Week 39 & delivery...
On Monday 1/26 the Dr inserted a Foley catheter to help dilate my cervix. Unfortunately I was not dilated to begin with so it took 3 tries to get it inserted. That was not fun. The balloon that holds the catheter in place is filled with saline and the pressure will cause the cervix to dilate.
That night I noticed an increase in fluid leaking out of the tube so we went to the hospital to be checked out. It wasn't amino fluid, so we were sent home. Tue we went back to the Dr and he removed it, I had barely dilated 1.5cm. So we would have to wait for the hospital to call t start the induction. Tuesday passed very slowly waiting for the call. All medically necessary inductions take higher priority over my type.
Finally Wednesday morning at 6 am the hospital called. We needed to be there by 7:30 am.
We are put in triage waiting for a nurse and bed to be available. The Dr tries to break my water but can't feel the bag. Around noon I'm started on pitocin at 2ml dosage. About 1:30 pm we are moved to a delivery room. My pitocin is upped about every 30 min by 2 ml. By the time I hit 12ml I can start feeling the contractions pretty good.
Gene says I go from being happy to being miserable very quickly. Around 4pm I ask for an epidural as I couldn't mange the pain anymore. I was only dilated to a 3.
Epidural are wonderful. It hurt less getting the needle inserted than the IV did. Pain was removed pretty quickly. Every time the pitocin dosage increased I would get the shakes. The epidural made me itch.
As needed Gene would scratch my back or rub my back. The shakes would make my back muscles tense up. I did run out of the epidural medicine but was able to get more before the pain came back.
Finally at 5am I am ready to push. This was very hard since I really couldn't feel much to know if I was really pushing the way they wanted me to. Each contraction I had to push for 10 sec for 3 times. It totally wore me out. Gene and the nurse would push my legs back, while I pulled them back and pused out. You have to hold your breath for those 10 sec.
An hour and 45 min later we had a baby. I did have to have an episiotomy as baby has a big head and very broad shoulders. I remember being asked about my feelings on getting the episiotomy and said if I need one I need one. Then he cut and the rest is a bit of a blur. Gene says the baby got stuck at the shoulders and all the nurses swoop in to help the dr get him out. I remember being folded in half and someone pushing down on my uterus. I was trying to push but had nothing left in reserve. Then there was relief, baby was out, I could hear him cry.
While the dr was attending to my needs, the nurses were taking care of the baby. I got the shakes so bad afterwards I thought I might shake myself off the bed. Finally I get to hold the baby. He is perfect.
His stats
10 lbs 8oz
23 & 1/4 inches long
14 cm head circumference
Born 1/29 @ 6:59 am on a Thursday
Joshua David Ames
Joshua is now 5 days old and absolutely adorable. His little personality is starting to show. While I sorta miss having inside of me, I love being able to see him and hold him. 😍😍😍
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Sunday January 18th, 2014
week 38 - in the home stretch.
We are nearing the end of this pregnancy, it has been a wonderful journey and I have enjoyed being pregnant. The 3rd trimester is hard, you're tired, huge, uncomfortable and ready to be done.
I am being monitored 2x a week due to age and signs of preeclampsia. My blood pressure has been rather high when I'm at the dr's office. When we're at home it's much better. Although at home I just lay around with my feet up for the most part. Gene has been wonderful, he makess sure I have what I need and set up my laptop for work so I can keep my feet up. Anyways, on Mondays I have fetal monitoring where I am hooked up to a machine that tracks the baby's heartbeat and mine. Then in Thursdays I have an ultrasound to check on the fluid and we see the Dr.
This past Thuraday the tech said the baby's head is way down there, and good thing she didn't have to measure it. I know the baby's head is way down there based on all the pressure I have.😄.
Friday we decided we would try to induce labor naturally on our own. So Friday I used the breast pump to get things moving. I followed the instructions I found online by a midwife. Well I did end up with contractions but obviously since I'm still pregnant it didn't work. In addition I'm a bit sore. Using the pump felt a bit agricultural.
Yesterday we tried castor oil. Gene put in it some orange juice so it wasn't too bad. The OJ had an oily mineral taste. I started to feel some nausea within a half hour or so and that stayed around for some time. I didn't throw up thankfully. About 3 hrs after I drank the stuff it hit. The diarrhea wasn't aweful, (TMI - all liquid), the cramps were not overly fun. the bathroom fun lasted about an hour then slowed down. I paced in the living room to see if I could get some contractions as I was a bit crampy.
We went to bed about 10, and at 12:30 the cramps started. They were crampy contractions that would come and go. At 3:45 Gene woke up and I told him what was going on. So I paced in the bedroom, and would rest a bit, he would rub my lower back because it too was contracting. We thought things were moving forward. Unfortunately the fun stopped about 5am.
We won't be trying anymore natural induction options, as obviously my body and the baby are not ready yet. That is what all the info I found said, the options we tried will only work if your body &/or the baby is ready. So we are back to resting and taking walks. The baby will come when he is ready or we will use medical induction to get him out on week 39.
We are nearing the end of this pregnancy, it has been a wonderful journey and I have enjoyed being pregnant. The 3rd trimester is hard, you're tired, huge, uncomfortable and ready to be done.
I am being monitored 2x a week due to age and signs of preeclampsia. My blood pressure has been rather high when I'm at the dr's office. When we're at home it's much better. Although at home I just lay around with my feet up for the most part. Gene has been wonderful, he makess sure I have what I need and set up my laptop for work so I can keep my feet up. Anyways, on Mondays I have fetal monitoring where I am hooked up to a machine that tracks the baby's heartbeat and mine. Then in Thursdays I have an ultrasound to check on the fluid and we see the Dr.
This past Thuraday the tech said the baby's head is way down there, and good thing she didn't have to measure it. I know the baby's head is way down there based on all the pressure I have.😄.
Friday we decided we would try to induce labor naturally on our own. So Friday I used the breast pump to get things moving. I followed the instructions I found online by a midwife. Well I did end up with contractions but obviously since I'm still pregnant it didn't work. In addition I'm a bit sore. Using the pump felt a bit agricultural.
Yesterday we tried castor oil. Gene put in it some orange juice so it wasn't too bad. The OJ had an oily mineral taste. I started to feel some nausea within a half hour or so and that stayed around for some time. I didn't throw up thankfully. About 3 hrs after I drank the stuff it hit. The diarrhea wasn't aweful, (TMI - all liquid), the cramps were not overly fun. the bathroom fun lasted about an hour then slowed down. I paced in the living room to see if I could get some contractions as I was a bit crampy.
We went to bed about 10, and at 12:30 the cramps started. They were crampy contractions that would come and go. At 3:45 Gene woke up and I told him what was going on. So I paced in the bedroom, and would rest a bit, he would rub my lower back because it too was contracting. We thought things were moving forward. Unfortunately the fun stopped about 5am.
We won't be trying anymore natural induction options, as obviously my body and the baby are not ready yet. That is what all the info I found said, the options we tried will only work if your body &/or the baby is ready. So we are back to resting and taking walks. The baby will come when he is ready or we will use medical induction to get him out on week 39.
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