Merryone's Birth Story

Anna Marie ~

Born 6/28/12 @ 36wks 3days ~ Weighing 6lbs 5oz @ 21in long!

I had regular doctor's appointment on Monday, June 25th at 36 weeks. Blood pressure was slightly elevated so doctor placed me on full bedrest. On Tuesday I left the house and ran some errands. That afternoon my BP rose to 180/90. Subsequent readings varied but stayed within the same range. I called on call doctor and she told me to go to L&D. I should have followed doctor's orders and stayed on full bedrest.

Once I got to L&D the on call doctor requested blood work and a 24 hour urine collection. I started the urine collection at 9:45 pm on Tuesday, June 26th which meant the earliest I could be released from hosptial would be the morning of Thursday, June 28th if everything was okay. I had a NST Wednesday morning and it showed a few contractions which I thought were Braxton Hicks. My 32 week u/s showed Anna was breech and an u/s on Wednesday morning showed Anna was still breech. Since I was on bedrest in hospital my BP went down and I was excited about going home Thursday morning.

I woke up at 1:44 a.m. on Thursday to go to the bathroom. I didn't make it to the bathroom because I had a contraction so painful that it stopped me in my tracks. As I shook my DH to wake him I fell to my knees because the pain was severe. As soon as I dropped to the floor my water broke. Once my water broke the contractions came every 3 to 5 minutes. The nurses managed to get me in bed strapped to monitors. At one point during labor the nurses rushed in, put oxygen on me and told me to turn on my left side because Anna's heartrate dropped. The on call doctor knew I strongly desired a VBAC and was willing to let me deliver my breech baby vaginally. The whole time I was having contractions my water was leaking and the nurse said this was normal. The doctor requested another u/s to confirm position. As the u/s technician performed the u/s I felt the leak turn into gushing. After the technician finished the u/s the nurse realized I was bleeding. My DH said it looked like someone took buckets of blood and poured them onto my bed. The blood continued to gush and then the nurse said she couldn't find Anna's heartbeat. Frantically, the nurses rushed me to the OR and the anesthesiologist immediately put me to sleep for emergency c-section. Anna was born at 3:14 a.m. just 1 hour 30 minutes after my water broke.

After I came out of recovery I asked my doctor if I had an uterine rupture and she said no. She said there wasn't an explanation for the bleeding which was very puzzling. Both of us agreed it's a blessing I was already in the hospital when my water broke. I'm grateful that the doctor and nurses responded so quickly to the bleeding and Anna's heartrate dropping. I'm thankful Anna is healthy and arrived safely. She is amazing, alert and doing very well.

So Excited!!'s Birth Story

Luke Alexander ~

Born 5/28/12 @ 38wks 3days ~ Weighing 8lbs @ 20in long!

I was due June 8th, and my little soy bean actually arrived on May 28th, 11 days early -
So around 11:30pm on the 27th, I was scrolling through a thread on my BB where women were sharing baby names (since we still hadn't picked one), and I felt what I thought was a contraction... But since we had logged over 5 miles walking to/from & all over the zoo in 97 degree heat earlier that day, I thought maybe I was just dehydrated? About a half hour later, I went to the bathroom and noticed a tiny trickle before I actually started to pee - At first I wondered if my water broke, but just chalked it up to being paranoid... Throughout the night, I kept feeling little cramps here and there, and kept wondering if I should get up to actually time them, but DH thought I should just get some rest and was sure that when it was the real deal, I'd know it...
At 5:50am, I woke up to a strong contraction - It was followed by another one at 6:05... Isaac woke up a few minutes later, and I quickly realized I couldn't function through the contractions. I jumped in the shower and was out by 7:00 - Contractions were on top of one another and completely unbearable, and I genuinely wondered if I would be capable of getting dressed and actually leaving for the birthing center - All I could do was lie on my side, naked in my towel, and breathe - How the hell did it get that bad that fast?!
We got in the car at 7:19, and I puked. The whole trip, I don't recall more than a 5-10 second reprieve from contractions (no joke). We arrived just after 8:00 - As soon as DH told the receptionist I was in labor, I said I felt like I needed to push - We were rushed upstairs, where the nurse checked me - She said I was 9+ cm, almost complete, and that we needed to get to delivery right now - I was in a total state of shock ...
The whole way to the birth room, I felt like he could be here any second - When we got there, the nurse was frantically trying to set everything up, couldn't find anything she needed, kept calling for help - Eventually she just walked out, leaving me & DH alone. I asked if I could get in the tub, but since I hadn't even been admitted or registered, and given that the nurse didn't seem to have anything she needed or any people to help her, she asked me just to lie on the bed & told me she'd be back... I just stayed on my knees in the floor, and I honestly thought I was going to have the baby all alone - Within seconds, an OB came in, checked me and told me he'd be here with just a few more contractions, to push whenever I felt the need... Then she asked how long ago my water had broken - What?! I told her I didn't even know it was broken... I guess it was that tiny trickle from the night before? Almost on her heels, my midwife came in and guided me through the next several contractions - Luke Alexander (a name we finally chose 2 days later) was born at 8:33, 8 lbs & 20" long : )
Let me say that NUCB was a lot more painful and involved a lot more breathing (even breathing I've never witnessed myself doing before) and a lot more vocalization than I imagined... With Isaac & Evelyn, I was so much more quiet and felt somehow detached from my body, like something was happening to it... But with Luke, I was very much engaged and knew that I was doing this, that there were times I had to use control (and not push as hard as I wanted to, ex)... I guess it's kind of hard to explain, but I am very glad I was able to experience it - At the same time, I really wish it hadn't snuck up on me like that - I was totally caught off guard, had virtually no time to prepare (emotionally or physically, though thankfully I didn't tear)... I mean, I had my first real contraction at 5:50, arrived at the birthing center just after 8:00, and he was born at 8:33... That's insane. If my Mom hadn't been here to watch my 3YO & 2YO, I honestly think DH wouldn't delivered this baby with 911 on the phone, either at home or on the side of the road...

Renee0270's Birth Story

Julia Grace ~

Born 5/17/12 @ 32wks 5days ~ Weighing 4lbs 7oz @ 18.25in long!

My blood pressure had been trending up, but on 5/9 it really started spiking, and doubling and then tripling my BP medication did nothing. I was admitted with pre-e, started on magnesium sulfate, and got the steroid injections. We got our two days, and then induced on the 17th. I'm one of those people that cervadil works all by itself; cervadil was placed at 11:55am, baby arrived 6:38pm. The placenta started to separate a bit, so it's just as well she decided to slide right out. Julia is doing really well; she needed no surfactant, was only on CPAP for a day and a half, and on room-air today (she kept getting her cannula out of her nose and doing fine, so they decided to take it off completely and see how she did.) Right now she's glowing under bili-lights, and fed partly via her IV and partly breastmilk though her NG. It's been hard to leave her in the NICU; but we feel blessed to have her safely out, as it seems likely that she wouldn't have been thriving very long had she stayed in utero.