Vivienne's birth story

Vivienne’s Birth Story

 

When I found out I was pregnant with baby #2 I decided I wanted to see a midwife at Mt. Auburn Hospital.  I had heard really wonderful things about the program and the hospital.  Christian, Berke and I went to the meet the midwife night and decided this was going to be a good fit for us.  I started seeing Leila as my main midwife and she was excellent.  She was great the entire experience explaining things to me and answering my questions and I never felt judged for anything I wanted to do.  I decided I would like to try to do a water birth. They had a brand new room with a huge tub and I felt that this would be a great fit because I am very calmed by water. 

I was told that most bodies go into labor around the same time as they did with their other pregnancies.  I was two weeks early with Berkeley so at Thanksgiving I started preparing myself to have baby girl.  On December 5^th I had my last day of work, thinking she would be here by her due date on Dec. 10^th for sure.  My due date came and went without any signs of labor; but a creepy guy at Target did hit on me.  I’m not sure that many 40 week pregnant women get asked for their phone number but it cracked me up that the guy didn’t even notice my gigantic belly. 

I had initially set an induction date for December 21, thinking I would never need to be induced.  At my appointment with Leila on December 16 we decided I would be induced December 17 (my 41 week mark), as a week would not make a big difference.

I was scheduled to come in to Mt. Auburn Hospital Labor and Delivery anytime after 7 pm on December 17, which also happened to be a huge snowstorm.  Christian asked if we could wait until the morning to go in as the roads were so bad, but I was so uncomfortable and in pain that I was ready to have this baby as soon as possible.    We drove through white out conditions to drop Berkeley off at our friend Wendy and Terry’s house and then headed to the hospital.  The roads were awful, slippery and slow going but we finally made it to the hospital around 8:30 p.m. 

The first midwife on call was Deb and she started my induction.  She discussed the options of pitocin and another drug called cytotec, which is a small pill that is placed inside the vagina to help ripen the cervix.  I chose to go this route so I did not have to get an IV because I wanted to be able to get into the birthing tub without being hooked up to tubes.  Deb informed me that most women who have had babies already respond well to the cytotec, and that after 2-3 doses are usually in full-blown labor.  The pill can be taken every 4-6 hours, and sometimes takes a few hours to kick in.  Deb gave me the first dose and encouraged me to get some sleep while I could so I had strength during actual labor.  I tried to sleep but I was much too anxious and then I start having contractions in my back.  I was not happy to have labor in my back again and it made it impossible to lie on my back or be in the bed in any position at all for that matter.  I started walking around then found some comfort sitting in a chair surrounded by pillows.  Sadly, after a few hours of contractions they stopped all together.  The midwife then placed another cytotec and we waited for more results.  My back was still hurting and I could not get comfortable.  After a couple hours I started having contractions again.  The shift changed and I started working with a new midwife, Adrienne.  She was fabulous, young and had a contagious laugh.  She could see that my back pain was intense and brought in the ball for me to sit on and labor to try to turn the baby.  I also took a hot shower, and by the time I was done with the shower the contractions had slowed down a great deal. 

            When I came into the hospital I was dilated to 1cm and not effaced.  When Adrianne checked me again I was only dilated to 3 cm and 50% effaced.  I was feeling pretty discouraged but decided to try the cytotec one more time.  I again began having intense back pain and was feeling exhausted at this point, as I had not had any sleep for nearly two days. 

            Adrienne discussed some options with me to ease my back pain and even the option to go home and get some rest.  At that time I was not ready to go home and “give up” as I had come to the hospital to have a baby and that is what I was going to do.  I talked with Christian about my options and decided to try some sterile water injections.  I was told this entailed 4 injections of sterile water in the back and that it helps relieve back pain for a few hours to a full day.  Adrienne told me she would do the injections with the new midwife for the next shift (Jen) and they would do two injections at once.  While I was nervous about this procedure, I really needed some relief from my back pain.    

            Jen and Adrienne came in to give me the injections.  I got onto all fours so they could do the injections.  The intense burning pain that I felt from these injections was perhaps some of the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. I admit I cried like a baby and even yelled out like I was being murdered.  The worst part is once I got over the first 2 shots I had to get two more.  I instantly regretted this decision, but it was too late.  Both the midwives were so sweet to comfort me after the shots were done; I think they felt a bit traumatized from my reaction and I know I was seriously traumatized myself as well as my poor husband.  I did get some relief from my back pain for just over an hour. I was able to rest for that hour, but then the pain returned. 

            Jen came in to talk to me about taking a sleeping pill since I had not had sleep for two nights and needed to get some rest if I was going to be able to get through labor.  She then gave me an ambien to help me sleep; but help me sleep it did not.  I did not have a good reaction to the ambien and started having hallucinations and was not responding well to this medication.  I was apologizing to the nurse for squishing her dog and doing all sorts of weird things that I don’t remember.  Poor Christian who was completely exhausted was informed not to let me walk by myself or I could fall, this was a tiring task since I had to go to the bathroom every 10-15 minutes.  I do remember passing out on all fours and waking up blaming the nurse for putting me in that position.  Once I came to around 4:00 a.m. I apologized to the nurse for my actions, trying to convince her that I really wasn’t a psycho. 

            Around 4:30 a.m. I talked with Jen about my options again.  After 4 doses of cytotec that had failed, which I was told always worked after 2-3 doses for women who have already had kids, I decided it was time to try something different.  After talking with Jen I decided to get into the birthing tub and try laboring there, as well as get an IV and start Pitocin to try to induce labor that way.  Lying in the birthing tub was wonderful, as I could float and get some rest without any pressure on my back.  While I was having some contractions it was nothing consistent.  After a few hours in the tub I was advised to get out of the tub for a bit as the hot water was affecting the babies heart rate.  I got out and was sitting in the rocking chair, as my back pain was to great to lie in bed in any position.  They upped my pitocin to 14 units and it was having minimal effects on me. The highest dose they can give is 20 units.  At this point it was 9 a.m. and I was completely exhausted and frustrated that nothing was happening and labor was not progressing.  I broke down and started crying from exhaustion; I felt that I could not do this anymore; I was too tired and completely defeated.  

            The midwife, Vera, and my nurse Judy came to talk to me about how my body was not responding to anything at this time.  They stated that I was too tired and if I kept going I was not going to be able to be ready for labor when it did happen.  They suggested I either stay at the hospital and do a morphine sleep, or go home and get some sleep and come back in a few days once I felt more rested.  They explained that they didn’t know why my body would not go into active labor but that I really needed to get some sleep. 

            After talking with Christian we decided we should go home and rest there, see our little boy, and get a break from the hospital.  I had to accept that I was leaving the hospital without a baby.  I went there with the expectation that I would be leaving with a baby and I felt defeated leaving still very pregnant.  I was also feeling guilty about my poor sweet son being with friends for two full days and just waiting to come and meet his sweet baby sister.  At this point I had an ultra sound to make sure the baby was okay before I left the hospital.  She was doing well, had plenty of fluid and her heart rate was healthy. 

            I was discharged from the hospital around 2 p.m. with instructions to come back Sunday the 22^nd in the morning; in the meantime I was to get some rest.  We got home and I slept from 2:30 p.m. until 7 p.m. on my couch, as I was completely exhausted.  Around 7:15 p.m. I felt my water break; it wasn’t a huge break, but enough for me to know what had happened.  I then called my midwife, Leila, and told her what had happened, we both couldn’t believe it.  She wanted me to come in that night and make sure it was my water that had broken and make sure everything was okay.  I told her I really could not come back to the hospital tonight.  She told me if I could feel the baby move 10 times in the next two hours then I could wait until the morning and come in then.  Baby girl moved a lot in the next two hours, so I called Leila and told her I would be in tomorrow morning after my son was dropped off at school. 

            Christian and I showed up to Mt. Auburn Hospital, not even 24 hours after we left, to check on the baby and see if my water had broken.  I started second guessing myself, as I had not had any contractions since my water broke and there had been such little leaking since the first gush.  After testing, it was confirmed that my water had indeed broken, but was probably a small break high up so it wasn’t leaking a lot.  They stated I could stay in the hospital and try to induce labor then or come back that night and start then.  I decided to go home and get some more rest, have dinner with my Berkey, figure out a plan for him and then head back in after 8 p.m. to start induction again.

            I went home and slept a bit more; I was exhausted and not looking forward to going back into the hospital.  I was quite discouraged and was anxious about how this induction process was going to go.  I made plans for Berke to go with his Aunties for the weekend.  Berke came home and we had a pizza party with him and explained the new plan for him, this was all very confusing for him, and I was grateful to have such a wonderful support system.

            Gloria picked Berke up from our house and when they left, we to left for the hospital yet again, for the 3^rd time in two days.  It was an emotional drive for me; I was nervous about what to expect and scared about what lay ahead of me.

            I arrived at the hospital and met my nurse Anne Marie and saw that Adrienne was to be my midwife again, which was great because I felt very comfortable with her.  After talking with her we came up with a plan to try the cytotec again, since I had more luck with that than the pitocin.  Adrienne decided that if she could feel my bag of water that she was going to break it, since it was already open a bit, and breaking the entire bag could help the labor go quicker.

            Adrienne could feel my bag of water and decided to break it.  The nurse put a towel down to catch the fluid and then my water was broken.  It was like Niagara Falls; the water kept gushing and gushing and everyone’s eyes got super wide, the midwife’s arm was wet up to her elbow and the water just kept coming.  It was so much water that all I could do was laugh; as I started laughing the water was going everywhere.  The bed became completely saturated and we were all laughing.  Adrienne and Anne Marie were in shock from all the fluid that came out of me, stating it was liters and liters of water.  Anne Marie said, “I don’t even know how to document how much fluid just came out of you.” I told her that I didn’t think the one towel she put down did much good.  We all had a good laugh and I felt at least 10 lbs lighter than before. 

About 45 minutes after my water was broken and the cytotec was placed I went into full-blown back labor.  I decided at this point I had had enough pain and just wanted and epidural; I gave up the idea of having a water birth.  The epidural was placed and it was such a beautiful thing, I didn’t have any back pain and life was finally good, I was in labor and my pain was well managed.  Why did I ever want to do childbirth naturally? 

            Two hours later I was dilated to 4 cm and fully effaced.  An hour later a nurse came in to adjust the heart rate monitor and I was feeling a lot of pressure and told her to get the midwife ASAP.  Adrienne showed up and said the pressure was because the baby’s head was poking out and we got ready for me to push baby girl out.  I had Christian start my girl power music when it was time to push.  Katy Perry’s “Roar”, P!nk’s “Try” and Christina Aguilera’s “Fighter” played as everyone in the delivery room sang and/or danced including myself in between pushes (well, maybe not the dancing part).  The mood in the room was happy and excited.  There was a neonatal nurse there as well since there was some meconium when my water broke, so she was there to check out the baby when she was born.  I pushed for 12-15 minutes and out my little Vivienne came at 3:25 a.m.  I was so relieved and so happy; they handed her right to me to hold as Christian cut the umbilical cord.  Tears of joy and relief ran down both Christian’s and my face.  They let me hold her for a few minutes as she wailed and cried about her traumatic experience getting here, then they took her and cleaned her up and weighed her and what not.  

At that point Adrienne was telling me about my tearing and that my placenta was still partially connected and they were having a hard time getting it out.  Anne Marie started pushing on my stomach and massive amounts of pee (as I had 5 bags of fluid pumped into me the last 3 hours) came gushing out of me.  Who knew this much fluid could be in my body.  She kept pushing and then a huge splatter of blood flew out of my body all over the room and the placenta came out.  Adrienne told the nurse that she was fired, as she had had enough of my bodily fluids flying at her. 

Adrienne sewed me up and I was transferred to the post partum unit where I was put into a beautiful room with a faux fireplace.  Anne Marie came to visit me the next day as did the neonatal nurse to tell me how much she loved the music that Vivienne was delivered to and that it was the best playlist she had ever heard during a delivery.  She said she was telling everyone about it and she went home last night and downloaded all those songs herself. 

The entire process was long and difficult, but I will say all of the midwives and nurses I worked with were so amazing. They explained all my options to me in a way I could understand, and were non-judgmental about my decisions.  I could not have asked for a better medical team and would recommend Mt. Auburn Midwives and hospital to anyone who is going to have a baby.  I’m so thankful for the wonderful and loving care I received from all the staff and don’t know how one can ever truly thank the people who bring your baby into this world.

           

Adrienne (the amazing midwife who delivered little Viv), Vivienne, Mommy and Anne Marie (my fresh and sassy nurse)

Berke meeting his baby sister for the first time