libby's birth story

Today is Libby's two-week birthday, so I thought I'd take some time to share her birth story. I know it's a long story, but I'm recording all the details here as much for myself as for all of you.

Monday, August 25th, I decided to take a walk in hopes of jump-starting labor. I had had a doctor's appointment that morning, and I wasn't dilated or effaced, and the baby hadn't dropped at all. Later that evening, I had my first sign that labor may be on the horizon. There's no not-gross way to say this, so I'll just say it: I lost my mucous plug. I barely slept Monday night, and at 4:30 that morning, I felt a slight wet trickle and wondered if my water had broken. Nothing happened when I went to the bathroom, though (which I did about 10 times that night), so I tried to go back to sleep. At 7 a.m. I felt that sensation again, so I decided to call the doctor. He told me to go to the hospital. So Kevin called off work, and we took showers, ate breakfast, finished packing and fed all the pets before heading to Christ at 9 a.m.

At the hospital, a resident did a very painful exam and said I was 2 centimeters dilated, 20% effaced and that my water had broken, so they decided to admit me and induce me. I was relieved that they didn't send me home since I was due back there 2 days later for an induction anyway.

We got settled in our labor and delivery room around noon and they started a pitocin drip at level 4 (the lowest level; they dose it in increments of 4). Kevin went to the car to get our bags and was bummed to miss my doctor coming in to really break my water. It didn't hurt, but it was surprising to feel a big warm tidal wave of fluid gush out of me! After that, the contractions came on fast, strong and long for early labor. I was determined not to have an epidural or narcotics, so Kevin and I used different positions and calm, deep breathing to manage the pain. It helped most to close my eyes and quietly breathe while Kevin held my hands. I also liked standing up and swaying back and forth with him standing behind me. Unfortunately, after a few hours my blood pressure skyrocketed and my nurse told me I had to stay in bed and lay on my left side, which made the pain of contractions very difficult to manage. I was laying there in agony and decided I wanted an epidural. After waiting about an hour for the epidural, a new nurse came in at 3 p.m. and told me that she wanted to help me find ways to manage the pain without the epidural since my birth plan indicated that I really wanted to have a natural birth. I told her that I was told to stay in bed because of my blood pressure and she said that was crazy and that the only way to lower my blood pressure was to have this baby! So I got out of bed, which immediately made the pain more manageable. Around this time they checked me and I was about 4 centimeters dilated and they increased the pitocin to 8. I started having back labor, so Kevin had to provide counterpressure to my lower back with each contraction. We continued this until early evening when the doctor came in and said I wasn't progressing fast enough and that he wanted to insert an internal monitor next to the baby's head to gauge whether my contractions were as strong as they appeared to be on the external fetal monitor or whether they were registering stronger than they actually were because I'm thin. Sure enough, they weren't as strong as they appeared (although I begged to differ, judging from the pain!), and the doc said we had to crank up the pitocin. He also said I probably wouldn't continue to progress (or be able to endure the pitocin) unless I relaxed and that I should probably get an epidural. At this point, the back labor was so bad that I consented. I got the epidural around 7 p.m., which didn't hurt, and I felt immediate relief. I could move my legs and feel pressure, but I couldn't feel pain, which was perfect. It did give me the uncontrollable shakes, but they eventually subsided. Kevin and I were able to rest for a few hours, then I started feeling a lot of pressure in my back again. The nurse told me the baby was probably flipped face up and put me into a position that helped her turn around and eased the back labor.

Around midnight, the nurse announced that I was fully dilated and effaced and that the baby had dropped low enough for me to start pushing. At this point, Kevin said the pitocin was at level 28! The pushing experience was much more calm than anything I'd ever seen on television. The room was dark, and as each contraction started, I put my hands behind my knees and pulled them back as Kevin supported one leg and the nurse supported the other. With each contration, they counted for me as I bore down and pushed to the count of 10 three times. It was a quiet and controlled experience--no yelling, no excessive cheering. Although it was painful, pushing was manageable. What wasn't manageable was the nausea that set in, and I felt like I was going to throw up as I started the third push with each contraction. I ended up throwing up 4 times during this phase of labor, which is hard to do when you're lying on your back with your legs in the air! I could feel Libby's head in the birth canal and was feeling optimistic that the end was in sight, though.

After about an hour and half of pushing, around 1:30 a.m., the doctor came in and said that Libby's head couldn't get past my pubic bone and that my pushing was causing her head to swell, so he was going to need to use forceps. He said it would require an episiotimy and that I would likely end up with a fourth-degree tear back into my rectum. That's what happened to Katie when they used forceps with Casey, and I had been terrified of that scenario my entire pregnancy. The doctor also gave me the option of a c-section. It was literally the hardest decision I've ever had to make. At this point my epidural had pretty much worn off, so I was feeling the full effect of contractions and couldn't resist the urge to push, was still throwing up and trying to talk to Kevin and make the best decision. I ended up deciding on the forceps, mostly because the doctor said it would be the quickest option, and at that point all I wanted was a new dose of epidural. As everyone prepared for the forceps delivery, Katie came back to check on me. I told her what I had decided, and could tell she thought it was a bad idea. She left and I gave it some more thought and remembered that, as much as I wanted the experience to be over, I really didn't want the same outcome as Katie's delivery. So I told the nurse I wanted a c-section. Katie didn't change my mind for me; just seeing her made me take a step back and re-evaluate my options. Kevin was a little disappointed that we were doing a c-section after coming that far, but he left the decision up to me. Luckily, the baby's vital signs were perfect throughout the experience, so we didn't have to rush to make decisions or take any emergency measures.

As soon as I decided on the c-setion, people flooded the room and a nurse helped Kevin pack up our stuff and whisked him away to prep him for surgery. I got a new dose of the epidural and was numbed from the chest down. I got the shakes again--stronger this time--and wasn't able to stop them. It was like I was having a seizure! They shaved me and, apparently, gave me some anti-nausea medicine when made me insanely drowsy, then wheeled me into surgery. Kevin wasn't in the room yet, so I was laying on the operating table shaking uncontrollably, wanting to throw up and barely able to keep my eyes open. They waited so long to bring Kevin in that I was scared they were going to start without him! He said it was an agonizingly long wait for him, too, especially since he had no idea what was going on. He came in, I threw up one more time, then they started the surgery. At 3:47 a.m. Olivia Mae Whitman made her debut!

Kevin didn't get to cut her cord, and I didn't get to hold her, but I was totally out of it and didn't care at that point. They cleaned her up and gave her to Kevin, who cried as he held her. It was weird for me to watch him having such an emotional experience when I could barely keep my eyes open or string together a complete sentence. After they finished stitching me up, they took us to a recovery room and took the baby for a few more routine tasks. When they brought her to me, I cried and nursed her for the first time. Around 5 a.m. Mom, Katie, Keith and Kathy (who had been at the hospital for about 12 hours) came back to meet our little girl. We settled into our permanent room around 7 a.m., a full 24 hours after our experience began, and everyone was able to get some much-needed rest.