?! At 6:15am, EXACTLY 8 hours later, the cervadil was removed. They checked me and I was still only 1.5cm dialated. UGH! These induction drugs mess with your mind, and can easily cause you to over contract. You'd think over contracting would cause you to dialate faster, but that is NOT the case.
Dr. Amy Heymen decided to break my water at 6:20am. She mentioned that a lot of times what happens, is once she breaks the patient's water, it really speeds things along and she seemed quite hopeful. I knew I wasn't leaving the hospital at this point without a baby in my arms! (Once your water is broken, you are not able to leave the hospital, because of infection.) Dr. Heymen needed to help me get to the 3cm "hump." She said once you get over the 3cm-4cm dialation hump, it's smooth sailing from there, and labor is almost complete. It's the hardest to get to, but once 3 or 4cm rolls around, dialation keeps going!
At 8:15am this was more then just a bloody show. I was getting kind of nervous, and didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. I called in the nurse, and she checked me at 8:17am, and I was 2cm dialated. At least I was progressing, but it was taking forever! In about 20 hours, I went from a "good" 1cm to 2cm. Hopefully now that my water is broken, it will quickly speed things up, and I'll go from 2-10 in a matter of NO TIME.
Be careful what you wish for! At 8:18am I was given oxygen because I was over contracting again. SHOCKER! They couldn't start the pitocin until things calmed down a little bit. Either the oxygen was making me nauseous, or the fact that I hadn't eaten since 11:25pm the night before was making me nauseous. Well, at 10:05am I threw up! Oh gosh, this is not fun...come on Alex, we really want to meet you! We've waited our entire lives to lay eyes on you, and at this point, I was BEYOND ready!
YESSSS! It's 10:08am, and we are officially at 3cm dialated, even before the pitocin! Thank you Dr. Heymen, I made it! Here's to smooth sailing! Let's get to a TEN! Come on contractions, calm down just a bit so we can start the pitocin!
Still moving from side to side, and getting bolus' of IV fluids, and oxygen, the contractions are starting to regulate. At 12noon, exactly 24 hours after being admitted, I'm still at 3cm. Finally things calmed down on the monitor, Dr. Heymen felt we were ready to start the pitocin, but she decided to check one last time before starting the drip. At 12:48pm on August 19, 2012, we start the pitocin at a low dose of 2 units. The nurse mentioned about every hour, she'd be able to increase the dose. At 1:30pm, the pitocin units were bumped up to 4. Halfway through the first increase, one of the nurses checked me at 2pm and I was measuring 3-4cm, and I was told that my cervix was "moving." (Whatever the heck that means!) Well, the pitocin seems to be doing it's job, and I'm not over contracting.
At 2:10pm, an internal monitor was inserted to better track my contractions. I'm not sure how I really felt about the whole idea of an internal monitor, but a girls gotta do, what a girls gotta do. At 2:17pm, the nurse bumped up the pitocin to 6 units, and the internal monitor was showing contractions of 170. (I need to be at 200) At 2:53pm, my last increase of pitocin was bumped up to 8 units.
At this point I could definitely feel the contractions over the epidural. You have access to the epidural doses. You can only hit the button every 20 minutes, and it takes 20 minutes for that does to affect you. I wasn't able to hit the button fast enough to administer more medicine to numb the contraction pain. I was starting to freak out that something was wrong with the epidural and I had Mike call the nurse in. At 3:10pm I had a fever of 100.4, and at about 3:25pm or 3:30pm I was officially at 10cm dialated!!!! WAHOO! I went from a 3 or 4 to a 10 in just an hour and a half! Wow, I thought push time would NEVER happen! Of course "this one" starts to cry with tears of joy, and I have Mike take one last picture before it's a go!
The nurse kept walking in to check on me while she was notifying Dr. Heymen that it was push time, and she said if pushing during contractions took the pain away, I could push throughout each contraction 3 or 4 times counting to 10 to help alleviate the pain. I pushed here and there as Mike rubbed my arm, but I had no idea what in the world I was doing since the hours and hours of labor classes were erased from my mind at the moment. I waited for the actual rehearsed pushing until the nurses came in, and they helped and guided me with the breathing and suggested certain positions and breathing methods that have been proven to work. So it was official...at exactly 3:40pm I started pushing! Mike on one side, and a nurse on the other.
Dr. Heymen came in, and encouraged pushing, and acted as a coach. She would stay for a few contractions, and then she would step out until the real action started. (It's not like the movies where the baby just falls out!) For each contraction I pushed 4 times for a count of 10. Ten minutes in, nothing was really happening. Dr. Heymen continued to make an appearance and told the nurses, "I'll be right out here, let me know when you are ready." Every contraction, I pushed 4 times, and counted to 10 for each push. 20-30 minutes of pushing and nothing happening, Dr. Heymen kept saying that the baby's head was stuck on my pelvic bone, and if nothing happened in the next 10-15 minutes, we may have to do a C-section. Oh no we don't!!! I didn't come this far with 4-5 days of labor for a C-section. They kept saying I was pushing with the wrong muscles, and the nurses tried several different positions...on my hands and knees (not a fan), then another nurse came in, and she was known as the baby goddess! She said that anytime she helped with a patient, it was a given fact that the baby came out within the next 20-30 minutes! Well, it was worth a shot, and I was not going to settle for a C-section after all this time! This baby goddess got out a huge bar that went over the bed and wove a sheet over the bar. She had me place one foot on each bar and I held onto each side of the sheet with my hands. I kept pushing with each contraction, and with each contraction I continued to push 4 times, and counted to 10 each time. Still nothing was happening, and still I was told I was pushing with the wrong muscles. My face would turn red, and the veins on the sides of my temples were popping out, and I felt like my eyes were popping out of my head.
The baby goddess asked if I wanted a mirror. She said sometimes it's encouraging with the mirror. I was actually all for it, and Mike didn't seem to be grossed out or effected by it at all! They got the mirror, and I was ready for action! I was determined to get this little ladybug out vaginally, and I wasn't going to settle for a C-section when I knew I could do it. Mike had his sleeves rolled up while he continued to hold my hand and coach me! He encouraged me with each and every contraction and really got into it.
Dr. Heymen was in the delivery room at this time, and she was now looking somewhat hopeful. At this point I was starting to feel nauseous, and the nurse goddess could see it. At this point, she said to one of the other nurses, get a bed pan, get a bed pan! So 20-30 minutes into pushing, and pushing with the "wrong muscles," I started to throw up. There was absolutely nothing in my system to throw up but saliva, spit, and bile. It was at that moment that with each contraction, I continued to push 4 times throughout each contraction, and continued to "attempt" to count to 10, but instead of counting, I threw up. So each push I threw up in the bed pan and the nurses just wiped my face. "That's it," I remember them saying, "you're pushing with the right muscles." Dr. Heymen kept repeating "keep it up Maureen, you're using the muscles we've needed you to use. Keep it up!" I remember the nurses and Dr. Heymen saying, "Wow Maureen, anyone would have given up by now, and asked for a C-section at this point, but you just keep pushing through!" Dr. Heymen started to prep her delivery table, bring out all the sterilized equipment, and whip out the huge light from the ceiling. I remember all the nurses and Dr. Heymen saying they could see her head, and I could just start to see the tip of her head in the mirror. Dr. Heymen had her clear mask covering her entire face, her surgical hat on, and she had what looked like leg warmers up her arms from her wrists all the way to her shoulders, over her gloves. Each contraction came and all four pushes they'd continue to wipe the spit, saliva, and bile from my face. At this point I was shocked Mike was still with me...what a crazy delivery. I could see more and more of Alex's head, and I was extremely hopeful at this point. Mike was really getting into it, and continued his encouragement. We could now officially see the light at the end of the tunnel. I remember Dr. Heymen moving the mirror and I asked her what she was doing. She said "This baby isn't going to deliver itself!" Here she was, almost here! One more push, and her head would be through. WAHOO, here comes her head! Just one more push and her shoulders would be out! I remember Dr. Heymen rotating Alex's body to get the shoulders out, and bam, here she was. Our favorite nurse that was able to get ANY baby to arrive snatched the camera from Mike, and got the first picture of our little lady bug!
We did it! We did it as a team, and our precious little miracle was in our arms at 4:53pm, on August 19, 2012.
I remember Dr. Heymen saying that I had a tear...maybe a third degree tear (I can't remember what degree the tear was exactly, but it didn't even phase me.) I fell in love all over again, and this time it was with someone other than my husband! I cried and cried, and held that precious little miracle of ours. I remember Dr. Heymen stitching me up after Mike cut the umbilical cord, but I don't even remember delivering the placenta.
Her pour little head was all bruised and cut up from all the strain, pushing, and hard work, but she was safe in our arms, and as healthy as could be.
I've never seen Mike so into something ever! Nothing grossed him out or bothered him. He was so into helping, and making this moment the best it could possibly be, and boy did he ever! If it wasn't for his encouragement, wiping away the tears, wiping bile off my chin, and getting down in the nitty gritty squeezing my hand, I don't know if I would have been able to have that vaginal delivery that I hoped for.
The pictures continued, and we didn't even know they were happening. Our first family pictures were filled with tears of joy, and so much emotion!
They took her away for just a brief moment to get her measurements and clean her off, and the tears continued to come down. I couldn't believe we actually did it. My birth plan all along was to prevent a C-section if I could possibly do so, and we did it. As much as I wanted to give up, and as much as it hurt leaving the hospital without a baby in our arms the first go around, I'm so glad I got to experience a vaginal delivery, and remember every single detail of the experience.
I will never, ever forget this moment. I will never, ever forget the smile that wouldn't leave Mike's face!
As they continued to fix me up, Mike wouldn't let go of his precious little miracle, and he just held her so tight.
Our miracle baby had arrived, and our families couldn't wait to meet her. I remember Dr. Hodor, our god-send doctor had called Dr. Amy Heymen to check in on me, and her saying perfect timing! I asked if I could speak with him, and I remember crying, talking to him on Dr. Heymen's cellphone, telling him that I did it! I got through the rib pain, I delivered our miracle and I didn't have to have a C-section. I remember telling him that I couldn't have done it without his help and support throughout this entire process. Months of pain, the fear of the unknown when Dr. Tufau sent us home on Thursday after our first round of labor, and told us to come back Saturday, and try all over again. Although Dr. Hodor didn't physically deliver our miracle, Alexandra Leigh, he was the one that made all of this possible. Day in, and day out. Weekends, and weeknights. Texts, and phone calls. Long hours, and dedication. He was the one that made this delivery possible, and it's for him that I will always be grateful. He is the reason this was all possible!
We got to spend a little more time as a family with Alex before I was able to try to get up and walking and before Mike and Alex went off to the nursery.
The epidural had worn off, but I was still a little shaky walking. I remember the nurse helping me get to the bathroom. My legs were the size of Texas and my hands and face were so swollen from all the IV fluids being rushed through me. The nurse helped me get all fixed up. It was at that moment I was going to familiarize myself with antibacterial spray, tucks pads, netted underwear, and giant maxi pads. It was heaven! I finally sat down in the wheel chair, and the nurse wheeled me to our home for the next few days. I couldn't wait for little Miss Alexandra to be back in my arms. It was probably the longest hour of my life, but it probably took me that long just to get into bed with all this "stuff."
A journey I will never forget, and an experience that I was able to share with the love of my life. August 19, 2012; 4:53PM, the day my life became complete. I love you Alexandra Leigh Huntemann! You truly are a miracle!
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