Thursday 29 May 2014

Induction, Labour and Delivery

1 Day Before Induction

I am 41 weeks and 4 days pregnant. Excited, anxious and scared all wrapped up in one emotional package. Last night I was exhausted but at the same time felt the overwhelming urge to double check our hospital bag and ensure everything was easy to find and access in case we were leaving in the middle of the night.
So I turned up the crazy and ran around (when I say "ran" I actually mean slowing waddled) the house grabbing all the little things I still needed to pack. I made a snack bag for Steve (since I won't really be allowed to eat at the hospital, although I may sneak an apple sauce in). Then when I felt satisfied I snuggled into bed feeling a bit crampy on the front of my abdomen (near my belly button) and tried to relax.

3:26 am

I wake up with a contraction. I harness my yoga breathing techniques and a few moments later the contraction subsides. I'm a freaking physic! Of course there was a reason I HAD to pack a bag. Orrrrrr not. 

3:51am

I get a second (less painful) contraction and that's the end of that excitement. No more contractions, no more excitement.

This is the second time this has happened to me in the middle of the night and what a disappointment it is! You finally think labour is going to begin and instead its just some random contraction leading to a whole lot of nothing!

Preparing for Induction

Preparing yourself for labour striking at any moment is an entirely different thing than preparing for a scheduled induction. For the past 4 weeks (maternity leave) I've wondered when labour would start. The fact that it could be literally any moment, carried it's own set of anxiety but somehow it seems easier to me to just act in the moment and figure it out. Knowing I'm going into the hospital for them to start labour seems much more daunting. I know for sure that sometime between 8am and midnight I'll go into labour. It's happening, one way or another and that is kinda scary.

We chose to delay our induction by 2 days, giving labour an extra chance to start naturally. Since my pregnancy has been completely unremarkable and I am very healthy my doctor felt it was a very reasonable change of plans. I will say I was much more nervous for induction last week, now after delaying it and having a good discussion with 2 medical professionals in the maternity clinic about induction I feel much better about the whole process.

The scary part is wondering how I will respond to the induction. Will I react and have immediate contractions? Or will it be a slow annoying process of having to have the induction redone a couple of times.

Induction Day

Rise and shine! We woke up early and call the hospital to find out what time we will go in to be induced. 10:30am. Ok it's go time! Baby is officially going to be on his or her way! We load up the hospital bag and all of our goodies and head into the maternity ward at the hospital. We are put in a room and we wait for my doctor to come over to assess me. He comes and after my usual internal he says I have progressed enough for a sweep, which is completes and honestly wasn't so terrible. Just uncomfortable. After a discussion we decide that Cervidil is the best induction method for me. It is a wafer thin tab loaded with prostiglandin that they insert like a tampon. It can be left in for 24 hours and if you react to it it can be pulled out and the contractions should stop (let's emphasize SHOULD).

After an hour of observation of both me and baby we get sent home. Now what. Waiting, more waiting. It was a nice day so Steve and I go for a walk and sure enough that started contractions. By 5pm my contractions were regular and painful. By 11pm we were calling the hospital talking about coming in. They advised I could stay home longer if that's where I was comfortable. 30 minutes later my contractions had increased in frequency and pain to the point where I was no longer comfortable at home. The drive to the hospital was the fastest in history. I was contracting for 30 seconds every minute. 

Once in the hospital they began to monitor my contractions and the baby. 1 1/2 hours later they finally pulled out the Cervidil and waited to see how my contractions slowed. Except they didnt. They still came fast and furious. At this point, my "natural" labour plan went out the window and I opted for a shot of morphine. What a saviour! It took the edge off just enough so that we could go home and I could "sleep" for a few hours. I spent 1 1/2 hours in the tub that morning, falling asleep floating in the water then waking up to breathe through a contraction. 

Labour time!

As instructed, we called the hospital in the morning and went back in to be reassessed. I had progressed to 3cm dilated and had effaced some more as well, enough that my doctor decided to break my waters and admit me. Talk about an odd feeling. No pain, just a whole lot of fluid.We were moved to our labour and delivery room (where we would spend the next 5 days).

My timeline from here gets a little fuzzy but at some point the contractions came on hard. We tried the hot shower on my back and belly, although it felt nice, it didn't do much for pain relief. I'd had enough of that and wanted to get out. As soon as I had dried off the contractions ramped up to a whole new level. I could hardly stand or breathe through them. It got to the point where the contractions were 2 minutes long and close together. Too much to handle. I tried to suck on the gas, that did a whole lot of diddly squat. Then we tried the morphine again, absolutely zero pain relief. On to the next thing, an epidural. Ahhhh finally, some relief. The only trouble the the epidural was that it took more to one side than the other. And depending how I was laying down the pain relief would shift and leave some parts of my body. It wasn't perfect but it was so much better than before. 

Hours and hours pass by and I slowly progressed but then I started to run a low grade fever and although I was 8cm dilated my cervix was beginning to swell. Our sweet baby was essentially hitting it's head on my cervix and making it swell. Those 2 factors combined brought my doctor and the OB to advise a cesarean section would be best. NOT in the plan. But hell, this whole process wasn't planned. I went from no pain meds to trying every kind.  At this point I was so exhausted I just wanted our baby to be here and to be here safely. The prep began for my c-section. 

The great thing about c-sections at Langley Hospital is that they keep you, you partner and baby together at all costs. Even though I was strapped to a bed and being sewn back up I was still able to have our baby layed on my chest. It was a challenging surgery. Although you are numb from the tits down you can still feel whats going on in terms of pressure. The spinal tap (numbing) makes you shake uncontrollably and makes you nauseous (in my case, made me vomit). Steve watched mostly he entire surgery (being in the medical field he is far from sqeamish). My only wish was that he didnt have to have a mask on, I could only watch his eyes to see his reaction when he realized we now had a beautiful baby girl. Naturally I started bawling. He was able to cut the cord and the pediatrician on staff in the OR took some lovely photos of it all. 

By the end of it all, 32 hours of labour (from the start of my regular contractions) and a birth plan flipped completely upside down we finally had Wiggles in our arms. Our baby girl, Ella, perfect in every way, and just as wiggly as she was inside me.




Sunday 25 May 2014

My REAL Life With Baby

14 days late, 32 hours of labour (from the start of contractions) and an unplanned c-section later we finally welcomed a beautiful little girl into our family.

And then REAL life set in, and set in hard.

Here's the snapshot of what my actual life looks like on a daily basis now that our lil wiggles is here (and by the way, she is just as wiggly as we thought she would be)

Personal Hygiene

What is that again? I do manage to get a shower in everyday but that's about as far as it goes. On a daily basis I can be found walking around the house in my massive black granny panties with a huge ass pad strapped to them. Undies pulled up all the way to my belly button and covering a remarkable amount of real estate on my back side. I pair with that a sports bra and a tank top that is usually accessorized with wet spots on my boobs. I am sweaty the vast majority of the day and often forget to brush my teeth.

Sleep, Or Lack Thereof

How many times have you heard someone say "enjoy your sleep now" to a pregnant person or expecting couple. We heard that a lot and its obviously true but could you be any more vague? The real version of lack of sleep (at least for us) is the fact that from about 10pm - 3am she loves to feed and hates to settle down. There are nights where she cannot be settled down enough to actually sleep for more than 15 minutes. Steve and I essentially trade off when she can't be settled and eventually she tires herself out and will sleep. So yes, for a good portion of the night we are lucky to get 30 minutes of continuous sleep.

Buddha Belly

I never should have had high expectations for immediate weight loss after birth. Even after having an 8lb baby, all the fluid being drained and the placenta being removed I still only lost about 10lbs in the first week. We were in the hospital for 5 days after surgery, not because of me but because Ella wasn't getting enough food and was dropping too much weight.When we got home I got on the scale and found myself disappointed by the number. Numbers aside the shape and squishyness of my belly is probably the worst part. When we are driving and turn a corner or hit a bump my whole belly jiggles and wobbles. It's super lame and I cannot wait for it to tighten up. The reality of a post pregnancy belly isn't pretty. For me, I have multiple "rolls". From my lady bits to my incision is one lump of swelling, from incision to a couple inches below my belly button is another roll then from there up to my boobs is one big soft and squishy buddha belly. When I lay on my back it goes pretty flat (albeit still really soft) but as soon as I roll to a side it all falls to the side. I'm actually dealing with this no problem because I know its normal but I am dying to get my tight tummy back.

On the way...

I will be doing an entry regarding my induction, labour and delivery but my time to blog is few and far between. 







Friday 9 May 2014

Week 41: Woah Now! What was that gush!?

Quick Recap: Still pregnant. What? You're looking for more detail? Big, more stretch marks (ugh), puffy feet again, walking a lot and eating lots of spicy food.

Peanut's Progression: Just growing. Doc estimates about 8.5 lbs. Still happy and healthy.

So I'm Over Due... Now What?

As per first baby protocol, our little wiggles is taking their sweet ass time arriving. Good thing I was SURE I would be early! No offense to my doctor, because I love him dearly, but I am SO sick of seeing him! At this point I see him every 3 days or so. Everything measures normally, baby's heart rate is strong and normal, and my good old cervix is still stuck at 1cm (although it is thinner).

I've become much more emotional after my appointments now because I am so desperate to have made more progress and for him to think I'm on my way to labour. The best cure for this has been to get my butt outside and run errands or go for a nice walk, mostly anything to keep my mind off going into labour.

As for technicalities, once you reach 1 week past due you should go in for an ultrasound and an NST (non stress test). I had both of mine today. The ultrasound is very fast. They are simply checking to ensure baby is surrounded by enough fluid. They often also check that your placenta and cord are still functioning well and supporting baby. The NST monitors baby's heart rate for 20 - 40 minutes and you push a button each time baby moves. They then compare the heart rate and the movements. Each time the baby moves the heart rate should increase and then reduce again.

Wiggles was good on both accounts. Really good NST and there is lots of fluid.

OMG What was that gush!?

What exactly does it feel like when your waters break? Who knows!? I sure don't but I certainly had a moment today thinking mine may have ruptured. We left the doctors office and before we even drove out of the parking lot I felt a small gush of fluid followed by another. I probably could have assumed that it was from my internal but the sensation didn't sit quite right with me.

Close your eyes, too much information coming your way.

On top of the fluid feeling, it was also bright red. If it was indeed my waters breaking that could have indicated bleeding of the placenta. So, I decided to wait until I was already at the hospital to ask about it and my short appointment turned into a couple hours. The trouble with doing this in the hospital is that there are only so many maternity doctors and well, babies come first. Of course while I was waiting someone else's lil munchkin decided to arrive so I had to wait for the delivery to finish before I could see the doctor. How jealous was I!?

If you are unsure if your waters have broken they have a couple different methods of checking. First is a paper test, it changes colour to indicate amniotic fluid (the problem here is that other things, like blood, can cause a false positive.) So the second option is to take fluid directly from your cervix, just like in a pap, and look at it under a microscope.

My test came back negative and I was sent home.

Early Labour Perhaps?

The doctor as the hospital left me with one thought, "I'd be surprised if we didn't see you back here this weekend"

Music to my ears! This morning I was woken up twice with a single contraction. At 6am, after waking for the second time, I couldn't get back to sleep because I was sure there would be another contraction and I wanted to time it. That contraction never came :(

After my appointment this morning, I began to have low back pain. That, coupled with the contractions and my possible "bloody show" today gave the hospital doc the idea that I may be entering early labour and would likely have the baby before my induction date! I don't dare hold my breath but that would be lovely!

Friday 2 May 2014

Week 40: Yup, Still Pregnant

Quick Recap: 166lbs. Up 41 lbs from pre-pregnancy. Bit more pressure on pelvis from baby. Same ol Same ol for the most part. Still at 1cm dilated. Effaced to 2cm (I'll explain that later). Lots of braxton hicks when walking.

Peanut's Progression: Should be around 20inches long. Doctor estimates baby weighs about 8lbs. Heart rate was 136.

Dilation vs Effacement

Everyone always talks about "how far are you dilated" when really that actually doesn't matter nearly as much as how much you have effaced. I had no idea but your cervix is actually about 5 cm long (or thick, depending how you think of it) and before you give birth it completely thins out which means it is easier for it to stretch. Makes sense if you think about it. If you had two stretchy items, one 5cm think and one less than 1cm, it would be MUCH easier to stretch the thinner one.

So, that being said, my doctor is much more focused on how effaced I am. At this point I'm measuring about 2cm. Again, moving in the right direction but in his words "I'll see you next week" and he didn't mean in the hospital.

Maternity Leave in BC

What a process!!! If you happen to be a salaried employee consider yourself incredibly lucky! Applying for your EI will be much simpler. For me, I work part time and do a fair amount of overtime/fill in work. My paychecks can vary quite a lot. Services Canada made a change to EI as of last April which causes more work for your when applying but means you will get more money from them. Well worth the extra effort.

For Vancouver, you are able to enter in your 22 highest paid weeks (not pay periods) and that will bring up your average income and help offset any of the weeks where you may not have made very much money. Now here comes the annoying part. I would say 99% of employers don't pay you weekly so figuring out how much you made each week takes a bit of time. I had to go back through all of my timesheets to add up the hours, over time and holiday pay manually and then sort it from highest paid to lowest paid. Then adding into the system when applying is a whole other project.

I'll be happy I did it when we have more money coming in though.

The Hardest Part

Today is my due date, as if that means anything. No sign that labour is near. I am coping well but I would be more than happy to have contractions start at any moment. Before I actually say what the hardest part is let me preface it with a disclaimer. I am SO thankful for the large support group I have, so many family and friends are beyond excited for baby to arrive and are really involved in a great way. That being said, every day that goes by I get more and more messages asking if baby is here yet.

No matter how many times you tell friends and family "I will text you if something changes" it is still impossible for them not to ask. I have been that person so I understand it comes from a place a love. They are so excited to meet the little one and want to reach out to see how you are feeling. The trouble is, they don't realize that several other people are doing the same thing everyday and that almost every morning and night I feel frustrated that nothing has changed and baby is still stuck inside. I want nothing more than to be able to send that text and say "we are at the hospital, we'll let you know when baby arrives".

Now after all that, don't you dare stop sending me texts and messages and calling. I want to hear from you and I love to hear from you, just don't take it personally if I come across a bit crabby when I respond.