Thursday, December 26, 2013

Baby girl Autumn's birth story

I wanted to give a short version of Autumn's birth story so here goes! I know it looks long but I promise, it is condensed.

I was scheduled to get induced on Monday the 21st of October if I didn't go on my own before that. Well, after a lot of walking and other things :) it didn't happen so I was set to be induced! I had gestational diabetes so the protocol is to get induced if you don't go before 40 weeks. I'll talk about more about the gestational diabetes later.

Well, we arrived at the University of Utah Hospital at 8am and I got changed and all hooked up. I would say one great thing about getting induced is that you are able to get ready and all packed up with ease before you head to the hospital. To say that I did not want to get induced was an understatement. Ever since I was able to witness births in nursing school, I always said I did not want to get induced with Pitocin because it is wicked painful stuff! Well, what ended up happening? I was induced with Pitocin. I mean, Mitch and I did several months preparation for a natural birth. We took classes and also did a video kit called the Pink Kit. We practiced positions, learned about the pelvis, learned new relaxation techniques, etc., etc. I was seriously prepared to have a natural birth.

So, the midwife (the UofU midwives are awesome!!) started me off with Cytotec to see if my cervix would ripen that way. Well, after 4 hours it didn't work. So, we started the inevitable Pitocin. Ugh. I decided to see what it felt like to have the contractions so I did not get the epidural. Well, I tried for a few hours but like I knew it would be, the pitocin was incredibly painful. For me, it didn't feel like uterine pain like with the time of the month. It felt like the sharpest most painful gas pain ever!! The thing about pitocin is that you don't get any bit of a break in between contractions. The contractions are one on top of another! I wasn't dilating past what I came in with a 3, and so I decided to get the epidural. I just didn't know how long it would take for me to dilate all the way and didn't know how long I could last. It is a good thing I did because I didn't fully dilate for 8 more hours! There is no way I could have lasted 8 more hours.

After the blessed epidural (which is totally awesome!), I was able to go to sleep. Well, kind of. The nurses ended up being in my room about every 15 minutes. Turns out baby girl didn't like the pitocin so much when they tried to turn it up. So, I had to get a terbutaline injection to relax my uterus as well as be given IV fluid and put on oxygen. She just couldn't keep up her oxygen levels. It also turned out she didn't like being on my left side or on my back (which is usually the case anyways). After the nurses got that all figured out I was finally able to sleep for longer than 15 minutes. I am glad that I was a nurse in that situation because I wasn't scared at all. I rarely freak out at things. I knew that I was in good hands and that baby girl was going to be okay. So, when I had to get on oxygen, get the shot as well as having about 5 nurses and the midwife in the room during the drama I was just fine.

At about 6:30am the midwife checked me and I was fully dilated and it was time to push. I pushed every ten minutes for a while and then finally started to really push at about 8:15 or so. I pushed and pushed and was doing well but Autumn was not liking it. Finally, she just had to come out. Her heart rate went down to 40 so it was time. And yank her out the midwife did! I paid for that later! (Tears are the worst! worst! worst!)

Autumn came out at 8:47am on October 22, 2013. She had tons of black hair and dark skin (due to the lack of oxygen). Honestly, the thought came across my mind that she didn't look like my child. Ha! She also had the most plump lips I have ever seen! I kept saying "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" and Mitch teared up. I was in just so much shock that my baby was finally here!

The NICU team had to come because she kept dropping her oxygen levels before birth. But, she was just fine so they didn't have to stay long. They put her on my chest right when she came out and it was so amazing! They are really big on skin to skin and  breastfeeding there so they started her breastfeeding right when she came out! (There will be a post about breastfeeding later on. Breastfeeding did not turn out the way I planned!)

Mitch's mom, sister, my mom, my dad, and my brother were all there when she was born and were able to come in soon after she was delivered. It was very special to have all of them there. They were all so excited, well mostly the Grandmas and Brooke :) Our little Autumn had arrived!!

Was it the most amazing experience ever!? Why yes it was! Did it turn out completely different than what I wanted? Why yes it did. But, it was okay! We are so in love with our little baby Autumn! She is so sweet and happy.

Here are some pics from the birth and after. I will post more about post-partum and home later. It might not be for a week or so but I will. I am still getting used to time management with a baby.














5 comments:

Taylor Gardner said...

Congratulations, you guys! She is just gorgeous. I loved reading your story. Thank you so much for sharing!!

Mel said...

Love it Meg! Thanks for sharing! :) So happy you have a blog!

Mel said...

Beautiful post Meg! Thanks for sharing! So happy you have a blog :)

Jenn and Chris Rasmussen said...

Great story I am just glad you didn't have a c. Your hair is beautiful.

Ashley said...

Yay! I love a good birth story!