Baby C's Birth Story: Part 1  

Hey everybody!

I only have 10 minutes because Blogger is a restricted site at the hospital, and that's all the "quota time" I get on here. So this is the abbreviated story without pictures.

So there I was, Monday afternoon, hosting a playdate with one of my best friend's and her two daughters when I stand up to get us each a glass of water and I start leaking. I run to the restroom, and scream, "Either I've become incontinent, or my water broke!" Turns out, it was my water. So as DH, my mom and I dashed to the hospital, my friend stayed at our house with G while we waited for another family friend to arrive.

Labor started off well. I spent four hours in maternity triage, waiting for a labor & delivery suite to open up. During that time, my contractions started up and began getting closer and closer together. By 1am -- eight hours after my water broke -- contractions were coming every four minutes and I was 4cm and 80% effaced. Feeling good, I chose not to go for the epidural and went with a dose of stadol to take the edge off instead.

Well, just as the epidural did during G's labor, the stadol completely stopped my labor. By 5am, I was having no contractions at all and was STILL 4cm. My OB ordered pitocin, which immediately started contractions again. An hour later, I was still in a lot of pain... but only 5cm dialated. I called for the epidural, and by 7am it was in and I was feeling GREAT.

That's when all hell broke loose. Just minutes after I sent my mom and DH to get some breakfast for themselves, Baby C's heartrate began to drop... well, plummet is more like it. With every contraction, he went from a stable 130-140bpm to 30-40bpm. The nurses did a great job of stabilizing him, but in the process, MY blood pressure started to tank; it eventually bottomed out at 70/40. I didn't feel a thing, but -- with the oxygen mask on -- was definitely scared; more for C than for myself. I laid in bed reciting the Hail Mary prayer over and over and over. By the time DH and my mom returned to the room around 8am, I was surrounded by three nurses, four anesthesiologists and my OB.

I was shocked when (what felt like) a few minutes later, my OB told DH to come over to my bedside and grab a leg. Apparently, it was time to push! I had gone from 5cm and 80% to ready to push in under 90 minutes. Three contractions later, Baby C came into the world with the cord wrapped around his neck. My OB anticipated this and quickly remedied the situation. I was stitched up and he was in my arms a few minutes later.

But I knew there was a problem. He was yellow... which would mean another stay in the NICU... and that's where we are now.