[ruthann8]

Monday afternoon I had my non-stress test and everything was good. Monday night I went to bed at about 10pm. Within a few minutes I felt a strange pop, and suddenly felt like I peed my pants! I called my dh at work and he came home and off to the hospital we went. Since I was positive for group B strep they started me on antibiotics. For the first few hours I had very little contractions and was only 1-2cm dilated, so they started the pitocin.

I hadn’t decided about pain medication yet, I had wanted to see how things would go first. When I reached 4cm I decided I wanted some relief!! The anesthesiologist came to give me an intrathecal. He worked on me for an hour but he kept hitting bone. He couldn’t get between my vertebras. I have no idea how many needles he tried or how many times he poked me. He has been an anesthesiologist for 37 years and has only had a handful of people he hasn’t been able to get. Well at least during that hour I dilated to a 7-8. They gave me a shot of something through my IV, but that didn’t help much.

When I got to a 9, I started having intense pain that came between my contractions. The contractions were easier than the pain that came between. When I got to a 10 and started pushing she started coming fast. She was even crowning. But the pain between the contractions got unbearable. I could no longer tell when a contraction was starting. My doctor contacted some colleagues and it was decided that I should have an emergency cesarean. They thought that my pubis had split or was in the process of splitting. All future births would need to be cesarean regardless of if I had her vaginally or not. He also was afraid that if I had her vaginally I would do permanent damage to myself, and have difficultly walking, possible for the rest of my life. So after a 1 ½ hours of pushing they started to get the operating room ready for me.

They gave me something to try to stop labor but that also didn’t work. Every time I had a contraction she was putting pressure on my pubis bone and it hurt so bad. They had to put me completely under because the anesthesiologist couldn’t get between my vertebras. I couldn’t hold still for them to prep me, so they had to strap me down, after that I don’t remember much. I woke to some nurse massaging my belly and I remember yelling at her because it hurt, then I drifted off again.

In the recovery room they told me I had a girl, I would fall asleep, and wake up and ask “did I really have a girl?” this process happened many times! She was born at 11:55am and I finally got to see her at 2pm.

Her apgar score was 9. Her head was cone shaped and slightly bruised from being in the birth canal. She weighed 8lbs 10oz at birth, but was down to 7lb 15oz in 36 hours and she was quite yellow. They did some blood work and her inflammation (possible infection) level was high and her bilirubin(jaundice) level was high. They then started the jaundice treatment; and they gave her an IV for fluids and an antibiotic treatment. By Saturday her inflammation level and bilirubin level were back to normal; and she was finished with the antibiotics. Her group B strep culture came back negative so they let me take her home Saturday evening!

She is doing very well. Tomorrow the home health nurse is coming to visit and will draw blood to check her inflammation and bilirubin level. I am anxious to find out the results.

I am also doing well. I am a little sore at times and getting in and out of bed is difficult. But otherwise I am healing quite well! The doctor said it was probably a good thing I couldn't get the intrathecal because I wouldn't have been able to feel the pubis pain.