Our sweet little guy finally decided to join the world!
My water broke around 3 am on March 14th. I woke Scott up, showered, and made sure I had everything ready for the hospital. I wasn't having any contractions but the on-call doctor still wanted me to come in. We checked in around 5:30 and they confirmed I was ruptured. I was 4cm and 75% effaced and had started having contractions but they were so mild and far apart the only reason I knew I was having them was from looking at the monitor.
I was moved to a L&D room where we hung out and I snacked on snow cones. Around noon the doctors came by and I was still having very irregular contractions so they decided to start me on pitocin to regulate them. At this point I could tell I was having contractions but they still weren't painful, just annoying. As soon as we agreed to start the pitocin I asked for the epidural. It was the best thing ever! Since I could hardly feel the contractions I was having before it I didn't feel a thing after it.
Around 4:30 Scott was napping and I was catching up on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (it was Justin Timberweek after all) when all of the sudden my nurse ran in my room, promptly followed by another nurse who then paged multiple doctors. The next thing I knew there were at least 7 people in my room; they put an oxygen mask on me and flipped me over on my elbows and knees, which I must say was quite impressive because I couldn't feel my lower body at all and it was complete dead weight. I had no idea what was going on but figured it probably wasn't good. My nurse kept moving the baby's heart rate monitor around, which is when I got nervous, and then they gave me a shot of terbutaline to stop the contractions. The doctor leaned over to me and told me that I'd had two strong contractions right in a row and each one had lasted four minutes. These had stressed the baby out and his heart rate had drastically dropped. She said if they couldn't get him stabilized they'd have to take me immediately in for an emergency c-section. And of course while she's telling me this someone else is telling to me relax and take deep breaths. Sure, I'll get right on that. Luckily he stabilized quickly.
They checked me again and after being on the pitocin for almost 5 hours I was only at a 6 and still at 75%. They took me off the pitocin for an hour to give the baby time to recover. Without it I was still having very irregular contractions so they decided to start me on it again at half of a dose. We did ok for another hour or so but then my nurse came in and flipped me to my side. I'd had a really long contraction, again, and the baby's heart rate dropped but it wasn't as severe as the first time. They stopped the pitocin again to give the baby time to recover and see if my contractions had regulated themselves.
After another few hours I was still having irregular contractions and hadn't progressed. It was time for a shift change so they decided to wait until the new shift had settled and been updated before deciding what to do with me. Naturally, the new attending decided to start me on pitocin. Again. I was frustrated - we'd already done this twice and had stressed the baby out. Why were they doing it again? Right on schedule, about 5 minutes after starting me on half a dose of pitocin, his heart rate dropped. After getting him stabilized they decided to inject fluid around his head, thinking that since my water had been broken for 16 hours at this point that I could be low on fluid. They got that tube in and gave me a few hours to see if that helped but I hadn't progressed and was still having irregular contractions. So what to do? Start the pitocin again, of course.
When the resident came in I was super frustrated and told her multiple times I didn't want them to start pitocin again and that I was fine with having a c-section. She agreed and left the room. About 15 minutes later she came back to report that the attending wanted to try pitocin one more time before settling on a c-section. They started the pitocin again and less than a minute after starting it his heart rate dropped and everyone was in my room flipping me over and giving me oxygen. His heart rate started to stabilize and the resident announced that we could finally do a c section but they had just taken someone else back so I would have to wait. Right then I had another contraction and his heart rate dropped so they flipped me back over to my back and wheeled me into the OR.
By the time we got there his heart rate was stabilized so that at least made me feel better. I was so tired and out of it and my upper body couldn't stop shaking; all normal, I was assured. They started the procedure but I didn't see Scott in the room and didn't want them to take the baby out without him there. A few minutes later he showed up in scrubs and they yanked Rowan out (graphic, but the most applicable word I can think of for it) at 11:43 pm. He was 7 lbs 4 oz and 19.5 in. Even though he had had a few traumatic experiences his Apgar scores were great - 8 at birth and 9 five minutes after. I got a quick look at Rowan and then Scott went with him to the nursery while the doctors sewed me up.
After they left the attending leaned over the curtain and asked me if anyone had mentioned a velamentous cord insertion to me at any time during my pregnancy. I told her no; at his level 2 ultrasound they said everything was normal and there were no issues. After they were done with the surgery she told me that there were two things that most likely caused his heart rate to drop. The first was that it looked like the placenta had started to detach and there was some blood in the fluid, but she thought the velamentous cord is what really caused the problem. Instead of attaching to the placenta the cord was attached directly to the membrane. The vessels passing from the placenta to the membrane weren't surrounded by Wharton's jelly so when I would have a contraction the vessels would restrict and nothing could flow to the cord. She was the same doctor that discharged me so when I was talking to her again she said she was going to go back and check my ultrasound. The cord can't really migrate so either it was in the membrane all along and it was missed during the ultrasound or it was connected to one side of the placenta, rather than the middle, and as the placenta got older part of it deteriorated so the cord then went in to the membrane.
Once they were done they took me to the recovery room and my favorite person, the anesthesiologist, doped me up with some excellent pain killers. I was so thirsty; I'm pretty sure I had 10 cups of water in about 10 minutes. A little while later Scott brought Rowan down from the nursery and I finally got to hold the little guy. I'm so happy that with everything that could've gone wrong Rowan was born healthy.
My water broke around 3 am on March 14th. I woke Scott up, showered, and made sure I had everything ready for the hospital. I wasn't having any contractions but the on-call doctor still wanted me to come in. We checked in around 5:30 and they confirmed I was ruptured. I was 4cm and 75% effaced and had started having contractions but they were so mild and far apart the only reason I knew I was having them was from looking at the monitor.
I was moved to a L&D room where we hung out and I snacked on snow cones. Around noon the doctors came by and I was still having very irregular contractions so they decided to start me on pitocin to regulate them. At this point I could tell I was having contractions but they still weren't painful, just annoying. As soon as we agreed to start the pitocin I asked for the epidural. It was the best thing ever! Since I could hardly feel the contractions I was having before it I didn't feel a thing after it.
Around 4:30 Scott was napping and I was catching up on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (it was Justin Timberweek after all) when all of the sudden my nurse ran in my room, promptly followed by another nurse who then paged multiple doctors. The next thing I knew there were at least 7 people in my room; they put an oxygen mask on me and flipped me over on my elbows and knees, which I must say was quite impressive because I couldn't feel my lower body at all and it was complete dead weight. I had no idea what was going on but figured it probably wasn't good. My nurse kept moving the baby's heart rate monitor around, which is when I got nervous, and then they gave me a shot of terbutaline to stop the contractions. The doctor leaned over to me and told me that I'd had two strong contractions right in a row and each one had lasted four minutes. These had stressed the baby out and his heart rate had drastically dropped. She said if they couldn't get him stabilized they'd have to take me immediately in for an emergency c-section. And of course while she's telling me this someone else is telling to me relax and take deep breaths. Sure, I'll get right on that. Luckily he stabilized quickly.
They checked me again and after being on the pitocin for almost 5 hours I was only at a 6 and still at 75%. They took me off the pitocin for an hour to give the baby time to recover. Without it I was still having very irregular contractions so they decided to start me on it again at half of a dose. We did ok for another hour or so but then my nurse came in and flipped me to my side. I'd had a really long contraction, again, and the baby's heart rate dropped but it wasn't as severe as the first time. They stopped the pitocin again to give the baby time to recover and see if my contractions had regulated themselves.
After another few hours I was still having irregular contractions and hadn't progressed. It was time for a shift change so they decided to wait until the new shift had settled and been updated before deciding what to do with me. Naturally, the new attending decided to start me on pitocin. Again. I was frustrated - we'd already done this twice and had stressed the baby out. Why were they doing it again? Right on schedule, about 5 minutes after starting me on half a dose of pitocin, his heart rate dropped. After getting him stabilized they decided to inject fluid around his head, thinking that since my water had been broken for 16 hours at this point that I could be low on fluid. They got that tube in and gave me a few hours to see if that helped but I hadn't progressed and was still having irregular contractions. So what to do? Start the pitocin again, of course.
When the resident came in I was super frustrated and told her multiple times I didn't want them to start pitocin again and that I was fine with having a c-section. She agreed and left the room. About 15 minutes later she came back to report that the attending wanted to try pitocin one more time before settling on a c-section. They started the pitocin again and less than a minute after starting it his heart rate dropped and everyone was in my room flipping me over and giving me oxygen. His heart rate started to stabilize and the resident announced that we could finally do a c section but they had just taken someone else back so I would have to wait. Right then I had another contraction and his heart rate dropped so they flipped me back over to my back and wheeled me into the OR.
By the time we got there his heart rate was stabilized so that at least made me feel better. I was so tired and out of it and my upper body couldn't stop shaking; all normal, I was assured. They started the procedure but I didn't see Scott in the room and didn't want them to take the baby out without him there. A few minutes later he showed up in scrubs and they yanked Rowan out (graphic, but the most applicable word I can think of for it) at 11:43 pm. He was 7 lbs 4 oz and 19.5 in. Even though he had had a few traumatic experiences his Apgar scores were great - 8 at birth and 9 five minutes after. I got a quick look at Rowan and then Scott went with him to the nursery while the doctors sewed me up.
After they left the attending leaned over the curtain and asked me if anyone had mentioned a velamentous cord insertion to me at any time during my pregnancy. I told her no; at his level 2 ultrasound they said everything was normal and there were no issues. After they were done with the surgery she told me that there were two things that most likely caused his heart rate to drop. The first was that it looked like the placenta had started to detach and there was some blood in the fluid, but she thought the velamentous cord is what really caused the problem. Instead of attaching to the placenta the cord was attached directly to the membrane. The vessels passing from the placenta to the membrane weren't surrounded by Wharton's jelly so when I would have a contraction the vessels would restrict and nothing could flow to the cord. She was the same doctor that discharged me so when I was talking to her again she said she was going to go back and check my ultrasound. The cord can't really migrate so either it was in the membrane all along and it was missed during the ultrasound or it was connected to one side of the placenta, rather than the middle, and as the placenta got older part of it deteriorated so the cord then went in to the membrane.
Once they were done they took me to the recovery room and my favorite person, the anesthesiologist, doped me up with some excellent pain killers. I was so thirsty; I'm pretty sure I had 10 cups of water in about 10 minutes. A little while later Scott brought Rowan down from the nursery and I finally got to hold the little guy. I'm so happy that with everything that could've gone wrong Rowan was born healthy.
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| in L&D |
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| healthy and resting. he didn't even cry when they gave him the vitamin k shot. |
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| all cozy in the nursery and waiting to meet mama |
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| in recovery - so tired, thirsty, and drugged but happy to finally be holding Rowan |
Congratulation friend!!! I am sorry for all that trouble but glad that baby Rowen is ok and healthy. That would be scary.
ReplyDeleteSo glad he's here safe! I would've been super annoyed about the Pitocin for the fourth or fifth time too! I hope you recover quickly and that you are getting some sleep. Can't wait to meet and hold the little guy!
ReplyDeleteHe is absolutely beautiful! So happy it all worked out OK! After 3 regular deliveries I had a C-section kinda for the same situation. It is obviously worth it! You guys are such troopers and I hear from Sheila you are both great parents already! Love Aunt Karen
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!!! I am so happy for you all and can't wait to meet that little angel! And give you a big fatty hug!! Strong work girl!!
ReplyDeleteyay!! i am so happy everything turned out ok! he is such a handsome little guy!! congrats!!!
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