Amateur Hour

Daniel Philip was born Saturday, March 29 at 8:29 p.m. He weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz., and was 21 inches long. Here’s a picture of him on his way home from the hospital.

On Friday the 28th, I went in for an ultrasound and non-stress test, which are standard tests to monitor the baby’s condition when you go overdue. The non-stress test (which measures the baby’s heart rate over time) was fine, but when the ultrasound tech came in and looked at the ultrasound, we had the following conversation:

Tech: Have you been leaking amniotic fluid?

Me: No, why, is it all gone? Haha. (I was kidding.)

Tech: Yep.

Me: What?!

Officially, I had oligohydramnios, which is a fancy word for low amniotic fluid levels and can happen when a baby is overdue. The baby appeared to be fine, but the lack of amniotic fluid was an indication that the placenta was getting old and tired, and ready to throw in the towel. This was not a good thing since I was still nowhere near being in labor yet.

I called Joe, thinking I would leave a message, but I got lucky and he answered. He was in Tampa. I told him what was happening, and he started working on getting to the hospital. Thanks to good luck and helpful co-workers, Joe was at the hospital within 4 hours. I was admitted immediately, and the midwife came in to give me my options: induction or c-section. My Bishop’s Score was zero, which meant the induction would likely fail. The plan was to start with a very low-risk foley bulb overnight, and if I still wasn’t in labor in the morning we would reassess.

I didn’t sleep at all that night - the foley bulb triggered intermittent contractions, enough to keep me awake and annoy me, but not enough to make serious progress. In the morning, I was still not in labor. The bulb had done all it could do, the only remaining options were to proceed with pitocin or go straight for the surgery. I was terrified of the pitocin, and almost gave up and went for the surgery. Joe helped me get through that, and we started the pit at 9am on Saturday.

I progressed well up to 7cm, when I was in some serious pain and I stalled out for a while. I was worried about how an epidural would affect my progress - I had heard many stories about epidurals leading to c-sections. However, I couldn’t manage the pain any longer, so I asked for it. I was truly amazed at the pain relief it provided, and within minutes I fell asleep (at this point I had been awake for at least 34 hours.) I was fully dilated at 8pm, and pushed for just under 30 minutes, which really surprised me. First-time moms often push for an hour or three, but for me it was pretty quick and easy (thanks to the epidural!) I am now the proud owner of a “proven pelvis” as well as the proud mommy to two sweet boys.

So he’s here! He’s beautiful and healthy and we are so grateful for this gift from God!