Hi, friends!
It has been a while since I wrote up a new blog post and based on the title I'm sure you can guess that a lot has happened in the past year! On August 1, 2019 my husband Marlon and I welcomed our new little bundle of joy- Rio- to our family.
I wanted to write up this post about his birth story, not only to give a little insight for any expecting moms or curious readers out there, but also for myself--to help reflect and remember all of the moments that brought this little blessing into our arms. Disclaimer: I'm keeping this post as real as I can without getting too graphic, but I'm also not one to beat around the bush (no pun intended....?) so if you'd prefer to*not* know the goings-on of an induced birth, maybe this post won't be your cup of tea...and that's OK!
BEFORE
At my 36 week doctor's appointment, my physician noted that my stomach was consistently measuring smaller than where I should be at that stage. Since I was measuring closer to 33 weeks - 3 weeks behind where my due date placed me, she had me set up an ultrasound to check on the size of the baby. I wasn't able to get an appointment until about a week later and that appointment showed that baby Rio was still healthy, but weighing in around 5 lbs when he should have been closer to 6 lbs at that point. The doctor sat down with my husband and I to explain a few possible scenarios, which included changing my "status" to a high-risk pregnancy which, in my case, meant a doctors appointment almost every other day of the week as well as possibly inducing Rio's birth during the 39th week of pregnancy (7 days before his due date).
For those who are unfamiliar (I sure was) labor induction essentially means using various methods to "induce" or encourage your body to go into labor while you're checked into the hospital. A lot of people asked me why they would induce if the baby was small, rather than wait it out--which is a valid question and something that my husband and I were also confused about. Basically, how it was explained to us was that if the baby isn't growing for some reason, it could be because he was no longer getting all of the nutrients he needs to survive and therefore it was safer to get him our earlier and let him be monitored in the hospital rather than possibly risk him going on for another few weeks without.
After many more doctors appointments, ultrasounds and baby stress tests, we were confirmed for an induction on August 1st at 8:30 a.m.
Having a 'planed' delivery date was both nerve-wracking and comforting. Despite the half-hazard way I live most of my life, I am always happiest with a game plan. The only last minute things I'm willing to embrace are trips to the movie theater or the ice cream parlor, so to say that I was stressed about going into labor unexpectedly (ie: at work, during a visit to NY, while out grocery shopping) is an understatement.
But, as always, life has it's way of keeping you on your toes, even when you think you have everything planned out.
On July 31st, after I frantically left work in a flurry of goodbyes, auto-away messages and cubical cleanup to run to a daycare for a tour and then home to make sure my hospital bag was packed, I decided to detox and take a moment to enjoy my last night before parenthood by taking a long, relaxing bubble bath. Midway through said bath, my cell phone rang. It was the hospital asking if I'd be willing to come in that night and start the induction early. And there began the start of things that I thought I was prepared for, but wasn't at all.
DURING
My husband and I checked into the hospital at 10:30 p.m. on July 31st and soon after, the induction process began. I knew that getting induced did not guarantee that anything would happen quickly, but I was kind of hoping it would take less than a day. As it turned out, the process took almost exactly 24 hours......and also didn't exactly end the way I had anticipated.
Without going into too much detail, the nurses started by inserting a Misoprostol pill which is supposed to help with dilation and then returned at 3 a.m. to insert something called a "Foley Bulb" which is basically a small balloon used for the same purpose as the pill. I'll be honest- the balloon thing was terrible, uncomfortable and painful. Once the dilation had progressed (I'm thinking to around 4 cm) They removed the bulb and hooked me up to an IV with something called Oxytocin (Pitocin) which is another medication used to induce labor. Levels of the Pitocin range from 0 to 20 and for the next 10 hours or so, they continually increased the dosage bit by bit, checking to see if I was feeling contractions or any pain. According to the nurses I have a pretty high pain tolerance because I wasn't feeling anything. Around--maybe 4 p.m. Aug 1st when I was at 16/20 on the Pitocin dosage, they decided to break my water with what they called a "hook"...which actually looked less terrifying than it sounded. As soon as my water was broken, the next contraction that came through showed up with all of the pain I hadn't been feeling before. I was doing breathing exercises, clutching the side of the bed and after about 15 minutes, ordered my epidural.... STAT. After about 40 minutes (which felt like 15 hours) the doctor came to do the epidural. It is really fun to have needles inserted in your spine when you are having contractions but have to stay perfectly still like nothing's happening. However, once the epidural medication kicked in, I was flying high. From that time on, I really didn't feel any pain during the rest of the night--which was a real blessing.
During the whole process, I was also able to see my heart rate, the highs and lows of my contractions and also the baby's heart rate. This (somewhat like planned labor and delivery) was again comforting and nerve wracking. Once I started feeling the contractions, looking over and seeing that my numbers had jumped from under 10 to 200+ didn't make me feel any better. But on top of that, the nurses would have to come in frequently and ask me to adjust how I was laying in the bed because Rio's heart rate kept dipping too low, which was so scary to see. I also had a reaction to the Pitocin which - though apparently normal- made me shiver uncontrollably even though I wasn't cold. The shivering was so violent that it made my whole body feel exhausted.
By the time we hit about 9 p.m. on Aug. 1st, the nurses and doctor came into check and see if I had dilated past 4 cm- which I hadn't. At that time, the doctor told me that even though we could continue with the Pitocin dosage through the rest of the night and see if any changes happened, because of the baby's dropping heart rate and high stress levels it would be wise to have an ceseran or c-section -- a surgery where an incision is made in your stomach and the baby is taken out. This surgery takes place while you are awake, but with the epidural medication you can't (or at least shouldn't!) feel anything. I agreed and within about 45 minutes I was being wheeled into the OR. Even though my mom and my husband's mom were also in the delivery room, my husband was the only one allowed in the operating room, so they had to wait outside.
The surgery itself was kind of a blur--thanks to all the medication I was on. But the moment baby Rio was taken out and started to cry, my husband and I started to cry too. Baby Rio John was 5 lbs 13 ounces, 18.5 inches and born at 10:36 p.m. almost exactly 24 hours from our hospital check-in the night before. It was all so surreal. As it turned out, the reason I hadn't dilated past 4 cm was because the baby had been tangled in the umbilical cord, which made it so he couldn't drop down any further and was also the reason behind his dropping heart rate. Overall, the c-section was absolutely the best choice for him and I'm thankful we were surrounded by such a great medical team who helped walk us through every step of this very unexpected process.
AFTER
So here we are, two weeks and two days later. Baby Rio has made it to 6+ lbs and is growing fast. He's already been taken to the urgent care twice (because we're new, overly worried parents), has had his first cold (even more worrisome), has peed on everything within range (including his nursery armchair and my hair), has revealed that he has dimples like his Dad and mom and knows how to Houdini his way out of a blanket swaddle like no other. Mom life is awesome but also full of unexpected surprises, which goes to show that my 'planning' days are truly a thing of the past. C-Section recovery takes longer to recover from than vaginal delivery, so I was not mentally prepared to come home and not be able to help with the baby and housework like I had thought I would. The first week wasn't easy but by week two I've been able to do a lot more without pain. Thankfully my husband took care of everything I couldn't early on which gave me the time I needed to recover. The first few days back were also very emotionally charged-- with crazy mood swings that had me laughing one moment and crying the next, feeling sleep deprived, overwhelmed and sad about how Rio's birth hadn't turned out the way I expected it to, worrying about projects left at work and feeling like I didn't even recognize my own body anymore. That said, here at week two I'm feeling much, much better about everything which pretty much confirms that post-pregnancy hormones are a beast which shouldn't be underestimated.
I hope that this post - though certainly a new topic for me on the blog - was able to offer some insight to anyone who has questions on what happens when the labor and delivery process doesn't start like it does in the movies with your water breaking and a frantic car ride to the hospital! No matter how many plans you've made in your head about how things should go, the most important thing to remember is that once you have that baby in your arms, nothing else will matter.
