My son's birth story

So some of you may know about my false alarm 2 days before where I came in after my membrane sweep - spent 2 hours in L&D and got sent home. After that I was so dismayed -

I was hesitant to call if I was feeling off. Well - I started contracting on Monday and contracted straight through Wednesday. I decided to take a 3/4 mile walk with DH. I figured this might get things going for my induction on Friday.

Well my contractions got worse after the walk. Then they got painful. Then they got 4-5 minutes apart. I finally folded and called my midwife. She offered for me to come in and get checked out. To my dismay -

I was still just as dilated as I was 2 days ago - ugh. The nurse said they were on the fence about admitting me and she wasn't sure what the midwife would say. Also - the hospital prefers to induce at 39 weeks unless there's a medical reason. The nurse is the same nurse that treated me 2 days before.

The nurse said - she would try to see if she could get the midwife to admit me. She made me walk for an hour around the unit. Then she said she would try something with my cervical check. She made me lay on my back, put my fists under my butt, and then shoved 4 fingers into my cervix and spread them wide. That took me to 4.5 cm dilated. The midwife came to check me out and agreed that I was 4.5 - showed enough change when I arrived and that since I'm 36, with GD and a rising blood pressure - it was ok to induce at 38.5 weeks.

By this point my contractions were hurting like hell. They moved me to a delivery room and I labored painfully until the anesthesiologist arrived with his magic. The epidural insertion was fine but I did get 'zingers' where my legs would twitch uncontrollably. After that settled down i began to feel the glorious warmth and numbness of an epidural. The contractions that were coming every 5-6 minutes and nearly bringing me to tears were finally dulling to a tolerable level.

As for the epidural  - I could move my feet , but for a while I was laying flat for too long so the medication actually moved up to the bottom of my lungs. This meant I didn't have the strength to cough and I had phlegm I couldn't clear. After nearly choking twice - we talked to the nurse - they adjusted my position, and the control of my lungs returned.

I then heard the nurse say that my contractions had slowed down so they would run pitocin. This was fine by me - and my contractions started moving to every 2 minutes.  Then they got painful - the epidural was wearing off !! The anesthesiologist came to switch my epidural drugs and the pain relief returned. However I started to get light headed. He told me to close my eyes and lay back as they added medication to my IV. My light headedness finally went away. I then slept on and off for the next few hours. I started to feel pressure down there .....

They decided the midwife should come break my waters. Apparently I kept falling asleep so they let me rest. When they decided at 6:30

Am that my waters needed to be broken ..... I felt a pop and a gush ! My waters broke!

Then things got into action. My midwife swooped in - said OH CRAP! And got to work preparing to deliver the baby. They checked my cervix and felt the baby's head. About 6 people walked in the room to prepare for my delivery. They took their stations and my midwife got to work. She assigned a nurse to each leg and they got me up in the stirrups. They asked me to put my hands behind my knees, to pull my legs up and tuck my chin. The. They made me take a deep breath and then hold it as I tried to take the mother of all shits. We did that for 6 minutes and then the midwife said -

Just one more! I thought she was BSing - but hey I gave it my all -

And Then I heard the cries of our son. I completely welled up with tears. They pulled him out, wiped him down and he was on my chest!!!! I got to hold him for quite some time and then she let DH cut the umbilical cord. Then he was moved to the newborn care station and they worked on cleaning him up. I was overwhelmed emotionally. I pushed out the placenta and the midwife said - no tears and no stitches necessary! She said she was shocked I got an 8 lb 3 oz baby out that easily. I think it's the SPD that made it possible. I still had nurses coming to check my abdomen and to help me cramp down.

Fast forward a few hours and I'm walking around. I've taken 2 pees with no pain. They gave me a preventative laxative so I can poop in peace. This is the most amazing recovery ever. So now  I'm just here ogling over my son! I can't believe I have a son!!!!

Although I battled with breastfeeding my first child, by the third attempt my son completely latched and nursed for 15 straight minutes. We are off to a great start!

I might have been in labor for 3 days but this kind of delivery made it worth it!!

Shirodkar cerclage removal success - surgery story

So it seems for now my cerclage debacle may be over. I went in for surgery this morning to get my cerclage removed. When I got in and prepped for surgery - the anesthesiologist asked me if I wanted to do an epidural or general anesthesia. I know my surgeon wanted me to do an epidural so that he could talk me through the surgery - but the anesthesiologist felt my risks were the same. I also hoped to do an epidural for my delivery ( within 2 weeks) so I opted for general.

My surgeon came in and explained the risks of the surgery and honestly he scared me shitless. He wasn't feeling very confident that he would be able to remove it. He discussed the blood flow rates in my veins in the uterus vs how much blood I have in my body and the dangers of nicking a vein. He also explained that if it went sour, I'd be looking at a c section+hysterectomy. Wait whuuuuuut? He kept saying - he was going to go in and look - and if anything looked unfavorable - he would simply abandon the surgery. He also talked to me about choosing which OB would do my c-section if he wasn't successful. We also talked through getting an IUD with the stitch in if it couldn't come out, how it affects fertility and what pregnancy risks it comes with.

After that pep talk (sarcasm), we went into the OR. I dozed off pretty quick once they gave me meds. I'm actually used to falling asleep instantly - this time I drifted off. It was actually kind of weird. When I came to, my surgeon was still around and the first thing I asked was - did you get it out?? And he happily said he was able to! He said I can go ahead and attempt my vaginal delivery. He said the stitch was buried but he was able to find enough of it to remove the entire thing. I'm sure I was loopy because I asked him 3-4 times to be sure I wasn't dreaming. I also noticed that my throat hurt and I had a productive cough. It turns out I was intubated and even aspirated on the table. It's 3 am now and I'm nursing a sore throat from that and painfully coughing up phlegm....

Recovery was pretty straight forward. The general rule applies - if you can piss you can go home. I'm on bed rest for a day, pelvic rest for a week , and now on labor watch!!! I'm so grateful that he was able to undo what that shady OB in South Africa did. I was so scared that the cerclage he put in was something I'd never be able to get out. I haven't had a chance to ask what this means for future pregnancies ( although I never want to be pregnant again LOL). I just don't want anyone making those decisions for me.

On one side I'm very happy that it seems the crisis has been averted. On the other hand I'm feeling very violated. I trusted the OB in South Africa to give me a cerclage that would 1 - save my pregnancy and 2 - not increase my chances of a csection - and 3 be temporary. What I got was 1 but not 2 or 3 and he falsified my medical records too. I just keep thinking - what would have happened if my cervix funneled and opened even with the stitch? What if my waters had broken? What if we were forced to have an emergency cerclage removal if I went into labor? This surgery required 2 surgeons because they realized what they were dealing with - what if in an emergency situation I ended up with a regular OB instead of a pair of specialists? What gave him the right to make those decisions for me and to not even inform me? I still don't want to have more kids but now I fear how this may affect that. I'm just so angry on so many fronts .

Finally - I'm just laying here with a sore throat because of the intubation / aspiration issue. My baby is still kicking so I know the general anesthesia didn't make him too sluggish. I'm on labor watch which is awesome. My son should be here within the next 2 weeks .....

Cerclage removal failure

So I was all excited for my cerclage to come out .... Except it didn't come out! After 3 attempts my doctor was unable to remove it. I'm fact he couldn't even find the stitch. We knew for a fact that it was there because we saw it on the ultrasound. Also I was awake for the procedure to put it in!

So now I have to have a surgery scheduled to remove it. The removal could be risky because there's a chance of me bleeding out. My perinatologist is willing to try and remove it - but he said only if conditions are completely favorable. If he felt there was the slightest risk of me bleeding out - he'd abort the surgery. So now it is a wait and see thing for next week. 

I'm very angry because it appears that the surgeon in South Africa put I'm a shirodkar suture even though on my medical records he said he put in a macdonald stitch. The shirodkar is considerably more difficult to take out and often requires a surgery to do so. I remember taking explicit time to discuss the two stitches, my goals for a vaginal delivery and our expectation that this stitch could be taken out in a doctor's office. Yet here I am with a shirodkar and facing a surgery where this stitch might be permanent ! I won't go into a rant on health care in SA - but I'm over this on so many levels.

Cerclage comes out today!

Im almost 37 weeks and it's time for my stitches to come out!! Will update when it's out this afternoon.

Can't believe I made it this far with no bedrest !