out the winder

Ah, it has been too long. There are a ton of things that I have been meaning to do for the past 3 weeks (including writing thank you notes - so if you gave us something and have not been properly thanked....I'm working on it). It's amazing how the maintenance of a newborn can take up nearly every minute of the day (and night). I decided that it is high time I updated the old blog though.

So....in recent weeks, I had a baby.

We checked into SMMC on a Sunday night and shortly after they placed the cervidil. Okay - cervidil worked a little too well and I started having contractions. They told me I might have some cramping, but Lord Almighty!!! Then Louisa had a prolonged heart rate deceleration and all of a sudden 4 nurses came busting in our room, made me get on my hands and knees (to relieve any pressure that might be on the cord) and shot me up with some terbutaline. I didn't even have time to freak out about the needle. This is when I lost all inhibition and stopped stessing about Danny seeing me in less than glamourous positions.

After that, they removed the cervidil and Louisa's HR came back up and looked good. Then they started me on low dose Pit to finish dilating my cervix. Things quieted down quickly, but I had a feeling that Louisa would not be coming out the old fashioned way. The rest of the night was uneventful and in the morning they turned up the Pit and I started having contractions again. Lord Almighty!!! Call anesthesia STAT!!! [Side note: what I thought was pain from Louisa stretching out during the last 2 months of my pregnancy turned out to be Braxton Hicks contractions - glad I didn't know I was having contractions during my 9 hour board exam.]

I requested some Stadol before I asked for the epidural. This was a good idea and I would highly recommend it if you're as freaked out as I am around needles. What? Doctors have to use needles? Ahem.... So the Stadol put me into a quasi-drunken state and I was able to be a big girl and get my epidural. Hardly felt it. When the catheter was placed, it somehow ended up toward the left of my spinal cord, so I had to lay on my right side to make sure that my right pelvis/leg got the drugs. Regardless of this small snafu, I am completely in love with fentanyl and the doctors/nurses who give it...legally, of course.

Where was I....stadol....fentanyl....oh yes. So I got the epidural and things progressed nicely. I was completely effaced and I dilated to 9.5 really quickly with just a lip of cervix remaining. Danny, my parents, Grandma French Fry, Carmen, Rachel and Julie were all in the room and we started making bets about what time Louisa would be born, length, weight, etc. Most of the guesses called for her to be born between 3:30 and 4:45. Har har har.

We kicked everyone out of the room and I started pushing around 3:00. After about 30 minutes of pushing we hadn't made any progress and Louisa's head was in an unfavorable position. I pushed for a while longer to no avail. I always envisioned myself pushing 2-3 times and popping out a baby. I also always thought about how much it would suck to be in labor and pushing all day, only to end up having a c-section. Har har har. Okay, so after a while it was determined that I needed a break (Danny said I turned purple every time I pushed). They had me lay on my left side to try to get her head to turn. Okay, too much fentanyl on the left, NOT ENOUGH ON THE RIGHT!!! 30 minute break - Danny feeding me ice chips - me day dreaming about an orange cream slush from Sonic. Dr. S rechecks Louisa's head position. No big change. Dr. S reaches in and manages to turn her head to a more favorable position. Sweet! Resume the pushing! After pushing for another hour or so Louisa started having late decels (this is a bad sign for baby). And she still wasn't moving any closer to the outside world. I was so relieved when Dr. S said I would need a c-section. They wheeled me into the OR and gave me more fentanyl! Delicious! They took Danny somewhere and got him all dressed up in a white spacesuit. He looked pretty hot in it, but this was neither the time nor place for romance.

Dr. S scrubs in, we make small talk, then she says, "can you feel this?" Although I couldn't feel it, I knew what she was doing and it made me squirm....well, not really since I couldn't move my body, but if my motor neurons weren't comatose, I would have squirmed! What she was doing, I'd seen far too many times before (and squirmed every time)! She had a pair of sharp clampy tweezery things and was pinching and jerking around the skin on my abdomen. (Squirming)

To be continued (Louisa awakens).......

Nevermind....Danny's on top of it!

So, surgery ensues, then I hear a pinch of panic in Dr. S's voice. I think Louisa was further into the birth canal than she had expected and she had to work to get her out. Dr. S gets her out rather quickly....no crying. Nurses take Louisa....no crying. Dr. S orders nurses to get oxygen on Louisa right away....no crying. Mom is starting to panic. Finally CRYING!

To be continued....for real this time....baby girl needs her mommy!