Anna Reaghan's birth story

For those who are interested, here's how Anna Reaghan's arrival unraveled...

Matt and I went back and forth a LOT during the weeks before AR's birth considering different options if I went past due again.  We all (doctor included) suspected I would considering Asa's arrival date, my mom's history (we were all late), and my body's total lack of anything remotely resembling progress as the due date approached.  We tried to balance wanting to give my body as much time as possible to go into labor on its own with knowing Asa had several signs of being post-mature (signs the placenta wasn't doing such a great job taking care of him at the end b/c he'd been cooking.so.long), wanting to avoid complications such as the placenta breaking down AND complications that can come with induction.

After Asa was born, I was BOUND and determined that I would NOT induce before a full 42 weeks in the future (his induction was *that* "fun"), but as we weight options and our doctor's suggestions and comfort zone, I had peace about inducing before 42 weeks--that I NEVER expected to have.  So, we figured we were looking at inducing early in the 41st week if AR wasn't born yet.

We saw our doctor at 41 weeks and 1 day, and she suggested we go to the hospital the following evening to get things rolling.  So on Wednesday at 4, we checked into the hospital.  It took awhile to get the paperwork in order (even when you pre-register, there is tons of paperwork), and then we had cervidil in place around 6:15.  I was dilated 1.5ish cm and about 60% effaced and my cervix was no longer posterior.  Matt & I watched a movie on the laptop and then tried to sleep.  I asked for some ambien around 10, because I barely slept the night we did cervidil with Asa.  It worked until about 1:30 or 2:00 AM when my aching hips could not stand up to the lovely hospital bed and I rolled back and forth the rest of the night, dozing off and on.  At 6 AM the residents came to see how I'd progressed.  I'd felt contractions throughout the night, but nothing I even had to breathe through.  It was incredibly discouraging to find out I didn't have any change.  It was so disheartening, and I cried when it was just Matt and me in our room.  I felt doomed to another incredibly long induction and was afraid of running into more interventions and complications if my body didn't cooperate.  The residents contacted our doctor, and she wanted to move on to a foley catheter (to put pressure on/help dilate my cervix) and a low dose of pitocin.  So I took a shower, we moved from perinatal over to labor and delivery, got settled in a room, met our wonderful nurse Lisa, and tried to learn what we could about foley catheters.  Everything I was reading was about how painful they are, and that had me freaked out big time when I was already feeling defeated.  The residents came in to talk about what they'd do, and after they went to gather what they needed our nurse told us the resident who would be placing the catheter was THE best at it and she'd been hoping that's who would do it.  Praise the LORD!!  The procedure actually went quite well and was not even as painful as the worst exam I've had.  I was still kind of bracing myself for it to hurt more when they said I was all done!  WOO HOOOO!!  I got set up with my computer and ipod to distract myself as the pitocin kicked in (UGH.  After 15-30 minutes of having the pit hooked up, I turned to Matt and said, "Ohhh, I remembered from Asa that pit works fast, but I didn't remember that it worked this fast.").  The pit just adds this extra OOMPH to the peak of each contraction.  Its effect is unmistakable to me after having it twice.  Our nurse commented that I was handling everything beautifully and she'd never seen a patient stay so relaxed with a foley--I just read facebook and blogs, listening to my L&D playlist (lots of Praise Baby, some country, other "happy" and "relaxing" songs), stopping to breathe and eventually move my head or hips during contractions.  After two hours, I think, a resident came to check and see if I'd dilated enough for the foley to come out (the max it usually gets you to is 3 cm).  Not only did it come out easily, I was actually dilated to 4, so things were really moving along and looking up.. everyone was still talking like we'd have a baby by the end of the day, maybe around dinner time.

We got permission to walk the L&D floor so I could get up and see how they helped ctx progress.  We were the only ones up and walking around, but the nurses were all really sweet to us and told us we were a good team (picture me: walking around with my pit and fluids hanging from a pole and Matt:  following alongside until a ctx hit, then he'd massage my back as I stooped over to breathe).  I found it easier to relax my entire body and let the ctx do their work when we were back in our room.  I know SO many people say walking helps, but I really grooved through the contractions much better in bed when I could focus on making every muscle relax during contractions and take looooong, slooooow breaths.  Contractions were really picking up in intensity, but I was pleased with how well the long, slow breaths and my rhythm were helping me relax through them.  At the same time, I knew how hard the pit ctx became with Asa and that I felt like I was barely hanging onto a runaway train by the time I got an epidural the first time (with Asa).  I told Matt I was thinking about asking to be put on the list for an epi at 12:30.  I was "okay" at the time, but I knew how fast pit ctx can escalate.  Our nurse commented that I was doing a really good job of not fighting the ctx and was surprised I was asking for an epi (not that she fought me on it, she was really supportive), and when I explained that I knew it can take awhile for the anesthesiologist to come around and how Asa's labor went, she was really affirming.  So on the list I went.  The wait was quite short considering the doctor was in a twin c-section when I put in my request, and I think 2 others requested an epi around the same time I did.

In Ohio, only medical personnel are allowed in the room when an epi is placed, so Matt got kicked out of the room--he went to get lunch so he wouldn't have to leave me later to do that.  The nurse was great and the dr. was very conversational and non-chalant.  It seemed better than when I got the epi with Asa, as labor was not AS hard at this point as it was for him, so I could more easily hold still, etc.  Around 1:15, the epi was in, and I was trying to relax on my right side as it took effect.  It made my right side feel very fuzzy, but I could still feel every contraction from my midline to the left, so they had me roll over to my left side to even things out.  But they did not even out.  I still felt every ctx on my left side.  In the meantime, my water broke spontaneously and had a little bit of meconium in our.  Our nurse was very reassuring about that and let us know we'd have some nurses from the special care nursery present at delivery just in case AR had any respiratory issues as a result of the meconium.  Contractions REALLY started to pick up speed after my water broke.  REALLY picked up.  At the time time, I could feel everything on my left side, so the dr. came back to give my epi a boost.  It did nothing to help.  In fact, feeling started coming back on my right side.  Our nurse was concerned about how much I was feeling everything and wanted me to have relief, but at one point she suggested that instead of the epi placement being off, it *could* be that I was progressing so quickly the epi couldn't keep up with my ctx.  FORESHADOWING.  I had chills and started feeling nauseous... in my head I was thinking, "transition."  But how could that be?  I was 5 cm just before my water broke?  Oh but it WAS transition---my water breaking really, REALLY kicked things into high gear.  So there I am, shivering like crazy, contemplating that I'll be delivering this baby WITH pitocin but WITHOUT pain relief.  My nurse called for my OB to come to the hospital for delivery and alerted the residents and special care that things were moving FAST.

The anesthesiologist came back WHILE I was in transition to try to re-place the epi (they let Matt stay in the room that time since everything was so intense!  We are such rule breakers ;) ), hoping that it would help by the time I was pushing (we were waiting for my OB.. I was complete and ready to go)--I think it may have taken the edge off for her crowning, but I honestly wasn't paying attention to whether or not it was working at that point--I was just thrilled to finally PUSH. ;)  It did help for a minor tear repair after AR was born.  Back to the story:  I felt the urge to puuuuuuuuuush, and I desperately wanted to push, but they were trying to get me to wait for my doctor to arrive.  On one hand, that was frustrating.  On the other hand, the ctx they had me breathe through while waiting for my dr. allowed my body to labor down on its own quite a bit.  When my doctor arrived, the room had me, Matt, our nurse, our doctor, 2-3 residents, a med student or two, special care nurses for AR, and I think even the anesthesiologist.  It was very busy!  My doctor had me try one test push for about half a contraction.  Only 1/2 a ctx, because she realized AR was RIGHT THERE, and she needed to finish gowning up to catch the baby!  After breathing through a few more ctx, they gave me the go-ahead to push again when I wanted to, and AR was born on the next contraction!!  2:50 PM!  Our doctor held her for the special care nurses to give the okay, and they said she could come right to my chest--she was not covered in meconium or anything that would be worrisome for her breathing.  I could not believe we had another baby with SO much hair!!  I just stared at her, talking to her, and still shaking like crazy.  I got to hold her quite awhile, and then they asked if they could weigh and measure her.  She's perfect! :)

I never, ever thought I'd have a pitocin induction and no pain meds.  Five cm to complete, pushing, and born in about 1.5 hours!  It was quite a crazy ride!  But we DID it--Matt was a great support and prayed over me before I started pushing as I was pretty intimidated!  I am SO thankful that things moved so quickly, considering how the epi went down. :)  Our doctor was really affirming as well about how everything went, and our nurse was a wonderful cheerleader.  We are so thankful for the GREAT staff we had caring for us our entire stay.  Welcome, Anna Reaghan! :)