words can't describe what an exciting and emotion filled day today was. you mom's out there know what i'm talking about. here is graham's birth story:
we arrived at the hospital at 7:30am to get the pitocin started. we were walked into our very nice labor and delivery room where we were greeted and treated by an awesome nurse, buffy. she helped me stay calm through a lot of what came next.
the pitocin started dripping and they were upping up my amount slowly but surely. contractions were definitely getting closer together and a little more intense, but never really seemed to hurt. just felt more like cramping. i kept waiting for 'the contraction!'
unfortunately though, i was not able to feel what 'the contraction' felt like. when i was upped to 12 on the pitocin drip the doctors noticed that graham's heart rate would drop significantly when i was peaking on my contraction. i have to admit, it worried me too. i wan't sure if it was just graham moving and loosing being tracked, or if his heart rate was really going that low.
not long after the readings were going low did the doctor come in and let me know what was going on...."your baby doesn't like the pitocin." hmmmm, so we had to have the possible c-section discussion with her. to see if things would get better before we jumped to that option the doctor halved the amount of pitocin i was getting. still the same deal. graham's heart rate would drop when i would have a contraction. so then they decided we would turn the pitocin off all together and see what that would do.
so going on hour 5 of being on pitocin, it was turned off and we waiting to see how he reacted. doctor came back a few minutes later and was like....."your baby really doesn't like pitocin. you haven't progressed at all dilating or effacing over these past hours and it's only going to get harder for you and the baby." at that point i knew what we were probably going to have to do.
the doctor explained to grady and i the situation and after realizing what was best for myself and the baby, we decided the c-section would be the best option so that i didn't end up needing an emergency c-section down the road.
everything started to move pretty quickly after that. the anesthesiologist came in to talk to me, the nursery nurse came in to talk to me, grady was given his OR garb, i gave grady a kiss and then buffy and i walked back to the OR. felt like the LONGEST walk i have ever taken!
it was really hard to not have grady with me when i was getting my spinal, but luckily i had buffy...the rockin nurse...to keep me as distracted as possible. the worst part of the whole thing i think was the pre-numbing shot before the actual spinal. everything after that was a piece of cake.
grady came back to the OR and not more than 10-15 minutes later there was lots of tugging on my abdomen and then a loud cry! our little graham was born!!!
he was taken to the warmer to my right so i could watch everything they were doing. grady was able to walk over and be with graham through most of his tests, clean-up. and then grady walked back to the nursery with graham while i got stitched up.
after that point i really don't remember much as they gave me some medicine to make me drowsy for the sewing up part. yeah...drowsy is an understatement. i was out like a light for about 10-15 minutes. probably a good thing though as i would have been a mess without grady and graham. i sat in the recovery bay for a good 30-40 minutes and then was wheeled into my post-partum room to be united with grady, grana, grampa and graham!
so a c-section was not my birth method of choice, but once i woke up in recovery and talked to my doctor i knew we made the right decision. turns out graham had his cord wrapped around his neck twice!! scary to think about, but that's why i told my doctor..."i trust you to inform me what the best decision to keep both of us safe is." thank you dr. mills!
we arrived at the hospital at 7:30am to get the pitocin started. we were walked into our very nice labor and delivery room where we were greeted and treated by an awesome nurse, buffy. she helped me stay calm through a lot of what came next.
the pitocin started dripping and they were upping up my amount slowly but surely. contractions were definitely getting closer together and a little more intense, but never really seemed to hurt. just felt more like cramping. i kept waiting for 'the contraction!'
unfortunately though, i was not able to feel what 'the contraction' felt like. when i was upped to 12 on the pitocin drip the doctors noticed that graham's heart rate would drop significantly when i was peaking on my contraction. i have to admit, it worried me too. i wan't sure if it was just graham moving and loosing being tracked, or if his heart rate was really going that low.
not long after the readings were going low did the doctor come in and let me know what was going on...."your baby doesn't like the pitocin." hmmmm, so we had to have the possible c-section discussion with her. to see if things would get better before we jumped to that option the doctor halved the amount of pitocin i was getting. still the same deal. graham's heart rate would drop when i would have a contraction. so then they decided we would turn the pitocin off all together and see what that would do.
so going on hour 5 of being on pitocin, it was turned off and we waiting to see how he reacted. doctor came back a few minutes later and was like....."your baby really doesn't like pitocin. you haven't progressed at all dilating or effacing over these past hours and it's only going to get harder for you and the baby." at that point i knew what we were probably going to have to do.
the doctor explained to grady and i the situation and after realizing what was best for myself and the baby, we decided the c-section would be the best option so that i didn't end up needing an emergency c-section down the road.
everything started to move pretty quickly after that. the anesthesiologist came in to talk to me, the nursery nurse came in to talk to me, grady was given his OR garb, i gave grady a kiss and then buffy and i walked back to the OR. felt like the LONGEST walk i have ever taken!
it was really hard to not have grady with me when i was getting my spinal, but luckily i had buffy...the rockin nurse...to keep me as distracted as possible. the worst part of the whole thing i think was the pre-numbing shot before the actual spinal. everything after that was a piece of cake.
grady came back to the OR and not more than 10-15 minutes later there was lots of tugging on my abdomen and then a loud cry! our little graham was born!!!
he was taken to the warmer to my right so i could watch everything they were doing. grady was able to walk over and be with graham through most of his tests, clean-up. and then grady walked back to the nursery with graham while i got stitched up.
after that point i really don't remember much as they gave me some medicine to make me drowsy for the sewing up part. yeah...drowsy is an understatement. i was out like a light for about 10-15 minutes. probably a good thing though as i would have been a mess without grady and graham. i sat in the recovery bay for a good 30-40 minutes and then was wheeled into my post-partum room to be united with grady, grana, grampa and graham!
so a c-section was not my birth method of choice, but once i woke up in recovery and talked to my doctor i knew we made the right decision. turns out graham had his cord wrapped around his neck twice!! scary to think about, but that's why i told my doctor..."i trust you to inform me what the best decision to keep both of us safe is." thank you dr. mills!
what a happy day!!!
ReplyDeletei looooove birth stories.
ReplyDeleteeach one is unique and special.
haha, on a side note...you had a room full of "gr" names (grady, grana, grampa, graham)