Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Charlotte's Birth Story

As you can see from Jeff's beautiful video posted below, Charlotte's birth was an amazing experience for us all. Here is her birth story in words!

The last time I posted was on Thursday January 22nd while we were sitting in the hospital waiting room to be admitted. Once we were in and situated Thursday night, they started my Cervidil. This medication helped prepare my cervix for labor and would work over night while I tried to get a good nights sleep. We were up the next morning at about 5:30 to get the latest set of vitals done before starting the pitocin.

7:13 am the pitocin was started and we were officially in labor! At this point I began to feel some minor contractions that slowly but surely kept increasing due to the pitocin. At 8:02 we had already gotten to 3 cm! We were moving along so well, that Dr. Rupe went ahead and broke my water to move labor along even quicker. 11:28 brought us to 4 cm and the pain had increased to a point where we decided to go ahead and place the epidural. This was not nearly as painful as I had imagined. It was uncomfortable and there were moments that had some sharp pain that ran into my lower back and legs, but overall it was an okay experience. Once the epidural was in I started getting numb from my belly down. I describe it best as the feeling you get when your legs fall asleep and start waking up again. Just that uncomfortable tingling that hurts when you move or it gets touched. It took about an hour to get fully numbed and comfortable and I was able to take that time to rest.

This brings us to 6 cm! We crossed over the halfway point and were thrilled. This happened at 1:12 and then 2 hours later we had only moved 1 cm more... by 5 that evening we were still at 7. About 6 Dr. Rupe came in and explained that our progress had halted for some unknown reason. Me and the baby were doing fine and could continue in labor if we chose, however, Dr Rupe told us that we were at a less than 10 percent chance that we would be able to deliver naturally. It was up to us if we wanted to give it another hour of labor, but we decided that the chances were too slim and we were ready to meet our daughter!

At 6:32 they were prepping me for a C-section! It was a non-emergency c-section but it was amazing how quickly they moved! I was in the OR in under 15 minutes and had gotten further doses of the epidural to completely numb me so I wouldn't feel anything except a bit of pressure. It was a little strange to have to just lay there, not being able to move with even my arms strapped down to the table. Dr. Rupe was great and came over and helped me focus and just helped me stay calm. Then the blue sheet went up and they brought Jeff in and away we go! Jeff did an amazing job to help me stay calm. We talked about Lost - even Dr. Rupe joined in! I could feel some pressure mostly up at my lungs and under my ribs, but I felt nothing else. The next thing we know it was 7:03 and Dr. Rupe told Jeff to stand up and take a peek at his daughter being born!!

I cannot describe what an amazing sound it was to hear her cry for the first time. Such a sweet cry! I was able to get a peek of her across the room being cleaned up by the nurses and I sent Jeff over to get pictures of his daughter. I missed the chance of seeing her and holding her immediately like you would with a normal delivery but I was thrilled that Jeff was able to stay with her and follow her to the nursery to get cleaned and checked. I of course had to stay behind and get put back together. Jeff was able to really bond with her for the first hour after her birth and be present for her being weighed and measured. He got priceless photos and video. We found out that the reason I had stopped dialating and she had not moved down any longer - the umbilical cord was wrapped around her left ankle 3 times! We have a little bungee jumper on our hands. After hearing this news we knew we made the right decision on going forward with the c-section when we did, there was no way she was coming out the old fashioned way! And, it makes for a fun birth story to remember for years to come.

It was an hour later once we were together as a family. I finally got to hold this little wonder! They brought her in from the nursery as soon as I had gotten back in our room and we got our first taste of life as a family of three. After we had a few minutes to ourselves and then we brought our family in and introduced our daughter:

Charlotte Anne Lyons

5 lbs. 9 0z, 19 inches long, born January 23, 2009 at 7:03 pm.











1 comment:

  1. Love getting to hear the story f/m your perspective! I love you!

    ReplyDelete