Rachel's Birth Story - 6/16/2020

     

Rachel Lynn Kilby

Born June 16, 2020 - 5:34am  (41w2d)

9lbs 10oz, 21.5in

Whew.  Rachel is here, healthy and all the drama listed below was worth it, let's just settle that before digging in.  Important things to note are that she was a VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section) and that can complicate things a bit - or at least it seems to set people on edge a bit differently than a regular birth.  She was also nine days "late" which is just not unusual for me.

I was told by the Doctor who was overseeing my care that I wouldn't be "allowed" to go over 41 weeks.  I was tired, uncomfortable, and large...so I was completely fine with that.  Imagine my surprise when I went to my last appointment before that 41 week mark and no induction was scheduled.  It was a rough day.  Fortunately my mom came over, I ate Oreos, took a nap, and then moved on with my life.  Aaron said I only had to be mature about it for five minutes a day - I could do that! 

Sunday night (41w exactly) I was having a hard time feeling any movements.  I was just a minute or two away from calling the Doctor's office when she started moving around enough that I was comfortable with it.  It was tense for a bit and I was nervous.  The next day (41+1) I had an appointment with the midwife.  We did a non-stress test checking movement and heart rate and I was told, again, that the results were a borderline pass.  I told her about my experience the night before and that the doctor had told me because she was a VBAC that I wasn't supposed to go past 41 weeks.  She said I should just go down to admitting.

WHAT.  I mean, I had purposely kissed all the kids goodbye before I left that day.  I knew there was a possibility I wouldn't be going back home...but now I was facing delivery head on and I was nervous.  I called Aaron and asked how he felt about having a baby.  My mom was already at my house so she could watch the kids while I was at my appointment.  We all agreed that I would go get checked in and do whatever I needed to do.  Aaron was going to finish up what he had to do at work and then was going to meet my mom at the house, grab my stuff, and they would come over together when our friend got there to hang out with the kids.

I checked in around 10:30am.  They arrived by 1:30pm.  By then I had gotten the IV inserted (my favorite) and had a Foley bulb placed (around 11:30am).  Then we waited.  The midwife wouldn't start Pitocin until the bulb was out or it had been four hours.  I was at 2.5cm when the bulb came out.  The decision was made to do an epidural, break my water and at 4pm they started the Pitocin with the plan to turn it up every 45 minutes or so.  We were sure I was going to have this baby by 10pm. We were excited. Things were moving along. But no…. we waited, watched a lot of Food Network and waited some more.  I got to 5cm and basically stopped doing anything. 

Every time she checked me and then said she'd check me again in a few hours I got really discouraged.  I also knew that if my body didn't respond I would be getting another c-section.  Fortunately, they weren't pushing it and weren't concerned yet.  I was though.  I laid on one side (with a pickle ball between my legs), then the other side. She had to lift whichever leg was on top because I couldn’t and that felt weird.  The nurse suggested I sit straight up and down for awhile to see if that pressure helped.  It seemed to, but not a lot.  It was frustrating.  Everyone was tired and it was difficult.

Around 1am the midwife came in and checked me again and I was at still 5cm which I was frustrated by because we had been at it for a long time and I was tired and scared.  When they laid me back I had a similar feeling in my shoulders that I did in the c-section, just this weird pressure that I couldn't get away from.  Then I was nauseous.  Fortunately the nurse was quick, it wasn't super messy and we could get back to rotating my body and waiting.

Around 4am the nurse had me turn from my left side to the right.  I turned off the TV and turned on some hymns so I could just relax.  Aaron and my mom (and I) were sleeping on and off, just trying to get through the tired.  They were both fantastic and I was thankful to have their support - and thankful they were able to get some rest. 

At about 4:30 I was talking to my mom about how I didn't know what I was going to do about getting someone to the house to relieve dad so he could go to work.  I had assumed she would be born and Aaron would be home...but now that seemed far fetched.  Around 5:15am she was texting my dad and the doctor came in and I told her I was feeling more pressure and she checked me again.  (Let's go ahead and call it ring of fire pressure).  She said I was at 9.5cm and ready to push.  WHAT.

So we got everyone in place and I was able to start pushing.  My mom said she sent a text to my dad at 5:15am and then turned around the be present for the delivery.  She was trying to help everyone relax and started singing “I’m going down to the burning ring of fire…” It was funny but STOP!!! Rachel was born at 5:34am.  The actual delivery was quick, relatively easy and I was SO grateful that I was able to get her out without a c-section.   The midwife let me push with dimmed lights and it was very peaceful.  Aaron said that I had a look of determination on my face and I owned it.  There was a point that was extremely uncomfortable and I was starting to lose it a bit.  My mom said she could see me talking myself down.  I remember thinking "this is like the pain of a bad sunburn and it is going to be over soon.  Stay calm and get it done."  

When she was out they put her up on my stomach but she wasn't making much noise.  The midwife said tell me when we hit 30 seconds.  At that mark, they called the NICU.  The NICU team was in the office no more than 15 seconds later it seemed like.  By the time they were in the room Rachel had sputtered and screamed a bit so they were not needed, but I was thankful for the quick action and readiness.  After that I got to hold her and just let her rest on me and take her in.  She is perfect.  Since we went straight skin to skin we were joking about if anyone checked to make sure she was a girl and if she did indeed have 10 fingers and toes. 

A bit later I got up to go to the bathroom and lost quite a bit of blood - which is fairl

y normal.  And then later when they were pushing on my uterus I lost quite a bit more.  And then again.  The midwife was called, I went back on pitocin, got a shot in my thigh, and had to take some medicine under my tongue. Then I started shaking.  Like uncontrollably cold and shaking.  The midwife came in, said the pitocin was cold and that was part of the problem.  Then they piled blankets from a warmer and hot pads on me.  It took quite awhile to get both the bleeding and the shaking under control, but we did by about 10am. Part of the shaking was nerves because I knew that this much blood wasn't normal, but I tried to tell myself while they are taking it seriously, no one is presenting it as an emergency and I need to calm down.  So I just breathed and tried to relax.  Aaron was a rockstar and had the baby during all this because I needed to focus on getting myself calmed down.  I also was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open.
By 11am I was moved from the delivery room to the recovery area and got to enjoy my little girl!  Now we are a day later and I am completely in love with this kiddo.  She is going to be a great addition to our family and the kids are so excited to meet her!