I clocked in at work, and found that I was on a really good team, and that my teammates allowed me to only take one patient for the day. He was a new admission and fairly busy, so my morning went by quickly. Around 10:30am, I noticed that I was still having contractions, so I began to write them down on the back of my report sheet, just to keep track. After awhile, I noticed that I was having contractions around every 10 minutes. No biggie. I went about my business and went to lunch at 11:30am.
The afternoon continued with much of the same, and around 3:30pm, I was settling in for the rest of the shift. My meds were passed, my patient clean, and I had just finished up the bulk of my charting. Time to go visit some friends. I made the rounds on the unit, laughing about how I was still pregnant and working, etc. I told my co-worker Katherine that I was going to start doing lunges down the hallway to try and start this labor going, and while laughing, I did 4 lunges down the hall. Enter: Huge contraction. It was 3:40pm.
3:55pm: Contractions coming every 4 minutes and lasting around 40 seconds. I entered the charge office to tell them I needed to go home. I have such wonderful co-workers that it was no problem! I gave report on my patient, and left. The girls insisted that I wasn't able to walk to my car, so I was wheeled out to the parking lot. Called Justin on the way to my car to let him know it was go time!
I was still having contractions when I got to my car, so I called my OB's office. She and I decided I didn't have time to go home. Yes, I drove myself to the hospital. My OB called the hospital to let them know I was on my way, and I arrived about 15 minutes later. Poor Justin, he was home alone with Sam, and had to find a sitter for Sam until my parents could get into town. Plus, he had to pack a bag for himself, and grab my bag, along with the camera, and video camera. Needless to say, he was running around like a chicken to get things together.
When they checked me at the hospital, I was only 3cm and 25% effaced, but having contractions every 2-3 minutes. After about an hour on the monitor, my contractions had started picking up in intensity. Justin arrived around 5:30pm and my doctor came in a bit later. After some discussion with my doctor, and describing my labor with Sam, we decided to get the show on the road, and break my water. They admitted me to the hospital, and we were moved from triage to our actual labor and delivery room, which happened to be the same room we were in with Sammy! We called my parents to let them know that this was the real deal, and that we would need them to watch Sam for the whole weekend.
Ready to get the show on the road and meet my baby girl!
The nurse got my IV started, and soon my OB came in to break my water. They had a lot of difficulty getting my water to break, which was the most uncomfortable thing I went through. It's super painful to have a knitting needle repeatedly shoved inside your nether regions, and finally they were able to get a slight hole in the bag, and hoped that as my contractions picked up, my water would completely break on its own.
After two hour, my contractions weren't getting any stronger, and an anesthesiologist was available, so I was ready to get my epidural and get started on pitocin to help those contractions along. My epidural worked like a dream, I could still tell when a contraction was coming, but it wasn't painful and I was still able to move my legs. Much better than last time.
However, I wasn't able to get my wonderful epidural nap, because the little bambino didn't like my contractions getting stronger. Her heart rate would drop into the 50's and stay there for a bit, so I had to repeatedly change positions to get her heart rate to come up. My nurse was in my room around every 15 minutes to help me move. Plus, I had to wear an oxygen mask to make sure baby was getting enough oxygen.
Soon I was at 7cm dilated, and became really light headed. I knew that my blood pressure was dropping, and being the doom and gloom ICU nurse I am, I became pretty worried. I let my nurse know that I felt like I was going to pass out. My blood pressure was in the 90's, so not terribly low. I told my nurse that I needed a fluid bolus, so one was started. My nurse was concerned that maybe my bladder was full, so she drained my bladder with a catheter. She checked my cervix before the catheter, and I was still at 7cm, but close to an 8. After I'd peed, she checked me again, and I was 10 cm. I had been so light headed because I was dilating so fast. I believe the time was 11:30pm.
Once you're fully dilated, those delivery rooms fill with people so fast, it's crazy! Baby girl's heart rate was still continuing to drop, so everyone was working fast. My OB told me I had to push like I've never pushed before and get this baby out quick. If at any time her heart rate dropped and didn't recover, she was going to use the vacuum to get her out.
Fortunately, I was able to push much more effectively this time, and she was out in 50 minutes! Born at 12:44am. When she came out, her cord was wrapped around her neck twice, and she had some meconium in the fluid that came out from around her. My OB had to work to get her cord unwrapped and get her suctioned. Finally, I was given the go ahead to push a little more, and out she came. They placed her up on my belly, and I could tell right away that she was a little thing. We had quite a time getting her to cry, I kept helping the nurses shake her and kept willing her to cry. Finally, some little cries came out, and they whisk her away to the warmer.
I heard my OB say, "well that was our problem," and saw her lift up a section of my cord. Right in the middle was a true knot. Little girl had been doing quite the somersaults in my belly and had got her cord tied up. The knot was what was causing her heart rate to drop during my labor. It would get all tight, and she wasn't getting the flow she needed. Scary stuff!! I really wish we had taken a picture, it was so interesting.
Finally she was crying well over at the warmer, and the NICU nurse (she was sent down when things started getting scary) said she looked great. Justin and I were very relieved that everything was okay and our little girl looked perfect. Talk about a dramatic entrance!
Molly Jo Rausch
Born 12/31/2011
12:44am
6 lbs 11 oz, 21 inches long
2 comments:
This is beautiful Karla! The birth of a baby is a true miracle.
So happy for you guys and I'm so glad she is ok!
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