Sunday, February 27, 2011

Sydney`s Birth Story





Our story is long. Sydney took her time entering this world and it was not easy to get her here safely.

It all started on Monday, February 7th. I went in for an induction at 8a. McCubbin came in and inserted Cervadil to get things started. I was connected to monitors had to lay flat for two hours. Our friends Michael and Haley Shandro were also induced at the same time so once we were released the four of us went for lunch to try to relax a little bit.

 

After lunch David and I went home and waited for something to happen. We went to bed at about 9p and at about 10:30p I started having contractions. David was sleeping and I chose not to wake him until I knew that I was having consistent contractions. At about 12a I woke him up and we began timing them. I hung around the house for a while and tried to nap. I had a snack and a long hot shower to try to calm down. The contractions were painful but easy to deal with.

At about 5a I was having about 6 contractions every half an hour and we decided to go into the hospital. When you are induced with Cervadil they ask you to come in once you are experiencing more than 5 contractions every half hour.

When we arrived at the hospital I was put into the labour and delivery assessment area. I was once again hooked up to the monitors and checked. I was only dilated to a two but we were told to stay at the hospital anyway. Cervadil only lasts 24 hours and we would have had to return at 8a anyway to be reassessed.

At 7a McCubbin arrived to check on me. She decided to admit me and start me on Oxytocin to help kick start labour. When she decided to augment labour I was excited but upset at the same time. We really wanted a completely natural birth but we had decided that I would get an epidural if I was put on Oxytocin. It is a drug that creates very intense, painful contractions that are much harder to deal with than natural contractions.

We were set up in our massive L&D room and settled in. Because I have scoliosis, McCubbin ordered an early epidural. They started me on Oxytocin and I worked through contractions on my own until 10:30a. At that point I wanted the epidural. Getting the epi was terrifying but it was a huge relief! It was extremely painful but began to take effect almost immediately. It allowed me to rest and from that point on it was a waiting game.

At 4:30p Mccubbin arrived to break my water. It was like a tsunami of amniotic fluid. There was so much that McCubbin actually had to jump back to avoid getting splashed. Both David and laughed and I felt like I had peed myself. The nurses helped clean me up and we settled back in for more rest.

At one point I looked over at David and realized how pale he looked. He had not eaten or slept in a very long time. I insisted he drink some juice and rest and we called my parents to have them bring him dinner. They arrived and for an hour we almost forgot that I was in labour. It was nice to be distracted for a while.

By 9:30p we had barely made any progress. My body was beginning to swell closed as a result of the pressure that our very large baby was putting on me. McCubbin came in an announced that she was going to do a c section. She booked the OR and completed the paperwork. David and I were completely crushed. We cried together over the disappointment of not being able to delivery our child naturally and David called our parents to let them know what was happening. McCubbin came in to talk to us and we begged for another half an hour. She gave it to us but we were told that we had to make progress or I was going to have surgery.

When she returned to check on us I had progressed to a four! She gave us another hour and with a little bit of help from her (ouch!) I had made it an eight! Before we knew it, it was 11:00p and time to push! We thought that she would be with us the entire time, but after some instruction, we were left to push on our own. Our nurse would check in on us intermittently, but for the most part we did our own thing.

After making some progress pushing, I asked for a mirror to see how I was doing and from that point on, things began to happen very quickly. All of a sudden they were removing the bottom half of the bed and the room filled with medical personnel. McCubbin and her med student arrived and it was time to meet Sydney.

Sydney Anabelle entered the world at 12:45a. David cut the cord and found out that she was a girl. They put her on to my stomach and I was instantly in love. I looked at David and he wished her a happy birthday and told her what her name was. The rest was all a blur. She was weighed and measured and given to David to hold.

Labour, from the first contraction to her birth, was about 27 hours. It was worth every minute it was an experience that we will never forget.

S

1 comment:

  1. Good to hear you didn't have to do a c section that you didn't want to have!!! Thanks for sharing!!

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