Colby's birth story - all the details!

At my 38 week appointment and my NST on 9/2, my blood pressure had been higher than normal (and close to the level that they start to get concerned) - 138/84 at the NST and 138/90 at my doctor's appointment. My doctor wasn't concerned until he looked at my latest urine specimen (given just 30 minutes earlier) and found I was also spilling protein into my urine. These are signs of Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (PIH) - so he ordered bloodwork (to do before I left) and that I do a 24 hour urine collection, starting right then. The bloodwork came back normal, and I spent the next 24 hours collecting my specimen (so much fun!). The doctor stripped my membranes, and checked me - he said I was 2cm dialated, 90% effaced, and baby was at 0 station. Between the possible PIH issues, stripping, and progress, he didn't expect me to get to my induction (set for 9/10) - but I wasn't as optimistic.


I spent most of the night of 9/2 contracting - but nothing uncomfortable. They were anywhere from 3-5 minutes apart, lasting about 90 seconds each.... but again, not painful, just there. I called Triage at one point, but they said since the contractions weren't painful, not to come in.

During that 24 hours, I spent some time in Triage because I hadn't felt Colby move ALL morning on the morning of 9/3 - from 6am until 1pm or so when I called the doc's office. They sent me in to be monitored. They basically did a NST on me - monitored me for contractions, and watched Colby's heartrate. The nurse was happy with the NST - it was reactive (he had spikes in his heartrate with movement, etc.) and didn't show any decelerations. She took my BP probably four times during the hour and a half or so I was there, and it was again high - ranging from 150/92 to 144/84. The nurse sent us away - saying to "hope" that my 24 hour urine came back poorly so that I'd just get sent to induce and Colby couldn't keep stressing us out! :-) I actually was relieved to hear her say that, because secretly I had been hoping the same thing - but felt like a bad mom for thinking it!

So we headed to the lab to turn in my specimen - and then wait 3 hours to call the on-call doctor to get the results. I called the doctor at 6:30pm and (go figure) it was the doctor I had back when I had my kidney stones at 24 weeks (I wasn't a huge fan.... but oh well!). He said Dr. B had told him to be looking for the results, but he hadn't seen them yet. He was a little concerned that the lab would wait to process the specimen until the next day... but that he'd call and see if he could track them down. The plan was he'd only call if there was a need for me to come in (to be delivered) - otherwise if everything was okay, he wouldn't call, and if they hadn't processed it he'd pass the info along to the on-call doc the next day and I may or may not hear from them Saturday. Needless to say, I was a little bit frustrated / bummed.

Jimmy and I decided to take a walk to see if we could just take our mind off of things, get Colby to come on our own, and (naughty gestational diabetic mommy) get some ice cream. I had been good for so long, and it just sounded right. So we walked. We stopped at Jack in the Box (about a mile from our house) to get ice cream. They didn't have what we wanted, so we were on our way across the street to McDonalds when my phone rang (7:38pm). Jimmy looked at it, handed it to me, and I knew, looking at the number, it was the doctor. I think my heart jumped! (note - we were standing on probably the second busiest street in Lake Stevens - not a busy street, by most town's standards.... but a good amount of cars going by.... not the greatest spot to try to talk to a doctor!).

The doctor explained that my 24-hour urine, had, in fact, come back outside the normal range. He asked about history of BP issues (I have none... if anything, my BP tends to be low), kidney disease (my 3 kidney stones didn't qualify)... nothing in my history could explain the results.... so I did have PIH. He said that the only way to cure this is to get baby out. While they don't like to induce before 39 weeks because there's the risk that baby could not be ready, this was a medically necessary reason to do so. So he asked us to head on in to Triage, and said he'd let them know we were coming. He mentioned that he figured I'd need some "ripening" due to the fact this was my first baby. I disagreed, as Dr. B had not felt I would need the ripening due to my progress... so I mentioned that. He was still convinced, and I figured we'd talk when we got to the hospital.

So Jimmy and I turned around and headed towards home (keep in mind, we had a mile to walk!). This gave us time to call my parents (who were aware there could be an important call coming 'cause they knew about the 24 hour urine catch and awaiting the results). We called Jimmy's parents, and then I called my sister (she was likely going to come in to town to meet up with my parents, and then head up with them to our house).

When we got home, we got together the rest of the things we "needed" for our impending baby day. Of course, we took a final preggo picture. Then we headed out.

It took a while for us to get checked in at the hospital. They kept changing what room they wanted me in.... but we finally were in the room around 9:55pm. The doctor came in and explained again why we needed to "ripen", and that I would be started on a Magnesium drip. Magnesium is used to help prevent seizures (a very scary possible side effect of PIH). It's also used to stop pre-term labor, so they figured it would unfortunately stop the contractions I was still having on my own (probably about every 5-7 minutes, but again, no pain). They started the Magnesium drip at 10:45pm on 9/3. Magnesium is nasty. It kinda burns when it goes in, and it relaxes all your muscles. It tends to make you feel warm. It can also make you nauseous, etc. (but luckily I didn't feel this effect). I did, however, feel warm (warmer than I had even felt just being pregnant), and my eyes felt heavy (like I couldn't open them all the way). When I'd get up to go to the bathroom, my legs kinda felt a little like Jell-o. Not like they were necessarily going to give out.... just heavy and soft. We thought the mag also stopped my contractions, but it just slowed them - to about every 10 minutes apart.

At 11:15pm on 9/3 I was given my first dose of Cytotech (the ripening agent). At that point, the nurse determined I was 1-2cm dialated, and Colby's head was low. We got some sleep, knowing she'd be back every 3 hours to do another dose.

At 2:15am on 9/3 I was given the second dose of Cytotech. I was 2cm dialated, having contractions every 8-9 minutes (yay that my body was refusing that effect of the mag!). Still not painful contractions, just there.

At 5:15am the nurse came to check me. She said she figured I was 3-4cm, head was at -1 station, and I was having contractions every 2-6minutes. They were starting to have a little bit of a pinch to them (still not super painful.... but a little more bite!). The nurse said the doctor would be awake around 6am, so we'd wait until then and she'd talk with him, but she figured I woudn't need any more Cytotech, that we'd just start with the rest of the induction - pitocin and breaking my water.

At 6:20am the on-call doc came in and checked me. He said I was a good 4cm dialated, head was at 0 station, 80% effaced, and I was contracting every 2 minutes or so (still not painful, just the little "bite" to 'em). He decided it was time to get this show on the road - we were excited!

At 6:35am, the doctor broke my water. Lots of clear fluid (woo-hoo!). He also guided Colby's head to the right spot, to achieve the best pressure and get him all ready to help make some more progress. They started me on the Pitocin at a 2 - the lowest amount they give - since I was already contracting.

At 7:15am, the doctors and nurses changed shifts. My new nurse came in and let me know I was more than welcome to use a birthing ball (an exercise ball), walk around, etc. (I was still on the IV, so I coudn't go far, but I didn't have to stay in bed!) This was news, since the previous doc / nurse team had said I'd have to stay in bed because of the magnesium, BP issues, etc. At this point I was contracting every 90 seconds, and wanted to move around! The contractions were painful... but I think I figured about a 4-5 on a 1-10 scale. She also said this doctor would allow me to have some breakfast (thank goodness, dinner had been at 5:30pm and inductions often take a while, so it could be a long time before I ate!). She ordered me the diabetic breakfast, and went to find me a ball. At 7:45am, she brought the ball in, and I got right on it. I loved it. It relieved a lot of the pressure, and allowed me to sit where I could watch the contraction monitor as I breathed through the contractions. This helped a ton.

At 8:35am my breakfast arrived - or at least I ate some of it. I ate a small thing of rice krispies (it took forever, as I was contracting every 90 seconds for about a minute or so each). I then talked with the nurse about alternatives to the epidural (was wanting to avoid the epidural, but amazed at how quick / hard these contractions were. I also knew my family was headed up to the hospital, and wanted to be able to say hi, but at this point, was contracting so often and so hard that I didn't think I could let them come in). She recommended fetanyl. It is a pain med that can be given through your IV. It is a narcotic, kinda like morphine. It's the only IV pain meds the hospital uses during birth. It can be passed to the baby, so they try to only have you use a little, and not within an hour of baby being born or so (so that it's out baby's system when they come out). She said it really would only take the edge off, but it may help... but no guarantee how long. I was willing to give it a try. I wanted to get the pain under control a little, be able to think about an epidural (I really didn't want one, but knew I couldn't do what I was doing now for the HOURS more we expected it to last), etc. She gave me a half dose of the fetanyl around 8:45am (cut me off from food at this point - whatever, I wasn't eating it!), and turned down my pitocin to 1. My hope was the fetanyl would also allow me to be checked to see how much progress I had made so that I could see how close I was and decide on the epidural.

Around 8:50am my family came in to visit. I was able to talk to them, pausing to breathe through the contractions, but the edge was definitely off of them, and I was getting at least 30 seconds of relief in between them (without the fetanyl, I was constantly in pain, just varying levels!). They said hi, and we talked about how things were progressing. The fetanyl started to wear off, and I told the nurse I was pretty sure I wanted the other half dose, then likely an epidural. She checked my BP and was pretty sure the machine was having issues - it was reading 225/145 or something like that (I would be about to stroke out if it really was that high). My family decided to leave since I was obviously in pain, we needed to figure out the BP, and I was being required to get into the bed because of the BP and the fact I was going to have a second half dose of the fetanyl. This was around 9:05am. She gave me the second dose, which lasted BARELY any time!

Around 9:15am I told the nurse I wanted the epidural (I was a little sad about this, 'cause I really wanted to go without, but I couldn't do THIS in bed, for much more time). I still hadn't been checked (they would when they got close to doing the epidural). Unfortunately, she came in a minute or so later and said there were some labs they were wanting to do (and expected to do around 9am) due to me being on the mag. The anesthesiologist wouldn't do my epidural until those labs were done, so I'd need to wait a little. Argh.

At this point, I was in a lot of pain. The contractions were basically on top of eachother, and I was moaning and groaning with my breathing. In the back of my mind, I was thinking "this seems like 'transition' - but there's no way I'm at that point.... it's been less than 3 hours!". At 9:25am I had a contraction that I was pretty sure I was sensing my body wanted to push. Strange. The next contraction, I urgently told Jimmy "I feel like I need to push, I feel like I need to push, you need to get the nurse, I'm not allowed to". Good ol' childbirth classes. I knew I shouldn't push because I had to be checked 'cause you can't push 'til you're complete. The teacher had told the birth coaches (Jimmy) to hold my chin up if I felt like I needed to push. This would help me not be able to bear down. So Jimmy ran out of the room into the hallway to find SOMEONE to help. I grabbed the sidebar of the bed, and tried my darndest to lift my chin as high as I could and breathe through the contraction.

The next thing I knew, my nurse was running into the room, and there was the new on-call doctor (I hadn't even met her yet!). They both were amazed that I felt the way I did - but I think were convinced it was probably true. The doc got down and checked me and sure enough, I was complete, and his head was RIGHT there (according to her), at +2 station. It was a crazy five or so minutes - people were rushing into the room with a baby warmer for Colby, they were calling nurses / all hands on deck.... crazy! My nurse, Joy, and Jimmy helped me start pushing with every contraction. Youch!

After about two contractions, Jimmy remembered and mentioned that I had wanted a mirror in the room so I could choose to watch or not. What a wonderful husband! They figured they could get it in there. At this point, they realized I'd be pushing for a little while.... so things in the room slowed down a little, and the doctor left. They brought the mirror in, and I would look after each push to see the progress I had made. I was still cracking jokes about it being "slightly nasty" (made the nurses in the room laugh). Pushing felt better.

At 10:01am I told Jimmy he should probably text my family to tell them I was pushing. They had headed out to breakfast, not expecting such a quick process!

We were definitely making great progress. The doc came back in. They broke down the bed the rest of the way so that we were ready for baby to come (they had started during the whirlwind, but paused when they realized we at least had a few minutes of pushing to do). I was making small talk between pushes. This doctor was actually the doctor that delivered my ex-boss' twins almost two years ago. I mentioned that to her. Everyone in the room basically laughed at me - talking about things like that when I was about to push a baby out!

I pushed and didn't realize I was delivering Colby's head. I was not quiet. I was begging them not to make me push again, and wasn't opening my eyes. They told me to open my eyes and look - that I'd only have one or two pushes left 'cause he was coming. Sure enough - I had just pushed his head out! I now knew I could do it! Next thing I knew, I had pushed his shoulders out, and they plopped him on my belly. He was born at 10:13am. Wiping him off, they got him skin-to-skin within a minute or two. AMAZING.

They were having issues delivering the placenta. The cord was basically trying to detatch. So they recommended I try to nurse Colby to make my uterus contract so it would come out. Amazingly enough, he latched on and started nursing - maybe 5minutes after he was born! This didn't work.... and we had to work hard to get through all this - but I had a beautiful baby boy on my chest to focus on. We were finally successful. The doc actually gave us basically a tutorial on the placenta, showing it to us and explaining it (she had quickly realized it would be something I'd totally want to see / hear about). This was so interesting! Next she worked on stitching me up. I guess I had torn a little - but they kept saying a "very minor" tear.

At 11:15am they finally took Colby to weigh him and check him out. He weighed 6lbs, 13 ounces. He scored 8 and 9 on his Apgar tests. How amazing that they let him hang out with me for AN HOUR after he was born before taking him at all!

While the birth was not what I expected (speed wise) - my son really made sure I followed my "birth plan" to a tee!!! I am soooo happy I didn't end up with an epidural, and so proud I was able to give birth to my baby boy with just the support of an amazing husband and some nurses and doctors.

My family came in to visit not too long after - sometime before 12:30pm. They were anxiously waiting outside the room - my sister had even caught a good cry of Colby's from outside the door with her cell phone. Priceless. They stayed with us for a while, passing baby around, witnessing his first bath, etc. I was able to get up and go to the bathroom and sit in the glider in the room to feed Colby again around 1:00pm.

Pictures will follow!