Pregnancy: After Loss Community

PART ONE!

I had a biophysical ultrasound at 2pm on Friday to examine Parker's well-being. I knew almost immediately that there was a problem based on the measurements. They were almost exactly the same as they were at my last regular ultrasound, which was 3 weeks prior. He apparently hadn't grown at all during the past 3 weeks! He was moving very little and some ratio between umbilical cord pressure and heart rate was off. His heart rate was fine, 130ish, totally normal for him, but he was just acting very sluggish and the ultrasound tech couldn't get him to perk up at all. My amniotic fluid level also dropped to about 8, down from 12 the previous Friday (and it had been something like 16 or 18 at the ultrasound 2 weeks prior to that). My doctors are happy with a fluid level of 10 or higher, so when I heard 8, I knew there would be some concern.

The ultrasound was very comprehensive and took a long time to complete, something like 45 minutes. I had started feeling sick on the ultrasound table but attributed it to the high temperature in the room. After the ultrasound, we were scheduled to head over to the hospital to have a cervix check and blood pressure check, and probably to be put on the fetal/contraction monitor. I decided to use the restroom before heading over to the hospital office. When I was walking out of the restroom, I felt a little POP. It was the most unusual feeling. I thought at that moment that my water had broken, but I didn't feel wet, so I thought maybe it was something else. I told Sean I wasn't feeling well and that my water had possibly broken but probably not, since I didn't feel any fluid coming out. We booked over to the hospital, which was only about 3 minutes away. I made Sean drop me off at the door while he parked (very unusual behavior for me), so he was getting the drift that something was really wrong.

We got up to the office and I immediately went to the restroom. TMI WARNING - As soon as I sat on the toilet I felt a huge gush of fluid come out. It kept dribbling after the initial gush, so I knew what it was for sure. I started calling Sean's name (he was in the waiting area right outside the restroom door) but he didn't come. He and the office staff could hear me calling but they didn't know what the noise was! So I pop my head out of the door and tell him that yes my water did break, the office staff is cheering and it's a big deal and we're awesome, woohoo! The doctor asks me about how I am feeling, contractions, etc and she goes on to tell me that had my water not broken, they would have induced me immediately anyway, based on all the recent concern with my blood pressure and the ultrasound results. Funny, I thought! W were having the baby anyway and we didn't even know it! They got a wheelchair ready and we are on our way over to L&D.

I started cramping within minutes of my water breaking. They were painful but tolerable at first, much like the contractions that I'd been having for about a month or so. The cramps very quickly escalated into very painful contractions and I was having a hard time dealing with the pain. To our surprise, I was only 2-3 cm dilated after about an hour of labor. At this point I asked for an epidural and waiting the hour for the anesthesiologist to get there was the longest hour of my entire life! Finally he was there and I was facing my biggest fear of giving birth - the giant needle inserted into my spine. Let me tell you, it was SO worth it. It hurt, yes, but it was nothing compared to the contractions I was feeling. And once the epidural was done, I was floating on cloud 9. I was having monster contractions (for anyone familiar with the TOCO monitor, they were peaking up at 125 on the meter) and I was just feeling the tightening. It was awesome.