My Birthing Experience

Hello everyone(: 

As you probably already know, our little prince has made his entrance two weeks ago now! Just thought I'd share the whole experience..so here we go!

Thursday, October 6--We had our 39 week check up in the afternoon. The appointment started off like normal--got weighed (189 lbs!), blood pressure checked (good), and the usual questions (do you feel like harming yourself, have you felt regular baby movement, do you have any concerns, etc). Nurse came in and did her assessment. It got a little interesting when she measured my fundus and was getting 44cm (the week before it measured at 39cm). She got concerned that maybe I had too much fluid in my uterus since the difference between the two weeks was so much. To make sure things were ok, she went to call a doctor to have him measure my fluid levels with an ultrasound. As we were waiting, we were joking that maybe we'll have to get induced since my coworker's wife (who's due date was three days after mine) got induced that morning. 

So we get moved to an ultrasound room. Doctor starts looking to see how much fluid is around baby. Turns out, at least from the ultrasound, I had very little fluid. Since we were 39 weeks and 3 days, doctor said that he recommends induction. He didn't think that drinking more water or if he peed it would give me a comfortable amount of fluid to go home. We headed home to get our hospital bags and then back to labor and delivery!

After getting settled in our L&D Room!

We got settled in a room around 5pm. Hung out for a little bit before the doctor came and checked my cervix. I was only dilated 2cm. 6:35pm--To start the process, I had to get a balloon placed between baby and my cervix to help put pressure on my cervix to get it to dilate a little more. The balloon stayed in until it either fell out itself or they could pull it out without any resistance. I felt my first contraction around 7:50pm. It wasn't too bad. The balloon came out at 5:35 am Friday morning. My cervix was then dilated about 4cm. 

Before we started to next step, I was able to freshen up and tried out the labor tub. Pretty much a single person Jacuzzi. Wish I could’ve sat in it when I had more intense contractions. 10:30 am-- I got hooked up to an IV and Pitocin.  In case you don't know, Pitocin is the drug that starts labor. 1:55 pm-- the doctor came in to check if my cervix dilated anymore. I was still about 4cm and 60% effaced. So they increased the Pitocin levels.

Before 3pm, I got up to go to the bathroom. RIGHT when I got off the bed, my water broke. Reece was napping and I just kinda stood there for a second trying to figure out if I peed myself or if it was my water. Called the nurse in and then went to the bathroom. Turns out it was my water! The contractions got a little more intense. Got kind of excited since it seemed like we were on track to giving birth sometime that day.

I kept trying to get some sleep so I wouldn’t be too tired to push when the time came. With the contractions more intense, I couldn’t get comfortable enough to fall asleep. I got my first dose of pain medication through my IV around 3:55 pm. I forgot what it’s called, but it made me feel super loopy. I kept giggling and talking nonsense until I fell asleep. I was able to get a 1 hour nap.

5:50 pm-- my cervix was still only 4cm dilated and now 75% effaced and lower. I got another dose of the pain medication before 7pm. Wasn’t as effective as the first dose but enough to make the contractions a little more tolerable. 8:15pm-- cervix was still only 4cm dilated. So they placed a sensor in my uterus to measure the strength of my contractions to make sure they were adequate enough to make my cervix dilate.

9:15 pm—Asked for the epidural. I was over feeling the contractions and wanted to be able to sleep a little more. I was able to get about 5 hrs. Throughout the night, I got flipped from side to side and had to lay there with a big plastic thing between my legs to keep my hips open. A couple times, our room flooded with everyone who was on shift in L&D when Joey’s heart rate dropped. They would flip me to the opposite side and see if that brought his heart rate back to normal. After changing positions, he would be “text book perfect”. 

Saturday, October 8; 2:30am—the complete numbing from the epidural started to fade and my contractions woke me up. Nurse told me that my contractions have been as strong as they wanted after they increased the Pitocin again. 5:15am—midwife checked my cervix, still only 4cm dilated and felt paper thin. She told me that she was going to come back in about 2 hrs to see if there was any change, if there wasn’t, we’d talk about the next step. Half an hour later, Joey’s heart rate dropped again! Everyone rushed in and my cervix got checked again. She said that my cervix was now started to swell and when that happens, it won’t dilate. She also mentioned that she was thinking he was too big for my body and that’s why my cervix wasn’t dilating; that he wasn’t able to get low enough to put pressure on my cervix. So next step-c section. But first, she had to call the on call doctor and the doctor who was coming on shift.

6am—She came back to let us know what the doctors said. The on call doctor agreed with going with a c section as soon as the day shift doctor came in. Unfortunately, the day shift doctor wanted to give the Pitocin another try before deciding on a c section. I got slightly upset. I just wanted to see my baby already. So they started the Pitocin again and told us that they were going to give it a couple hours to see if it does anything.

8:30am—I threw up a bit and started to bleed a little. Doctor then came in to check my cervix (no change). He said that throwing up and bleeding could be signs of things moving the way they should be. Also told us how when you get induced, it sometimes takes longer because you’re making your body do something it wasn’t quite ready for. He also mentioned again, it could be that the baby is too big or not in the perfect position to put enough pressure on my cervix.

11:15am—cervix checked again. Guess what?! No change. He stopped the Pitocin and told us we’ll get prepped for a c section over the next 45 minutes. YAY! I got prepped and was in the OR by noon. Right when they started, Reece got there. During the c section, I got drugs galore it seemed. Let me just say, it was not what I expected. I knew I wouldn’t feel anything, but I didn’t think I would feel my lower body get moved around so much. I started to freak out at one point before they got to Joey. It felt like they were going to rip out my pelvic bone. Then when they were getting Joey out, they kept telling me to breathe through it. Only problem was, I felt like I was going to die and couldn’t breathe! The way they were doing whatever they were doing to get him out, they were putting so much pressure on my lungs.

12:25pm—JOEY’S BORN! He was such a chunk and started to pee right when they got him out. I felt relieved when I heard him cry. He got brought over to the little table to get cleaned up and everything. We didn’t get to do skin to skin because his breathing got a little funky. So the nurses took him to the nursery to try and help him clear his lungs/nose. About 1pm, the surgery was done and I was brought to the post partum area.

Joseph Paul Headley-October 8, 2016 @ 1225. 8.9 lbs, 20.5 in long(:

They brought Joey in right before 2pm. First time I got to hold him. We also tried breastfeeding. A little while later, med techs came to measure him and noticed his breathing was a bit different. So they got the nurse and ended up taking him back to the nursery.

A pediatrician came in to tell us that he was doing fine but that he had air pockets outside his lungs. She arranged to have him transferred to Providence NICU. He was getting transferred because they didn’t have the capabilities to care for him on base. The Providence team came around 5pm to transport him. They brought him by the room so I could see him one more time and to talk to us about where he’ll be and what their plan was to help him. He looked so calm and comfy. I wasn’t upset or anything. I was sad that he was so new and wouldn’t be there with us. But I was glad he was going somewhere where he could be helped and cared for.

Reece went to go visit him around 7pm. He wasn’t in the oxygen dome like we were told he would be. He just had the oxygen tubes in his nose. They did another xray when he got there and the doctor told Reece that the air pockets already went down some since the xray they took on base.

All settled at the NICU--October 8

October 9, 2016

Mama's first time holding Joey--October 9th

1 day old! October 9, 2016

Overall, labor was not what I expected. Would I do it again? YES. It’s true what they say, about the love you feel when you see your baby. I never thought that I could feel so much love and happiness from someone/something. Overall, Joey's doing good. Just recovering and getting better everyday. He's still at the NICU. Our beginning isn't what we thought it'd be but we're thankful he's in a place where he can get the help he needs. More to come! Thank you to everyone who's kept us in your thoughts/prayers. Until next time!

A couple days before getting induced(: