Birth Story

Life got so challenging that I forgot to post the birth story. My little fighter is going to be six months old in December, so here is his birth story:

It all started on Saturday night (June 14). It was late when I finally got to bed. As I laid down I felt a bit of a watery discharge. It was enough to make my legs wet, but not enough to wet my bed.  I thought that it might be cm or may be a peed myself or something. I did have an uneasy feeling about it, but felt asleep very quickly with the thought that I'll ask my OB about it on Monday.  On Sunday, June 15, I was at my parents with DS1. It was pretty hot outside, but I wanted to take DS1 for a walk, so we all went.  DH stayed home to assemble the playground that we bought for DS1. The walk turned out a very long walk, plus midway DS1 became very clingy, he wanted to walk only with me and wanted only me to carry his electric tricycle that he was riding before. My parents did help a bit, but the walk was tiring.  As we were approaching my parents house,  I could feel some more watery discharge and at that point I just wanted to get to my house.  Knowing how my mom feels about this whole situation, I didn't tell her anything.  When we finally got home, I texted my friend and asked her what did it feel like when her water broke and did tell her about the situation.  I told her that I was debating whether to go to the hospital at that time (Sunday evening) or wait until Monday for my OB appointment.  She told me that it was better to go and check it out now. So I told DH that I really feel uncomfortable and want to check it out.  I didn't want to make a fuss, so we called MIL and told her to come without explaining all the details.

At around 6 p.m. we arrived at the hospital where I was supposed to give birth. The assessment room was pretty empty (not like that time when I was here last with DS1).  I was put on an uncomfortable bed (I hate those beds at the assessment room) with the monitors for the baby's heartbeat and contractions.  They were happy to report that there were no contractions and the baby was happy as a clam.  We were told that we should wait for the resident doctor to examine me, so we waited, and waited and waited....  I was still thinking it was nothing and we would be home soon.  I did have a little hunch that it wouldn't be so, when the nurse who was to take care after the shift change at 7:30 p.m. introduced herself.  It was the "angel" the nurse that I loved during DS1's birth.  Could it be a coincidence...

At around 8:15 p.m. I sent DH home to put DS1 to bed, and of course, about 15 min later, the resident came in. She asked me if it was my first pregnancy, and I told her NO. I did tell her that DS1 was born at almost 41 weeks.  She said that she wanted to examine me. Once she put a speculum in, and told me that she can see a lot of cm. She started cleaning it and then her face expression changed. She said something to the student that was with her and took out the speculum.  She said that she is going to examine me very carefully which she did, and told me that I am 4 cm dilated with a bulging membrane.  She also said that I would not be going home and she will be checking with the NICU at that hospital if they will be able to take care of my baby there or they have to move me.  The first order of business was the steroid shot for the baby's lungs and it was given at 8:30 p.m.  Then there was magnesium for baby's brain, and my angel nurse stayed with me while it was administered. I did get very hot and flashed from magnesium.  I called DH and told him to not go back to the hospital but wait for my instructions. The next couple of hours were kind of a blur. I remember the resident coming back with the u/s machine to make sure that the baby is good and his position.  He was head down. I also got some antibiotics. A doctor from my OBs practice also came by to see me to confirm the plan of action.  I was told that they will be transferring me as the NICU at that hospital was not equipped to take care of a 29 week old baby.  Eventually they told me that there was a bed at the hospital downtown and I'll be transferred there once an ambulance is available.  I was happy with the choice of the hospital as my brother was born there at 28 weeks and he is going to be turning 16 this year.

Just after 10 p.m. the ambulance arrived.  I called DH and told him to head downtown. The nurse and the resident were very concerned for me not to put any pressure on the membrane as it could burst, so they gently transferred me from the bed I was on to the gurney, and off in an ambulance I went. It was my first ride in an ambulance.  I was still very hot from magnesium and was happy that there was AC in the ambulance that was blowing on me.  The ride was uneventful. I was facing the wall, but I could see the back door with windows and was chit chatting with the medical personnel that was with me.  It is funny that they asked the nurses at the first hospital whether it was confirmed that I have a bed and whether they were expecting me at the downtown hospital, but when we got to the admitting at the L&D the girl at the counter had no clue.  She did call someone and they confirmed that everything was arranged, and I was transferred to a small room at the L&D.

I don't remember much what was going on there.  A few nurses came and were taking down all the details. When DH came they sent him down to get me admitted and he had to get up and down a few times to get the correct information as the reception in my L&D room was very shitty. At some point a student and a doctor/resident/intern came, it turned out that we know the student, but we were comfortable discussing everything with her. I got more magnesium, and blood work, and some other drugs to calm the uterus, although they said that it could not stop the labour if it was in progress.  Once everything was done and over with, I sent DH home as there was nothing happening. I didn't sleep a wink that night.  I had a good nurse at night that would help me move from side to side when I needed it, re-positioning all the probes, moving my table and filling my glass with water.

In the morning (Monday, June 16th), I made sure that the nurse gives me the second round of steroids at exactly 8:30 a.m.  They had a new computer system implemented, which was having some glitches and all of the requisitions on my file were erased; however, the nurse told me that she will give me the dose regardless as she knows how important it is to get them in time. Plus I was given more magnesium. Around 9:30 a.m. the decision was made that I can be transferred to the normal room in the area for preterm mommies. The time was going by but I was still in L&D and every nurse had a different reason why.  One said that it was because I could feel some contractions/tightness (which their monitors were not picking up), the other was saying that they are waiting for the bed etc. I was a bit fed up.  My parents came in a for a bit and then DH came.  Finally, around 4 or 5 p.m. they transferred me to a room. Luckily, I got a bed by the window.  But my happiness was short lived.  Once we got to the room and I was settled, I sent DH home to be with DS1 after daycare. I still had business I had to finish so had my laptop with me, but couldn't do much as contractions returned. My sis came by and I gave her instructions on how to help me. The contractions were getting worse and I called DH to get back to the hospital ASAP.  I told my sis that she is not leaving until DH comes back. I called a nurse a few times and told her that contractions are become very painful.  They were about 10 minutes apart but lasted from 1 to 1.5 minutes.  The nurse told me that the doctor is in the OR and she will get him to examine me as soon as he is available.  Needless to say, I didn't do much work.  The contractions were getting worse, the nurse brought the monitor, but it was not picking up the contraction, although she could feel them with her hands on my tummy.  When the doctor finally arrived and checked me, I was already 7 cm dilated.  We were having this baby sooner rather than later.

Back to L&D we went.  It was a room just beside the one where we were in the morning. Right away I asked the nurse that I want an epidural, and she said that she would call anesthesiologist.  In the meantime, she was trying to get my IV line going (which was done at the first hospital, and apparently, no the way they do it at the second hospital, so she was struggling), she finally decided to get the new line in and also took a few vials of blood.  Eventually the anesthesiologist came in.  She asked some questions and I told her that I want drugs now as I was in a lot of pain.  The pain was getting intolerable plus it was going into my legs and they were getting numb. After all this, the anesthesiologist said that she needs blood work to be done and it would take about 40 minutes to process it and once she has the results she could do the epidural. Well... the time just stopped... the contractions were getting closer and closer and stronger and stronger.  I would not be able to tell you how much time has passed, but by the time she said that she has the results and started prepping me, I was yelling out loud at each contraction in both Russian and English.  The nurse propped me over the side of the bed with my legs down, and we started the stupid procedure. I have no clue how I managed to sit through it as at that point the contractions were one on top of another with almost no break in between. All I could manage is to yell, oh no not another one!!! DH was doing great, doing whatever he could to make it a bit bearable for me.  Patting my head, holding my hand, hugging me, whatever I told him to do.

As the anesthesiologist for finalizing epidural, I could feel a lot of pressure and yelled that I have to push as he is coming out.  The anesthesiologist sopped what she was doing, the tiny room filled in with people and all of them were trying to lay me down. At that point, I couldn't move and was just yelling at them in both languages to not touch me.  The pain was so strong and unbearable, I didn't know if I am going to live through this.  Somehow, they did put me down, and there were faces all around me telling me to breath. As I was down, they started telling me not to push. What ?!?!? I told them that I can't do that, he is coming out and I can't do that. Apparently after the whole ordeal, my water was still intact and they had to break it as my baby boy was on the way out. Once they did, I kept screaming in pain, and at that point they were all yelling at me to stop screaming, hold my breath and push. There were so many people around, everything was so blurry and I just couldn't do it, I was screaming and crying.  Then one doctor/resident/intern (still don't know who he was) he just yelled at me very loud: Look at me, you have to concentrate, hold your breath, tuck your chin in and start pushing as hard as you can, just push...  That made me snap out of my hysteria and I started pushing. I pushed once, I pushed twice and I pushed for the third time, and I couldn't do it anymore. I was crying, and telling DH that I can't do it and asking him to take the pain away.  There was no time to get the epidural going, so I had no drugs to help me. DH did great, he calmed me down and said that all I need is one more push, he can see the head, and one more push and this is going to be over. and I did... .one last push... and he was out.... My second baby boy was born. Tiny... purplish...but crying from the top of his lungs....  It was 1:34 a.m. on June 17th, 2014.

They gave him to me to hold, not skin to skin, but I was still holding him. They were counting a minute before cutting his cord, and he was crying all that time.  DH had the honor of actually cutting the cord. I gave my son a kiss on his head and he was whisked away to a different room.  It was time for me to get the placenta out, which was a piece of cake after the whole labour ordeal.  The same doctor who helped me before was there, pushing on my tummy and shoving something in. Apparently I was hemorrhaging and they were trying hard to stop it.  It did take some time.  In addition, my uterus was not contracting down, and they were struggling with it.  The nurse put a catheter in, and after my bladder was emptied, the uterus started to cooperate.  Then the doctor was stitching me and was surprised when I was yelling from pain. I guess he forgot that there was no drugs.  The gave me something locally, but I could still feel the pain.  Through all this, DH was going by the room to see DS2 as he was being prepped for NICU. I told him to be with DS2 rather than with me, as I didn't want to leave the baby alone.  I don't remember how long we stayed at L&D, but thinking for a few good hours. The nurses did change all the bedding at least once as I have lost a lot of blood.  I was then wheeled back to the same area where I was just before, but this time, my bed was next to the door. I didn't mind...  on the way there we stopped by NICU to see our son.  His bed number in NICU is the same as my parents house number. How ironic is that?  DH went home to sleep, but I spent another sleepless night as my neighbour or her husband was snoring, and I still couldn't get over what happened a few hours before.  

UPDATE:  We spent a month and a half in the hospital downtown and to say that it was challenging is not to say anything. But we survived. On July 30th DS2 was transferred to the hospital closer to our house (i.e. 7 min drive!) and I was coming to hospital 3 times a day to breast feed, usually at 6 a.m., 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. and DH would go for the 9 pm feed.  We stayed there for another month and a half and I practically had to kidnap my baby to get out of the hospital the night before his 3rd month birthday. We had amazing nurses who helped us a lot, the problem was that he wasn't eating his full dose in the allotted time, everyone agreed that he would do waaaaay better at home, but nobody wanted to take a risk. So the nurses, pushed, a lot, and closed their eyes on a few things. Everyone were so right! The first two days home, he didn't gain nor lost any weight (which was good as he was adjusting), and then gained 100 grams over the weekend.  Today, at 5.5 months (almost 3 months corrected) he is weighing 5.73 kg!  His pediatrician is very happy with his progress and told me that if he would be born on time, he would be a HUGE baby :)