This post is VERY Long- but I finally posted only one month after her birth.
Charlotte’s Birth Story
When you have Gestational Diabetes- all bets are off for thinking you have control in your pregnancy. While it was very hard to keep things in check toward the end of the pregnancy, I realize how important it was for my baby to be healthy and me to be healthy. Every prick of the finger and every shot in my abdomen were worth it. The doctors I had prepared me for adjustments toward the end of my pregnancy, however, I wasn’t prepared for my last appointment.
I went in for my weekly appointment and I decided that Mark didn’t need to come. We had a few episodes of false labor the weekend before and I was hoping to be a little more dilated when I went in. I had my ultrasound and headed up to see the doctor. Dr. Samol was in the rotation for me to see so I went in ready to hear “no changes- we will see you next week”. Boy- I was wrong. He came in and checked my cervix- only 2-3 and 70% effaced. I could have cried. I was really hoping for more progress. Dr. Samol was quick to change my spirits but he shocked me when he asked me what my labor plans were. I sat not sure what he was asking and I am sure he picked up on my puzzled face. He stepped and informed me that with gestational patients we don’t typically go full term. They like to induce labor prior to 40 weeks to make sure the baby doesn’t get too large. I swear I wish I had a camera to look at my face. I probably looked terrified. He gave me four options of days and I chose the last day possible giving me time to go into labor naturally and to give my family plenty of time to organize their schedules and make it there. I would check into the hospital on May 1st (a Sunday) and they would start the Pitocin on Monday morning at 4am. We had a plan and we were ready to go.
Now that I knew an official end date- we just needed to make sure that we were ready (and for once I was hoping I didn’t go into labor naturally so I had all that time to get stuff ready J ). We found the news on Wednesday afternoon and we filled our weekend plans as quick as we could. Thursday would be spent getting things together at work and making final stops to pick up things for the hospital. Friday would be a wonderful night at Tina’s after work with friends then a romantic dinner with Mark at Bouquet in Covington and home to relax. Saturday was spent attending a funeral for an old co-worker, grabbing a manicure and setting up at the house. Mark was wonderful getting beautiful steaks for dinner and allowing me to relax and enjoy the day.
D-day arrived and I can truly say I was not mentally prepared. I think I ignored the entire thing and went about my day. We rushed around making sure everything was packed, installed and put together prior to the baby coming. I know there are only a few things that need to be done prior but I am glad we looked to see what was working and not working so we were prepared. Mark put the swing and pack n play together so we had something ready when the baby came home and I can say we were of course running behind all day. Lunch was supposed to be picked up on the way and just as we were running out the door- my grandparents showed up for a visit. We love my grandparents but I was super stressed and I felt terrible I couldn’t give them my entire attention. We literally ran out the door and were able to only grab a cheese coney on our way.
We arrived at the hospital late of course- we were due there at 4pm, but of course we got there about 4:30pm. I was so nervous I didn’t even let it sink in until I turned into the hospital. I think I almost had a meltdown when we pulled in. We headed up to the check in desk and they quickly put me into my room. Mark couldn’t come back in with me to start and it was really starting to hit me. We checked in and I was put into a hospital gown and hooked up to monitors. When Mark finally came back they notified the doctor that I was there (Dr. Buckley was on duty that day) and we were settled in. The plan was to use Cervidil to soften the cervix and start Pitocin in the morning to get labor started.
After checking into the room and getting settled the nurse came in to check me. I was 3cm dilated and she looked a little concerned. I quickly asked her what was going on and she said that Cervidil wasn’t an option when I was already 3cm dilated. I was confused but Dr. Buckley came in to explain- Cervidil wasn’t needed and wouldn’t really help so I could either start Pitocin or go home and come back the next day. At that point I wasn’t going home. I called my mom and dad and gave them the news that we were starting labor earlier than planned and we made plans to buckle in and enjoy the ride. About 7pm we started the Pitocin and Dr. Buckley tried to break my water. After the first time failed in breaking the water, we waited a few more hours and were able to finally break the waters about 10pm. Oh how that changes things.
Once the waters broke I was really feeling the contractions. It literally felt like the baby dropped into my pelvis and was putting constant pressure in my lower regions. I was really feeling the contractions for about an hour and then decided to get the epidural. At that point there was no real reason to hold out if planned to get it and sleep would be nice. I wasn’t getting any sleep until I got the epidural so I called to get it. The process was relatively painless and was helping almost right away. I am SO glad I made that decision. Labor was finally progressing and I decided to get some sleep – my mom had finally arrived and we were gearing up for a long night. I was only 4cm dilated at about 11pm and I knew it was moving slow. We decided to take a nap and get some rest.
A few hours later a few nurses rushed in with the doctor on call and woke me up. They put oxygen on my face and cut off the compression belt that was on my waist. They inserted monitors internally to check the baby’s heart rate and called my doctor. It was explained to me that the baby’s heart rate would drop when I had a contraction. This scared us to death. They said it could be a cord wrapped around the neck or just a fluke of the Pitocin. We had scares all night until about 5 am when they finally got it under control for a bit. Between this and my blood sugar running all over the place, it made for a great and adventurous labor.
By 6am I was 10cm dilated and they decided to let me rest. During this rest period it gave my dad and friends enough time to get to my room and get ready for the delivery. By 7:30am the shift change happened and we were ready to push. Dr. Lewis came in and told me that with the heart rate fluxuations that if I didn’t push efficiently, that I would have to have a C-section. This scared me to death but I figured that it couldn’t be that hard. Boy was I wrong. With the epidural I couldn’t feel a thing. This made pushing VERY hard. To top it off, the baby’s heart rate kept fluxuating which was only allowing me to push every other contraction. By the time I was into it, Dr. Lewis told me that we were getting close to a C-section. I was scared straight. I don’t know what she said but it was like a switch. Everyone in the room said I turned on the focus and got the baby out right away.
At 9:10am Charlotte Jane was born. It was almost unreal. They didn’t tell me at first what the baby was and allowed Mark to make the announcement. They placed her on my chest and Mark actually checked again to make sure she was a girl. She was crying and healthy right from the start. Her blood sugars were fine and she was ready to meet the world. They cleaned me up and she and everyone finally got to meet her.
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