So I know that Chris already posted about our big day with the delivery of Tyler, but I figured I would put my side on the blog as well. I know it is very lengthy, but hey, 32 hours of labor the story is bound to be long!!!
So Sunday, June 12 they tried to induce me with prostaglandin gels, unfortunately it didn’t work so I was sent home. Monday morning I woke up at 7 am (unusual for me because I am a late sleeper since working nights) with contractions. They weren’t too strong but were consistent all day about ten minutes apart, but never intensified. I tried to go to bed Monday night around ten, but the contractions kept going and started to get stronger when I laid down. Chris started timing them and around three am they were three minutes apart and not easy to talk through. We went and woke my mom and off to the hospital we went.
Checking into triage, I had high hopes that I would be pretty dialated since I had pretty much been laboring all the previous day before, only to have those hopes dashed when the nurse told me I was 4 ½ cm and 90% effaced. The triage nurse let me walk for 30 minutes and checked me again and I had progressed to 5 cm, and the midwife decided to admit me.
I got to my room around 6:20 Tuesday morning and the fun labor process began! My plan was to labor naturally because the epidural kinda scared me with my back, so the nurses really worked with me. I had to be on the monitor for 20 minutes, then they would let me off and I would be on the birthing ball, or walk the halls with my mom and Chris. Around 12:00, my midwife came into my room and asked me if I wanted to be checked. I told her she could check me and if the news was good she could tell me, otherwise she could just tell me I was doing good because I didn’t want to get discouraged! Luckily, it was good news, I was 7 ½ cm and still about 90% effaced. This gave me the motivation I needed to keep going, so I kept walking the halls and doing the birthing ball.
Around 4 pm, I asked my nurse to check me again to see if I had made any progress. Unfortunately, I had not progressed at all since 12 that afternoon. This was quite discouraging, so they paged the midwife, who asked the covering dr. to come and see me. He came at five and broke my water, which he said had already began to leak, so it just needed a little push I guess. When he was looking at me, he said, “I don’t know why Ramona thought you were going to have a big baby, you don’t look that big. How tall are you?” When I replied 5’7”, he said, “I guess you could be hiding a big baby in there, but I don’t think so”. When he was in there, he said that if I did not start to progress any faster, I would need to be started on Pitocin and get an epidural. This was even more discouraging but I was determined that things would start to happen since he broke my water.
To help move things along, my nurse suggested I labor on my side with what they call the “peanut” between my legs. At this point, the contractions had increased in instensity and were about three to four minutes apart. I think at this point, my body was exhausted physically and emotionally and this is when I lost control. I had been able to breathe through my other contractions with the help of Chris and my mom’s coaching, but I broke down and started to cry and pretty much lost control. This brought my mom to tears and even Chris. I had expected to see my mom cry but when I saw Chris cry, it snapped me back into reality and realize I needed to focus. I changed positions and this seemed to help.
At 8 pm, the midwife came into see me and checked me again. I was hopeful that breaking my water and the stronger contractions were an indication that I had progressed and was close to delivery. Once again, no change. At this point, I looked at Chris and broke down crying and said I can’t do this anymore. I was so exhausted and the pain was to the point where I couldn’t breathe and focus through it like I had been doing. The midwife was very supportive as was everyone else. By 10 pm, the anesthesiologist was in my room to give me the epidural. I was already very nervous about getting one because I work in the hospital and hear all of the stories of things that go wrong. So when he began to feel my back up and down to find the proper placement for the epidural, you can imagine how my anticipation sky-rocketed when he asked, “Do you have scoliosis?” NO!!! Are you kidding me? When I replied “No”, all he said was “Hmmm”. That didn’t make me feel any better about having this guy put a catheter in my spinal column, but lucky for me, he was good at his job. By 10:30, I had the epidural and was asleep shortly after.
Around 2 am Wednesday morning, the nurse came in and checked me and said I was 100% effaced and almost completely dialated. At this point we discussed pushing and when I would be able to do it. I decided to take advantage of resting while I could, and at three am we would begin pushing. At three am, the nurse came and began to set up the bed with stirrups and all, and began to talk me through how to push with the epidural. We began to do some practice pushes, and at four am the midwife came in to check my progress. She began to help stretch me and really worked with me. At five, she looked at me and told me that Dr. Kells (the physician she works under) would be making his rounds around five thirty and he would probably tell me that I needed a c-section. She said she was not throwing in the towel by any means, but that Dr. Kells would be pretty convincing in telling me that I needed the c-section since I was not making any progress. She then told me she would give me till five thirty and see where I was at. Bound and determined, I began to push with everything I had. Luckily it was enough because my body figured out how to push.
It was so hard because everyone would tell me to push three times and then I would be done, but after doing my three pushes, they would all yell, “One more, Melissa, one more!” Oh, it was hard but so encouraging because that meant progress!!! The midwife asked me at 5:30 if it was ok if she started Pitocin (it was in my birth plan that I didn’t want it), in order to get contractions closer together, and I said anything to help get the baby out. That was what my body needed apparently because at 5:57 am, out came Tyler Christopher Brogan. They laid him on my stomach and I was just in shock that he was finally here.
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| Brand new |
I was worried at first because he wasn’t crying right away and all I heard was the nursery nurse telling Ramona, “I need him off, I need him off now”- meaning she needed the cord cut so she could take him over to the warmer. Luckily, after they began to rub him, he pinked up and let us hear his cry. The midwife said, “I’m not sure if he is a nine pound baby Melissa” but come to find out, he was 9 lbs 14 oz, 22 and ¼ inches long! Yes, he was a big boy! We hadn’t completely decided on a name yet, but after hearing his weight I decided it would be Tyler because he needed a big name and Ayden just didn’t seem like it was a big enough name for him. A little later Dr. Kells came in to congratulate me on my “little boy”. So glad we got him out before he came in because I would have been so discouraged to have a c-section after everything my body had already been through.
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| Cutting the cord |
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| Proud dad |
Unfortunately for me the hard part was not over. After delivering Tyler, the nurses switched shifts and I met Lisa, who I kept busy all morning. She got me up to try and go to the bathroom where I almost passed out. She and two other nurses got me back to bed where I continued to feel nauseated and lightheaded. My blood pressure was low and my heart rate on the high side and a low grade temp. I knew bleeding was normal after delivery, but it felt like I would gush anytime I moved in bed. I called my nurse to have her check me, only to find out I was having large clots. She said she would keep a close eye on me and call the doctor if needed. In the meantime, I still had not been able to pee. After she gave Tyler his bath, she checked me again, this time more clots. At this point, she had to catheterize me again since I couldn’t urinate and that was so, so painful. She then paged the doctor and I was put back on Pitocin and given Cytotek to help my uterus contract, which was why I was having so much bleeding. After this, things began to perk up. I was able to rest and was served lunch. Who would have thought hospital food could taste so good! After the rough morning, I began to feel better and was able to enjoy the fact that Tyler was finally here and healthy. It was a long journey but so worth it when I would look at what I got in the end.
I would not have been able to get through my labor without my wonderful husband or my amazing mom. My husband was so encouraging and supportive. He walked the halls with me and would continually coach me though my breathing to get through each contraction. He never once complained that I was taking too long or was being too demanding. He never left my side and was the constant support I needed. Hearing him cheer me on kept me going.
I was so grateful to have my wise mother at my side. She never once tried to push me to get the epidural, even though I knew it was hard for her to watch me in pain. She was my advocate when it came to telling the doctors what I needed. I had never been though this before, but she knew what needed to happen and made sure it did.
