Caroline Grace has arrived! A bit early too, at 37 weeks.
Here are some details... On Thursday night Matt got paged to go to the hospital. I ate some wings (my favorite when I am pregnant) and had some cramping all night. I thought that maybe the wings were a bit too hot. I had a tough time sleeping and it didn't dawn on me until 5:30 am that I might be able to time my "crampiness". I thought I was restless because I was getting uncomfortable and because I usually have a hard time sleeping when Matt works in the middle of the night. Matt got home from the hospital at 5:45 am and I told him to take a quick nap. My contractions were 7 minutes apart. In the meantine my mom was on her way over to watch Kate and I had called the doctor. We left for the hospital at 6:30 when my contractions were about 4 minutes apart. Once I got checked I was about 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced which was the exact same as the OB visit I had had on Thursday. So no change. The biggest issue was that I was planning on having a VBAC and really didn't want to have a c-section again. But because I had taken my blood clotting medication the night before, my OB told me that if I was to have a VBAC I would have to do it without an epidural and if I had a c-section, they would have to put me to sleep for it. Just what I wanted to hear [insert sarcasm!].
By 11 am I was still 2 cm and 90% effaced. I was officially admitted since my body was making progress and had to wait for them to break my water. By 3pm, a first year resident attempted to break my water but wasn't able to. At this point I was at 3 cm and 90% effaced. I felt like change wasn't happening fast enough and was afraid I'd have to be put to sleep for a c-section. They had told me that if there wasn't enough change to my cervix that the change could be happening to my c-section scar which could eventually cause an uterine rupture. So much to worry about!
I spent the next few hours walking the halls (contractions really are easier if you are walking) and hoping gravity would take over. At 4:30 the resident came back in and officially broke my water. At 5:30 my OB came in to check me. I was 4 cm. In the next half hour my contractions came pretty fast and furious. By 6pm, I was at 8 cm. I am pretty sure that it's at this point that I started screaming bloody murder. It's really a wonder that you don't hear more people screaming on a labor and delivery floor... Not being able to have an epidural was something I thought I was mentally prepared for but I had NO idea! From 6pm to 6:15 I begged to push but they wouldn't let me. I was at 10 cm by 6:15 so then they finally let me push. I think there were about 3 big pushes and Caroline was born. At some point in that last half hour, I asked the OB to just take me back and give me the c-section. I was already in transition and I don't think it would have been a feasible option at that point any way.
It was a great feeling when Caroline was out and they put her on my chest. I wasn't able to do that with Kate. They didn't allow me to hold her for long, though. Apparently her heart rate was dramatically dropping and they needed to take care of her right away. This is the beginning of where the story gets a bit scary. The OB was having a tough time getting the placenta out of my uterus. It wasn't pulling away from the walls and I was once again screaming in pain as she tried to get it out. I was starting to get really cold and was screaming again. The next thing I know, the OB is talking to Matt, and I am being put on a stretcher and being told I am going to the OR. The nurses started running with me down the hall. Like, running full steam ahead, and screaming for people to move out of the way in the hallway. I wasn't really sure what was going on but I really felt like I was in good hands. I LOVE my OB. Once we got to the operating room, my OB explained that they needed to put me to sleep to extract the retained placenta. I was out for about an hour. In the meantine, Matt had called my parents to come back to the hospital (they had just left with Kate) so that Kate could come back and meet her new baby sister. What I found out later was that that was just what Matt had needed. Apparently I had lost a lot of blood and getting the placenta out quickly was imperative for my health. Matt really feared that the OB was going to walk out and say that I didn't make it. I can't imagine how scary that was for him. When I came out of the OR, I had difficulty waking up. Once I was in the recovery room, I woke up for Matt. The nurses said he was the only person I responded to (not even Kate).
I spent a few hours in recovery but they did bring the baby to me. I wasn't allowed to nurse her right away because of the medication they used to put me under. I had to pump and dump which was funny because I was only getting a few drops of colostrum. Apparently they watched me like a hawk during the night. They considered giving me a blood transfusion (I guess I lost that much blood?...) but didn't. The OB told me the next day that I most likely went into labor because Caroline knew the placenta was beginning to fail. About 1/3 of it was fibrous and full of clots. Usually it pulls away from the uterine wall easily but because mine was beginning to fail, it wouldn't come loose.
Nursing has been going very well. She has a great latch which I was worried about because she's had some formula. She had some in the hospital and some at home because she has jaundice and my milk didn't come in until today. We had her jaundice levels tested today and they jumped from 9.1 to 14.8. We have to go again tomorrow to get tested after our doctor's appt. I hate having her go in and get her heel scraped. It's so pitiful.
Kate is interested in Caroline but only to a point. I don't know if she realizes she is sticking around for a while. They look a lot alike but Caroline has more hair and it's a bit curlier.
I've been feeling very tired from all the loss of blood. Walking to the mailbox wears me out. However, the vaginal delivery recovery is fantastic! I feel like a million bucks! I doubt I will do natural childbirth again, but I know I won't have a c-section unless I need to. An epidural sounds like the right combination for me! Although to be quite honest, I am not sure having any more children is in the cards for us now. Seeing how much harder this delivery was on Matt, I am not sure it would be easier next time. I don't know if I could put him through that again. We're going to have to talk to the OB and the specialists and see what they say...
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Birth story and pics
Re: Birth story and pics
Kim 
