Labor, Delivery and Postpardum Story - Very Long

This was definitely my most extreme labor, delivery and postpardum experience.  I have had the most interesting labor and delivery stories.  All three kids came into the world with a big entrance.  It has taken me over a week and a half to write this because I am just now starting to feel better.  I have had quite a difficult recovery with this one.

As a little recap, Samuel was born naturally (no drugs).  I labored in a tub of water and hadn't planned to do a complete water birth, but by the time I was 10 centimeters I was in so much pain there was no way I was getting out of the tub.  I pushed for about 40 minutes and when Samuel finally came out, only his head and one shoulder came out.  They couldn't get the rest of him out while I was in the water.  There was a brief freak out period where my doctor, Dave and a nurse yanked me out of the tub and threw me on the bed (with Samuel hanging out) and then they basically pulled Samuel out.  He was blue and not really crying so tons of nurses were running in to deal with me and Samuel.  I still can't believe I did it all without drugs.  Unbelievable.  I had a little bit of a difficult recovery after that.  I also broke out in PUPPP, which is a pregnancy rash that normally happens at the end of a pregnancy and then clears up after delivery.  I got it about two weeks after Samuel was born and it was extremely itchy and uncomfortable.  They told me that PUPPP can occur after a first pregnancy but doesn't normally come back again.  That was a relief.

Then there was Joseph's delivery.  It was super fast and intense.  I wanted to do it naturally again, but the contractions came so hard and fast and I couldn't keep up with my breathing.  I had a nurse examine me and she said I was only 6 centimeters and I was in extreme pain, so I decided to get an epidural.  They had to stick me twice because they hit a blood vessel the first time, but the epidural got administered at 5:30 pm.  My water broke around 5:50 or so and I immediately told the nurse that I was feeling pressure, like I needed to push.  She said if it continued to let her know, but she didn't think that I could be close to pushing because I had only been 6 centimeters at 5:30.  The nurse left the room and I told Dave that I really really needed to push and that he needed to get someone in there right now.  A resident doctor was heading down the hallway with her fleece on leaving her shift at 6:00 pm and she came in the room to just check on me.  I told her that I needed to push and this baby was coming.  I turned over on my back and Joseph came out at 6:05 pm.  I didn't even push, the resident barely got her gloves on in order to catch him.  He made a quick entrance and was a super easy delivery and recovery was great too.

Now for our new bundle of joy.  I delivered Simone Bayle Glasser on October 4, 2011 at 8:26 am.  She weighed 6 pounds 15.6 oz.  She was 20.5 inches long (the same as Joseph).

Here is her labor and delivery story:

On Monday, October 3rd I had a doctor's appointment.  I was so uncomfortable being pregnant and I wanted to be done.  I asked my doctor what the plan was because I was miserable.  She checked my cervix and I was 4 centimeters, so she decided to strip my membranes to see if she could get labor started.  If I didn't go into labor at the beginning of the week, I was going to be induced on Thursday evening.  At least there was a plan.  My mom was supposed to leave Monday night to go back to Tulsa, but I had her stay because I had a feeling I may go into labor that night.  I had a few contractions during the day that were stronger then normal, but not labor pains yet.

At 11:30 pm I had my first painful contraction.  I knew that it was going to happen soon.  I woke Dave up and told him that I knew labor was starting.  He of course got really nervous because of how fast Joseph came, so he started packing up the car and woke up my mom.  We called our babysitter to come over to take care of the boys in the morning.

My contractions were really really strong, but only about 5 or 6 minutes apart.  I took a shower and we all got ready to go to the hospital.  We got to labor and delivery around 1:50 am.  We got to the room and settled in, but they really didn't do anything until about 3 am.  I continued to have really strong hard contractions, but they stayed about 5 minutes apart.  I had already decided that with this baby I was going to get an epidural.  I wanted to have a good delivery experience and I didn't want to strangle Dave like I did with the other two.  I wanted it to be relaxed and enjoyable for everyone.

Lidocaine.  Then the really pain began.  He could not get the epidural in.  He tried three times and couldn't get it.  Finally his boss came in, she tried two times and finally got it.  It was so painful and mostly stressful.  The pressure in my back from them continuing to try to get in the epidural needle was awful.  Dave said he was about to beat up the first doctor because of the faces he was making.  It was an absolutely terrible experience.  The attending physician was really apologetic, but frankly I didn't give a shit what she had to say.  I was so freaked out by everything and I was just happy that was over.

The medicine did kick in, but I asked them to give me a really low dosage.  I wanted to be able to continue to feel the contractions, but I just wanted it not to be so intense.  They gave me the perfect amount because I was really comfortable and able to relax while still feeling some labor pains.  The nurses had instructions not to touch or examine me because they knew how fast my labor went last time and they wanted me to get two doses of the penicillin since I had tested positive for Strep B.  My second dosage was supposed to be administered at 8:30 am.

They checked me around 6 am and I was only still 6 centimeters.  They said they were going to talk to my doctor about giving me Pitocin to get things going since my contraction slowed down a lot after I got the epidural.  It was like my body understood what it would mean if I got Pitocin and I immediately started having stronger contractions again.  At around 7:30 am, my doctor showed up and checked me and I was 8 centimeters and she decided to break my bag of waters.  As soon as she did it I started to feel pressure.  The nurse was concerned that I hadn't gotten my second dosage of penicillin, so she talked to my doctor about giving it to me early.  They started administering it right away.  She tried to just have an open flow to get it in quickly, but it really started burning, so she slowed it down.  I was determined to get the medicine because I didn't want to have to stay an extra day in the hospital so they could watch the baby and I wanted the baby to be as healthy as possible.  So even though I was feeling LOTS of pressure I held on until the medicine was completely in my system.  By 8:15 it was in.  My doctor came back and checked me and said the baby's head was ready to come out.  They prepped everything and at 8:25 am I started pushing and out the baby came at 8:26 am.  I literally pushed one time and for one minute and out the baby came.

I was so convinced I was having a boy, so when the baby came out and I didn't see the penis I was completely shocked.  I said, "Oh my gosh, it is a girl!"  My mom immediately started crying, the labor and delivery nurse was crying and Dave was so happy that he was right that it was a girl.  It took me almost 24 hours to really grasp the fact that I had a girl.  I was completely shocked.

Overall, the labor and delivery was wonderful.  It was my easiest by far and most enjoyable.  I was just upset at how terrible the epidural experience had been.  I felt initially great after delivery.  My body recovered really well and I was feeling awesome.  Then around 2 pm in the afternoon I started to get a terrible headache.  I asked for some medicine and said my head had started to hurt.  They brought medicine, but after a few hours it did nothing and I started to feel terrible.  By 7 pm I was in such extreme pain that I couldn't even sit up in bed to feed Simone.  My head was pounding and I couldn't even open my eyes.  They called anesthesia because they had a feeling I had a spinal/epidural headache. That is when they are administering the epidural they accidentally puncture through the dural space, causing spinal fluid to leak out.  My pain on a scale of 1 to 10 was a 15.  They started giving me medicine every four hours and I was supposed to drink an insane amount of caffeine.  If my headaches didn't get better they were going to have to do another procedure, which is called a blood patch, where they basically give you another epidural but inject your own blood into the spot and it is supposed to stop the headaches immediately because it seals the leak.  I was concerned because I didn't know which of the 5 injections had gone threw my spine and I didn't want them screwing with my back at all.

Basically everyday my headaches got better, but didn't full go away until 9 days after my delivery.  Today is the first day I feel much better and I haven't had to take any medication for my headaches.  So while I was recovering from my headaches, I broke out in a rash all over my body.  Well, so much for only getting PUPPP one time.  I just went to the doctor this morning and I have a mild case right now of PUPPP.  I think the stress of this recovery period caused me to break out again.  Who knows.

I am finally on the mend and Simone is absolutely wonderful.  She is a really good baby so far and I am in total love with her.  I can't believe I have a little girl.  Wow!  So many new things to experience.  I can't wait.  The boys love her too.  Samuel is so loving and such a great big brother.  Joseph is great too, but not as affectionate, which isn't a surprise because that just isn't his personality.

So that is the story.  I will post pictures of the new princess soon.