Amber S (The birth of Amaria)
Her labor was by far my hardest and most challenging. I went in for an induction Sunday at 5pm on March 17th. At 7pm they inserted the cervidil after running tests to check on baby's position & size she was heads down and estimated 7-9lbs. I was 1cm 50% effaced. Around midnight I started getting backaches & cramps but couldn't sleep they gave me ambien and I slept till about 3 am.
Pitocin was started at 5am I was check again by OB still the same 1cm 50% but now soft. I had pitocin from 5am-noon without any progress in my cervix and mild contractions on max dose. I thought they would send me home, but they said I had an hour to make progress and if I didn't they would stop the pit and re insert cervidil & repeat pit the next day. Well at 2pm my water broke it felt different from last time too it was like a gas bubble that I felt move down & then just a warm gush 😊 I was at 2cm 70% and contraction became every 3-5 mins and got uncomfortable. Around 11pm after laboring through painful contractions at 2 mins apart for 9 hrs I could no longer stand being still in bed it chairs so I got up and walkeda lott I was checked and only 3cm 90% effaced.
I continued walking until I couldn't move or talk through contractions by midnight I couldn't stop crying the pain was sooo bad they couldn't turn down the pitocin and I was still 3cm. I threw my plan of no epidural out the window. The anesthesia angel arrived at 12:20 and got me all dialed in I felt immediate relief once he got it in place. (It took 2 try's and 4 contractions from hell) I was checked and 4cm 100% effaced. I fell asleep for and hour and the nurse woke me up saying she thought I was close at 1am I was 7cm a few mins later I felt pressure that tickled they called the OB and checked me I was 9cm. Soon the nurse said I was complete and I began pushing. I couldn't feel the pain of pushing but the pressure so after about 20 mins of pushing & only 3 stitches she was out!
They let my husband cut the cord and whisked her to the heating table because I was bleeding heavily and they couldn't stop it. They dumped a bag a pitocin and inserted 4 cytotec pills and massaged my stomach like crazy (I was glad I couldn't feel this because the next day my stomach was black & blue from the pressure used) finally the bleeding stopped and they finished cleaning up. After the birth I could see that she was much smaller than my son although she was only 1lb and 1 inch smaller she's more petite. Her placenta was on the smaller side from my blood pressure issues.
I had planned a med free birth but due to the induction and use of pitocin the contractions were much more intense than that my previous med free birth. Also since I had stalled out I felt like I was never gonna progress. So I ended up with the epidural which was amazing relief after 36 hrs of only a few hours sleep. I haven't had any complications from the Epi and it was placed perfectly. So far my recovery is going good. I have a lot of muscle soreness and bad postpartum cramping but thankfully I didn't repeat a 3rd degree tear this time 😃 My little Amaria has jaundice something my son never had 😕 but we are treating it with sunshine & lots of nursing we go back Thursday to get a check up.
Nursing didn't come easily this time she had a really hard time latching and was very sleepy but now she has it down great! My son Michael is a very proud big brother who is always talking about his "baby" so far so good with only small hiccups so far. I'm tired which I expected and so very in loved with my family of four.
Happy Mother's day to you Amber, and thank you for sharing your 2nd birth story with us.
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