Drumroll please....

Since it's been 2 months since Madeleine was born.. I figured it was about time I posted the birth story before I forget it. I've been told that once she's a little bit older that we'll soon forget the newborn stage as well. I'm not sure if that's a bad thing. ;-) Needless to say.. it's been a little tough with all of the crying that she does in the evenings but I do enjoy all the time that I am able to spend with her and watching her do new things every day.



Back in December... Monday, December 6th - Nick and I had an ultrasound done so that the doctor could get some measurements on Maddy. We were told that she was going to be about 9 pounds 1 ounce, give or take a pound. A full pound?!? So when we left the ultrasound, we thought we were still on schedule to be induced on Saturday, the 11th. We also still had an appointment set up with Dr. Call on Wednesday to talk about the inducement, her measurements, and whether I would be able to vaginally deliver her or we would have to have a c-section.

Nick returned to work and I headed home. Around 5:30 I got a call from Dr. Call. He had been in a conference all day but had just taken a look at the ultrasound results and decided to call me. He said that since she was a good healthy size, it would be better to deliver her soon than later. "There's no point in waiting until Saturday so how does tomorrow sound?". I told him our bags were packed and we were ready! He reminded me that being induced could take a long time and if my body didn't agree with it that I could be sent home tomorrow. No worries, I thought. At least we were getting things started.

After getting off the phone with him I called Nick. He was on his way home from work and I made sure that he was sitting down before I told him the news. (He was driving so it was a silly question). He was in shock and I could hear that he was smiling. After talking to him I immediately got on the phone with most of my family and friends to let them know we were heading in for our appointment to be checked into the childbirth center at Northwest Hospital at 8:30 the next morning. When Nick got home he made a list of things he wanted to get done or packed before the night was over. It was really funny to watch him pace around the house with a smile on his face but also being in total shock.. it was really happening!!

I managed to get 4 hours of sleep that night (It was also 4 hours the night before because at that point I was very uncomfortable). Nick was able to get 6 hours of sleep.

We got to the childbirth center about 8:15 and were checked in at 8:30. They put us in a room in the older wing. I was told during my non-stress tests that the wing we were in was usually for c-section patients since there were no tubs in the rooms however there were a couple of tubs down the hall. In the other, newer wing the tubs are in the rooms.

Dr. Call showed up around 9:30 to start the induction. He put some sort of gel on my cervix. I don't recall the name of it. At that point I was almost 2 cm dilated and about 90% effaced. He said that he would check back in with me in about 3 hours and until then I had a "pass" to walk around the hospital grounds. (The nurse said that patients usually get to leave the grounds and walk around the mall but I guess because of my progress Dr. Call thought it was a good idea for me to stay close by).

Nick and I walked outside for an hour and then had to check back in with the nurse so that she could check on my progress. After the first hour - no progress. We were told to stay inside of the hospital at that point but walking up and down stairs was a good idea. So we did... Up and down, up and down. For someone that had been on bed rest for 6 weeks, it wasn't that easy but it was worth it! After the second hour - I was 100% effaced and a bit more dilated. I was pretty tired after all the walking we had done so I opted to stay in our room at that point. We were told to order lunch because I wouldn't be able to eat anything after a while.

Around 1:30 the doctor had not come back to check on me yet but I was eating lunch and all of a sudden I felt a lot of cramping and felt like I needed to go the bathroom. I tried that and it didn't relieve any of the pain that I was having. I crawled back on to my bed and at that point the cramps/contractions were getting stronger! I was on all 4's and that was the only position comfortable. I think only 15 minutes had passed, I was doing my breathing and wasn't able to talk much. I remember when Dr. Call walked in, I wasn't able to say much other than "epidural please!" Nick and I had a code word that we had planned out just in case I "really" wanted the epidural and Dr. Call confirmed it when I said the word about 4 times. I wanted to see how far I could get without one and if I needed one at all. Boy, was I wrong thinking I could make it all the way. I was only 2+ cm dilated and 100% effaced at that point. Before leaving Dr. Call said that I had to make it to 4 cm dilated and then I could have it. I asked the nurse if I could try the tub to help with the pain and the contractions. She said I could but I would have to make it down there. Are you kidding?!? I was barley able to speak let alone walk down the hall!! It only took a few minutes to gather the strength together to get up and down the hall way. It felt like a mile but it was only about 15 feet.

Once in the tub (which was in a room the size of a handicap stall) the jets were turned on and all I could do was breathe. Nick would ask me what I would like him to do and I could barely answer him. He was such a trooper trying different things to see if it would help my comfort level. The nurse brought him some ice water and some rags that he would get wet and then either put them on my forehead or the back of my neck. I lasted a good hour in the tub and was told by the nurse in order to get the epidural she had to check me which meant that I had to make it back to the room. I gathered up the strength and made it back to my room with Nicks' help. She checked me out and I was close enough to 4 cm dilated for her to order the epidural. By this time it was about 3:30. It took a good half hour or so for the lady to show up with the goods or epidural. For those who don't know me, I injured my lower back about 2 years ago and during my whole pregnancy was pretty nervous about getting the epidural since I couldn't bare to think of anyone touching let alone sticking a needle in it. But with as much pain as I was in I would do whatever it took to get the epidural and get comfortable.
Minutes after I got the epidural I was able to talk again and even crack some jokes with the nurse and Nick! I was comfortable and it was wonderful. So now it's after 4 or 4:30 and it's time to just hang out and wait to dilate some more. We had some friends stop by and visit. They brought me a triple coconut cupcake to celebrate but of course I had to wait until after Madeleine was born to eat it.
Dr. Call came in around 5:30 to check on me and said I only had a few more cm to dilate. He was going to hang out at the hospital until it was time. Wow, talk about a reality check. This was really going to happen!
At 7:00 the nurse that had been with us all day was off and we had a new nurse take over. As they were going over my details I felt like I had peed or something. (When I got the epidural I was also given a catheter since I no longer could walk/feel my legs). Sure enough, my water had broke! The nurse checked me and I was 10 cm dilated and it was go time! OMG. Just like that?!? I started pushing at 7:27 pm. The nurse had me push for 10 seconds, 3 times each contraction.
I pushed and I pushed and I pushed. I'm not kidding!!
After an hour and a half of pushing my lower back started killing me. The pain was causing me not to push as hard or correctly. The nurse offered a different kind of spinal block (I forget what it's called) but warned Nick and I that it could slow things down and cause me not to be able to feel anything at all. At that point, I could feel the pain and also when I was having a contraction. It was more like pressure and not pain when I did have a contraction. It took another half hour for a lady to show up with the medication for the spinal block. She went to administer the medication into my IV box and noticed that the line for epidural medication was kinked. KINKED?? Are you kidding? No wonder I was feeling lower back pain. While I was waiting for that lady to show up with the spinal block I did ask the nurse if I could take a short break to rest. She just laughed at me and told me to keep pushing.
Dr. Call came in a few times to check on me, see how I was pushing and if I was doing it correctly. I was a damn good pusher. ;-) He did end up manipulating me down there to help stretch things out a little bit.
Around 10:30 Dr. Call came back in to check on me and that's when he suggested it was time to start considering an assisted birth. Either using forceps to help the baby out or a c-section. At this point I had been pushing for 3 hours straight and I was open to anything. Since Dr. Call is not an OB he had to call in a friend of his who is an OB and is also 1 of 2 doctors at this hospital that can use forceps. I continued to push for the next 25 minutes. Dr. Blackham showed up right before 11, watched me push and checked things out. He and Dr. Call went out into the hall way to discuss things and were back in the room within a couple of minutes. They presented Nick and I with a couple of options... We could try and get Madeleine out with the forceps but there were risks involved such as her shoulders being too big to fit through my birth canal and he would have to push her back inside and deliver her via c-section or another risk was restricted air to her and also injury. The other option was to have a c-section done. Everyone left the room to let Nick and I discuss our options.
It took Nick and I a whole minute to decide that we wanted to do the c-section and not even take a chance with the forceps. Months prior to this, Nick and I had discussed with Dr. Call that it may come down to this where I could and would try for a vaginal delivery but because of the Gestational Diabetes the odds of having a c-section were high. At this point, after pushing for 3 and 1/2 hours I was not disappointed or felt like I hadn't given it my all to try and deliver her vaginally. By 11:15 the decision to have a c-section was made; I was being prepped and so was the operating room.
I was given more drugs once in the operating room (another type of spinal block) which caused me to shake and be drowsy but I managed to stay awake during the whole thing. There was music playing in the operating room and when Madeleine was born at 11:59 pm the song that was playing was Happy Xmas from Sarah MacLachlan's Wintersong album. Sarah is one of my favorite artists and I had planned on bringing her cds with us to the hospital to play in our room.
Right before Madeleine was pulled out Nick heard the song and asked me if I could hear what was playing.. It was a magical moment when she was born and being able to hear her first cries and Sarah playing in the background.

Madeleine was born with a bruise/scrape the size of a silver dollar on the back of her head. It was from her head rubbing against my pelvic inlet. Her head was too big to fit through my small pelvic inlet. Dr. Call also told us the next day that it was a good thing that we did the c-section not only because of the size issue but the umbilical cord was wrapped around one of her legs a few times and he would have had a hard time pulling her out. Nick and I are very thankful that she was okay. Dr. Call also said that when Nick and I have our second child it's going to be by c-section. We're okay with that.

My recovery from the c-section was fine. I didn't have any problems. Nick had to all of the lifting and carrying for the first few weeks but he was home from work during that time so it worked out well. I had to take some pain medication for the first couple of weeks, but nothing major.

There you have it folks. My delivery story in a nutshell. Sorry it took 2 months to get around to posting this.. but with a newborn, there are a lot of things that are getting put off these days. ;-)