Jake's Birth Story August 9th, 2005

melos · 08-12-2005, 09:06 AM

Hi, guys, not up to starting a thread, but wanted to post this.

Congrats to Amy and Anastasia!!!!

Synopsis:

Jacob (Jake) Roland
born 12:04pm Tues the 9th
8 lbs 3 oz
22"
natural hospital birth, no episitomy!!

We reported to the hospital at 6:00 pm on Monday the 8th to start induction with Cervadil. That AM at the Drs. I had been 1 cm dilated and still pretty thick. He tried to sweep my membranes. I had been sorta crampy all afternoon. At this point, the baby was eight days overdue, and due to my PIH (pregnancy-induced hypertension), I had been on modified bed rest for the past 15 weeks. We decided not to push our luck to let him go farther.

They put in the Cervadil at 8:00 pm. I had to lay there and be monitored for two hours after, so DH and I read and listened to music. We had put together a pretty good selection of CDs. A little before 10 he ran over to Wawa to grab some food, since I was then allowed to eat until midnight. I had some mac & cheese and M&Ms, yum!

About 11:30 we tried to go to sleep, he got one of those awful hospital cots. They kept me on the monitor most of the night, I just got up and peed often  I started having contractions pretty soon after midnight, but could still sleep through them until about 5:00 am. I made DH get up then and come sit next to me.

The original plan was that they’d take the Cervadil out around 7, then I’d have time for a shower and light breakfast and they’d start the Pitocin. Luckily, I got going on my own, and we skipped that whole step!! The Cervadil ended up coming out on it’s own around 6:30 with my mucus plug, and I told the nurse I thought I saw some green stuff that might be meconium, she thought it was probably part of the plug.

My Dr. came in around 7, I was still at 1-2, he swept the membranes again. The contractions started getting worse, but DH helped me breathe through them and we kept the music going to distract me. We played Pat Metheny (jazz),Beethoven’s 6th Symphony, Bruckner’s 4th Symphony, and an Aaron Copland CD.

Around 9 (I think), he came back and said I was at 7 cm!! I was pretty out of it by then, I went introverted to deal with the contractions. We had a birth plan and he knew we wanted to go as natural as possible, and he un-pushingly asked if I wanted an epidural. I asked if it wasn’t too late, and he said it would probably be too late in an hour. I said I could last an hour.

So, I started pushing at 10. All of the L & D nurses we had were great, they were very supportive of me going natural. The main one we had didn’t keep asking me if I wanted anything, maybe once. I had tried sitting on a birth ball, but it was way uncomfortable. I felt best on my left side. I did ask her to get the squat bar at one point, I did about 3 or 4 contractions on it. They made some comment that they had to get it out of the basement, it had been so long since someone had used it!! I ended up pushing for two hours, mostly on my left side the whole time.

I ended up with a different Dr. to deliver, and she was awesome!!! The nurse let me know that she didn’t believe in episiotomies, and would let me stay on my side if I wanted. I was realllllly tired after all that pushing, considering I had done nothing for almost 4 months!!! I kept waiting for the nurse to page the Dr., everyone kept telling me how great I was doing and how I was almost there, but the Dr. didn’t come until the baby was crowning. She was there probably a good half hour trying to help me finish. She finally suggested the vacuum to help me the last way, and I agreed. They had decided that he’d passed meconium, and got a neonatologist down there. The pain was definitely intense, and even though I had good urges to push, it did not feel good!!! I read so much about what a relief it is, but I didn’t find it so. I talked to my sister who said she felt the same way.

So we got his head out, and they stopped me to suction him. Then we got his shoulders out, and they stopped me again! I had to push one more time for his butt. That was a major relief. Everything went quickly then, they had him clamped and cut and over with the neonatologist suctioning him more. DH went over, my Dr. got me to push the placenta out and gave me a few stitches. I kept mumbling at her my thanks for not cutting me, I was definitely out of it!!!

We hadn’t decided on a name yet, but his Apgar’s were 8 and 9. He weighed 8 lbs, 3 oz, and they said he was 22 inches. Neither of us have tall people in out family, so we thought that was strange!! They didn’t think the meconium affected him much. For some reason the neonatologist wanted to do a 12 hr glucose screen (we think that somewhere they had my due date wrong and he thought I was over 42 weeks). That’s another story.

Later that day, we decided on a name, Jacob Roland. We’ll call him Jake. We left the hospital Wed afternoon, and have been having a great time since! Other than not sleeping, of course………

ETA: there are pics in my siggy - Our Moblog!

Laprettygurl · 08-12-2005, 09:15 AM

great birth!

Off topic~Is that your hubby wearing your cat in a sling? I totally love it!

wari · 08-12-2005, 09:38 AM

Congratulations! Jake is beautiful! Great Birth story!

Wendy

gilbabe75 · 08-12-2005, 10:32 AM

Congrats! Yes, pushing is not a relief IMO....it was the most painful part for me!

Dar20 · 08-12-2005, 12:18 PM

Melanie, he's beautiful!

LunaAshling · 08-12-2005, 01:55 PM

Congradulations!!!!!!!

melos · 08-12-2005, 03:03 PM

Thanks, everybody!! I think I'm still on the post-delivery high. I don't think I've gotten more than three hours sleep a night yet.

Yeah, Pauline, that's my DH wearing the cat as practice! Our two furry babies are pretty freaked out. Hopefully that will change soon.

Gotta go practice nursing again...

How long did everyone's milk take to come in?

SmileyAmy · 08-12-2005, 03:31 PM

Melanie...congrats and great birth story. Glad it went well!! If you read my stori in the PG Thread, I mentioned pushing didn"t feel good to me either. Our babies share a birth day!

jojolw · 08-12-2005, 03:43 PM

Congratulations Melanie! Jake is gorgeous! Great birth story!

t3uf3l · 08-12-2005, 03:45 PM

Congrats!!

melos · 08-12-2005, 03:57 PM

Also what I think is interesting is that I thought it would really hurt as he was going down the birth canal, all those pushes before he came out, but it didn't. Just the contractions. They had oxygen on me and I still felt like I couldn't get enough air.

I can't imagine holding my breath for 10 counts, I could barely make it to 6 and they kept yelling at me because I was vocalizing while pushing. Eh...

It's still hard to believe something that big came out of me!

Mrs Sarah · 08-12-2005, 04:45 PM

Congratulations!!!!

metroames · 08-13-2005, 01:46 AM

Congratulations! What a great birth story!

RLDCatwoman · 08-13-2005, 05:04 AM

Lurker here, loved the story! My "baby" is 4 years old. It took 1-2 days for my milk to come in. Keep on nursing, though! That pre-milk is giving Jake your immunities!

Rachael

08-12-2005, 09:06 AM	#1
melos Senior LCF Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Philly suburbs Posts: 211 Gallery: melos Stats: PG - Don't ask!	Jake's Birth Story August 9th, 2005 Hi, guys, not up to starting a thread, but wanted to post this. Congrats to Amy and Anastasia!!!! Synopsis: Jacob (Jake) Roland born 12:04pm Tues the 9th 8 lbs 3 oz 22" natural hospital birth, no episitomy!! We reported to the hospital at 6:00 pm on Monday the 8th to start induction with Cervadil. That AM at the Drs. I had been 1 cm dilated and still pretty thick. He tried to sweep my membranes. I had been sorta crampy all afternoon. At this point, the baby was eight days overdue, and due to my PIH (pregnancy-induced hypertension), I had been on modified bed rest for the past 15 weeks. We decided not to push our luck to let him go farther. They put in the Cervadil at 8:00 pm. I had to lay there and be monitored for two hours after, so DH and I read and listened to music. We had put together a pretty good selection of CDs. A little before 10 he ran over to Wawa to grab some food, since I was then allowed to eat until midnight. I had some mac & cheese and M&Ms, yum! About 11:30 we tried to go to sleep, he got one of those awful hospital cots. They kept me on the monitor most of the night, I just got up and peed often  I started having contractions pretty soon after midnight, but could still sleep through them until about 5:00 am. I made DH get up then and come sit next to me. The original plan was that they’d take the Cervadil out around 7, then I’d have time for a shower and light breakfast and they’d start the Pitocin. Luckily, I got going on my own, and we skipped that whole step!! The Cervadil ended up coming out on it’s own around 6:30 with my mucus plug, and I told the nurse I thought I saw some green stuff that might be meconium, she thought it was probably part of the plug. My Dr. came in around 7, I was still at 1-2, he swept the membranes again. The contractions started getting worse, but DH helped me breathe through them and we kept the music going to distract me. We played Pat Metheny (jazz),Beethoven’s 6th Symphony, Bruckner’s 4th Symphony, and an Aaron Copland CD. Around 9 (I think), he came back and said I was at 7 cm!! I was pretty out of it by then, I went introverted to deal with the contractions. We had a birth plan and he knew we wanted to go as natural as possible, and he un-pushingly asked if I wanted an epidural. I asked if it wasn’t too late, and he said it would probably be too late in an hour. I said I could last an hour. So, I started pushing at 10. All of the L & D nurses we had were great, they were very supportive of me going natural. The main one we had didn’t keep asking me if I wanted anything, maybe once. I had tried sitting on a birth ball, but it was way uncomfortable. I felt best on my left side. I did ask her to get the squat bar at one point, I did about 3 or 4 contractions on it. They made some comment that they had to get it out of the basement, it had been so long since someone had used it!! I ended up pushing for two hours, mostly on my left side the whole time. I ended up with a different Dr. to deliver, and she was awesome!!! The nurse let me know that she didn’t believe in episiotomies, and would let me stay on my side if I wanted. I was realllllly tired after all that pushing, considering I had done nothing for almost 4 months!!! I kept waiting for the nurse to page the Dr., everyone kept telling me how great I was doing and how I was almost there, but the Dr. didn’t come until the baby was crowning. She was there probably a good half hour trying to help me finish. She finally suggested the vacuum to help me the last way, and I agreed. They had decided that he’d passed meconium, and got a neonatologist down there. The pain was definitely intense, and even though I had good urges to push, it did not feel good!!! I read so much about what a relief it is, but I didn’t find it so. I talked to my sister who said she felt the same way. So we got his head out, and they stopped me to suction him. Then we got his shoulders out, and they stopped me again! I had to push one more time for his butt. That was a major relief. Everything went quickly then, they had him clamped and cut and over with the neonatologist suctioning him more. DH went over, my Dr. got me to push the placenta out and gave me a few stitches. I kept mumbling at her my thanks for not cutting me, I was definitely out of it!!! We hadn’t decided on a name yet, but his Apgar’s were 8 and 9. He weighed 8 lbs, 3 oz, and they said he was 22 inches. Neither of us have tall people in out family, so we thought that was strange!! They didn’t think the meconium affected him much. For some reason the neonatologist wanted to do a 12 hr glucose screen (we think that somewhere they had my due date wrong and he thought I was over 42 weeks). That’s another story. Later that day, we decided on a name, Jacob Roland. We’ll call him Jake. We left the hospital Wed afternoon, and have been having a great time since! Other than not sleeping, of course……… ETA: there are pics in my siggy - Our Moblog! __________________ Melanie New Mommy to Jake born August 9th! Our Moblog!

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08-12-2005, 09:15 AM	#2
Laprettygurl Mother of the year Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Not Alberta! Posts: 2,758 Gallery: Laprettygurl WOE: Atkins '72 Start Date: Jan 24, 2006	great birth! Off topic~Is that your hubby wearing your cat in a sling? I totally love it!

08-12-2005, 09:38 AM	#3
wari MAJOR LCF POSTER! Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Frisco, TX Posts: 2,812 Gallery: wari Stats: 182/158/145 WOE: Low Carb Start Date: 2/21/2006	Congratulations! Jake is beautiful! Great Birth story! Wendy

08-12-2005, 10:32 AM	#4
gilbabe75 Very Gabby LCF Member!!! Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: South Eastern PA Posts: 4,590 Gallery: gilbabe75 WOE: the lower carb anti-diet	Congrats! Yes, pushing is not a relief IMO....it was the most painful part for me!

08-12-2005, 12:18 PM	#5
Dar20 Blabbermouth!!! Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 5,752 Gallery: Dar20	Melanie, he's beautiful!

08-12-2005, 01:55 PM	#6
LunaAshling Queen of the Planet of Redheads Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Here, no really. Posts: 3,685 Gallery: LunaAshling Stats: 2??/???/130-ish @ 5'5 WOE: Atkins/Weston Price Start Date: 3rd times the charm! 11/08	Congradulations!!!!!!!

08-12-2005, 03:03 PM	#7
melos Senior LCF Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Philly suburbs Posts: 211 Gallery: melos Stats: PG - Don't ask!	Thanks, everybody!! I think I'm still on the post-delivery high. I don't think I've gotten more than three hours sleep a night yet. Yeah, Pauline, that's my DH wearing the cat as practice! Our two furry babies are pretty freaked out. Hopefully that will change soon. Gotta go practice nursing again... How long did everyone's milk take to come in?

08-12-2005, 03:31 PM	#8
SmileyAmy Blabbermouth!!! Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Attleboro, Massachusetts Posts: 6,569 Gallery: SmileyAmy Stats: looking at the scale from a safe distance	Melanie...congrats and great birth story. Glad it went well!! If you read my stori in the PG Thread, I mentioned pushing didn"t feel good to me either. Our babies share a birth day!

08-12-2005, 03:43 PM	#9
jojolw Senior LCF Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Saskatchewan, Canada Posts: 210 Gallery: jojolw Stats: 165/153.4/125 WOE: Low Carb Start Date: 05/17/04 reinduction after pregnancy 01/01/06	Congratulations Melanie! Jake is gorgeous! Great birth story!

08-12-2005, 03:45 PM	#10
t3uf3l Junior LCF Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 46 Gallery: t3uf3l	Congrats!!

08-12-2005, 03:57 PM	#11
melos Senior LCF Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Philly suburbs Posts: 211 Gallery: melos Stats: PG - Don't ask!	Also what I think is interesting is that I thought it would really hurt as he was going down the birth canal, all those pushes before he came out, but it didn't. Just the contractions. They had oxygen on me and I still felt like I couldn't get enough air. I can't imagine holding my breath for 10 counts, I could barely make it to 6 and they kept yelling at me because I was vocalizing while pushing. Eh... It's still hard to believe something that big came out of me!

08-12-2005, 04:45 PM	#12
Mrs Sarah Big Yapper!!!! Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 9,303 Gallery: Mrs Sarah Stats: 282/272/170 WOE: Atkins Start Date: June 2006	Congratulations!!!!

08-13-2005, 01:46 AM	#13
metroames MAJOR LCF POSTER! Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Minnesota Posts: 2,087 Gallery: metroames Stats: 168/168/145 WOE: Atkins Maintainence - Breastfeeding Start Date: DANDR 3/10/03	Congratulations! What a great birth story!

08-13-2005, 05:04 AM	#14
RLDCatwoman Senior LCF Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Belleville, MI Posts: 565 Gallery: RLDCatwoman WOE: Atkins Start Date: September 2003	Lurker here, loved the story! My "baby" is 4 years old. It took 1-2 days for my milk to come in. Keep on nursing, though! That pre-milk is giving Jake your immunities! Rachael