Lily Pics

On Friday, December 21st I had my second doctors visit of the week. The Tuesday before my amniotic fluids were low (something we had been watching for several weeks) and my blood pressure was up. At the follow up on Friday my blood pressure was elevated again and I was showing other signs of PIH- pregnancy induced hypertension. I had a non-stress test and my doctor decided that it was a good idea to induce me since I was far enough along, before things got any worse with my health. There were no beds for me that day, so she said she wanted me to have another follow up non-stress test on Sunday at the hospital, with more bloodwork, and if anything was out of place she wanted the doctor on call to induce me then. Otherwise, it was a Wednesday 12/26 induction for sure (my due date based on the doctors "wheel" was Dec 30th, though based on conception it was the 24th!)
I awoke shortly before 8 am on Sunday Dec 23rd with uncomfortable contractions. I ignored them and tried to go back to sleep, but I got the call from the hospital around 8:30am to go in "sooner rather than later" to have my follow-up non stress done. By this time I had already had a few contractions, so I decided to time some of them before getting ready to go in. Within an hour I had timed contractions at a steady 6 minutes apart. I took a shower and got ready to go in, all the while having the same regular but manageable contractions.
The non stress test went fine, blood work was fine, protein was a +1, but they didn't worry about it since there was blood in the urine and it wasn't a "clean catch". So even though I was having regular contractions that were slowly increasing in strength, they sent me home because I was still only dilated to a 2. My discharge instructions said to go back in when my contractions were 3-4 mins apart with a duration of 60-90 seconds. So I went home around noon and waited. By 9 pm the contractions were VERY uncomfortable but were not regular- if I was laying down they would be 6-7 minutes apart, if I was walking around they would be 2-4 minutes apart. I finally decided to call L&D because of the pain. They told me to come down and they would check me out.
So, I'm back in the triage area in the small bed and small room where they do the non stress tests! From 10pm to after 12am I labored PAINFULLY hooked up to the monitors. I was crying and breathless from the pain and I was literally begging for someone to help me. At midnight I still didn't know if I was going to get a room. Finally, I asked the nurse "are you going to send me home?" and she said no, they were just waiting for me to dilate to 4 before they moved me into a room! I was MAD. I have NEVER experienced pain like that, and it was at that time they decided to get me an IV and give me some pain medication. I have to say, the pain meds made me relax more between contractions, but did not actually do much for pain during. Finally, at almost 1am they checked my cervix and decided I was dilated enough to move to a room. I got up to go to the bathroom (really fun, by the way, with monitor cords, and IV tube and bag, and some GUY standing in the hall!) and blood went running down both my legs (from the exam).
I contracted my way to my new room, where my new, nicer nurse was quick to give me another dose of pain meds. I immediately started asking for the epidural and was told I had to wait because he was in surgery. YUCK. But he actually came pretty quickly and about 1:30am I was getting hooked up for the epi.
The epi did not go in totally smooth, but once he got it in place, it worked like a dream! He gave me an extra dose so I couldn't move my legs! I was dilated to roughly a 5 once I got set up with the epi, and by 5 am I was 10 and ready to go. At about 4am my best friend called in the second string, two of my other close friends drug themselves out of bed to help out. Not sure they knew how much they would be helping! Since I couldn't hold up legs from the epi, my friends had to hold up my legs while I pushed! They had me labor down for a while to let baby move forward on her own a bit as her heart rate would drop when I pushed. Finally, the time came and after about 30 minutes of pushing, my little girl was born and she is PERFECT! I was happy because I was not in pain. I got a second degree tear and and so I'm sore from that, but I am totally addicted to my little baby! She has my chin as you can see from the pictures, and she was alert for sooo long after she came out.
Scroll down for pictures of the morning Lily Rose Victoria was born.