Adam's Birth Story - Part 2

Adam is 4 weeks old today.  Mark is still diligently writing up his heart story, but I wanted to also finish his birth story before I completely forget it!  It seemed like a somewhat traumatic labor, as I was close to having a c-section several times, but now in hindsight, it seems so simple compared to the weeks in the hospital that followed.  I do remember being relieved after Adam was born that I was done with this phase --- done with pregnancy bed rest, done with laboring with a baby.  I was so delighted to meet Adam, and excited to hold him in my arms, but I was also glad to be done with the worrying that accompanied the end of my pregnancy and the labor.
 

So to continue on with the story…

At around 8:40 the Pitocin was started.  I was already having mild contractions, and I don’t remember them picking up quickly or strongly with the medication.  I was very glad to be feeling them in my abdomen this time --- I had back labor with both Ben and Katie, and was expecting to have the same with Adam.  They definitely seemed much more manageable when they were not radiating from my back!  I found laboring on the exercise ball leaning over the bed to be the most comfortable, so spent more time there.   Mark was prepared to be my male doula, since we opted to go solo for this birth and not hire the doula we used for both Ben and Katie’s births.  He did do some massage on my back, but with a more standard labor, I did not need the massage as much this time, and I also found that I just wanted to be quiet and alone for the laboring – something I was not expecting.  I found it easiest to just be able to focus on myself through the contractions.  We played some nice lullaby music through our computer, and that seemed sufficient.

Unfortunately, though, based on Adam’s position, being upright on the exercise ball was not very conducive to monitoring the baby’s heartbeat, so our nurse Ann had to keep coming in and adjusting the monitoring belts.  At some point, Adam’s heartbeat would drop too much or for too long during contractions, so they really wanted to monitor his heartbeat.  As a result, I was asked to get back in the bed.

At around midnight, my progress was checked again.  I was dilated to 4 cm, but the baby was still very high.  I believe this was the first indication we had that things were not progressing as well as we hoped, and Dr Del informed us that we could continue as long as the baby was cooperating, but we’d “need to talk” again if we couldn’t keep his heart rate up.   I remember understanding at this point that we might be in for a c-section, but also feeling fairly calm about the whole thing.  I trusted Dr. Del, and I knew he was doing everything he could to work with me to try to have a vaginal delivery --- but we were all in agreement that a healthy baby was the first priority!  I was very grateful at the end to have avoided a c-section, and extremely grateful to have avoided one when we ended up in the CVICU when he was 6 days old --- our experience would have been so much harder if I was also trying to recover from surgery myself.

Dr Del stopped the Pitocin to give Adam some time to adjust and ensure his heart rate was able to stay up, and I put on an oxygen mask.  It was about midnight at this time.

Now that I was needing to labor in bed, and I was bracing myself for a longer labor and maybe needing a c-section, I decided to get an epidural.  I received it around 12:30 AM, and it actually took several attempts to get it into the right place --- apparently my back turns a bit.  I ended up with a rather large bruise from the repeated attempts, but fortunately no other side effects. 

Around 1:50 AM, Dr. Del came back to check on me, and had me move into a “runner’s position” to help encourage the baby to move downward and also rotate.  I was turned onto my side, almost on my belly, with one leg up in a stirrup.  Not very comfortable, and I was very glad to have the epidural for this. J

For the next couple of hours, the nurse repeatedly moved me to different positions, depending on what seemed most agreeable to Adam (based on his heart rate).  I could hear his heartbeat on the monitor, and I would hear it slowing down considerably during some contractions, and would be willing him to pick it back up afterwards.  When it was sometimes slow to come back, I could anticipate another visit from Ann to have me move to a new position.

Around 4 AM, I requested to have the epidural increased, as I was feeling quite a bit of the contractions, and now I was at the mercy of whatever position was best for Adam – not what was most comfortable for me.  The Pitocin was also turned back on, and the monitors were watched very carefully.  Somewhere at this point, my blood pressure and heart rate also started to increase, as during one of Dr. Del’s visits, he asked a lot of questions about any symptoms I might be experiencing due to this. 

At 4:45 AM, my progress was checked again and I was 8 cm dilated.  The baby still seemed to be turned somewhat sideways, but I believe Ann was pleased with the progress.  I think she started trying to page Dr. Del at this time to let him know it wouldn’t be much longer.  Unfortunately, apparently he had fallen asleep in the on-call room, and he didn’t respond until it was time to actually push the baby out!  Fortunately, Adam’s heart rate was stable during this time, so it was not urgent that he be reached.

Within the next half hour,  I noticed that the baby seemed to be moving down.  A table for delivery was set-up, and I got excited that perhaps I would get to deliver this baby vaginally after all!

At 5:30 AM, I was checked again – I was fully dilated, but the baby was still a bit high and needed to rotate some more.

Shortly thereafter, Dr. Del was finally found, and he arrived and we had a short conversation about how to push.  One big push got Adam’s head out, and then with a second push, his shoulders and body was out.

I asked Dr. Del right before pushing if he thought the baby was going to be a boy or girl.  He said based on how he was behaving in labor, he thought Adam would be a boy.  He was right!  I still thought he was going to be a girl, so I was a bit surprised to meet a boy.

Mark cut the umbilical cord, and Adam was put immediately on my chest while the nurses cleaned him off, and Dr. Del delivered the placenta and then sewed me back up (a small tear).  I had never looked at the placenta before, so we asked to see it, and the nurse gave us a tutorial about the placenta. J

Because the hospital was so crowded, we remained in the labor room for the rest of the day, and were only moved to the post partum room that evening.  Grandma and Grandpa brought the kids for a visit that afternoon, and Dr. Del came to check on me the next morning (Saturday), and discharged me to go home that day!  The pediatrician did not check on Adam again until that afternoon, and mentioned the heart murmur, so we had a little worry about getting to actually take Adam home that night --- she wanted to run a few tests (which all came back normal), and if any were abnormal, then we’d need to stay at the hospital for another night.  I was regretting the decision for an early discharge, as if Adam needed to stay, we’d have to move to another area of the hospital, since I had already been discharged.  But the other heart tests came back normal, and since we were scheduled to see the pediatrician again on Tuesday, she felt comfortable sending us home.  It’s so strange to think that just a few days later, our lives would be so very different again.

As I have mentioned in Adam’s heart story, I do feel grateful for the few days we had at home with Adam – and grateful that we ended up at Texas Children’s Hospital for his surgery.  He was born at Memorial Hermann Children’s Hospital, as that is where my ObGyn is affiliated, but I believe TCH has a more renowned pediatric heart center.

So that’s Adam’s birth story!  I intended to tell it with a little more emotion, but I am a bit worn out from sharing emotions at this point.  And it seems like such a minor story in comparison with his stay at the hospital for heart surgery.  So the experience itself seemed rather intense, but the memory of it is less so. 

We sure do love this sweet boy!