Here is my labour and delivery story :
When I first woke up on October 16, 2014, I had mild cramping similar to period cramps. This cramping was mild and basically only lasted during the time I was getting ready for work. Since the cramping was so mild and didn't last long, I didn't think much of it. I went to work as usual that day.
I ended up going into labor in the afternoon of October 16, 2014. I was at work at the time when I first felt some minor contractions. At first I did not realize that they were contractions. At this point they were very irregular and like 45 min apart. I only remember having 2-3 contractions while I was at work but then I got two stronger contractions on the bus ride home from work. These contractions were about 20 minutes apart.
When I got home, I told Mitch that I thought I was having contractions but that they were very far apart. He was really surprised since we were not expecting him to arrive for another couple of weeks. At this point the contractions were short and not really painful at all so we decided to go ahead and make or home-made pizzas for dinner. Throughout the evening the contractions started getting a bit closer together so we started timing them around 7 pm or so. At this point they were ranging from 15-20 minutes apart. It was discussed with my midwife previously that we wouldn't need to page her until they were about 4-5 minutes apart.
I continued to labour throughout the night. The contractions got closer together, around 7-10 minutes apart but still somewhat irregular. Throughout the night I couldn't really sleep since the contractions were getting stronger and closer together. I spent a lot of time labouring standing leaning over the counter in my en-suite bathroom and also sitting on my birthing ball leaning over stacked up pillows on my bed. These were the most comfortable positions by far. Below are a couple of pictures I took at about 1 am while I was in labor...
My contractions continued to get closer together and a bit longer in length. I ended up calling my midwife around 6am on October 17, 2014. At this point the contractions had been 6-7 minutes apart continuously for about an hour. I decided to call her at this point because I was pretty sure that he was still breech and I wasn't sure if we needed to get to the hospital a bit earlier because of this.
After explaining everything to my midwife, she thought I was either in false labour or still in early labor. She suggested that I take a warm bath to see if the contractions would go away. She also suggested that I take a couple Tylenol and Gravel in order to relax and get some rest. She explained that if I was in early labour, I would need all my energy for the later stages of labor. I got into a warm bath but it only made my contractions stronger and closer together. They went from 6-7 minutes apart down to 5 minutes apart. I then decided to try and get some rest as suggested. When I rested in bed, the contractions slowed right down to 20 minutes apart but they were much stronger and way more uncomfortable. I managed to sleep for about 2 hours (but woke up during each contraction) and got up around 10am.
During this time I kept in contact with my midwife over the phone and through text. She explained that there was supposed to be a doctor on call at the hospital who is familiar with delivering breech babies vaginally later in the afternoon. We discussed the options and she pointed out that if I was leaning towards getting a C-section, I should go to the hospital sooner rather than later since there was no point in being in pain for longer than necessary.
At this point I was still hoping to have a vaginal breech delivery. I wanted to go to the hospital and get an ultrasound to first see if he was still breech, and if so, if he met the criteria for proceeding with a vaginal breech delivery. I ended up arriving at the hospital around 4 pm and my midwife (along with the midwifery student) was already there. I had an assessment done and at this point I was 5-6 cm dilated. Then they proceeded with an ultrasound and he was still breech.
The resident doctor went over the pros and cons of breech vaginal delivery as well as the pros and cons for a C-section. While a C-section has more risks for the mother, there are definitely more risks for the baby if I was to proceed with the vaginal breech delivery. After discussing it again with my midwife and with my husband, I decided to proceed with a C-section. I was really upset over this. I really wanted a natural birth but in the end I knew it was way more important for the baby to be born healthy.
My mom and sister came to the hospital and they were able to come in the assessment room briefly before I was prepped for the C-section. Then they started prepping me for the C-section around 6:15. I got a "spinal" in order to freeze the lower portion of my body. For those of you who are not familiar with "spinals" it is similar to an epidural except the needle just goes in and is taken out right away. Whereas with an epidural, I think a tube is inserted in your back.
The spinal worked well and I didn't feel any pain during the surgery but I did feel a lot of pressure. Overall, I think the surgery itself went well. Mitch, my midwives, and a bunch of doctors and nurses were all present during the surgery. Mitch and I just chatted during the whole surgery. He was allowed to stand and watch the baby being born and he was also able to cut the umbilical cord. It is now a standard procedure at the hospital to do "delayed cord clamping" so I was happy that we were able to do that as well. I was also able to do skin-to-skin right after he was delivered and until I was brought into the recovery room.
In the recovery room he was weighed and I was able to start breastfeeding. The midwives were great about helping me breastfeed during this crucial time period. My mom and sister had been waiting in the waiting room during the surgery so they came into the recovery room to meet baby Cooper. I am not sure how long I was actually in the recovery room but it didn't seem like that long. Afterwards, I was wheeled into Mother-Baby unit where I would be staying for the next few days.
My mom and sister stayed and visited a bit longer and Mitch's sister also stopped by later that evening to visit as well. At this point I was on cloud nine and couldn't believe that he was actually here and I was a mom.
During the night, the medication from my "spinal" wore off and I became quite itchy and uncomfortable. The hospital gave me Tylenol and Ibuprofen every 4 hours to manage the pain but I was still in excruciating pain if I moved at all. I was also extremely uncomfortable in the hospital bed with the extremely thin pillows. Lets just say, I got NO sleep due to the pain and being so uncomfortable and I had already been up for almost 40 hours.
The next day we had a lot of visitors. My sister, dad, my friend Angie, my sister-in-law and her family as well as my mom all stopped by. While I appreciated all the visitors and I wanted to show Cooper off to everyone, it was quite exhausting.
We spent a total of two nights in the hospital and the 2nd night I had a bit of a meltdown. Overall, I really didn't like the night nurses at the hospital. I found them to be be very unfriendly and unhelpful. During the 2nd night, I was exhausted from the lack of sleep, I was in excruciating pain from the C-section and suffering from heartburn. I asked the nurse for Tums and extra pillows and she said NO. She said she couldn't give me Tums because it wasn't one of my listed prescriptions. She explained she would need to get it prescribed by the doctor who of course was not working at 2 am and she said that I already had enough pillows...To me this was absolutely ridiculous. She was able to give me narcotics but not TUMS??? So stupid. I know it is probably hospital policy but it is still illogical and completely annoying. Mitch offered to go out and get me some at a drugstore but that meant we would have to pay for parking again so we didn't bother.
Another thing I hated about being in the hospital is their feeding & sleeping policies. I am breastfeeding "on demand" and this didn't really fit with their 3 hour feeding policy. I also hated the fact that they wanted my baby to sleep in a hard plastic bin which they called a bassinet. Cooper was not sleeping well at all when we placed him in there so we slept with him snuggling in my arms. I was told that this was not allowed in the hospital so Mitch and I took turns staying awake while he slept in our arms.
My midwife called to check in the next day and thank goodness my midwife was such a good advocate for us while I was in the hospital. I explained what had happened the night before and how I really wanted to be discharged from the hospital and she was able to get the newborn screening and hearing test done that day (which was a day early) so we could be discharged later that day.
They did the hearing test on Cooper that morning and I was just about heart broken when he failed the first test. It was then explained that when babies are born via C-section, they tend to have a lot of mucous in their ears which is probably why he didn't pass. They did a 2nd test which was more sensitive and he passed with flying colours which was a huge relief. They also did the newborn screening test which is a blood test that tests for about 30 diseases. This test is sent to CHEO and we won't get the results back from this test for about 3 weeks. Fingers crossed that everything turns out fine.
We were hoping to be discharged around 7pm that evening but we had to wait for the OB to come and look at my incision and make sure that I was ready to be discharged. It turns out that there was only 1 OB on call that day and she was busy with deliveries and other patients so we ended up waiting until midnight in order to be seen by a doctor and get discharged which again, was frustrating.
Overall, I am so overjoyed that Cooper arrived healthy and happy. There is truly nothing more important than that. However, I am still not happy with how my labour and delivery went. While I don't regret getting a C-section under these circumstances, I still feel like it robbed me a bit of the whole birth experience. The first few days I was in so much pain from the C-section, I couldn't just enjoy my new baby. I feel like my delivery and hospital stay was merely a medical procedure rather than welcoming a new person into this world. You are treated like just a number by most of the staff (however there was 1 amazing day nurse that was so helpful and kind) which makes me want to avoid a C-section and a hospital delivery if at all possible in the future. I definitely think I will be leaning towards giving birth at the new birthing centre in the future.
Weigh in at delivery: 139lbs
Total pregnancy weight gain: 12 lbs
No comments:
Post a Comment