The Birth Story...

This is long and detailed...sorry.

The Induction (8/28 - 10:00 PM to 12:00 AM):

I was scheduled to have a two part induction - step one was a cervical riping which was to happen Tuesday night and then there were going to call Wednesday AM to start the pitocin drip and the actual labor induction. We went in at 8 PM to triage for a procedure (Miso) to help ripen my cervix. It was finally inserted around 10 PM and they wanted to watch me for two hours (during of effectiveness of drug). My mom and Tyler were there and we watched a classic Doris Day/Rock Hudson flick, "Pillow Talk." I had two contractions between 11 PM and 12 AM – nothing horrible, but definitely real contractions. We were sent home with the promise that someone would call us in the AM for the scheduled induction.

The Labor (8/29 - 1:00 AM to 2:30 AM):

We got home about 12:45 PM and my mom/Tyler went to bed. I laid down, but immediately had some painful contractions. I decided a bath might help the increasing pain and got in. From 1 AM to 2 AM, I went from 20 min, 15 min, 8 min and then by 1:45 PM my contractions were 2 min apart and incredibly painful. I got out of the bath and started to walk around the house – I was going to try to time them for an hour, but realized that I was having immense pressure and wouldn't make it to the hospital if I did, not to mention that pain was becoming unbearable. I got my mom and Tyler up and basically told them we had to go NOW. I was actually moaning through the contractions and was fighting the urge to vomit. I couldn't get a break between contractions. We all got in the car and I wasn't sure I'd make it to Swedish – the pressure on my bum was intense (this is about 2:10 AM) and I was really hurting. My mom was a freaking amazing coach – I think I broke her hand. My pain was so intense, suggested we go to the local hospital in our town b/c my pain is so bad– Tyler is trying to call the Dr on call at Swedish and finally gets her. We were actually pulling into the local hospital when we pulled a U turn. The Dr. was on speaker and I was screaming at him and her about how much pain I was in…apparently that convinced her I was in active labor and she told him to bring her to Swedish and to keep my pants on. Off we go . We made it to ER and I was screaming in pain. I asked everyone I met for drugs. We got in the elevator and I had another contraction – she asked me if I needed to push and I said yes. They stopped the elevator and got a dr to take me up. I think they were worried I was going to deliver in the elevator.

The Delivery (8/29 - 2:30 PM to 3:38 AM):

They were waiting for me in the delivery room – Dr Hannon (not my ob, but part of the practice) was waiting for us as well as Marissa our nurse from the previous procedure.. She indicated I was dilated and that we should get the IV"s and pain meds going. We got our IV in and everyone was helping me breath through contractions. Dr. Parks the anesthesiologist finally came in and within 5 minutes I had relief. After 10, I was numb. Dr. Hbroke my water as soon as I was numb and at just after 3:00 AM, we started to push and Piper's heart kept going into distress every push. After three rounds of hard pushes, Dr H busted out the forceps. Two more rounds of pushing and Piper made her debut at 3:38 AM. They let me pull her out the rest of the way and put her on my chest and Tyler cut the cord. She was so lovely. It was the fastest delivery from any FTM the nurses had ever seen and frankly took me by surprise! The Dr said my bulging bag of waters was the thing holding the baby in. Tyler cried and she grasped his hand almost immediately. It was love at first sight and an incredibly overwhelming moment of amazement and love.

Post Birth (8/29 - 3:38 PM to 5:00 AM):

I started feeling pretty crappy about 10 min. after we delivered while waiting for the placenta to deliver. I thought I was going to throw up and was shaking uncontrollably. Apparently I was losing a lot of blood and my blood pressure bottomed out (60/30). I was going in and out of consciousness as they delivered my placenta which broke apart. It took over an hour and a half to scrape out the placenta – during which they got Piper all gussied up and she got her first bath, immunization shots and cute outfit. I lost half of my blood, but after some time of scraping etc, they got all of it out. I was horribly weak for the next few days – in fact, I remember very little. On my last day (I asked to stay a day longer) I finally got a blood transfusion. It made all the difference in the world although I'm still pretty tired.

Moral of the Story

Piper's debut was nothing but spectacular and alls well that ends well. She came out perfect and any discomfort or issues I experienced were easily solved by modern medicine and the excellent care at Swedish. 100 years ago....this may have ended very differently, but huzzzah for progress!!!