Alyssa’s Birthday

I had no idea what to expect from spontaneous labor as my first had been a scheduled induction. My doctors had assured me that it was completely unnecessary to induce and as long as my blood sugars stayed in range and no other issues arose, they would not intervene. That was interesting to hear after my providers for my oldest were very pushy on treatment. To be fair, I did not ask them questions, I blindly followed their lead. After all, they had been to medical school and been in practice for years and years. How could a very young mother hope (or know) to question their judgement.

At 38 weeks, I was lying in bed after a long day where I had been feeling some braxton-hicks contractions and crampiness. My In-laws (at the time) who would be watching Bentley for this labor and delivery, were out of town! I finally decided that I would rather be safe than sorry and headed to the hospital to get checked out. In triage, they told me that I was only in very early stages of labor and that they were sending me home. That felt very disheartening. However, while I was waiting, a shift change occured and the next doctor to see me felt differently than the first! She checked me, I was about 2.5cm dialated. Then, she did a membrane sweep after which she smiled and said, “We are keeping you.” This is when my then-in-laws frantically rushed home to be able to take over things with Bentley.

My labor progressed on its own for quite a few hours before they decided to start me on pitocin. One of my lovely nurses introduced me to a peanut ball and made sure to shift my positions periodically. “Will you guys break my water after I get the epidural, because the whole team better be in here in about 30 minutes after that. My first baby was stateside 45 minutes after they broke my water.” I was just assuming this was a pretty normal procedure as that was what happened the first go around. “Actually, there’s no reason to break your water. It typically happens all by itself and once the sac is broken, it is a higher risk of infection for the baby. We’ll wait and see how things continue to progress. Are you ready for the epidural?” Interesting new information. “Yes, I don’t want to go too long and then not be able to get it.” “You can get it at any time up until it’s time to push, actually.” “Oh, really?” More interesting new information. “Yes, but I’ll go ahead and alert the anesthesiologist because it is a busy night, and I don’t know how soon they’ll be available.”

In walks a student and her teacher. This was the only uncomfortable moment I recall. I had not realized that a student would be practicing on me! I might be young and naïve, but I do know how sensitive and precise an epidural has to be. I quietly allowed her to work while the teacher stayed 8 feet away lounging against the wall with his phone in front of his clipboard. The only time he looked up was when I said, “It feels like its skewed to the left!” The student paused and looked to her teacher. He glanced (from 8 feet away) and said, “You’re fine, that looks good!” After they had finished and gone, I explained to the nurse that I was not numb on the right side. I showed how I was still fully capable of moving my right leg and it only felt slightly tingly. At that point she told me that we should try laying on my right side to see if gravity would help pull the medication to the right side more but that the only definite way to fix it was to have them come back and re-place the epidural. I declined. I actually liked the fact that I could feel more sensation this time around.

I began to feel a lot of pressure and the doctor came in to check me. I was about a 7.5 now and my sac was bulging but still hadn’t burst. She stayed and watched through a couple more contractions until, aha, it ruptured. I explained again how quickly things progressed with my first after my water was broken and she said, “Ok, I’m gunna step out just for a few minutes to get my team together and I’ll be right back so we can have this baby!”

When she reappeared, she checked me and said, “You were right, you’re almost fully dilated now but there is still a little lip left, you can bear down into those contractions if you want but don’t push hard yet.” So we gave it several more minutes. She checked me again and indicated that I could push whenever I felt like it now. Even though I could feel on my right side, I didn’t know how or when to push so I requested they let me know when a contraction started. The guidance during pushing that they offered was very calm, quiet and encouraging. It felt so much less traumatic than the first where I felt like people were yelling at me to push and then yelling at me to stop! The lighting was low in the room, and I was able to retreat internally and focus on breathing and pushing and then keeping that pressure on in between pushes to keep baby down. I noticed the OB using two fingers to stretch down and sweep side to side as I pushed, all the while encouraging me. It did not take long, maybe 8 sets of 10 counts, and then… Alyssa made her way into the world, screaming on 12/28 weighing 8.14lbs and 19 inches long. She was placed directly onto my chest while her dad cut the cord. I did not need any sutures!

I did get placed on a magnesium drip for 24 hours after birth due to pre-eclampsia which also meant the catheter stayed and I was not allowed to get up. Before the epidural wore off, I asked my nurses if they would mind helping to clean me up as I could see blood around my thighs and I just wanted to be clean before putting on that lovely hospital mesh underwear and postpartum pad. It’s comical to me now that that was such a concern for me, but they were extremely willing and made me comfortable and clean. I was adamant that I wanted to breastfeed, and I was beyond thrilled at the outpouring of support and instruction they provided me. The nurses got me started and brought me a pump and all the helpful things. A lactation consultant came to see me every couple of hours at first and was able to get me a silicone nipple shield when she realizes that the latch wasn’t optimal and was even painful. Alyssa did need to go on phototherapy for jaundice, but we were discharged together just three days after her birth! This was by far, the best labor and delivery experience of my 4. Aside from the much calmer and serine environment with the low lighting and quiet conversation, I think I liked it best because I was able to be with Alyssa 24/7 directly after birth and we were discharged at the same time because she did no NICU time. Happy birthday my beautiful princess. You came into this world with a set of pipes and I’m so grateful to hear that same thriving voice, sing along with me in the car now!