We finally left for the hospital around 8:30pm and got checked in. The nurse came into put the monitors on and checked to see how dilated I was. I was STILL at 2cm! I had been at a 2 for almost 2 weeks now. I was so frustrated and I was really thinking that they were going to send us home and I was going to have to spend the night with these contractions instead of a sweet little baby.
Luckily, they called my doctor and he told them to have me walk around for an hour and then check me again and see where we were then. She after about 30 minutes of walking/being doubled over in pain due to contractions that were now even closer together, my water broke in the hallway. So Patrick and I walked back to triage and left a pretty gross puddle and path in the hallway. At least now they couldn't send me home and one way or another I would have my little boy within 24 hours.
Funny side story about Patrick. A few weeks back, Patrick told me that women's water didn't break like in the movies or on tv. I laughed at him and said yes it does! He got to see first hand that is can definitely happen like it does on tv. :)
After my water broke they took me back to our labor/delivery room and hooked me up there. It was now around midnight and they asked if I was wanting to have an epidural. I, of course, said yes. And around 1:30 that was all done and I was beginning to get all nice and numbed up. I didn't feel much after that, which was a blessing! It meant I could actually get some much needed sleep.
My doctor told the nurse that he wanted to do what she called a "scalp" on the baby. This monitors the heart rate through the cervix and is attached to the baby's scalp. It is more accurate. Unfortunately, the nurse had to try four different times because I was losing so much amniotic fluid, but the fourth time was the charm and luckily my epidural was working really well.
Over the next 7 hours, they let us sleep while they monitored us and can in to flip me over every once in a while because Seth didn't like the position he was in and his heart rate would drop. They also were having to give me medications because my blood pressure would go really low. At one point it was 80/30. This is common with epidurals but can be dangerous.
Around 4:00, the doctor can into check and see how dilated I was and I was passed a 2! But, I was still only at a 4. Progress, but not like we were hoping. He decided to put another monitor through my cervix to better monitor my contractions and also to pump saline into my uterus to counteract the loss of so much amniotic fluid and hopefully stop Seth's heart rate from dipping so much.
They also gave me what they called "the peanut". The peanut is basically two exercise balls stuck together that they placed between my knees to help keep things open enough so that it would be easier for my cervix to dilate.
Around 8:00 the nurse came in and was talking to us about what was happening with Seth. She told us that his heart rate had been dipping all night and that sometimes it was related to my blood pressure or contractions, but that sometimes it wasn't related to anything at all. It was at that point that I pretty much knew that my chances of actually being able to have a VBAC were very small and that a c-section was almost inevitable.
At 8:30, Seth's heart rate dropped again and the doctor came in and checked to see how dilated I was. I was still at a 4, maybe 4.5 cm. So we decided that the best course of action was to do another c-section. I was sad, but all I wanted was for my little guy to be healthy.
So, they wheeled us to the OR and started prepping me for surgery. I was in much better spirits this time around. We were even making jokes and laughing.
I did get a little nervous when the anesthesiologist called me Dora, and I had to tell him my name was Kelli, and he said, "Oh! I've got the wrong chart."
Pretty quickly, it was all over and our little Seth was born at 9:04am, Saturday August, 21st.
We were all trying to guess how big he was and we were all wrong! We were guessing mid 7lbs and he weighed in at 8lb 1oz.
Seth has been such a surprise for me. He is so different from his big sister. Joss was so tiny, fair, with just a little bit of hair and very alert. Seth is a chunk, with lots of dark hair and he has been so sleepy.
He is such a sweet little guy and I love him to pieces. I am so glad that he chose to come be in our family and that even though things didn't go as planned, they turned out perfectly.
My first time with Seth.
In our hospital room
1 comment:
Congrats! I had 2 c sections too :) That's so crazy about them having the wrong charts! I'm glad everything went well. I hope you recovered quickly!
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