Ellen's Birth
So I never really do posts like this-they aren't really my style if you will. However, I feel very strongly that I need to record the events of Ellen's birth-and at this point in my life, this is the best place for me to do it where I can keep track of it. So, for those of you who are interested in reading a novel about one child's birth-here you go. For those of you who are not, you can just ignore this. I'll post pictures on another post. :)
Ellen was born a full three weeks early-and I am so grateful for the many blessings we received aiding in her safe and healthy arrival. There was a lot that could have gone wrong (there always is in child birth, but especially so this time around), but everything went as smoothly as we could have asked for under the circumstances.
On Monday, the 27th (I was 36 weeks, 6 days), I started to have some pain through my lower abdomen at about 10:30 in the morning. Although definitely different than any thing else I had experienced, I attributed it to the regular, random, weird side effects of pregnancy. I thought maybe it was gas or bloating, or maybe the baby had turned and was descending-just a lot of different possibilities kept going through my mind. I laid down during Summer's nap and hoped that would help resolve the issue. It seemed to lessen it a bit, but as soon as I got up, it all returned.
I called the doctors office and talked to a nurse. I had an appointment set for the next day and the nurse thought it was just the beginning stages of labor. Having had an unusual start to Summer's labor, I couldn't really argue with that-especially since I had wondered the same thing. She said to call if the pain got worse. If not, rest until my appointment the next day.
As the afternoon progressed, it started to get worse. I started having a lot of pain as I moved around, and then I started to have contractions every time I stood up or did a lot of moving. I tried to time them, but that proved to be impossible since I couldn't really tell the difference between all the contractions and the constant pain, much less when the contractions really began and ended. I finally decided it was time to head to the hospital. We scrambled (and by scrambled, I mean I hobbled while Anders scrambled) to get bags packed and ready to take to the hospital. We sent Summer over to our neighbors-who were our lifesavers for that-and headed off to hospital at about 5.
Once at the hospital my vitals, including temperature, were taken and they started to monitor the baby's heart rate and any contractions. They also checked to see if I was beginning to dilate, and I was not even starting to. Ellen's heart rate was high and I was having inconsistent contractions-especially since I was just sitting. However, the pain I was having continued to get worse even though I was just lying in bed. At one point I had to get up and use the bathroom and it was one of the most painful things I have ever experienced. By this point my uterus basically felt like it was going to explode with any movement by either me or the baby. After being monitored for two hours, the nurse came in for what was one last look at the monitors to report to the doctor when she noticed I looked flushed. She took my temperature one more time, found out I had a fever, and then called the doctor. The doctor decided to keep me for more monitoring, he ordered a blood test, and said he was going to come in to check on me himself.
An hour later the doctor arrived and gave me a report. My heart rate was high, Ellen's heart rate was high, I was having severe uterine pain, and my white blood cell count was at 20,000 when it should be in the 5,000-10,000 range. This all lead to a diagnosis of Chorioamnionitis, or a uterine infection. These can be somewhat common in women whose water has already broken, but is extremely rare in women who have not had their water break. Turns out the way you treat it is by giving birth and then getting lots of antibiotics. The doctor explained this all and then said to "it's time to have a baby."
Since then, I've done a little internet research to find out more about it-and more I did find. It is a bacterial infection and is considered a medical emergency. The complications of it vary by a large degree-for both the mother and baby. For the mother, the major risks are the dramatically increased need for a c-section, development of a pelvic abscess, an infection of the blood stream, and hemorrhaging. For preterm babies, 5-10% of them develop pneumonia, there is an increased chance of developing meningitis (although it is still low), and 15% die do to an infection or other respiratory/bleeding complications. For full-term babies, those numbers drastically drop. I'm SO glad I didn't know any of this until after Ellen's birth, especially since she was barely considered full term.
Anyway, after talking to the doctor I got checked in and painfully moved into a delivery room at about 9:00. I was started on antibiotics and then they did an ultra sound to check the baby's position. The Tuesday before she had been head down-but she had flipped so she was now transverse. I'm pretty sure it happened while being monitored just an hour before (which was also extremely painful). The doctor recognized how much pain I was in and had me get my epidural immediately so he could attempt to turn her after it had started working. I cannot imagine how awful it would have been for him to turn her without the epidural because when he did it, it hadn't fully kicked in and it was bad enough as it was. The doctor was able to turn her most of the way except for one of her hands that got in the way. The doctor left me for an hour in an attempt to let her "settle" into position. Luckily, when he came back to check on her, she had moved into the correct position, so the chances of having to have a c-section went way down.
At some point after being checked in and before the doctor attempted to turn Ellen, Anders was able to give me a blessing. In it, we were assured that things would turn out well and it gave both Anders and I some peace about what was going on.
In the mean time I had been given two different doses of intravenous antibiotics, put on oxygen, and then eventually started on Pitocin. I was on oxygen almost the entire time I was in labor in an effort to keep Ellen's heart rate down and for the most part, it was successful. The Pitocin was started around midnight as soon as the antibiotics were done and I was given half the normal dose in an effort not to cause any more fetal distress. I also had a balloon catheter placed in my cervix in an effort to help with dilation. By about 3 AM the Pitocin and catheter had done their jobs and I was almost dilated to a 4, giving the doctor the ability to break my water. After that, my labor progressed as would be expected of a normal labor.
Not long before Ellen was born the nurse was checking to see if I was dilated to a 10 and got really excited. She was able to feel Ellen's little hand up by her cheek-which is apparently pretty rare to have happen before any pushing began. Once I was at a 10, I was given the go-ahead by the doctor to do a "practice" push. We got half way through it when the nurse had us stop and called the doctor. He was in the room a few minutes and four pushes later, Ellen was born.
In addition to the normal staff of nurses, we had a respiratory specialist and a pediatric specialist there as a precaution since she was so early. They were able to check her out immediately, and gratefully, gave her a clean bill of health. Her weight was 5 lbs 15.6 oz and was 19 inches long, which was a pretty good size for how early she was.
We were both on intravenous antibiotics for the rest of our hospital stay. Blood samples were taken from both me and Ellen and monitored for a week to check for bacterial growth and my placenta was sent in for testing. Had any bacteria shown up in Ellen's blood, she would have had to spend 10 days in the NICU, receiving more antibiotics in addition to the ones that she received in the hospital. I don't actually know what would have occurred if some showed up in mine. I assume more antibiotics and an extended hospital stay. Luckily for us, the infection didn't spread to Ellen or into my bloodstream.
In short, I am grateful for modern medicine. I am grateful for competent doctors an nurses and for life saving antibiotics. I am also so grateful for epidurals-I'm positive there is no way anyone would be able to withstand the pain of childbirth on top of the infection that I had. I am also grateful that the doctor was able to turn Ellen and that my body dilated, so I didn't have to have a c-section. Apparently a c-section is a really bad option in a situation like this because cutting into an infected organ is a great way to spread the infection, plus, having a c-section is no good anyway.
I am also grateful that we didn't go to the hospital any earlier than we did because they wouldn't have caught my fever and we would have been sent home. I'm sure we would have eventually gone back, but that would have been added stress and probably would have prolonged the entire experience.
I am also grateful that I didn't get the infection any earlier in the pregnancy than I did. I was able to go into the delivery room knowing that she would be officially full term when she was born. About two weeks before she was born, Anders gave me a blessing and in it I was told that she would be full term. I had been having some fears (which I think are typical for any pregnant woman) about delivering her early and it was interesting to think about that while at the hospital. I think I knew deep down that she would be coming early.
Finally, I am grateful that we both are healthy and that I have had a relatively good recovery. We didn't have to stay in the hospital any longer than normal (although they would not have let us go home early had we wanted to), I didn't tear at all, Ellen didn't have to go to the NICU, Ellen was/is a good eater, and she didn't have any breathing problems, and neither of us had any lasting effects from the infection. So yay for a healthy baby!
Welcome to the family Ellen!
Ellen was born a full three weeks early-and I am so grateful for the many blessings we received aiding in her safe and healthy arrival. There was a lot that could have gone wrong (there always is in child birth, but especially so this time around), but everything went as smoothly as we could have asked for under the circumstances.
On Monday, the 27th (I was 36 weeks, 6 days), I started to have some pain through my lower abdomen at about 10:30 in the morning. Although definitely different than any thing else I had experienced, I attributed it to the regular, random, weird side effects of pregnancy. I thought maybe it was gas or bloating, or maybe the baby had turned and was descending-just a lot of different possibilities kept going through my mind. I laid down during Summer's nap and hoped that would help resolve the issue. It seemed to lessen it a bit, but as soon as I got up, it all returned.
I called the doctors office and talked to a nurse. I had an appointment set for the next day and the nurse thought it was just the beginning stages of labor. Having had an unusual start to Summer's labor, I couldn't really argue with that-especially since I had wondered the same thing. She said to call if the pain got worse. If not, rest until my appointment the next day.
As the afternoon progressed, it started to get worse. I started having a lot of pain as I moved around, and then I started to have contractions every time I stood up or did a lot of moving. I tried to time them, but that proved to be impossible since I couldn't really tell the difference between all the contractions and the constant pain, much less when the contractions really began and ended. I finally decided it was time to head to the hospital. We scrambled (and by scrambled, I mean I hobbled while Anders scrambled) to get bags packed and ready to take to the hospital. We sent Summer over to our neighbors-who were our lifesavers for that-and headed off to hospital at about 5.
Once at the hospital my vitals, including temperature, were taken and they started to monitor the baby's heart rate and any contractions. They also checked to see if I was beginning to dilate, and I was not even starting to. Ellen's heart rate was high and I was having inconsistent contractions-especially since I was just sitting. However, the pain I was having continued to get worse even though I was just lying in bed. At one point I had to get up and use the bathroom and it was one of the most painful things I have ever experienced. By this point my uterus basically felt like it was going to explode with any movement by either me or the baby. After being monitored for two hours, the nurse came in for what was one last look at the monitors to report to the doctor when she noticed I looked flushed. She took my temperature one more time, found out I had a fever, and then called the doctor. The doctor decided to keep me for more monitoring, he ordered a blood test, and said he was going to come in to check on me himself.
An hour later the doctor arrived and gave me a report. My heart rate was high, Ellen's heart rate was high, I was having severe uterine pain, and my white blood cell count was at 20,000 when it should be in the 5,000-10,000 range. This all lead to a diagnosis of Chorioamnionitis, or a uterine infection. These can be somewhat common in women whose water has already broken, but is extremely rare in women who have not had their water break. Turns out the way you treat it is by giving birth and then getting lots of antibiotics. The doctor explained this all and then said to "it's time to have a baby."
Since then, I've done a little internet research to find out more about it-and more I did find. It is a bacterial infection and is considered a medical emergency. The complications of it vary by a large degree-for both the mother and baby. For the mother, the major risks are the dramatically increased need for a c-section, development of a pelvic abscess, an infection of the blood stream, and hemorrhaging. For preterm babies, 5-10% of them develop pneumonia, there is an increased chance of developing meningitis (although it is still low), and 15% die do to an infection or other respiratory/bleeding complications. For full-term babies, those numbers drastically drop. I'm SO glad I didn't know any of this until after Ellen's birth, especially since she was barely considered full term.
Anyway, after talking to the doctor I got checked in and painfully moved into a delivery room at about 9:00. I was started on antibiotics and then they did an ultra sound to check the baby's position. The Tuesday before she had been head down-but she had flipped so she was now transverse. I'm pretty sure it happened while being monitored just an hour before (which was also extremely painful). The doctor recognized how much pain I was in and had me get my epidural immediately so he could attempt to turn her after it had started working. I cannot imagine how awful it would have been for him to turn her without the epidural because when he did it, it hadn't fully kicked in and it was bad enough as it was. The doctor was able to turn her most of the way except for one of her hands that got in the way. The doctor left me for an hour in an attempt to let her "settle" into position. Luckily, when he came back to check on her, she had moved into the correct position, so the chances of having to have a c-section went way down.
At some point after being checked in and before the doctor attempted to turn Ellen, Anders was able to give me a blessing. In it, we were assured that things would turn out well and it gave both Anders and I some peace about what was going on.
In the mean time I had been given two different doses of intravenous antibiotics, put on oxygen, and then eventually started on Pitocin. I was on oxygen almost the entire time I was in labor in an effort to keep Ellen's heart rate down and for the most part, it was successful. The Pitocin was started around midnight as soon as the antibiotics were done and I was given half the normal dose in an effort not to cause any more fetal distress. I also had a balloon catheter placed in my cervix in an effort to help with dilation. By about 3 AM the Pitocin and catheter had done their jobs and I was almost dilated to a 4, giving the doctor the ability to break my water. After that, my labor progressed as would be expected of a normal labor.
Not long before Ellen was born the nurse was checking to see if I was dilated to a 10 and got really excited. She was able to feel Ellen's little hand up by her cheek-which is apparently pretty rare to have happen before any pushing began. Once I was at a 10, I was given the go-ahead by the doctor to do a "practice" push. We got half way through it when the nurse had us stop and called the doctor. He was in the room a few minutes and four pushes later, Ellen was born.
In addition to the normal staff of nurses, we had a respiratory specialist and a pediatric specialist there as a precaution since she was so early. They were able to check her out immediately, and gratefully, gave her a clean bill of health. Her weight was 5 lbs 15.6 oz and was 19 inches long, which was a pretty good size for how early she was.
We were both on intravenous antibiotics for the rest of our hospital stay. Blood samples were taken from both me and Ellen and monitored for a week to check for bacterial growth and my placenta was sent in for testing. Had any bacteria shown up in Ellen's blood, she would have had to spend 10 days in the NICU, receiving more antibiotics in addition to the ones that she received in the hospital. I don't actually know what would have occurred if some showed up in mine. I assume more antibiotics and an extended hospital stay. Luckily for us, the infection didn't spread to Ellen or into my bloodstream.
In short, I am grateful for modern medicine. I am grateful for competent doctors an nurses and for life saving antibiotics. I am also so grateful for epidurals-I'm positive there is no way anyone would be able to withstand the pain of childbirth on top of the infection that I had. I am also grateful that the doctor was able to turn Ellen and that my body dilated, so I didn't have to have a c-section. Apparently a c-section is a really bad option in a situation like this because cutting into an infected organ is a great way to spread the infection, plus, having a c-section is no good anyway.
I am also grateful that we didn't go to the hospital any earlier than we did because they wouldn't have caught my fever and we would have been sent home. I'm sure we would have eventually gone back, but that would have been added stress and probably would have prolonged the entire experience.
I am also grateful that I didn't get the infection any earlier in the pregnancy than I did. I was able to go into the delivery room knowing that she would be officially full term when she was born. About two weeks before she was born, Anders gave me a blessing and in it I was told that she would be full term. I had been having some fears (which I think are typical for any pregnant woman) about delivering her early and it was interesting to think about that while at the hospital. I think I knew deep down that she would be coming early.
Finally, I am grateful that we both are healthy and that I have had a relatively good recovery. We didn't have to stay in the hospital any longer than normal (although they would not have let us go home early had we wanted to), I didn't tear at all, Ellen didn't have to go to the NICU, Ellen was/is a good eater, and she didn't have any breathing problems, and neither of us had any lasting effects from the infection. So yay for a healthy baby!
Welcome to the family Ellen!
My heart aches thinking about everything you experienced, physically and emotionally. I am so grateful you are both well and healthy. Thank you for sharing your experience.
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