Teagan Andra's Birth Story:
We were sent in to the hospital at 8am on February 4th to start induction. At this point I was a full week overdue, and with the extra fluid and high blood pressure, they didn't want to wait any longer. They started with Cervadil, which is a tampon-type thing inserted to ripen the cervix. (I was only maybe 1-2cm dialated and 50% effaced) Normally they send you home after administering this, to await labour at home, but with the extra fluid and baby sitting high, I was a higher risk for a cord prolapse, so they kept me in.

The Cervadil didn't seem to do much, and after about 6 hours I accidentally pulled it out in the bathroom - oops! They waited until that evening to insert another, and we waited for some sign. Not much seemed to be going on, though I did have some mild contractions, and the next day I found the second Cervadil had fallen out after about the same amount of time! I was getting pretty bored of the hospital already, expecially since nothing was happening, and for the most part I had to stay in bed attached to machines to monitor the baby. My mom came in every day to spend time with me, and to let my husband 'escape' for a good meal and a break. They decided to try Oxytocin(pitocen) next, but to wait until morning. The IV was pretty painful, I'm not a good needle person, so that added to the trauma I'm sure, plus they had to try a couple times to get it in.

They started the Oxytocin in the morning, but nothing really happened until the afternoon. They kept upping the dose until I was having some contractions in the afternoon and evening. They weren't bad, though the numbers on the monitor indicated they were reasonably strong. By this time the THIRD pregnant woman from the bed next to me had moved on, to the labour rooms or for a c-section, since I came in, so I was getting pretty antsy for progress! That evening, my doctor came in and checked me and I had not made ANY progress! Plus, the baby's heartrate was rising a bit in response to the contractions/Oxytocin. They called in the OB, who said that it would be best at this point to go for the c-section. The baby hadn't dropped at all, I wasn't dialating, and the rising heartrate indicated potential problems for the baby. Though I was initially opposed to a c-section, by this point I was happy with the decision. We'd tried the induction, and it just wasn't working out. I wanted whatever was best for the baby and I.
They made the c-section decision at around 7:30-8:00pm and set about making arrangements. The anesthetist was busy with another surgery, but the OB said "well, I guess you better call in someone else!" I'm really glad for that, I wouldn't have slept a wink if they'd made me wait until morning! It took a while to prep me for the surgery. I needed a catheter, partial shave and had to drink an icky antacid.

They sent Magnus off to get into scrubs and wait. He thought it would only be a few minutes, but it took a while to get everyone arranged in the OR, so he waited 45 minutes and was getting worried.. There were a lot of people in there: my doctor, the OB, a pediatrician, the anesthetist, and 3 nurses! I was REALLY worried about the spinal anesthetic....that for me was the scariest part of a c-section. I let everyone know how nervous I was and they were great. Despite having to make THREE attempts at it, it wasn't that bad. Finally I was all prepped and they brought Magnus in. I was really chatty through the whole thing, trying to keep my mind off what was going on. The doctor and the OB both had to push really hard on my belly to get her out, I heard them both grunting, she was a very big baby. It was a really surreal experience, I felt my body being tugged around but I was numb from just below the chest. The second I heard her cry, she started wailing before she was pulled all the way out, the tears started to flow. I've never been so happy as I was that moment, and in the time after as I watched them clean her, and hand her to my husband.


- posted by Wendy @ 1:23:00 AM