Lana’s Birth Story
December 19th, that was my due date. Then December 19th came and went and nothing happened. A few more days passed and nothing happened, no contractions, no discomfort. On December 25th I woke up around 5:45am, I wasn’t sleeping much these days, my stomach was huge and I was really uncomfortable. At 6am I sat on the couch and started watching Miracle on 34th street, it was Christmas after all. Then at around 6:15am I felt a dull pain in my lower abdomen. Strange I thought. Then 5 minutes later I felt it again, and again 5 minutes after that. I began pacing around the kitchen. Every contraction I tensed up instead of relaxing (which made it worse). My husband woke up at around 8am. By this point I was having consistent contractions every 5 minutes for 2 hours. My husband tried to convince me to go to the hospital but I told him I was fine. The contractions weren’t that bad, maybe I wasn’t in labour? Finally, after another hour and one VERY painful contraction I decided it was time to go to the hospital. I hopped in the shower and I let the hot water run on my back. Did the contractions stop? I didn’t feel anything for 15 minutes. I got out of the shower thinking my labour stopped when all of a sudden, I got another contraction, OK it was time to drive to the hospital, luckily for us there was no traffic!
When we got to the hospital I had to register on the main level. Then we went to triage where they assessed me and checked the progress of my labour. A nurse put a band around my stomach to see the strength of the contractions. As my husband pointed out, the contractions were going off the charts (like I couldn’t feel them). I was 5cm dilated at this point and since my contractions were consistent, I was admitted to the labour and delivery unit, but not before the dreadful IV. The nurse in triage tried to give me the IV, but as I would later learn I have phantom veins and after 3 unsuccessful attempts an anesthesiologist had to give me the IV. Once I was in the labour and delivery unit I was asked if I wanted an epidural which I gladly took. My contractions weren’t that painful and I was managing just fine but I wanted to get the epidural before the contractions became unmanageable. The epidural wasn’t painful at all, I didn’t really feel it other than some pressure, but after having contractions for 6 hours maybe my perception of pain had dulled? The epidural worked instantly; I didn’t feel the contractions anymore. At this point I realized I hadn’t eaten anything and it was past noon. This was when I learned you cannot eat after you’ve had an epidural but my attending nurse, who felt more like a friend, gave me a few crackers and a popsicle.
My OB was not working the day I went into labour but I absolutely loved the doctor working that day, I even switched to her for my second pregnancy. My water broke while she was examining me for the first time, I did not feel a thing. The water was clear which was great news, since we were told a baby born after the due date has a greater chance of passing meconium in the womb. I was dilating about 1cm/1.5 hour but around 7pm my labour stalled at 9cm. An hour after that I developed a fever and my daughter’s heartbeat was increasing, she was in distress. At this point the doctor found meconium in the fluid. I was given Tylenol to bring down the fever and antibiotics in case there was a bacterial infection. Thankfully my fever broke and my daughter’s heartbeat stabilized. At 10pm I was still only 9cm dilated, I was given Oxytocin to speed up the labour. Finally, at 1:25am I was ready to start pushing. Right before the final push the doctor called in a respiratory therapist to be present in the delivery room. This was done as a precaution since there was meconium in the fluid. At exactly 2am my daughter was born. She did not cry when she came out, she was non-responsive and blue but our doctor kept reassuring us everything looked great. Were we looking at the same baby? But I guess that’s why you trust the experts! After all they must see this all the time. Those were the most terrifying few minutes of our lives, it felt like hours. It turns out my daughter was born with fluid in her lungs, the respiratory therapist suctioned it out and at last she cried, the best sound we could ever ask for.
Unfortunately, my daughter’s lungs were not strong enough to breathe without assistance. She went to the NICU and was put on a CPAP machine to help with her breathing. She was given antibiotics as a precaution. Thankfully the fluid in her lungs did not contain meconium. After 36 hours in NICU my daughter’s lungs were strong enough to breathe on their own and we were discharged. I can assure you her lungs are quite strong now.
My first birthing experience taught me you cannot plan your labour, be prepared for anything. All I wanted was skin to skin and I did not get that, and you know what? It’s fine. I had plenty of skin to skin during the first few weeks at home. Even though it wasn’t the easiest experience and not at all how I imagined it would be, I could not be happier with the care we received. Everyone did a great job communicating with us every step of the way and I know we received the best care possible.