Beth's Birth Story

 Bethany Kaye Lange 

Born December 16 at 6:44 PM

8 lbs 4oz 20.5 inches long

I had assumed that our little girl would make her way into the world early considering all my preterm labor but as my due date approached that seemed less and less likely to happen. My Due Date was December 11th and I had an appointment with my doctor that day. I was still 80 percent effaced and dilated to a 2. However baby's head was extremely low, which would explain why I could barely walk. I had been that way for a few weeks so it was semi frustrating that I wasn't progressing but my doctor assured me that it could go from 0 to 60 at any second. Well we scheduled an induction for Sunday the 15th at midnight. This would make baby born 5 days after my due date. Since I wasn't opposed to being induced, I was fine with it. I really wanted her out of me. The days following dragged on with no signs of labor and I just continued to feel like a ticking time bomb. I tried everything to get labor going...bouncing on a medicine ball, endless walking, running up and down stairs, curb walking, spicy food...nothing worked. I'm convinced baby comes when they want to!

The day I was scheduled to be induced we stayed home and just relaxed. I took a nap and tried to stay calm but the whole situation  was making me anxious. We tried to sleep for a few hours before we went in at midnight but it was impossible. 

Since the hospital is just a couple miles down the road, we left a little before midnight. We checked in and went straight up to labor and delivery. It was strange feeling all calm and relaxed right before I delivered, not exactly what I had imagined. The nurse checked me in and we went through with a million questions and procedure explanations for a couple hours. She checked me, which at this point was still super painful since I had an extremely posterior cervix. Baby's head was still sitting very low and they could feel it very easily. So each time they checked me they had to go behind baby's head and up to my cervix. Ouch. After talking to my doctor, the nurse came back and said that I wasn't ready for Pitocin. The nurse gave me cyotec which is a pill to help dilate your cervix. She told me to try and sleep for a few hours. So I was under the assumption that I would sleep why this little pill did it's magic. Oh boy was I wrong....

In about 15 minutes my contractions kicked in super strong. They were coming every couple minutes and I was having terrible back labor. I was in terrible pain and it really caught me off guard. I asked the nurse if I could have my epidural but she advised that I wait. Her reasoning was that it was too early and that if I got it now, it wouldn't be working when I actually needed during the worst parts of labor. I was in tears when she told me this but I tried to last a little longer. The worst part was that she kept telling me to be still and on my back while the monitors were on me. That was nearly impossible with the back labor. All I wanted to do was walk around but my nurse didn't want me to because then I wouldn't be hooked up to the monitors and they couldn't check baby's heart rate. Stuart was such a good sport as he tried so hard to be there for me during this. I would tell him to hold my hand through a contraction and then during the next one I wouldn't want my hand held and I would hit him out of the way. I would have no idea what I wanted each time and poor Stuart went through some abuse those first five hours ;)

Then 7 am came, which meant I had been in labor for 5 hours with no drugs. NOT my plan. Thankfully 7 am came and it was a time for a shift change in nurses. I was so happy when I saw that it was one of favorite nurses from my preterm labor time. She immediately asked me my pain level and if I planned on getting an epidural. I said yes of course! She said there's no reason for you to be in any more pain anymore then! Let's get you that epidural right now. I was so happy to hear those words.

The anesthesiologist came in and I immediately turned the other way. I leaned over the edge and held Stuart's hand. I felt a slight pinch and then a little pressure but honestly I hardly noticed it at all. It was the best feeling after 10 mins when it kicked in.  I thanked the little Asian anesthesiologist a million times. He was the sweetest little guy.

After that, it took a little time for my body to calm down, I had the shakes really bad. I was able to calm down after 30 mins or so and finally begin resting. It was glorious. 

Then they gave me the Pitocin but they kept it really low dosage, just at 2 the whole time. About an hour later they broke my water to get things going. It just felt like an uncontrollable rush of water. From there I just slowly progressed 1cm every 1-1.5 hours. It was nice and slow. I I would just rest and eat Popsicles the rest of the time.

When I got to 7cm I started to feel ALOT of pressure. Little girl felt stuck down there. They amped up my epidural from there and I just kept pressing that button constantly haha.

When I got to 8 cm it was about 530 and my nurse said let's try some pushing. I was caught off guard but said okay! She put me on my side and said to push as if I was going to poop. I gave one big push and she said "alright, were there! We are at a ten, let's get dr. Pollock here!" I was so shocked.

The next half hour they just were setting everything up...getting me in my stirrups, the lights ready, and getting dr pollock there. We pushed a little before she got there but once she came the real fun began. I still had a lot of the epidural, the perfect amount in my opinion. I could feel pressure but not much pain at all. We would push at each contraction, 3 times for ten seconds each. The nurse kept asking me if I wanted to feel her head of hair while pushing but I didn't really have the desire to :) About 35 minutes into it I was starting to get super lightheaded and nauseous. Luckily it took only a few more pushes and out she came. I had pushed for 45 minutes total and my beautiful baby girl was finally here after 17 hours of  labor. 

She was pushed out, not crying a ton, but she was fine. Stuart was able to cut the umbilical cord, and then they placed Beth right on my chest. It was truly the most amazing experience. She calmed right down and snuggled right into me. I just talked with her and she was so happy just laying on me. The nurse had me try nursing her and she latched on like a champ, it was a little touch and go after that with nursing though :)

My parents had been anxiously waiting at the mall across the street so I let them come up and see her. They weighed her, measured her, took her APGAR score (9), bathed her, and got her all cleaned up.

I was able to shower but could hardly walk to the shower I was so exhausted and hadn't gained full feeling in my legs back yet. I was so tired but it felt good to get clean. They then put me in a wheelchair and baby girl was wheeled in her cart over to our recovery room. My parents were there with us for a little and then it was just Stuart and I. By this point it was about 11 pm and I was so tired. It was a hard night, she was a fussy girl to get to sleep, and nursing was touch and go from then on. 

However the hospital stay was a wonderful time and I was just so in love with our precious girl.