April 11, 2012

eleanor's birth story

8 days past my due date
my water broke at 12:20am when i got up to go to the bathroom
i was so excited because water breaking means i'll have my baby
within the next day
and it had never happened to me before
plus my doctor told me it's all that it would take for the baby to engage
michael and i chatted for an hour or so
then he went back to bed
and i went and read a book in the living room for a few hours
i figured if labor wasn't going too strong
i could be at home until the morning
when we could get the kids up, dressed
and over to our neighbor charlene's without waking everyone up in the night
so i fell back asleep until just before 7:00am
and we got the kids ready
and took them over
then went to the hospital
 the nurses were not very happy that i'd waited at home so long
but it was fine and they got me all hooked up and monitored
including an iv in each arm, per v-bac regulations
and told me i was at a 1.5 and then eventually a 2.5
(side note: after this month our hospital won't be offering v-bacs 
so i felt extra lucky that i was getting to try)
i spent all day having contractions about 5-6 minutes apart
that grew in strength
my doctor was out of town but would be around by the evening
so i spent hours before i got checked again
and around 7:30pm (12 hours after i got to the hospital)
i finally saw my doctor and she told me i was dilated to a 4
which was good news
but although my water broke at home
it mended itself and was still a full bag of waters
so she decided she'd break my water in an hour

 by this point i was hooked up to fluid and antibiotics to help to decrease
the chance of infection since my water broke so long ago
when she re-broke my water there was a RIVER inside of me still
it soaked everything, and surprised all of us how much fluid there was
no wonder i was measuring so big
(well that and my giant baby)
so we assumed labor would just hurry right along
but instead my contractions kept getting stronger
and i didn't ever dilate more than 4.5
i was in terrible pain and by 12:30-1 i was pretty sure she wasn't coming
they figured she was sunny side up
so they had be get in different positions to try to move her
but it didn't help
(this picture was definitely from earlier in the day, i wasn't so happy at this point)
 finally i wanted to be put out of my misery
so they put some morphine in my iv
and i immediately fell asleep
out of exhaustion, it took the edge off but i could still feel the pain of the contractions
after that i felt like i wanted to die
when i woke up the doctor and i decided that i needed a c-section
so the OR team got me all prepped
 i could hardly keep my eyes open and felt like i needed to vomit
i was surprised they never gave me a drug to stop my contractions
 i had painful contractions all the way until my spinal was given to me on the operating table
so after 26 hours of labor
nine days overdue
i finally had my eleanor mae
via c-section
i feel like i gave it my absolute all
her head was apparently not sunny side up
but just plain sideways
and cock-eyed
so she was not coming out vaginally, ever
not to mention she was 9 lbs 5 oz
which is possibly just a little too big for my 
barely 5'1" body to handle
the birth was absolutely not what i was planning
at the end, before and during my c-section
i felt like i was having the worst experience of my life
my body was so tired, no progress was being made
my eyes wanted to shut, i started vomiting...
i just assumed it would've been different
i thought it would be quick and the result would be a successful v-bac
but that was not how it was supposed to be
and i don't have any regrets
i now know that i will have c-sections from now on
my doctor told me my uterus is super strong
and i hardly have any scar tissue
so i'm not worried about our family size being stunted by
the amount of c-sections i can or cannot have
 eleanor was of course worth every second of my labor
all 41+ weeks of pregnancy
and the c-section recovery i was hoping to avoid
 michael and i love being parents
there is no greater joy in life
i love how close it makes me feel to michael
every time we have another child
and how i feel the love in our family grow
 eleanor is so loved
everyone is adjusting well to her
and her siblings are just as in love with her
as we are

11 comments:

miriam said...

you are amazing. I can't imagine going through that! I hope your recovery goes smoothly. and I'm glad you have a strong uterus so you can keep making super cute babies! :) Eleanor Mae looks so sweet and perfect.

Erin said...

Oh Rachael, she is just beautiful! You are amazing!

Unknown said...

I'm so happy for you. You can definitely say you did ev.er.y.thing in your power to have a v bac, and you can feel good that you can have more kids. What a blessing! Family of 6, wow! she is beautiful.

Kelli Dixon said...

Some babies just have their own idea of how to come! You are so strong! I need to come visit you and baby Eleanor, she is darling.

Marie said...

I agree with everyone...you are amazing. I love the ending, that no matter what you had to go through, those little babies are worth all of it and more. She is absolutely darling!!

Kate Clayton said...

You are one tough cookie. I think you are amazing. You gave it your all and in the end you ended up with a beautiful baby.

The Asay's said...

You are seriously amazing! Reading this made me kind of tear up. Being a mom is the most amazing thing. We get to bring all these sweet babies into the world. Once that baby is here it is all worth the pain. Eleanor is beautiful!

Natalie Smith said...

tears in my eyes. There are so many similarities to delivering Colby. With both of my kids the water would break and then have to be broke again in the hospital...so weird. I am happy everyone is happy and healthy. Way to go...Eleanor is beautiful. Great pictures to help tell the story too! Congrats to your family.

Marilou said...

You are so strong. Seriously, amazing. Eleanor is beautiful.

leighmichellec said...

You are amazing! What a beautiful family :)

Laurel said...

Amazing story! I'm so glad everything went well and excited for your beautiful addition!