Hudson's birth story

Or better known as "the day(s) I was thankful I didn't have a birth plan because it would have gone done the crap shoot fast".  

This post is going to be long.. because let's be honest, it was a LONG process!

It all began June 19th, 2014.  I had my weekly (38+5) appointment with my OB.  Matt and I hung around the house all morning, got ready, and headed into the doctor at 1:15.  They took me back immediately.  The nurse weighed me and I was still clocking in at a total weight gain of 51 pounds.  Oh well.. they've been telling me all along that I'm having a big baby!  Next came the usual.. questions and vitals.  Questions were all the same, however.. vitals were a different story.  She took my blood pressure and wouldn't tell me what it was.  All she said was that I needed to lie on my left side on the table until the doctor game in.  I followed instructions and five minutes later the doctor was in going through the same steps.  She told me she could do the rest of the exam or I could simply go to labor and delivery and have it done there.. but I was going to labor and delivery regardless for monitoring.  Huh?  Wha?  What was my blood pressure?  It was a whopping 140/110.  I wasn't worked up, I hadn't done anything different with my day.. nothing.  It just seemed to sky rocket for no reason.  

She told us to pick up our bags from home and get on our way ASAP.  We checked in to L&D at 2:00 Thursday (19th) afternoon.  Within five minutes I was hooked up to all of the lovely machines.. including one that took my BP every ten minutes.  We could read the screens.. it wasn't changing.  If anything, my bottom number was increasing.  But what we did find interesting was the fact that the other screen showed that my contractions were becoming much more frequent and consistent.  I had actually gone in to labor on my own!

The on-call midwife came in after about three hours of monitoring and told me that I had officially been diagnosed with gestational hypertension and that I was being admitted and induced immediately, even though Hudson's heart rate looked great.  Holy crap!  By this time my mom and sister had arrived, so we gathered our things and headed to my official labor and delivery room.  I hadn't had anything to eat since 11:00 that morning and it was now 6:00pm.  They were kind enough to bring me soup and a sandwich to chow down on before starting the pitocin.  

My pitocin was officially started around 6:00 pm at a level of 2--whatever that means.  At that point I was about 4 cm dilated and 80% effaced.  My contractions started to get stronger almost immediately, but not to the point where I couldn't handle them.  My nurse, Alex, was awesome.  She asked me literally every ten minutes if I was ready for my epidural.  You may think like it sounds early and often, but L&D was overfull that night and the hospital only had one anesthesiologist working the night shift so she knew it would take time once I made the decision.  Around 1:30 am I told her I would be ready any time.  Not necessarily because the pain was unbearable, but more because my contractions were every two minutes at this point but I had made no progress, so I knew it was going to be a long night and I wanted to get some rest.  Alex was 100% correct.. it was 3:45 am when I finally got my epidural and I was at the point where the pain was too much - or so I thought.

The epidural was one of the most bizarre things I have ever felt, but the relief was amazing and almost immediate.  However, for some reason I still could not rest.. adrenaline, I'm sure.  The doctor came in at 6:00 am to check me again.  No change in 12 hours and my pitocin was now at a level 14 - again, whatever that means.  She said the doctor starting with the 8:00 am shift would be in to see me and we would re-evaluate.  At 8:10, the midwife on duty for the day came in to check me.  Again, no progress and she said that Hudson's head was nowhere near being locked in or even in the right position.  She left the room to go speak to the on-call doctor (who would have to perform the c-section if I needed one) and determine between the two of them if it was worth continuing to labor, or if a c-section was the way to go.  The doctor (of course one I had not seen during any of my appointments) came in and examined me.  She agreed that his head was not in the correct position, but her solution was to lay me on one side for an hour, and then the other for an hour.. and continue to shift back and forth.  She said she would be back in around noon or 1 to check again.  At this time, I officially started to hate Dr. Smith.  

I laid on my left side.  I laid on my right side.  Left.  Right.  Left.  Right.  Time to be re-examined.  NO PROGRESS.  However, my water broke at this time.  As a result, she told me to continue on the pitocin and see if I progress any farther.  Dr. Smith came back around 4 to check me again and I was now dilated 9cm and was 100% effaced.  And my epidural had officially worn off!  They called the anesthesiologist to give me a top off.  He eventually showed up and did his job, but it seemed to take forever to kick in and my contractions were intense.  In fact, I completely dilated during this time.  At 5:00, nurse Christy asked me if I wanted to start pushing because they felt his head had shifted SOME.  Still not where it needed to be, but SOME.  I agreed.  At 5:05 I started pushing.  With every contraction.  At 7:00, my bff Dr. Smith came in to see how things were going.  Obviously, not well.  She examined me again.  After two full hours of pushing, not only had my epidural worn off AGAIN, but his head had barely moved.  So what did she do?  First, she gave another nurse permission to send someone in room 11 to the OR for a c-section.  Second, she sat there and made me push for another half an hour in four different positions.. all while having no pain meds.  Newsflash - my pain tolerance is NOT HIGH.  And it hurt.  Like a mother.

At 7:30 I lost it.  Completely lost it.  The tears started to fall, sobs came out of my mouth (I had been silent to this point), and my breathing started to go all over and I needed oxygen.  What did my bff Dr. Smith say?  Her exact words were:  "I don't think you have it in you to finish this labor, so I guess we can start getting things set up for a cesarian."  WTF woman.  First, your bedside manner is complete shit.  Second, I don't have it in me? I was now up to 30 hours of active labor.  Third, I had yet to complain to this point.  This was the first, and only time, the f-bomb came out of my mouth.. and I believe it was well deserved.  Nurse Bam, who was freaking awesome, told Dr. Smith that it was time and she was going to prep the OR.  THANK YOU, BAM.  I didn't want a c-section going into this, but after 30 hours and no progress in position, I was damn tired.  It was obvious that Hudson had no intention of moving into the correct position and making his debut naturally.

At 8:00, I was wheeled into the OR.. still drug-less.  What was the first thing I did?  Threw up all over.  Yep.. all of those ice chips during the two hours of pushing were now deposited in the OR.  Sorry.  Not really.

I don't remember much from the c-section.  By this point, my level of exhaustion was over the top.  It took all I had to keep my eyes open for certain parts and to answer the questions I needed to answer.  I remember going numb and testing all parts to see if I could feel anything.  The next thing I remember was Matt sitting next to me trying to ask me questions.  The only thing I could say, in my 17 year old drunk voice, was "I threw up".  Cool.  A few minutes later, there was some major pushing and pulling going on.  Again, I was in and out, but they are not gentle!  Next, crying.. my boy had arrived and he had a good set of lungs!  I know the nurses took Matt back to see Hudson, but I don't remember any of that.  The next thing I remember is Matt showing Hudson to me and the nurse laying him on my chest.  I was able to pry my eyes open long enough to get a picture or two.. and after that, I don't remember a single thing other than crazy pushing and pulling.  At one point, I thought I was on a trampoline because they had me bouncing around that much!  I also remember that the song playing in the room when he was born was Iggy Azalea, Fancy!  

I was wheeled into recovery around 9:15.  I vaguely remember saying goodbye to all of our family that had been with us through the whole process.  And then I remember finally getting my own room and seeing Hudson for more than two minutes.  I also finally got his stats.  He weighed 6 pounds 4.9 ounces and was 19 inches long.  My big boy was a peanut!  He was born at exactly 8:13 pm and his APGAR score was a 9.  He was one healthy little boy :)

The nurses decided it would be best to keep him in the nursery for the night because Matt and I were exhausted and I had been through so much.  Honestly, I didn't argue.  I barely remember his birth.. I was in no shape to take care of him during the night.

Thirty-three hours later, I finally had my baby boy in my arms and could not have been happier.  However, I am extremely disappointed that I was not able to truly enjoy his birth and remember all of it.  That is an incredibly special moment, and it will always be a blur for me.  I blame Dr. Smith for this.  She knew at for sure at noon that he was not moving.. and continued to have me labor and push before making the decision to take him.  To me, that is disappointing and she sucks.  But again, in the end, I have my precious baby boy.. and that makes up for all of it.

I know this post is not even close to being well written, but I am pretty busy these days and wouldn't have it any other way.  I will leave you with pictures from our experience!