Thursday, October 13, 2011

Quentin's birth story


So, I'm sitting here, eating a spoonful of peanut butter while little Mr. Quentin sleeps; and thought, heck I should type out this birth story of ours. I'll admit, I've been hesitant about doing it cause, labor was not pleasant for me, and its something that tore me up for a few days. I did not enjoy it. And I didn't want to write a super negative post.

Okay.

So the night before, (27th) I got the foley bulb put in. Talk about being uncomfortable. It made me feel like I was actually having full-on labor contractions. It fell out about 4 hrs later. Which made me excited! Meant I was 4-5 cm dilated.

We arrived at the hospital on the 28th at 8:30 am. After they did all their normal tests, they started me on pitocin. We were feeling optimistic about me already being 5 cm dilated. I honestly thought it was gonna happen by noon... nope. Most of the day was boring, just me hanging out, waiting for me to be dilated enough to push. The doctors kept upping the pitocin every hour or so. Nothing really changed. By around noon, they broke my water (Poor Michael! He didn't know what they meant when they said they were gonna "rupture" me. He was NOT expecting that! haha) We were hoping that would speed along my labor. It kinda did. I went to 6 cm after that.

The doctors noticed that Quentin's head was down, but off to the left. He wasn't progressing. So they wanted to warn me, that a c-section might be in my future.

Again, they kept upping my pitocin. And it was getting pretty uncomfortable. I opted to get the ole' epidural around 5 pm. They were giving me 3 times the limit for pitocin, and I WAS FEELING IT. I hated, hated HATED the epidural. I totally regretted getting it. I was toooo numb. I could lift my legs or move my toes. I did not like the feeling.

Jess (my sister) came by around 6:30 pm. And around that time, I was cranky, tired, uncomfortable and super hungry. They wouldn't let me eat since the night before, except for ice chips and popsicles. I couldn't even drink water. humph. Thank god Jess came by, she kept us laughing and kept Michael company.

The same routine happened over and over again. They came in, checked to see how dilated I was, upped my pitocin and left. Finally around 3 am of the 29th I was about 9-10cm dilated! YAY. Quentin's head seemed to have moved more to the birth canal, still a little off centered, but the doctors thought contractions and pushing would change that. They had me start pushing, but it wasn't working too well. I was too numb to feel my contractions. So they took me off the epidural.

HOLY COW. With all the pitocin being pumped in me with no pain meds, it sucked.

Jess left a little after 3 am. She had to be back home to sleep and watch Wyatt.

By 5 am, we were told LETS PUSH! Holla. I did the first 2 hours with no epidural. Quentin's head was turned to the side, we couldn't get him to turn. With all my pushing and the doctor's efforts of turning his head, he wouldn't move. My doctor called her resident doctor to come in and make a decision if a c-section was in our future. The resident was hopeful of getting his head turned straight and told me "If I have it in me to keep pushing, that it still might be a vaginal birth."

So of course I kept pushing. FOR ANOTHER 3 HRS! The cut off (that this hospital does) is 3 hrs of pushing, then it turns to a c-section. I was so so so exhausted. I would push on contractions, and then flop back and ACTUALLY DOZE OFF between pushing. My whole body was beyond tired. By hour 5, they stopped my pushing. It was 19 hrs since my water broke, and Quentin's head hadn't progressed. He was stuck in my birth canal.

The next hour happened so fast. They decided they needed to do a c-section. I was so tired and overwhelmed by then. I couldn't stop shaking all over and couldn't stop crying. My nerves were so shot and I wanted everything to be over.

They took me in the operating room, strap me down and started to cut. I told them I COULD FEEL THAT. They gave me more medication, about 4 more times. And started to cut again. I told them again, I COULD FEEL THAT. The anesthesiologist didn't believe me. She kept saying I could feel "pressure" and that was normal. NO, I FELT YOU CUTTING INTO ME.

So again, they started to cut into me, and this time it hurt SOOO badly I yelled. Thats when they believed me, and chose to put me under general, which meant Michael had to wait outside. THANK GOD.

I'm so thankful that I felt the cuts, and that they put me under general because I would have lost my mind when Quentin was born. And Michael would have too.
Quentin came out NOT breathing. He had Meconium Aspiration. The stress of 5 hours of pushing did it. They rushed him off to the NICU. I can only imagine how scary that would have been to see if I was awake.

So I woke up, and I was informed of what happened. Michael was in the NICU with him. And I was told I couldn't see him yet. UGH. TORTURE. I was so overwhelmed and upset. I first saw him in a picture on someone's cell phone. I started bawling. I didn't get to actually see Quentin until 9 pm that night. :( I couldn't hold him until the 31st. He was way too stressed out and had tons of IVs and tubes on him. It sucked. I was super depressed. I can't believe I almost lost my baby.

When Quentin was finally discharged from the hospital, one of the nurses came up to me. She was a total Grandma type. She told me she was "So thankful he is okay. His delivery was the second most scared I've have been my whole life." Whoa.

Jess and I downplayed just how scary and close we were to losing Quentin. But it was very real to me. I needed a few days to heal after all this. Definitely the most intense moment of my life. Something I never want to relive.

But EVERYONE IS OKAY NOW. Quentin is a healthy screaming baby. I've bounced back, even lost 30lbs so far. So heres to the future!

19 comments:

  1. Wow, how scary.  BUT, your little boy is absolutely adorable!

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  2. i'm sorry that delivery turned out that way. i can't tell you that i understand, because i don't. i can't even imagine what it felt like to be in labor for so long and then feel them making the cuts into you. but i can say that quentin is beautiful, and so very lucky to have you for his mother. :)

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  3. Meg @ Kitschy SuburbiaOctober 13, 2011 at 3:24 PM

    OMGosh how intense!!  He is a handsome little boy and I'm so happy that it all turned out alright.  I can't believe they let you push that long.  Oh, and I hate anesthesiologists.  I have yet to meet one I like (and I've met quite a few).  Congrats, Mom!!  You did a great job.

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  4. When I had my lil boy I knew labour may be tough but I went through something similar to you and it was not what I expected, even when I thought of the worst. Thankfully he was ok and I try to forget about it as much as I can because seeing his lil smile makes it all worthwhile. Kinda put me off having another but I'm having another baby next year and hoping the labour is much smoother this time.

    Glad you are both ok though Quentin is a very cute baby boy, congratulations

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  5. Thankful Mom and Baby are healthy and doing well. Congrats I hope you enjoy every moment of motherhood and kudos to you for dropping 30 lbs that is great!!!

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  6. thanks for sharing!  i'm sorry it was not a very good experience but so glad that everything turned out good and there's a healthy adorable baby for us all to enjoy!  congrats mama!

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  7. OH man I followed all of this on IG & twitter. It was a little more downplayed but I knew that there was something odd! Working at an OB/GYN office I have never heard of pushing that long! Your a champ!! Poor thing, I'm so glad that Q is okay!

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  8. wow! you're such a strong and brave mama!

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  9. Oh wow that's crazy! I ended up having to get a c-section because I wasn't progressing, but wow if I could have felt that I have no clue what I would have done and I'm glad Q is alright now and I'm glad you both are ok! Congrats by the way!

    http://petitmonstree.com

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  10. So intense. I'm so happy everything turned out great! I can't even imagine how you must have been feeling. Ugh. Kills me. But again, so happy everything is totally good now! He is so cute! Love it.

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  11. wow! you are superwoman. I am so excited for your posts with little Q!!

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  12. This is absolutely the scariest thing I've ever read. I was following on Twitter, too, and when I heard you had to wait to see Quentin I was devastated for you. I'm glad there's a happy ending to this story, and I hope you're able to heal emotionally from the birth experience. I know I'd be soooo bitter.

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  13. Oh Sam, I'm so sorry it was the ideal situation, but regardless, you have a healthy beautiful baby boy! I was following your sisters IG posts & I too was devastated you weren't able to hold him yet. The pictures of you holding him for the first time made me cry! Such a beautiful moment! I'm so glad Q is home & healthy & that you're Able to hold him whenever you want! :) keep the pictures coming!! :)

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  14. WOW!  your story is insane. i got goosebumps reading the end.  i am so glad to hear that you and quentin are fine now!

    you know what popped into my head after reading that though? if you and quentin can get through that, you can overcome anything life throws at you. seriously. what amazing accomplisments.

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  15. soooo I just bawled my lil eyes out sitting on the couch with my dad, we're both so proud of you!! I can't imagine going through all of that. I wish I could give you a huge hug! Quentin is absolutely the cutest lil guy ever...you totally rock mama!!

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  16. I've just finally had a chance to read this. I'm so glad you and Q are okay. That's so freakin' scary and made me cry for you. I'm just glad you're home together and healthy and happy and can move on from here. 

    ...and he's super duper cute. What a nice bonus. :)

    -Sara-

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  17. Oh wow Sam, I had no idea how crazy it was! You are all very brave! xxx

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  18. I hope you are enjoying the life with baby!  x

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  19. GAH! So glad everything turned out well. Q's adorable, and we're all happy to see you blogging again :)

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