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Elena Ivy

I had light crampy contractions from 1am Friday morning through around 11am. I was able to get some sleep through them from about 4 am to noon Friday. I got up and ate lunch and my water must have begun to break around 1 pm (this continued to around 7pm Friday). It wasn't the gush I had heard about but a slow trickle. When the leaking continued I thought I should call the doctor so I checked in with the nurse around 3pm. She said if it continued to call back. By 4pm Dave got home because we knew it was the night but wanted to really think about our options and take our time. Our Doula Kathy said to call her during her Lamaze class if the water continued to leak but it was such a small amount it was difficult to tell what was happening. I caught up on my work emails, made some phone calls and took my time deciding to call the doctor back as the leaking continued. I was in a bit of denial as it was not how I envisioned my labor to begin. By 6:30pm I spoke with the doctor on call. She didn't really listen to me. I asked what my options were if my water had broken and she said I had none and would have to be admitted and start on the pitocin right away. Lovely! I wanted no drugs and to go natural but she said unless my labor started on its own, without pitocin I'd need a C-section within 18- 24 hours for "risk of infection" for the baby and I. I got off the phone and woke Dave up from his nap and told him it was time to head to hospital. We took our time and did not get there until 8:30 pm. I took a long shower and put on some light makeup, brushed my hair and even put on some shimmery body lotion. I wanted to feel a bit normal before the patient experience at the hospital. I knew it would be awhile before I would be back home. I then ate a big meal of eggplant Parmesan, some lucky charms and a slim fast shake - I was carbing up for the big event! I did everything natural I could think of to get contractions going. Dave and I were timing them Friday afternoon but they were so light and sporadic.
We got to the hospital and checked in. It was a surreal moment when the doctor (the same one on the phone) checked me and confirmed there was no bag anymore, only baby's hair when she checked me. I could not believe all my water was gone. She gave me a semi-concerned smile saying "yeah, yeah we'll need to start the drugs ASAP and admit you so we can get labor going. It's possible to still deliver vaginally but we are on a time crunch since your water broke at 2pm."

It was so strange having no options. I realized my birth plan would not be realized. Now the clock was ticking against the C-section "deadline" they give you for 2 pm the next day. I had assumed that my minor contraction had dilated me to at least 2 or 2 ½ but I was still only 1 and 1/2 CM dilated and the baby was still high up. The nurses were amazing and knew I wanted natural and encouraged me to wait for our Doula Kathy who was getting there at 10:30 pm to see if I could go into labor on my own. Nothing happened and when Kathy arrived we relaxed and hung out and decided to begin the pitocin around midnight.

By 1am Saturday I was having light contractions, no big deal. I brought some fun movies for labor and we put in Dirty Dancing first. By the end of Dirty Dancing around 2:30am I was in active labor. I luckily had a nice 3 minute break between contractions during the "I've had the time of my life" finale (love that movie). I was also able to eat small snacks between contractions up until that point.

The contractions lasted about 1 to 1 and 1/2 minutes and were 2-4 minutes apart. I was able to plow through them with my Lamaze breathing and different focal points. We tried a lot of positions for pain management and comfort. I enjoyed sitting backwards on a chair leaning on some pillows. I also liked resting on the yoga ball which was on the hospital bed. Lying on my side in the hospital bed was the worst. From 2:30am to 6:30am my contractions got stronger and longer. The night flew by. Elena's heart rate remained steady. Our nurse Jessica was amazing and helped a great deal. Kathy helped get me through the toughest ones and my husband Dave was awesome. Just before 6am our nurse Jessica asked if I'd like to be checked for progress. I refused because I did not want to get discouraged. I knew I was making good progress because the contractions were so strong and regular and I could feel the pressure of the baby dropping in my pelvis. The worst part of the labor was from 6 am to 7 am. They turned the pitocin up and the contractions started rolling one on top of the other. I panicked because it was so excruciating and I could not get a break between them to mentally prepare and physically relax in the beginning to manage the pain. This was when I asked for the epidural. I was in transition and was shivering, sweating and feeling sick to my stomach.

I cried and trembled in pain through this series of 10 -15 contractions that were indescribable. I just could not get control over them like I had before with the strong ones that had a longer break between them. During this time I was checked and was 6 or 7 cm dilated and 90% effaced. Yeah! I changed positions to standing and just leaned on Kathy and Dave during the hour waiting for the epidural. I started to gain a little control over the pain with the standing and leaning on the two of them or slow dancing with Dave. Dave kept helping me use the restroom throughout the labor and around 7:30 am we used the restroom and that was the worst- I had three of the most powerful contractions ever in the bathroom. I had so many tubes and wires everywhere because of the interventions it made even moving around the labor room difficult but my nurse was really lenient and let me unplug from the machines quite a bit.

When we left the bathroom I saw that Martha our anesthesiologist was there! Wow- what a cool moment. I knew the end of the pain was near. My new nurse Tricia helped me through the contractions while I got the epidural and immediately I felt relief from the spinal in the middle of a contraction. Dave and Kathy our Doula came back in the room and I got checked at 8 am and was 9 1/2 cm, almost ready to push! I saw my family at 8:30am and had some time to relax before pushing. At 9:30am I was a full 10 and the baby had dropped fully and they called the doctor. The new doctor on call showed up and barely said a word to me and we got started. I started pushing at 10am and Elena was born at 10:40am. The pushing was great. It was amazing to see her born in the mirror. They put her on my chest right away and we had a full 30 or so minutes to bond and I breast-fed her before they weighed her and gave her the eye drops. This time was so cool. I could not believe it! Except for those 15 or so crazy contractions it was an amazing labor experience. I was so excited how strong Elena was through labor and how I was able to handle the whole experience with the support of Kathy and Dave. Wow!

Here are the details....
Elena Ivy (eh LEH nah)
Born: Saturday, July 12th
10:40 am 8 Lbs 2 Ounces
19 and 3/4 inches

Love,
Jennifer M

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