Sophia's Birth Story

After an uneventful 40w6d of pregnancy, we thought birth would be a breeze. Both Matt and I had read books on natural childbirth, I've attended birth classes in nursing school, and attending a lot of births during that time, also. I knew we could do it! At 35w, we switched to a practice of midwives to be more naturally focused, and when the baby finally turned at 37w, we were ready for anything! Looking back on that time, I believe Sophia was breech for so long for me to "let go" of a lot of things that I thought I *had* to have in regards to birth. I have to say, even though *nothing* went as planned, I have absolutely no regrets, and I wouldn't do a thing differently!

At my appointment on Tuesday, November 28th, the midwife couldn't even reach my cervix to check how dilated/effaced I was. This is not a good sign! She scheduled an induction for Thursday, November 30th at 9:30am, since the baby was so un-engaged that she felt the baby wasn't coming without help. We trust her and like her a lot, so we took the paper home and decided to make peace with it.

Thursday, we checked in around 10am, after a very romantic breakfast at Waffle House ;) On the way to the hospital, I asked Matt how big he thought the baby was, he asked me what I thought and I said "hmmm, 8lbs 14oz" and we laughed, feeling a belly is not an accurate way to get a weight! In Michelle's notes it says it was partially cloudy with a few showers and 70 degrees. We had the blinds closed, but she says it was a beautiful day! Everything was kind of moving in slow motion and a blur at the same time since we'd woken up that morning! The midwife on call was Kim, and when she checked me, I was 2cm, 50% effaced and the baby was at a -3 station (iVillage says this about station:

"(-4 which is just coming into the pelvis to +4 station which is on the perineum or ready to be born). When the top of the fetal head (or other presenting part as in a breech presentation), arrives at the level of the ischial spines, the baby is said to be at 0 station or "engaged."
Primigravidas (women having their first baby) typically engage before labor and may enter labor at -1, 0 or even +1 station."

So, we're starting out pretty high and not very dilated. The midwife on Tuesday (Jeannine) got orders from the doctor which included cytotec to soften my cervix. This was the thing I was most uncomfortable with regarding being induced, so when Kim said I wasn't a candidate for it, I was ecstatic! She talked to my primary midwife, Jill, and they both agreed that I could wait until Monday and come back to be induced then, since that was the upper limit for how long they'd let me go. Matt and I had made lots of plans to be there Thursday, Michelle had found a babysitter and we were all set to go, but coming back a few days later sounded like we'd be more likely to get a birth experience we'd wanted. Kim said she'd give us a few minutes to think about it, when the nurse said "uhm, you might want to check out these blood pressure readings, first". My feet were swollen that day, but they were swollen every day! My latest reading was the same as the previous three readings, 160/99. I had to stay.

Instead of Cytotec, Kim wanted to do a foley catheter into my cervix to dilate it. She said typically this takes 3-6 hours, only has mild cramping and since she could strip my membranes, she thought it would work well. So, we went for it. She stripped what she could reach and inserted the catheter at 11:15am. At 12:15, I got up to go to the bathroom and the catheter fell out! We called the nurse and she got Kim, who said it probably didn't get wedged in right and she would reinsert it. When she checked me, I was 3 cm which she could stretch to 4, and she finished stripping my membranes. She left the room shaking her head and saying she'd never seen it work that fast! We were hoping that would be a sign of how easy things would progress from there.

At 12:30, they started the pitocin. Sophia would not stay on the monitor! The nurse would get her tracked down and she would tighten the belts and the baby would move! We played this game for an hour or so! At 12:45, they set the pitocin to increase every 15 minutes. It was important for the baby to be on the monitor while I was on pitocin. We finally found her and got her to stay, but I had to lay almost flat on my back and I knew that would NOT work when the contractions got stronger. They checked my urine from the morning and found protein in it, so it was good that I stayed, she needed to come out before I ended up with pre-eclampsia, at 2:30, my blood pressure was 149/90.

At 2:45, Kim checked me again and I was 4cm, 70% effaced and Sophia was still at a -3 station. She wanted to break my water and put an internal monitor on the baby's head so I could get more comfortable and they would have better readings. I looked at Michelle, she knew everything we wanted, and she nodded. If Michelle thought it was a good idea, then Matt and I thought it was a good idea! So, Kim broke my water and it took 2 tries to get the monitor on, but we saw a nice, steady heartbeat and I could sit up! Michelle and I watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding while Matt read a book. The contractions were nothing more than what felt like menstrual cramps, so we took advantage of time when we could all relax a little. At 3:45, the contractions were getting harder and closer together, I had to start paying more attention to them. By 4:30, we had to turn the video off. With each contraction, I was getting dizzy and blurred vision even though my blood pressure was only 145/95 (lower than previously), and I *really* had to start paying attention to them. At 5:30pm, my blood pressure was 161/96, and the contractions were strong enough to have to use breathing through them. Matt and Michelle were working with me to get me to relax during them, I couldn't get comfortable in any position. At 5:45, I got up to use the bathroom and Kim offered to get me the birthing ball. When I would have contractions at home, or when my back would hurt, I would drape myself over the ball at home, and I knew that would help. It didn't. While my blood pressure was the lowest it had been all day, I was feeling sick during contractions and that wasn't helping me deal with the pain.
Pat came up to the hospital, she was going to spend the duration of my labor there. Since my mom couldn't be there, it was the next best thing! At 6:15, I was 6cm dilated and 70% effaced, but baby was still at a -3 station. 6 hours on pitocin and NO change in position wasn't encouraging. I had told Kim that morning that the baby felt transverse, it felt like all butt and legs up in my left side. She had done an ultrasound and it showed baby head down, her back to my left side. She moved so much during labor, but never descended! Just like every evening, when Matt and I would watch her rolling back and forth in my belly! Knowing I was only 6cm, and feeling the contractions as hard as they were and knowing they were going to increase the pitocin, I asked for an epidural. Kim got my attention and while I looked at her through teary eyes, she reassured me I was doing fantastically, that this was *hard* and that pitocin is nothing like what my own labor would feel like if it had gone that way. She wanted me to get the epidural even if I didn't, just to get my blood pressure down. I felt like I had failed in some way, everything I thought would happen, didn't. It wasn't what I expected, but I guess I didn't know what to expect.

Kim was off call and Jill was coming on-call, so all the info got transferred over and I had IV fluids pushed and we had to wait for the anesthesiologist. He was fast! Or, time was just fast at this point in general. He was very nice, and very funny. Thank goodness, because it made me like him and I was LESS upset that the epidural didn't work! He had to come back and give a bolus dose of another medicine to get me 'caught up'. This was a really hard part in labor, because of the epidural I had to lay on my back to get the flow right. The contractions were VERY hard at this point and coming every 2 minutes, lasting a minute, so it was excrutiating to wait. Within 3 contractions, the new medicine started to work and I was told to rest. So, Michelle and Matt went to their books and I tried to sleep. By this point my blood pressure was down to 125/60 (which was more normal for me) and I got to get something for heartburn (I hadn't eaten since 9am and it was 7:30pm), and I could rest.

At 9pm, Jill checked my progress again and I was still 6cm, but 80% effaced, Sophia was still at a -3 station. To make sure the contractions were strong enough, she inserted an internal contraction monitor, and I was also given a foley catheter, since she was expecting me to labor for a long time. She increased the pitocin and I was told to go back to sleep. Randy and Andi came up to the hospital, and I rested and chatted a little. I don't know what I would have done without the epidural! Since things were so calm, they were even able to be in the room (there's normally a 3 person limit), and we got to chat a little. Randy was enthralled with the contraction monitor, telling us when they were nice a strong. So, we joked a little about geeks and such.
At 10:45pm, Jill came in to check my progress. My contractions were very strong and supposedly very effective! They weren't, though. I was still 6cm, and only 60% effaced, and she was still at a -3 station. My cervix was swelling because she wasn't putting any pressure on it, and we were going backwards. While the baby was fine, I couldn't be left to labor forever with backwards progress, and Jill came in to tell me the doctor said we had to do a c-section. My worst fear. I was afraid of the recovery from a c-section, it was something I was dreading when the baby was breech for so long. But, she wasn't coming out. Since we didn't find out what the gender was throughout pregnancy, it was determined the baby was a stubborn boy.

When Matt went to tell everyone what the doctor said, everything kicked into high gear. Papers signed, IV's fixed, lots and lots of people in the room. It was getting close to 11pm, so there was a shift change for the anesthesiologist, and the new one was just as great as the old one. When Michelle saw Matt's face when he came to tell them, she came to me, expecting me to just be beside myself in tears. She found me joking with the doctors, and knew I was okay. I was okay. My baby was coming, and there was a reason she wasn't coming down like she should, and we'd soon know why!

The c-section itself is sort of a blur, lots of bright lights and I know I was really, really cold. The epidural made me cold/shake anyway, and being in a cold operating room made it even worse. The anesthesiologist was a God-send, getting me warm blankets and keeping me updated on everything everyone was doing. I heard Jill, the midwife said "well, that's why!" Sophia was wedged, partially transverse (diagonally) in my body, with her chin tucked and presenting the back of her head. She was stuck. We could have done a week of pitocin and she wasn't ever coming out without help. Within about 10 minutes, they asked Matt to stand up and check out the new baby! They said "what is it, Matt?!" and he said with surprise "It's a GIRL!! It's Sophia! " She came out screaming and didn't stop for about 15 minutes. They brought her over on my side of the drape and she was so beautiful. Everyone said how great she looked, and the anesthesiologist kept me posted on how great she looked and how beautiful she was. She weight 8lbs, 14.6 oz and was 21 inches long. A big, healthy baby!

She was healthy and HERE and regardless of how everything ended up, we got the prize in the end.