A good friend of mine was searching for Xander’s birth story on the blog a few weeks ago. Surprisingly enough I never posted it, even after mentioning in a post that I would. I guess my first time parenthood hit me hard and kept me busy. His birth post is actually a rather cheesy Smilebox collage of pictures that still brings tears to my eyes. Since tomorrow would have been my due date three years ago I thought it’s about time to post about his crazy birth. I did write up my birth story shortly after he was delivered. I am so glad I did, because it’s amazing how many of the details I have forgotten. His birth was NOTHING like my natural delivery with Noah. So if you have the time and want to hear about how nothing in my birth plan went as “planned” read on. I’m so excited to finally share some of these wonderful day of birth pictures. 
At my 40 week appointment Adrian and I decided to schedule an induction for Monday February 16th, since it was looking like baby boy Stavish was cozy and warm. On Valentine’s day we went out to lunch at the Macaroni Grill and then to our favorite (and huge) mall at Tyson’s Corner. We walked the entire mall and surprisingly I was able to waddle my way through the entire thing. I think the walking helped put him in to labor, but one will never really know.
Sunday afternoon we went to the commissary for groceries. I started feeling pretty crappy with lower back and rectal pain. I made it through the entire store and then left Adrian to check out. The rest of the afternoon I just relaxed. Around 6:30 pm, while watching the Caps game on TV, I started feeling what I thought may be contractions. I was having intermittent pain in my back/rectum, so started timing the pain. I was also having pain my lower abdomen but I still wasn’t convinced it was labor. Eventually the pain started getting worse and closer together- 4 to 6 minutes apart. At this point Adrian was at Target but I wasn’t too concerned. When he got home I told him I think I may be in labor and will continue to time contractions. He made me dinner (beef barley soup and toast) and I timed contractions. They remained steady, about 45-60 seconds in duration and 4-5 minutes apart for quite some time. Around 9:00 pm I called L & D and they told me to come in. We left the house around 9:30 pm and the drive was rather quick since it was Sunday night. This I was thankful for, since one of my many concerns about labor was delivering on the beltway in Washington DC rush hour traffic. The drive to Bethesda Naval Medical Center was pretty painful and on my way I felt a small gush of water, right around where we pulled off the GW Parkway to get onto 495.
Adrian pulled into the main entrance of the hospital and brought me up to L & D in a wheelchair. They had me sit in the waiting room for what felt like eternity, but really were probably just 5 minutes. After they took me into triage Adrian went to park the car. I felt another gush of water when I stood up in the triage room, to get onto the examination table. The nurse checked with some sort of strip that turned blue, yup my water had broken. She then hooked up the contraction monitor and took my vitals. A doctor came in to examine me and told me I was only 2 cm dilated. Mind you I was only 1 ½ – 2 cm at my 40 week appointment. At that point I knew there was no way I was doing this labor thing naturally. So I told the nurse I will be need an epidural once I get to my room. Our hospital’s policy is that it is never too early or late for an epidural (thankfully).
It took about 30-45 minutes to get into a room. I can’t remember my nurse’s name but she was very sweet and patient. My pain was getting more serve as the contractions were closer together and seemed to be lasting longer. Since I was GBS positive I got an IV rather quickly after getting into the room, in order to get antibiotics. It seemed like forever for the anesthesiologist to arrive, but it took some time to get all my information into the computer system for admission. Eventually my hero, Matt the anesthesiologist, who once played for the University of Florida football team came and gave me drugs. The hardest part about getting the epidural was just staying in the right position long enough to have it administered. Once it was in place it worked in about 15 minutes and I had sweet relief! I had a PCA (personal control administration) where I could administer more medication every 15 minutes. There were many times where I thought 15 minutes was a loooonnng time because of the pain. I can’t even imagine going through labor without an epidural.
I continued to labor throughout the night. Baby boy was having heart decelerations which seemed to be relieved by frequent position changes, where I had to roll to my right or left side. At some point during the night I got a fever and developed chorioamnionitis. I also needed oxygen supplementation which was drying me out a ton. I was so uncomfortable and hot! At least the ice chips helped me take my mind off things a bit. I also had uncontrollable shaking, which they don’t tell you about during birth class. It’s very strange not to be in control of your body. Adrian continued to remain supportive and calm throughout the night. He really was amazing! At one point my body was working too hard through the contractions and my heart rate was higher than it should be. I was given a medication to stop the contractions, so my body could rest. Of course they then turned off the epidural. The medication didn’t last very long as my body fought it off and contractions picked back up. Wow, that was some of the worse pain! I remember saying often “I can’t do this.” Followed by a few curse words. Matt eventually came back to adjust the pain medication and I had relief once again.
At the point where I was switching over to active labor I began throwing up (at least 3-4 times) and the soup reappeared yuck! I hate throwing up! It was nice to know I was making progress and closer to pushing but it was miserable. The 7:00 am shift change occurred and I met my new nurse. She was also very sweet and patient (everything you want a L & D nurse to be). When I was finally 10 cm dilated around 8:30 am the pushing marathon began. Baby boy’s heart rate would drop if I was pushing on my back so I pushed on my side. Adrian held one leg and my nurse held the other. I could feel the contractions begin so had an idea of when to push, but the nurse told me when it reached the height and that’s when I began pushing. My nose was really stuffy from the cold I was getting over, so I wasn’t able to last 10 seconds for 2 pushes. The nurse had me do 3 sets of 6 second pushes through one contraction. I had a mirror to watch the pushing, which was a neat experience but didn’t seem to help me push any harder. The doctor came in periodically to check on my progress, which seemed to be so very slow.
After 3 hours or so of pushing and very little progress (the head was showing a tiny bit), the doctor explained he was going to try a vacuum delivery. At that point nothing in my birth plan had happened, so I was up for anything. The doctor attempted assist with the vacuum three times. Each time it popped off baby boy’s head and each time the pop occurred I honestly thought it was the head coming out. It was sad to know this wasn’t true. I then had an episiotomy. First they cut without lidocaine but when I told them I could feel them cutting (ouch!) they gave me some lidocaine. At this point there were soooo many people in my room- the pediatrician, a corpsman, nurses, the attending, residents and who knows who else. After sticking most of his arm up my parts, the attending finally came to the conclusion that my sacrum was tilted upward and the baby’s head was not getting past it. So the decision was made to deliver by cesarean. At this point I was so scared and a bit sad.
Everything happened so FAST! One minute I’m trying to push this baby out and the next minute I’m on my back being wheeled to the operating room. Adrian didn’t come to the operating room right away. He had to change into his blue suite outfit. I wish I had some pictures of the insanity but the military hospital doesn’t allow pictures in the operating room. In a matter of no time I was prepped and surgery began. I didn’t feel a thing, not even tugging as he was pulled out at 12:05 pm. Once he was out I didn’t hear any crying for what felt like forever. I swear aren’t those just the longest few seconds of your life? Waiting to hear your newborn baby cry for the first time. Hoping and praying everything is okay. Once he did cry it was such a sweet sound. Baby Alexander’s APGAR scores were 6 and 8. He had some central cyanosis and low tone initially, but with blow by oxygen and stimulation he was doing great. The MD handed my little boy to Adrian and then hubby brought him over to me. He was absolutely gorgeous! It was a surreal moment to actually see my baby boy. Words can’t describe how I felt at that moment. Incredible. Amazing. No words.
I then felt like I was wheezing which it turns out I was desaturating down to the 80’s (normal oxygen saturation level is 100%). At that point the MDs told Adrian he needed to step out of the room. We thought it was just a normal policy that they have dad step out while they sew mom back up. Actually nothing normal was going on. I was becoming unstable. I don’t really what happened next, other than I felt very uncomfortable in the position I was in. I remember complaining that my neck and jaw hurt. I was actually very hypotensive and the doctors were concerned that I had pulmonary edema (abnormal fluid build up on the lungs).
Eventually I made it to the recovery room where my nurse met me. Adrian and Alexander came in and the world was okay (sort of) again. I had a chance to hold Alexander and attempt to latch him on to start breastfeeding. I was pretty shaky and cold from the anesthesia so it was a challenge to latch him. The corpsman then gave him a bath and weighed him. He weighed 7 pounds and 3 ounces and was 20.3 inches long.
I was then moved to our postpartum room to enjoy my baby. The nurse tended to me and gave me a perineum pad which was a huge ice cold pad. Not sexy at all but the nurse told me it reduces the chance of blood clots. I had so much swelling so it was a big relief (and for the next week).
Much of the hours following recovery were a blur but what I do remember is Arian taking picture and the both of us falling deeply in love with our baby boy. I had a lot of doctors in and out of the room. I also had an EKG done at my bedside followed by a CT angiogram. The doctors were worried about my heart and lungs, so I was then wheeled down to have a CT angiogram. By this time I was in tears because I was scared. I just wanted to be with my baby and husband. I was afraid the dye they had to inject me with for the procedure wasn’t safe for the baby and I would miss out on the initial moments of breastfeeding. I was worried my milk would never come in. I was the walking (or not so walking) definition of a hot hormonal mess! When we finally got down to the dungeons of radiology I had to get of the wheelchair and onto the CT table. This was hell! I was in such pain and I had to keep telling the tech that I needed help. I find it hard to believe that most people who need a CT can get onto the table by themselves but he seemed to not get it. I just had massive abdominal surgery and couldn’t move! Eventually I managed to get onto the table and have the procedure. It wasn’t painful and once it was over I was wheeled back up to my postpartum room.
At some point that evening I was moved to the telemetry unit for continued monitoring of my heart. They hooked me up to a constant EKG monitoring machine and started a blood transfusion since I was so anemic. About an hour into the blood transfusion the internal medicine doctor told me they were going to stop the transfusion, because if the blood was infected at all it would put my baby at risk for an infection too. This was crazy on his part to stop the transfusion since I really needed it. The hardest part about being on the telemetry unit was being away from Alexander. The nurses on L & D wouldn’t let Adrian bring Alexander to me, because they didn’t know how to deactivate the baby-low jack alarm. So very frustrating for all three of us! Being a first time mom and scared out of my mind for my own health I didn’t pursue it further.
We loved that our baby was safe but he was a bit to safe…and not near mama
At some point during the evening my friend Patricia came to visit and then went up to visit with baby and Adrian. She stayed a couple of hours so Adrian could go home to take care of our kitty and get some clothes for himself. Once Patricia left I was thankful to have my knitting and random TV programs to keep me occupied. I had to ask multiple times for a nurse to contact L & D since I needed a pump. I knew the importance of early breast stimulation and there was no way in hell I was going to have low milk supply. Eventually someone brought me a pump, but I had no clue what I was doing. I fumbled through the directions and set myself up. I remember trying to pump every few hours or so and getting very minimal colostrum drops. I finally told Adrian to just give Alexander formula since I had enough to worry about. I was pretty disappointed but knew the nurse would keep pestering Adrian about feeding the baby since we were separated.
I barely slept that night. I was so excited from the birth, frustrated that I couldn’t see my baby, and scared about my own health. So many emotions for one mama! I had a male nurse throughout the night and he had no idea postpartum care needed to be done. I had to get myself to the bathroom to change my own pads. So very, very painful and challenging. I’m sure I could have asked for help but at the time I was beyond exhausted and just did it myself.
Eventually morning came and I was starving. I still couldn’t get any real food though. They did bring me a liquid diet tray for breakfast and I inhaled all of it. I was still feeling really dizzy though. I was told that I had to tolerate that and then they would upgrade me to a regular diet. Sometime after breakfast I received 2 pints of blood and after that I didn’t feel nearly as dizzy. Go figure. At some point in the day Adrian was able to talk some sense into someone and a patient advocate (a retired nurse) figured out how to bring Alexander to see me. I was able to have some bonding time and try to get him to latch (which he didn’t) and Adrian had a break from baby care. The patient advocate was amazing in helping me try to latch him and gave me lots of suggestions on how to keep him awake. She also helped me with the breast pump and in general made me a feel a lot better about breastfeeding. It was SO NICE to spend some time with Alexander. Adrian did an amazing job caring for his son during his first night of life! I was blown away with his ability to step up and take charge. The hospital does not have a nursery for healthy babies, so it was all on him. 
Once the patient advocate and Alexander went back to the L & D room I was feeling much better emotionally. Early in the evening my blood transfusion was complete and my heart readings were looking near normal so they transported me back up to my room. I was SO relieved!
The next few days and evenings went by quickly and were spent getting to know my son and recovering. We finally were able to go home on Day 5 in the late afternoon. By the time Adrian came to pick us up and we got my huge bag of prescriptions from the pharmacy it was around 6 pm. Instead of waiting in rush hour traffic we headed to McDonald’s for dinner. I looked like hell and was so swollen from all the fluids, but honestly didn’t care. I hobbled into McDonald’s with my fuzzy slippers, since my shoes didn’t fit. I couldn’t even stand up because my incision hurt so much, but it was so nice to be out of the hospital with our baby boy. We got home around 8 pm and settled in for our first night at home. We were all exhausted and happy. My milk came that night and Xander latched so easily. I was relieved that breastfeeding was the easiest part of the entire process. 
The story doesn’t end here though. It took me weeks to recover because of my lungs and heart and of course my c-section. Once I was feeling back to myself I moved on with my life. Xander is a happy and healthy three-year old and I successfully had a natural VBAC (not planned) with our second son. When I was trying to get pregnant with DS #2 I had to go to a fertility specialist since my cycles were not regular. They referred me to a cardiologist because on my post partum discharge report the doctor said I had post partum cardiomyopathy, which is essentially a heart attack caused by the birthing process. My follow-up EKG’s after Xander’s birth were normal and the follow up I had when I finally got pregnant with my second son was normal. I have since been diagnosed with post-partum pulmonary edema with a large fluid overload causing my heart abnormalities after birth, but not cardiomyopathy. Both the cardiologists I saw felt that my complications were caused from the birth process (lots of fluids and prolonged labor/pushing). I’m so thankful it was not post-partum cardiomyopathy, as most women who have this need medication, a heart transplant or die following birth. So scary. I am so thankful for my health and the health of my two babies.
When I was shopping around for light weight breast pumps before returning to work after my first child was born, my husband convinced me I needed the Medela Freestyle. I had a hard time justifying the steep price but glad I finally caved in. We ordered it through AAFES (the Army and Air Force “Sears”) and it soon arrived on my doorstep. The first time I used it I was amazed at how such a tiny machine could have so much suction. Amazingly enough I was able to pump enough milk to supply two children with milk during Xander’s first year of life. Seriously, talk about an over-supply of milk! As milk began taking over our tiny freezer, we purchased a deep freezer. By the time Xander was about 9 months old the freezer was completely full. I weaned from pumping around 10 months and strictly used my freezer stash milk until he was about 13 months old. I nursed him in the morning and evenings until he was a little older than a year. Overall I would call my nursing/pumping experience as a first time mom a successful and rewarding experience. Sure it was hard work and painful at times, as I am prone to plugged ducts, but I survived and Xander thrived.
