Usenet Writings

©1995 Beth Weiss, Posted to misc.kids Usenet newsgroup, May 25, 1995

Beth Weiss and Dean Vinson are pleased to announce the birth of their daughter:

Jennica Weiss Vinson

May 22, 11:58 am
8 lbs, 13 oz, 21 inches long

Mama and Baby are both doing well, and Jordan (not quite 3) says "I love my baby!"

Capsule

• PG gel: Sunday at 3:30, again at 7:30
• at 11:30 pm Sunday, 2 cm, mild contractions 4 min. apart, no more gel applied
• slept through the night okay
• pitocin started at 6:00 am, contractions still mild
• water broken at 7:30 am, started real labor then
• kept turning down the pit--I didn't need it
• Jennica born at 11:58 am

The (very) long detailed version:

Due to various medical conditions (gestational diabetes, pregnancy-induced ITP, previous large baby with shoulder dystocia, and the suspicion that I was carrying another large baby, my OB wanted to schedule an induced labor.  I wanted to wait.  So, we compromised, and scheduled a sonogram to get an estimated fetal weight.  On Friday 19 May, the ultrasound tech estimated the baby's weight at just under 9 pounds (at 38.5 weeks gestation), and I capitulated.

My cervix wasn't particularly ready, and the baby was "sky high" (about -3 station) the previous week, so I checked in to the hospital at 2:30 Sunday afternoon, to allow time for four doses of prostoglanden gel.  We were hoping that I'd go into labor with just the PG gel, and would be able to skip the pitocin (scheduled to start at 6:00 am Monday morning).

Dean was with me when we went to the hospital.  I got my room, changed into a hospital gown, and hung out for a while.  The nurse wanted to start my IV; I told her that the doctor said I didn't need one until morning, so she just put in a heparin lock.   The first try, the vein collapsed; the second worked (in my left hand).

The first dose of PG gel was applied at 3:30, and Dean left to get his mother at the airport.  Dean, MIL, and Jordan visited me about 6:00 briefly, and then they all went home.  The second dose of PG gel was applied at 7:30.  When the nurse went to do the third dose at 11:30 pm, she said I was already 2 cm, and about 50% effaced.  I was having regular contractions about 3-4 minutes apart, but they were "baby" stuff--I sometimes took a breath or two at the peak, but that was it--they clearly weren't going to cause the baby to do much moving.

I also had a timed bleeding test, to see how my platelets were doing. The anesthesiologist visited, and we discussed anesthetic options in case I needed a c-section.  My blood platelet problems meant that an epidural wasn't an option, even for a surgical birth.

Since we didn't do the 11:30 PG gel, and I wasn't sleeping much, I asked if we could do the enema then rather than waiting until the morning--with the contractions, having a full bowel was very uncomfortable.   After emptying, I felt quite a bit better, and slept, mostly, until about 5:00.  Although the contractions were registering on the monitor, they weren't very strong feeling.

After a very pleasant shower, and doing my hair (which didn't quite go with my hospital gown), the nurse started the pitocin just after 6:00 am.  Dean got there about 6:30.  I still wasn't feeling the contractions.  The nurse said I was about 2-3, and the bag of water was really bulging, although the baby was quite high.

My OB came in at 7:30, and broke my water.  At that point, he said I was 3-4 and mostly effaced.  And that's when labor really started.  I found that standing during contractions, and rocking/rotating my hips was very helpful, and that was my general method until I got too far into transition to remember the movement part.

At about 8:00, I called Connie, our labor support person, and asked her to come in--she got there about 9:00.  Connie walked in just as the nurse was finished checking me, and told me I was a "stretchy 6".  Liz (the nurse) started to cover me up as Connie walked in, but I was really hot, and waved the sheet away--I figured I'd get less rather than more modest as things progressed anyway!

Connie and Dean made a great team.  Connie and I are fairly close in height, so I found that I could lean on her shoulders during each contraction, and she held me at the waist (or what passes for one during pregnancy).  Connie breathed with me through each contraction, Dean caressed my back and talked me through it: "you're doing great", "you're getting to the peak", "this is the worst part of this one", "you're on the way down", "it's almost done".

With Jordan, I used a lot of patterned chest breathing to get through the contractions, and I'd planned on doing that again.  However, before Connie got there, I _couldn't_ do it--I couldn't concentrate enough during a contraction to get started.  Once Connie got there, (she's finishing classes to become a certified childbirth educator, is an LPN, and has been a post-partum doula for years), she was able to breathe with me, and the change to chest breathing really helped.

I mostly used a 3-1 pattern: ss, ss, ss, pooh and repeat.  As the contractions got more intense, I went faster.  It really helped to have Connie breathing with me, and I discovered that I needed to watch her breathing in order to keep myself in control.  Everytime I changed position, Connie and Dean changed too--Connie stayed in front of me, and Dean behind.

I felt that the contractions were getting very strong, and told the nurse to turn down the pitocin.  We turned it down several times, and eventually turned it off; I'd moved into a natural labor pattern, and didn't need the augmentation.  I don't know if turning it down (and then off) really made any difference in my labor, but it did let me feel more in control.

At one point, I was quite nauseous, and did throw up; Connie grabbed a basin for me just in time.  Since I was standing, each contraction pushed out some blood and some amniotic fluid, and possibly some urine--I couldn't really tell.  Dean took on the job of wiping off my legs between contractions.

At about 10:00, I had some "maybe pushing" feelings, but I had a bit of a cervical lip, and it took quite a while for that to dilate.  At about 11:30, with the doctor's help, I tried to push, but I just  wasn't ready, and ended up going back to my patterns.  By this point, I was really close to losing control at the peak of each contraction, but Connie and Dean were really supportive and helped me through each one.

Finally, just before noon, we tried to push again.  I'd wanted to push squatting, but the doctor needed to work the baby past the lip, and then it only took a few more pushes to get her out.  He cut a huge episiotomy--"hockey stick shaped" he said, in order to avoid cutting into rectal tissue.  I wasn't pleased about having an episiotomy :-(.

However, with the prior shoulder dystocia, it was probably in Jennica's best interest to not risk getting stuck, even if my bottom is currently objecting to it.

I could really FEEL the baby coming through the birth canal; I was very aware of her head, and _knew_ that she had crowned (on just a couple of pushes).  I reached down to touch, and could touch the head.  Then it was just another contraction or two, and I felt her slither out.  The doctor announced that she was a girl, and Dean and I both started to cry, and then I reached for her, and they gave her to me almost right away. 

She didn't nurse then (we tried), but I got to hold her for quite a while, and the doctor pulled out the placenta and stitched me up.  I was much more aware of what was going on than I was with Jordan's birth, although watching the video of it (we taped it) shows that I did forget some parts.

Although I was induced, I got very close to the birth I really wanted:

• able to move around (although monitored)
• no drugs
• very much in control, at least until transition :-)

I think that not having any pain medication made a big difference; I felt so much stronger and able to handle Jennica than I felt after Jordan's birth (induced with nubaine).

Within a few hours after delivery, I'd managed to void twice, and they took out the IV.  I'm pretty swollen (sore, black and blue) in the girl parts" area, but am recovering well, and am really pleased at how Jennica's birth went.