Ivy Charlotte
8.28.2012
8lbs 2.8oz
Many of you followed my journey and posts about pregnancy (and how I would deliver) with a full spinal fusion. If you missed the post detailing my surgery and condition, you can read it here :) If you missed the post about the doctors' decision, you can read it here:)
Tuesday August 28 at 3am I felt a pop and a burst of water and I sprung from my bed like a toddler on Christmas morning! (I have been so worried about my water breaking in bed because our mattresses are brand new so thank God I didn't get ANYTHING on the bed! haha) I stood next to the bed watching all this water hit the hardwood floor. I knew my water had broken! I gently yet excitedly tapped Matt on the should and said "Matt! My water broke!". He of course asked if I was sure and I said "definitely!!!" so I texted my Doula, Lisa and my mom as I made my way to the bathroom.
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| {I am blue, she is grey} Haha, I had GREAT chemistry with Lisa as you can see! It is sooo important to have someone you trust and click with when choosing a Doula! |
Knowing that I wasn't having contractions, I took a shower, straightened my hair, and double checked our packed bags. I called the "emergency line" to my OBGYN office and they put me in contact with the OB who was on call at that hour.. and sure enough it was the OB who saw me a few days earlier! yay!
Around 7am we arrived at the hospital and they checked us into Triage. I was dilated to a 5, 80% effaced, cervix posterior (usually the cervix is anterior before you dilate but my cervix was posterior so we needed it to get to anterior asap!) and they confirmed my water broke and monitored my contractions for a couple of hours. I was having some monster contractions (couldn't feel them!) but there was no consistency. Around 9am they confirmed "Courtney is having a baby today!" and they started preparing my room in the Birthing Center!!!!!
A little while later, Erin, my new FABULOUS nurse, came to my room to introduce herself and check on me. She added Pitocin to my IV (I was sooo scared and not ready for the Pitocin at all!) After everything was hooked up I bounced on the medicine ball, walked around the room, and laid in different positions on the bed to try to get my cervix posterior. At this point I lose all concept of time. Everything seemed pretty spread out up until the end, which I have all details including times!
Erin came back to check me and yay! I was dilated to a 6 and OBVIOUSLY posterior! She felt the baby right away! Very exciting! I did some more bouncing and sneaking in Twix candy bars (my FAV!) and kept active in between checks. I was having lots and lots of contractions that were minutes apart and really big, but I didn't feel a thing! My OB called from across town to see if she had time to go to her office before coming to deliver the baby. This was really exciting because a different OB from the practice was on call, but because my OB got out of a meeting early, she would be able to deliver my baby!!! Erin checked me and I was at a 7, so they gave her the go-ahead! I hung out in the bed for a while but then my amniotic fluid started leaking more than ever and I was just swimming in it so I decided to stand up.
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| That's Erin! :) |
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| This position was to help my cervix get to anterior! |
At every contraction, the amniotic fluid came flying out of me, splashing all over the floor, hitting all the equipment. It was literally like someone turned on a faucet.. not like a little faucet when my water broke in bed.. I mean full-fledged waterfall coming from under my hospital gown!!! There was so much of it that Matt and Lisa couldn't keep it together, they were laughing so hard. Every nurse and doctor came in to see what was going on because there was such a ruckus coming from our room.. and sure enough- they joined Matt and Lisa in laughter AND were in disbelief that I was dilated a 7 without drugs and standing and laughing. I still couldn't feel contractions (that were consistently so big that they were off the chart) but I knew when I had them because they were pushing all that fluid out! We had towels folded that I stood over to soak up all the fluid and made it a game to "hit the target", after every contraction, I had a new towel placed in a spot slightly different from the last and I had to aim to hit the middle because I couldn't see over my big belly. Good times.
Right at 5pm we heard a loud thud on the baby's heart monitor and I felt a strong blunt force hit straight down my cervix. I yelped and turned around and grabbed the bed almost in tears telling Lisa how much that hurt! At that moment we thought that the baby had moved and was hitting a nerve like she had done the whole pregnancy. The pain faded and right as it did, a nurse came on the loud speaker and asked if my sister Lauren could come back. I said of course, and we welcomed her in! All giggles again until BAM!!! I felt that weird feeling again and it really hurt!!! All of a sudden I felt like I had to poop. I told Matt and Lisa that I really had to poop! I thought I was going to go all over the floor where I was standing. I waddled my way over to the bathroom and I sat down.. and then that strong urge to poop happened and I was trying to get it out but nothing came!!! I looked between my legs and yelled out into the room that nothing was coming out and I was so confused. I then got up and made my way to the bed.. I laid down, no more amniotic fluid was coming out, but I still felt like I had to poo. I held on to the hospital bed railing and squeezed it and Matts hand so tight when those strong urges came! Erin came in right as I laid down and I told her that I thought I had to poop and I was trying to push it out. Then it happened again and I was screaming to Erin "I'm pushing something, I don't know what it is, but I can't stop!". Erin rolled me onto my back and took a look.... "Baby has hair!!!!" Erin shouted out loud! Then paged the doctors. Erin sat with me and coached me through two pushes because the baby was coming. A doctor came in who I had never seen before.. but I didn't care! I needed to push the baby out and someone needed to catch her! I was sad that my OB didn't make it on time, and that the on-call OB from my practice couldn't make it from the other side of the hospital, but like I said, she was coming and someone needed to be there! No one expected me to go from 7 to 10 so fast!
When the doctor put the stirrups up and placed my feet on each one, I closed my eyes as tight as I could, squeezed Matt's hand and followed directions. I didn't open my eyes once from this point forward. I could hear the Doctor talking to Erin, Lisa, Matt and all the other people who were in the room (no idea who they were either) but couldn't make out exactly what he was saying. It's a good thing, because he was telling them that the baby was coming out with her left art wrapped around her head. He said that I would tear definitely and there was nothing he could do about it, she was coming too fast.
3 pushes later, we had a baby.
Ivy was born at 5:40pm.
Ivy came out head and shoulders at the same time. The Doctor had a lot of repair work to do after she was born. They placed her on my chest/belly and Matt cut the umbilical chord. Then the work began. The Dr. started stitching me up without numbing me at all. I screamed and cried and cursed more during this time than any other while in labor. He stopped stitching and gave me a few shots to numb me up but even that was so excruciating I couldnt maintain control. I had done so well being in control of my pain and at this point all of that flew out the window! He told Matt and the nurses that he had extensive work to do and the looks on everyone's faces was the worst part. I can't even imagine what they saw down there :( The Dr. continued to talk to me and give me directions but I couldn't understand him, so he told Matt and Matt told me what to do throughout the process. Usually during the stitching process, they place the baby on mommy's chest to distract her..... but I had so much work to be done that they didn't put Ivy on me. Ugh. This was definitely the worst part. The last thing I remember is telling the Dr. I was sorry for cursing at him and that I appreciated him being so particular in stitching me up properly. I told him I would continue to scream but I wasn't mad at him it was just my natural reaction to the pain and I wanted him to continue and I was thankful for what he was doing. He gave me a chuckle, I felt better, and the next thing I knew it was all over and I had a beautiful 8lb 2.8oz baby girl in my arms!!
Through the whole process, the doctors and nurses could not believe that I didn't feel contractions. We learned later that the blunt force I felt was the baby literally moving into my .. hoohah. Although my OB didn't make it to the birth, she came to my room as soon as she got to the hospital and apologized and told us how much she wanted to be there! I was SO glad to see her! Dr. Jesse with the Cleveland Clinic is an absolutely GEM! The on-call OB, Dr. Wilkins also came to say hi! She is also fabulous! All OBGYNS from Cleveland Clinic West are top notch and I recommend that practice to anyone. They made a point to come see me even after they couldn't make it to the birth <3
I was also just recently informed that my birth is considered an abnormality.. which I thought was pretty cool because my situation is abnormal! I have two rods in my back!! And they are going to do a case study on my labor to learn more about why I had no pain and why it was so easy for me to push this baby out!
I am so happy and feeling so blessed that I was able to have Ivy naturally without going under for surgery. Another huge thank you to the Cleveland Clinic and the staff at Fairview! You guys rock.
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