Abby's incredibly long birth story

Abigale Paige Walley
October 26, 2008 6:42pm
6lbs 14 oz, 19 inches
Abby’s labor started a few weeks before she joined us. I started having extremely painful contractions. They would get regular at short intervals, stay that way for a few hours, then dissipate. A little while later they would begin again. This was extremely painful for me, and I was unable to sleep well or eat well. My doctor gave me a prescription for a medication called Procardia to help the contractions. I took one pill, and it made my tachycardia go crazy. I was extremely lethargic and my pulse was shooting up to 200, then down to 100, and back and forth. I threw the medication away. The only other medication that they can really give to stop contractions is called Trebutaline, and that is known for making your pulse race, so it was not even an option for me. My doctor decided that he thought it would be best to deliver Abby sooner rather than later. He made that decision based upon the amount of pain I was in, the fact that when my pulse raced due to the pain, the baby had decreased blood flow, and that my delivery with Kailyn was so horrible, that they wanted me to have a smaller baby this time. All factors considered, they decided to do an amniocentesis, and then induce (pending good results from the amnio). I was supposed to go in to Kadlec on Friday morning to get the amnio, because my doctor prefers to do them himself at the hospital, rather than at the office. So I was to call the hospital that morning to see if he was available. I was given the run around all day, and at about 10pm that night, I was told to call back on Monday. I called back Monday morning, and they told me “if you are miserable, come in and get the amnio” so my dad took me in while Kevin was at work. The amniocentesis was not as painful as I thought it would be. However the quick results said that there was a possibility that her lungs were immature, so they sent the test off for the more reliable screening, and I was to call back the next day for results. The results the next day showed that her lungs were in fact mature! I was so excited. They told me that they were behind in inductions however, and the soonest that they could get me in would be the following Saturday, and I was to call them at 10am, and was scheduled for noon. I got everything situated, and was so relieved to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Friday night about 8pm, the hospital called and said that they were very behind, and were still doing the inductions from the prior Wednesday. So to call back on Sunday, but it would probably be Monday before they could get me in. I was so frustrated. Saturday morning came, and I called my friend Michelle and told her that I wanted to go walking. I was still having horrible contractions, but they were irregular. So Kevin’s dad came and picked up Kailyn, and Michelle and I went walking around the mall. After about two hours the contractions were becoming more regular, and were beginning to get difficult to breathe and walk through. So Michelle brought me in to Kadlec. I was hooked up to the monitors and they found I was contracting about every 2 minutes, dilated to a 2 or 3 and they were getting stronger and stronger. After a little bit of monitoring, they said that there were some drops in Abigale’s heart rate during some of the contractions, and they wanted to do a biophysical profile ultrasound. By this time, my mom and sister came down to the hospital and Michelle had gone home. The contractions at this time were making me cry they were so bad and still regular. During the ultrasound, little miss Abigale decided that it was a great time to take a nap, and would not be disturbed. She would not move for the tech at all. We tried jiggling, poking, prodding, nothing worked. After a half hour, and many painful contractions later, the tech said “well, she failed the ultrasound.” I was not incredibly worried at this point because she was moving prior to the ultrasound, and her heart rate looked good. She was just tired it seemed like. So the doctor came in a little while later and told me that they had to keep me because of the ultrasound, regardless of what my contractions were doing. They checked my cervix again, and I had not changed much at all. They told me that they were very short staffed, so they would not get aggressive with the induction until morning, but they started me on pitocin at about midnight. Shortly after that, my nurse for the night came in to join us. She was an interesting lady. She introduced herself as the baby whisperer, and had a very unique way of looking at child birth. She told me that the hardest part of child birth was letting go of the pregnancy. That most women hold on to it during labor. The ways that women hold on to it during labor is that during contractions they grip the bed rails or the husbands hand. She said the only reason why women do that during labor is to hold on to the pregnancy. You have to open your palms and try to relax during the contractions to let go if the pregnancy. She also told me that if I hold on to the pain, and internalize it, that the baby would sense that, and feel guilty for causing me so much and will not come out. She will go back up, and her head will never come down on it its own. That I have to accept the pain, and not harbor negative feelings because of it. And if I learn to accept the pain and relax through it, then that is what my child will do with pain the rest of her life, and she will have a relatively pain free life. She also told me that she does not like the monitors and such. She relies on her own senses and tries to sense what the baby is telling her. I was fine and dandy with all of her philosophies until I realized that instead of upping the pitocin as per doctors orders, she came in and would “sense” if it needed upped. This caused me to labor extremely painfully all night long, puking without any sleep. The following morning the doctor came in and said “okay, lets get the ball rolling.” At noon, he broke my water, and told the nurse I am ready for an epidural whenever I want one, and that I was now at 4 cm, and 80% effaced. About ten minutes later the contractions were more painful than ever, and I told the nurse I was ready. By two, the most wonderful man ever came in and gave me RELIEF. The epidural worked wonders. It was fabulous. I cannot begin to say enough great things about this doctor or the epidural. I went from being in some of the worst pain ever, to feeling almost no pain in a matter of about 15 minutes. Them breaking my water got things going a lot better than I presumed, and the contractions were extremely regular and getting bigger. I, however, was one happy camper during all of this because of my epidural. The nurse came in a little bit later, and checked me and said that I was at 7cms now. I was shocked! I felt WAY too wonderful to be at a 7! Two hours later, the nurse came in to check on me, and I told her I felt fabulous, however during the contractions I felt an enormous amount of pressure. She got this odd look on her face and checked me rather quickly. She said “oh! Well the pressure is because you are 9.5 cms, and there is a little tiny piece of cervix left, and her head is right there.” I still felt incredibly wonderful at this point, so I was very surprised to hear that pushing would happen shortly. The nurse left and came back with another nurse and said that we would do a few practice pushes. So they put me in position, and had me push. She stopped me and said that the pushing was extremely effective and if I continued I would have this baby without the doctor. She said she has yet to deliver a baby on her own, and did not want to start with me. I am still just in shock because I feel perfectly fine, just tons of pressure. By this time though I started trembling uncontrollably. My entire body just shook. I felt fine and warm and everything, even though everybody insisted I must be cold or something. Well the second nurse ran to go get the doctor, while the first nurse stayed by me. The second nurse came back in and said “ well Dr. Mulholland is delivering the girl in the next room over”. So the first nurse lifts up the blanket, looks down at me, and says “go get him please, she is about to deliver this baby.” My dad at this point got a little more than nervous, and grabbed a surgical mask (a pediatric one no less) and asked the nurse which room he was in, because he would just go get the doctor. He informed us all that he would go in there and tell them he is a doctor and would deliver the other ladies baby for her, but the doctor needed to come in and deliver HIS baby. We all cracked up laughing. My thought was that there was no possible way I was about to deliver this baby. However the pressure was getting stronger and stronger, and I thought to myself that if this was all happening like this, with the pressure getting worse and worse, that I thought the baby would just come out without any pushing. So the doctor came in a second later and told us that the other lady was not going as quick as me, so they made her stop pushing so they could deliver me. I felt so bad for the lady! The doctor set up shop in about one minute, and I was in position. He told me that he believed that the baby’s cord was wrapped around some part of her, because of what the monitor looked like, but not to worry. He told me that the next time I felt a contraction I could push. I told him I was only feeling the contractions through the pressure, and there was so much pressure I couldn’t tell. So he told me when I was having one so that I could push. I pushed once or twice and they told me she was crowning. I remember in between pushes I was trying to catch my breath, and I looked over at Kevin and laughed and said “man this is harder than it looks”. I pushed again and told them that I didn’t believe this, because there was no pain. I pushed another time, and there was some pain now. I pushed harder and her head came out. I yelled ouch! That one hurt! But then the pressure was gone. I heard him suctioning her, and was just in shock. He told me to gently push. So I did, and she was out. I felt so good that I actually sat up so that I could see what was going on. The cord had been wrapped around her arm, but it wasn’t bad. The nurses and doctor all commented on how gorgeous her cord was. They said the color and spiraling and stuff was just perfect. I thought that was an odd comment. They said it signaled good health though so I didn’t mind. The doctor told me that I tore in a few places, but only one spot required stitches. Then they had Kevin cut the chord. They clamped it off, then had Kevin pose for the camera, then cut it. Then they put Abigale up on my chest and she looked up at me for the first time. Love at first sight does not begin to cover that one. They rubbed her down with a towel, and listened to her lungs while she was on my chest. They said she looked great. I was so relieved. Then they told me that the new hospital policy was to let her lay on my chest for the first hour or two, before getting weighed or bathed or anything. They told me to nurse her, and not let her off my chest. After I was sewn up and decent again, the rest of the family came in to see her. We were all so relieved that the labor went so smoothly, that the mood in the room was phenomenal. I loved it. Shortly after that, Kailyn was brought in for the first time. We told her that Abigale is out of Mommy’s tummy now, and she squealed and said “does that mean I am a big sister now?!” She was so excited. We gave her a baby doll from Abigale, and she fell in love. As soon as Kailyn started talking, Abigale opened her eyes up so wide and actually turned to look for her sister. It was amazing. Kailyn said she loved her tons, and then sang happy birthday to her, and told her that she could come home and live with us, and that she would share her toys with her. I loved every second of it.