Thursday, January 10, 2013

Birth Story: Emeric the Halloween Trickster

So I'm totally excited to link up with the lovely Grace to share my birth stories. I figure I'll start with Emeric since it's all fresh in my mind.

*************WARNING, ESPECIALLY TO ANY MALE FAMILY MEMBERS WHO MAY BE READING...you probably just want to stop here.


October 30th 2012 - 36 weeks pregnant with Emeric, bambino #3. I'm having sort of painful contractions again, which has been happening on and off this pregnancy but is not something that I ever experienced with my girls until it was < 3 hours until baby time. The pain is easy to deal with, but since the girls were extremely hasty in making their entrance into the world, it makes me nervous.

I've already been to the hospital twice with fits of contractions coming every 2-3 minutes - once at 30 weeks when we were in Outer Banks. At 34 weeks I had a fetal fibronectin test which was negative. It's the morning after hurricane Sandy rolled over us, but remarkably it was completely anticlimactic in our Baltimore suburb. Still, I have no idea what roads may be closed on the way to the hospital due to downed trees or flooding, so late that afternoon when I experience a little gush of blood and possibly fluid I decide I should go to the hospital ASAP just in case it takes us a while to get there. My awesome sisters had been staying with us to help out with the girls, so Stephen and I were able to just head right out the door.

At the hospital in Outer Banks, 30 weeks


I try calling L&D on the way, but nobody called back. We checked in at the ER and I was wheeled upstairs and I saw my FAV midwife Janine who delivered Ava sitting at the phone muttering about the huge list of people who had called while she was in her last delivery. Apparently the hurricane + full moon that had just happened was sending L&D into spasmodics. As I wait for Janine in triage, I'm having serious doubts - my contractions are only coming every 5 minutes or so and most of them aren't even painful. But Janine checks me and proclaims I'm 5cm dilated so I'm staying!

Because I hadn't had my group B strep test yet, they hooked me up to a penicillin drip and let me wander the halls. Stephen and I did lap after lap for about 45 minutes. It was such a strange feeling - walking the halls calmly, knowing I'd be having this baby tonight - usually I'm lucky if I can get checked in before the baby comes out :)

5 cm and counting!!


After 45 minutes of laps it was time for 15 minutes of monitor time, which was fine with me - I was getting pretty sleepy. I got into my hospital bed and was excited to see I was in time to catch the new Covert Affairs. After they had finished with the monitors, the nurse got me a birthing ball to roll around on for a bit and told me to call when I started to feel pressure. I sat for a few more minutes and by this time the contractions were picking up. I was still feeling pretty sleepy though, so I got back in bed.

The calm before the storm


I rest for a while, just waiting for that "it feels good to bear down but it's not time to push yet" feeling. Contractions were strong, but still only coming every 5 minutes so I felt like I had a ton of recovery time in between. Finally I had a contraction that felt a little different...I was pretty sure this was it, but gave it another contraction just to be sure - yep, I was definitely bearing down. I asked Stephen to call the nurse.

Stephen picked up the phone and said to the nurse "she feels like she needs to bear down..." and the nurse said she'd be there in a few minutes. Glad Stephen can read me so well, because he insisted "nope, you need to come now." I'm also glad Janine was the one on call tonight - she had delivered Ava and was familiar with my quick deliveries. Janine walked in a minute later and took a look at me - "well, let's break this big bag of water, and you'll have a baby!" She must have tempt fate - as she was saying this I had another contraction and my water finally breaks. "Nevermind!" Stephen chimes in :)

I pushed on the next contraction, and I thought I felt his head come out - but there was no relief, there was still more to push. I heard Janine say "Oh...ok..." with a bit of surprise in her voice, but I didn't stop to chat. There was work to be done. Another big push and finally I was done - 3 minutes after Janine walked into the room. Stephen had been at my side holding my hand and as soon as he was out we heard Janine say "well, that was a surprise!" I tried to sit up more to see - surpise?? What did she mean - did our little boy turn out to be a girl?? Stephen finally verbalized for us - what surprise? Janine said "he came out backwards...he was breech!" I looked at the clock - after midnight, so he was a halloween baby. Our little treat came with a few tricks up his sleeve. :) (Side note, my feelings won't be hurt if you'd like to roll your eyes at my ridiculous puns...)

Be still, my heart!!


There was a NICU nurse attending since he was 36 weeks. He had a little trouble with his breathing, but after a bit of time with the CPAP machine he was doing ok and was cleared for the regular nursery. He had some pretty amazing bruises on his rear end and legs thanks to his backwards entrance. Later Janine informed me that if they would have known that he was breech, they would have done a C-Section...very glad I avoided that. Looking back I could definitely match up the sensations with how he came out, but honestly - I would never have known if they didn't tell me. It wasn't much different than the normal way...natural childbirth isn't really a fun time either way :) He was a whopping 6lbs 8oz - my biggest ever. (Can you imagine if he had gone to term and was trying to come out backwards?? Mama mia!!)

This was actually a ton of fun to write and probably wouldn't have gotten around to it if not for the link up...so thanks again, Grace!! And somebody let me know if you figure out why on earth these birth stories are so darn addicting...

26 comments:

  1. In the interest of accuracy, and certainly not to toot my own horn, I was holding your hand AND your leg. Just sayin'

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In the interest of accuracy, there were a few other details I left out as well ;)

      Delete
  2. Wow. That's never how it goes for me! Way to go momma! :))

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahaha I definitely wouldn't call my deliveries normal!! And believe me, I'm glad they're not!!!

      Delete
  3. I can't believe they didn't know he was breech! That's awesome - how providential, everything went as it should have despite the feet-first extraction. If only the medical community weren't so terrified of delivering breech babies :(

    This reminds me that I really need to write up my birth stories too... Well, the twins are fresh in my mind, maybe I'll do that tonight!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He was actually "frank breech" which means he was butt first - I'm on my phone in the car right now, but later I'll have to post this awesome video of a frank breech delivery (using dummies don't worry hahaha...or maybe I'm the only one fascinated by these kinds of videos... :)

      But truly, I definitely had somebody looking out for me...I found out later that while I was delivering him, all doctors were currently in the OR - so if there were any trouble getting him out and I needed an emergency c-section , it would have been a very serious situation. Add to that the fact that neither my midwife or the nurse had ever delivered a breech baby before!!!

      But yes, I wonder if I have another breech baby in the future if they would allow me to try to deliver normally...and yes, please write your birth story!!! Now that I think of it, I'm not sure I've ever read a twin story that wasn't a section!!

      Delete
    2. Amazing! I assumed footling, that's a little easier right? But hey, you gave the midwife & nurse experience delivering a breech baby, so maybe they'll be more open to the possibility in the future? Good thing he was small!

      Delete
    3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRZ47zdEAzo - according to the midwife this was what he was like coming out!! Soooo glad he was small!!!!

      Delete
  4. oh my goodness, this is incredible!!! coolest birth story i've read so far, for sure.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Ana!! I was totally thinking about you after this happened...I had just read your story about Bernadette and it made me shudder to think about what would have happened if he was wedged in there the way she was...and I was VERY glad to hear Lucy came out head first, that means there's hope to avoid this situation with future babies!!!

      Delete
  5. I'm here from Ana's and wow wow wow. UnbeLIEVable.

    So happy it all went well - I'm so curious now to find out how often babies are accidentally delivered breach.

    And you make birth sound (and look) kind of...like a picnic.

    Well, thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hahaha I almost feel bad sharing my birth stories, they are all so easy...but after 3 months of bed rest, I think God was throwing me a bone :)

      I am curious too...I mentioned in a comment above that my nurse and midwife had NEVER delivered a breech before, and another midwife told me she only had one in her entire career so far...I'm sure it was much more common before ultrasounds were invented!! Several people had felt my belly and nobody picked up on it...and no ultrasound while in L&D, I'm guessing because it was so busy that night.

      Btw I subscribed to your blog recently and am loving it - so glad you stopped by!!

      Delete
  6. Here from "time flies when your having babies" and def enjoyed your birth story! I'm a medical student and just finished my OB/GYN rotation, I have to say that I'm SHOCKED you delivered a breech baby, and also how smoothly that it went! It's nice to hear different perspectives, and I'm so glad that I read your story :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh I'm so glad you're here reading this too!! I really haven't read much at all in terms of medical risks about delivering breech, but my delivery went so smoothly and I've love if more women were able to do this and avoid the c-section when it's possible...the more people on board in the medical community the better!!

      Delete
  7. I'm also here from Ana and amazed! My third was confirmed to be breech at 37 weeks (for a few visits prior the midwife just wasn't sure) and I hunted high and low for a doctor that might let me try to deliver him breech if he didn't turn. No such luck. But thankfully I found an OB who would do a version and attempt to flip him while still in utero, which worked. Funny thing was, I was having contractions like crazy when he was breech, and then we got him flipped and they all stopped and he was almost a week overdue. I suspect that his positioning had a lot to do with all of the contractions I was having from about 30 weeks on--more pressure on the cervix? Then, when it was just his head instead of his bottom/back, nothing... Anyway, I'm so glad everything went so well for you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm loving hearing everyone's breech info!!! I seriously never even thought or learned anything about this until this happened...VERY interesting that the contractions stopped after your baby turned - I had plenty of braxton hicks with my girls but never painful contractions before real labor like I did this time around. I definitely think there's something to that. (And that gives me hope for making it to full term next time around...) And glad to hear about a successful version, I'd definitely try that before trying to deliver breech again!!

      Delete
  8. Great tale! Thank you for sharing. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you!! I need to get crackin' on the other two!!

      Delete
  9. That is so fun! I'm glad your surprise breech went so smoothly. Thanks for sharing, and what a doll of a baby!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The more I think about it, the more I think this was actually my easiest delivery. Crazy, right?!

      Delete
  10. So, I kind of want to go all stalker on you and comment on every single post on your awesome blog, but since I'm 34 weeks pregnant and mildly obsessed with birth stories right now I'll stick to simply thanking you for indulging my latest obsession. ;)

    Congratulations on the birth of your newest sweet little one!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you!!! And best of luck on your upcoming delivery!!

      Delete
  11. Jamie, you superwoman, I LOVE that you delivered breech! I'm so sick of hearing about c-sections happening left and right and you make me so happy!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I can't believe they didn't catch that he was breech. You are so incredibly lucky in that regard! I'm 36 hours away from an induction for twins and on a birth story binge at the moment. Found your blog through Grace's linkup. I'll be back! Lovely blog!

    ReplyDelete
  13. WHOA! Breech and they didn't know it!?!? So blessed that it went that well. And he's adorable too!

    Okay, now I think you may have me beat for great birth stories.

    ReplyDelete