Baby Meadows 10/2/10

I have been asked by several people now to share the birth story, so let me fill you in on the last few weeks of my pregnancy first.  We had our ultrasound at week 36, and the technician estimated our baby's weight to be 8 lbs 9 oz, with 4 more weeks to go.  Generally babies gain about 1/2 lb. per week at this stage, so the doctor was a little worried and wanted to discuss the possibility of an early induction to reduce the risk of injury to the baby with a vaginal birth, or reduce the chances of needing a c-section.  We agreed to another ultrasound at 38 weeks, when we would discuss this in further detail.  We scheduled the appointment for Tuesday, October 5th and started praying that our baby would decide to come on his own so that we could stick to our natural birth plan. 

Friday evening, after a long week at work, we attended a wedding reception.  When we got home, we started sorting through bags of baby clothes that had been donated to us.  I felt the urge to pee, and as I got up and started walking to the bathroom, I felt a gush of liquid running down my legs.  By the time I made it to the bathroom, my pants were soaked clear through, and I yelled for my husband to let him know that my water had broken.  We called the doctor and were told to head straight to the hospital, and my husband immediately started running around the house, grabbing the partially packed hospital bag, and trying to fit the rest of the items in that we would need.  We weren't quite as prepared, thinking that we would have several hours of first stage labor to get ready at home before heading to the hospital.  This was the first of many surprises throughout the labor and delivery process. 

We arrived at the hospital shortly after midnight, and they started to monitor the baby and my contractions.  The contractions were happening about every 5 minutes on average, but they weren't very strong.  I had no problem talking through them.  When the doctor called in, he suggested that we start pitocin if my contractions didn't start progressing soon.  I was still intent on following my birth plan if at all possible, so I refused and asked for more time to walk around and try to get labor going on my own.  After 11 hours, the doctor came in and checked my progress.  There was no progress to speak of, so he started me on pitocin.

Over the next couple of hours, the contractions came quickly and with much  more intensity, to the point that I finally requested an epidural when I was told that I might have to endure another 7 hours of contractions until I was to the point that I could start pushing.  The anesthesiologist came in at 5:00 pm and administered the epidural.  About 2 hours later, the doctor said I was fully dilated and could start pushing, but that he wasn't very optimistic based on the position of the baby (not engaged yet).  I pushed for 45 minutes, took a break for 30 minutes, then pushed again for almost 2 more hours.  The baby just wasn't coming down like he needed to in order for me to deliver him naturally.  So 23 hours after my water broke, our baby was delivered by c-section at 10:38 pm.  The labor and delivery were not the way we planned it at all, but in the end, we were blessed to have a healthy 8 lb. 1 oz. baby boy.