Viveka's birth story (as written in the pre-birthy me)

Preface: I purposely am NOT reading this before I post it. I logged into myspace to find some photos for another post I'm planning and found this area called "blog" - I remembered blogging through my labor with Viveka via my old Helio... so... here it is. Watch the comments for my comments 4+ years later on the topic. Feel free to comment as well.

----------------------------------- Written Feb 2008 - 4 days after she was born ---------------------------

At 8 pm they inserted the cervix softener and I sat back and relaxed. Dh was there the entire time and we watched some tv and "hung out." The next morning, I was hungry but of course no food. I was hooked up to an IV the entire time for fluids since we needed to try to maintain levels. At 8 am, we started pitocin to start contractions. This was in hopes that my cervix would take some action since I really wasn't making much progress.
At eleven am the doctor came and broke my water. I was a whole one cm; 50% effaced. Soon, it helped progress some it seemed - the contractions were mild. I tried the birthing ball and such ball but was as i was in pain by mid afternoon, I opted for sterol (I think that's what it was called). Since I wasn't progressing I was hoping that if I was able to bear the pain better, we would progress more quickly. Many times I was asked if I wanted an epidural but I decided against it and DH supported that. Neither of us wanted a lethargic baby. Soon, the contractions got stronger and VERYYY painful. With the medication, I able to get some rest - the pain meds were in after about 5 hours of my water being broke.

After 2 hrs they checked again- gosh darn won't u knowm i was ONLY 1.5 cm. I took more sterol as contractions were kickin my butt. After 2 more hrs they checked again ,and inserted internal contraction sensor to verify how big they were since I once again was 1.5 cm.

now wouldn't you know my contractions were actually off the chart. w

I was extremely upset by then - all this pain and NO progress! So went for epidural at 6:30 pm. At that time I immediately progressed to 4 cm, most likely because I was able to relax some. I was surprised by watching how huge the contractions were but I felt nothing. I had wanted to be able to push, but I had to be realistic.

After two hours they checked me and while I was about 80 percent efaced, I still was a "small" 4. I spoke with the doctor and we decided to give it another two hours. After about an hour and a half, baby's heart rate was starting to drop at times. We spoke again and at 11 pm opted for a c section. Had I not had the epidural I would have had a spinal, so in a way I am glad that I did get the epidural.

Right after I got off the phone with the doctors I started vomitting water. They cleaned me up some and rolled me off to the c section room just down the hall. The entire time I was shaking and kept thinking oh my what if I don't survive. I kept concentrating on my breathing. While there was a sheet up, I could see some reflection of what was going on through the light above me. I stopped watching after I saw them remove something red from me (who know what organ that was). DH said it smelled like a meat shop!

I puked again during the surgery but dear Viveka was born at 11:45 pm. DH looked so afraid as he held her. I was still shaking and they gave me some medication via injection to help stop the shaking and of course kept putting warm blankets on me. DH brought her over to me and I gave her a kiss - her eyes were open and she was so beautiful. She was a 9/9 on the apgar score... I asked DH to hold her close and they went off to prepare her. They gave her the Vitamin K injection and also the eye medicine while I was getting sewn up. It took almost an hour to sew me up because my uterus had to be massaged since I had been contracting so hard for so long.

After all was done I vomitted again, but was happy to be brought over to my room. DH was there, the blood cord people were called and her blood cord was sent off for processing... They brought the baby in and she fed. We didn't get a good latch but after a little meneuvering it all worked out.

We spent a few more nights at the hospital and came home Tuesday aftenoon.

She lost a little weight in the hospital but she's definitely a joy to have home. I am recoving okay but in some additional pain because I've chosen against pain meds. The first day and a half I didn't opt for any but day two and three both I took 1 percoset. I took them immediatley after breastfeeding because I'm a bit hesitant. I've been taking motrin the last day - I figure at least there is such thing as baby motrin...

I'm still amazed they let me take her home :) She's such a joy!

Sorry for the novella about our Viveka.

OH no! What if I fail the sugar test?

In spite of not being in the best shape, I did not have gestational diabetes while pregnant for V. For the first 7.5 months I did pretty well regulating my diet. I find, actually, that I eat much better while pregnant.

In a 'due date group' someone mentioned in their past pregnancies they had to test their blood sugar three times a day. What many do not know is that the 'uh oh you failed your sugar glucose test' is not generally that bad. Besides giving you a second chance on the test, those who do have gestation diabetes often can regulate their blood sugar through diet. According to medscape,
“Abnormal maternal glucose regulation occurs in 3-10% of pregnancies. Studies suggest that the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) among women of childbearing age is increasing in the United States. This increase is believed to be attributable to more sedentary lifestyles, changes in diet, continued immigration from high-risk populations, and the virtual epidemic of childhood and adolescent obesity that is presently evolving in United States. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is defined as glucose intolerance of variable degree with onset or first recognition during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes mellitus accounts for 90% of cases of diabetes mellitus in pregnancy. Type II diabetes mellitus accounts for 8% of cases of diabetes mellitus in pregnancy, and given its increasing incidence, preexisting diabetes mellitus now affects 1% of pregnancies.”
Medscape. Diabetes mellitus. Retrieved electronically from http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/127547-overview

Basically if you are in that 3-10%. there's an 90% chance you'll need to watch what you put in your mouth and when it goes in there and you'll be fine. I am NOT saying that GD is nothing to worry about, but what I am saying is do not assume that all is over if you fail the drinking test (and tell me again why they use artificial dyes in these tests? I asked for a color free one last time and they only had orange. I don't get it. I'm trying to prevent issues and you're causing me more! Anyway, again, I degress...), find out what you can do NUTRITIONALLY to get things going in the right direction. Talk to you midwife or OB and find out what can be done to get things under control. GD can cause birth defects, so of course, the first step is to prevent GD if possible in the first place.


Links of interest:
2007 Study on GDFoods to Avoid in Pregnancy
Prevent Diabetes in Pregnancy so you don't increase your child's risk of being overweight
General info on GD
(BTW, a large baby is not a defined reason for a cesarean! That's called an unnecessarian if there's not another (legitimate) reason!)

Miss V's having a baby brother or sister!

we're happily surprised to be expecting a little one in early may-ish. V was born via an unnecessarian and i decided about 3 days post partum that i won't face the horrible recovery of surgery unnecessarily again.

unfortunately, in the united states, the assumption is "once a cesarean, always a cesarean" however, that is not true. in fact believing in that false logic is only preventing the US from gaining way on the infant mortality scale. while some hospitals have vbac bans (official and unofficial) there is nothing that prevents a mother from discovering whether or not she's a good "candidate" for VBAC, other than her doctor of course.

looking back, i wish i had just said heck with it and went with a midwife last time. i had considered it when we moved from maryland to arizona mid-pregnancy, but, to be honest, i was afraid and unaware of the real benefits of having a midwife. plus, my insurance didn't like midwives.

so we're about 32-36 weeks away from welcoming a new baby (sticky dust appreciated, thank you) and we have planning to do and plenty of education to be had. i won't be afraid to fire my new OB if need be (we did switch providers after V's birth, though i haven't met her, just her nurse when i had my annual earlier in the year, she came recommended as an OB who likes VBACs (or was it loves?) and her nurse was pretty knowledgeable and while discussing V's birth, she hands down was like and we wonder why you ended up in surgery! i liked her a lot!)