Caden David's Birth Story: This Didn't Exactly Go as Planned
Submitted by MaryMoo
I went in for a routine check up and ended up staying for 10 days. My OB/GYN group closed their office when I was 31 weeks, so I had to switch to a new one fairly quickly.
I tried a family health center associated with a hospital that I had heard great reviews about. I was in that office for exactly 3 weeks. It was horrible! The doctor was rude and know it all-ish, and wanted to change everything that I had been doing since the beginning of my pregnancy. (I had high blood pressure, but no pre-eclampsia at the time.) I also have a thyroid disorder and my doc thought it was the thyroid making my BP go up. He wanted to lower my meds from 212 mcg to 112 mcg. My endo was adamant about not lowering my dosage, but my new OB refused to even call him to collaborate a med plan.
I left there and switched to another health clinic associated with another hospital (which is what I should've done in the 1st place because I later found out that my original OBGYN had combined with this clinic and was now doing all her work from there).
I called to make an appt and they said that because I had high BP, I would actually have to go to the special high risk clinic instead. At 35 weeks, at my 1st appt (12/2/09), they took my BP, which was high, of course (143/93). I wasn't too upset about it bc a reading like that had been pretty normal for me from about 26 weeks. But this time I had protein in my urine, which was always negative before. So my normal gestational high BP had finally transitioned to pre-eclampsia. They admitted me immediately. ("Welcome! Here's a hospital gown!")
They made me do a 24-hour urine to check for protein. They said that if I was negative for preeclampsia (levels under 300), I could go home til I was 37 weeks (which was about 10 days away). If I was moderately pre-eclamptic (levels between 301 - 500), I would have to stay the 10 days in the hospital. If I was highly pre-eclamptic (levels over 500), I would deliver that day.
When I got my results the next day my levels were 462. So I had missed the cut off by a mere 38 points. They did an amnio to check the baby's lung maturity. They wanted his levels to be 55. They came back at 46. So again I had barely missed the cut off.
Over the weekend I was well taken care of. They took my BP every 4 hours, and it kept going up and down. My highest was 159/109. (160/110 means delivery. again I had just missed the cut off!) On Sunday, everything was going well. My husband had spent the night and was really tired so I told him he could go home. Not even an hour after he left they came to take my BP again and it was up. I was now 36 weeks and 3 days, so the doc said they were gonna try an induction immediately. My husband had to come back and they took me downstairs to labor and delivery. They put me on a medicine called cervidil, which makes you start dilating. I was on it for 12 hours. Not to mention complete bed rest (catheter, anyone?)
The next day they checked me out and told me I was not dilated at all. Not even a little bit. So they tried pitocin to start contractions. Around hour 4 I asked for my epidural, which didn't work. I could still feel them. Not as bad, but still painful. (But I'm the kind person who needs 75 billion shots of Novocain for a tooth filling, so...) At hour 6, they checked me again and told me I was still not dilated, so they turned off the pitocin. The contractions stopped immediately, which showed me my body was not ready to deliver. They said I had to get an "emergency" c-section. I put that in quotes because I was bumped twice over the next 4 hours and didn't get my surgery til 8pm.
Also, because of my pre-eclampsia they had me on a magnesium drip, which makes you feel crazy! You can't even raise your arms when you're on it. You cant focus your eyes. You're not exactly tired but you feel like you could sleep without even trying. Every time I closed my eyes my oxygen level fell to below 90, which would make a little bell ring, so I couldn't sleep anyway. I hadn't eaten or drank anything since 1:30 pm the day before (about 30 hours), but honestly I had many fluids pumping into me I didn't even need anything.
When they finally wheeled me back, I couldn't even tell you what happened except for the part when I threw up (and I was TERRIFIED of throwing up).
When my son was finally born at 8:23 pm, I was so out of it, I almost didn't care, but then I heard him screaming, and I thought "this is the one with low oxygen levels?" He scored a 8-9 on the apgar test (10 being the best) and it was only because his hands and feet were a little blue, because if his size (he was only 36 weeks along and only 5 lbs 14 oz.)
But all in all he was doing better than me. After the surgery, I went back to my room and was put on bed rest again. (24 more hours.) I was still on the magnesium, and there's a chance of fluid filling up around your heart and lungs so I still couldn't eat or drink anything (when it was all over, it had been about 60 hours from my last meal).
After the 24 hours was up, I was moved up to the baby ward. My mom was with me thank god because she literally had to feed me. I really couldn't move I was in so much pain from the surgery. Over the next few days it got better. I was able to inspect my new son (for instance he has my husband's feet, but my toes. He has a blueish birthmark on his bottom, called a Mongolian spot that I had when I was born. He has my ears and eyes but my husband's nose, mouth, and chin. His eyes are really dark blue, so I'm assuming they'll be almost black like mine).
In the end I'm a little disappointed I couldn't experience a natural birth (well, about as natural as you can be with an epidural), but I know the c-section was the best thing to do, and it's getting better everyday. Don't get me wrong, I'm still very sore, and running on no sleep, but I cant believe how much I love my son. It's so true that you don't know that you have the love inside of you til it comes out full force.
~Mary S, (mommy of Caden David, 12/7/09, 5 lbs 13.6 oz)
Read more birth stories or share YOUR birth story now!
I tried a family health center associated with a hospital that I had heard great reviews about. I was in that office for exactly 3 weeks. It was horrible! The doctor was rude and know it all-ish, and wanted to change everything that I had been doing since the beginning of my pregnancy. (I had high blood pressure, but no pre-eclampsia at the time.) I also have a thyroid disorder and my doc thought it was the thyroid making my BP go up. He wanted to lower my meds from 212 mcg to 112 mcg. My endo was adamant about not lowering my dosage, but my new OB refused to even call him to collaborate a med plan.
I left there and switched to another health clinic associated with another hospital (which is what I should've done in the 1st place because I later found out that my original OBGYN had combined with this clinic and was now doing all her work from there).
I called to make an appt and they said that because I had high BP, I would actually have to go to the special high risk clinic instead. At 35 weeks, at my 1st appt (12/2/09), they took my BP, which was high, of course (143/93). I wasn't too upset about it bc a reading like that had been pretty normal for me from about 26 weeks. But this time I had protein in my urine, which was always negative before. So my normal gestational high BP had finally transitioned to pre-eclampsia. They admitted me immediately. ("Welcome! Here's a hospital gown!")
They made me do a 24-hour urine to check for protein. They said that if I was negative for preeclampsia (levels under 300), I could go home til I was 37 weeks (which was about 10 days away). If I was moderately pre-eclamptic (levels between 301 - 500), I would have to stay the 10 days in the hospital. If I was highly pre-eclamptic (levels over 500), I would deliver that day.
When I got my results the next day my levels were 462. So I had missed the cut off by a mere 38 points. They did an amnio to check the baby's lung maturity. They wanted his levels to be 55. They came back at 46. So again I had barely missed the cut off.
Over the weekend I was well taken care of. They took my BP every 4 hours, and it kept going up and down. My highest was 159/109. (160/110 means delivery. again I had just missed the cut off!) On Sunday, everything was going well. My husband had spent the night and was really tired so I told him he could go home. Not even an hour after he left they came to take my BP again and it was up. I was now 36 weeks and 3 days, so the doc said they were gonna try an induction immediately. My husband had to come back and they took me downstairs to labor and delivery. They put me on a medicine called cervidil, which makes you start dilating. I was on it for 12 hours. Not to mention complete bed rest (catheter, anyone?)
The next day they checked me out and told me I was not dilated at all. Not even a little bit. So they tried pitocin to start contractions. Around hour 4 I asked for my epidural, which didn't work. I could still feel them. Not as bad, but still painful. (But I'm the kind person who needs 75 billion shots of Novocain for a tooth filling, so...) At hour 6, they checked me again and told me I was still not dilated, so they turned off the pitocin. The contractions stopped immediately, which showed me my body was not ready to deliver. They said I had to get an "emergency" c-section. I put that in quotes because I was bumped twice over the next 4 hours and didn't get my surgery til 8pm.
Also, because of my pre-eclampsia they had me on a magnesium drip, which makes you feel crazy! You can't even raise your arms when you're on it. You cant focus your eyes. You're not exactly tired but you feel like you could sleep without even trying. Every time I closed my eyes my oxygen level fell to below 90, which would make a little bell ring, so I couldn't sleep anyway. I hadn't eaten or drank anything since 1:30 pm the day before (about 30 hours), but honestly I had many fluids pumping into me I didn't even need anything.
When they finally wheeled me back, I couldn't even tell you what happened except for the part when I threw up (and I was TERRIFIED of throwing up).
When my son was finally born at 8:23 pm, I was so out of it, I almost didn't care, but then I heard him screaming, and I thought "this is the one with low oxygen levels?" He scored a 8-9 on the apgar test (10 being the best) and it was only because his hands and feet were a little blue, because if his size (he was only 36 weeks along and only 5 lbs 14 oz.)
But all in all he was doing better than me. After the surgery, I went back to my room and was put on bed rest again. (24 more hours.) I was still on the magnesium, and there's a chance of fluid filling up around your heart and lungs so I still couldn't eat or drink anything (when it was all over, it had been about 60 hours from my last meal).
After the 24 hours was up, I was moved up to the baby ward. My mom was with me thank god because she literally had to feed me. I really couldn't move I was in so much pain from the surgery. Over the next few days it got better. I was able to inspect my new son (for instance he has my husband's feet, but my toes. He has a blueish birthmark on his bottom, called a Mongolian spot that I had when I was born. He has my ears and eyes but my husband's nose, mouth, and chin. His eyes are really dark blue, so I'm assuming they'll be almost black like mine).
In the end I'm a little disappointed I couldn't experience a natural birth (well, about as natural as you can be with an epidural), but I know the c-section was the best thing to do, and it's getting better everyday. Don't get me wrong, I'm still very sore, and running on no sleep, but I cant believe how much I love my son. It's so true that you don't know that you have the love inside of you til it comes out full force.
~Mary S, (mommy of Caden David, 12/7/09, 5 lbs 13.6 oz)
Read more birth stories or share YOUR birth story now!
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