Hawaiian Baby & Mommy

Well, it took me a month, but I finally got Aeva’s birth story written.  Here goes:

Aevalea’s Birth Story

Jake and I were at his sister’s house doing newborn photos for her 8 day old baby girl.  We were scheduled for an induction the next morning, so we were trying to get all our last minute tasks done in town and then go home and clean, make some food for the fridge, and watch a movie.  As soon as we left, I sat down in the car and felt a gush of liquid.  “I think my water broke,” I said to Jake.

“We’re going to the hospital.  Now,” he said.

I argued that maybe I had peed my pants (even though I knew I hadn’t), and tried to convince Jake that we needed to go home first and get our hospital bags, but he wasn’t budging, so off to the hospital we went.

At the hospital, the hooked me up to the monitors and checked for amniotic fluid.  About a half hour later, a nurse came back and said it wasn’t my water and we had to go home.  I was so disappointed.  As we waited for them to come unhook me, two more nurses came and said the first nurse was wrong, my water had definitely broken, and I was going to be admitted.  We were so excited, we didn’t have to be induced after all!  My water broke at 5:30 PM on July 2^nd, at this point, it was about 7:30 PM.

We were moved into our birthing suite, and then came the barrage of cervix/blood pressure/contraction checks.  I was starving, but they put me on a clear liquids only diet.  (Note to everyone else, EAT before you go to the hospital if you can!)  I ordered two of everything on the ‘clear liquids’ menu, which consisted of jello, broth, popsicles, juice, and soda.  Jake laughed at me as I sucked down my meager dinner.  We called our parents and gave them an update.  The on call doctor for the day came in and checked me and said that my contractions were irregular, and he would let me try and sleep through the night and see how much progress my body made on its own.  My nurse came and hooked me up to an IV and gave me some fluids.  Jake’s parents came and dropped off our hospital bags, and then we tried to get some sleep.

Between the contractions, the excitement, the hourly checks, and the unfamiliar surroundings, I got about 4 hours of sleep between about 11:00 PM and 4:00 AM.  At 4:30, the doctor came back and checked me, nothing had changed.  He said that he would like to start me on Pitocin since my water had broken but my body wasn’t officially in labor yet.  I agreed, and they said they would start the Pitocin at 5:00 AM.  My nurse came and explained the process to me, they would put me on the smallest dosage and then keep increasing it as they monitored how my body would respond.  I asked her what the highest dosage they would give me was, and she said 30, but they started at 2.  I asked her what the average person needed, and she said somewhere between 10 and 20.  She started the Pitocin, and I didn’t notice much of a difference for a couple of hours.

My doctor came on shift at 6:00 AM and she came to see me.  We laughed about Aeva having a mind of her own and not needed an induction after all.  My doctor went over the different pain med options with me, and I told her I was going to try to continue with as little intervention as possible, but I listened to all the options just in case.  My mom came at 7:30 AM, and my dad came around 11:00 AM since he had to work that morning first.  My parents left at about 12:00 PM since they had a funeral to go to, and my mom was worried that Aeva would come while they were gone.  At this point, I was only 2 cm dilated, so I assured her it wouldn’t happen before she got back.

By 1 PM, my contractions were almost unbearable.  I got in the Jacuzzi, but it only helped for about ten minutes.  I was determined to try to do it naturally, but then I became so overcome with pain that I began shaking uncontrollably and puking during each contraction.  Tearfully, I discussed pain meds with Jake, and I felt like a failure for ‘giving in’.  My nurse gave me IV pain meds that she said would take the edge off and help for an hour or two.  The relief was instant, and in that moment, I knew I wanted an epidural.  After they gave me one, I felt awesome.  I realized that now I would be able to be ‘present’ during my labor, and not just enduring it.

At about 7 PM, Aeva’s heart rate started dropping with each contraction.  They had me keep changing positions, but it wasn’t working.  They turned off the Pitocin and gave me more IV fluids.  They also hooked us up to internal monitors.  After a half hour or so, she started getting better.  At 9:15, they checked me again, and said that I had not dilated any further in the last 2 hours, and Aeva’s head was starting to swell from the pressure.  My doctor recommended a c-section and said that she was really sorry that it had come to this option.  After 28 hours of labor and watching her heart rate, I agreed.

They wheeled me in and were able to start quickly since I already had the epidural in.  It turns out, I made the right decision as she was stuck sideways and would not have come out on her own.  Aevalea Kaleihoku Magnum was born at 9:38 PM, and I thought she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.  Her head was very swollen cone headed, and she needed oxygen for an hour, but after that, she was fine.  She was perfect actually.  There’s our story.