Thursday, January 30

My Birth Story... 3 Months Late.

I want to write down and share my birth story. It all started Tuesday, October 29th. Well really it started 2 weeks before when I had a false alarm that landed me in the hospital for a day, because the night before I had labor like symptoms- complete with throwing up from cramps in front of all my cheerleaders on the sidelines of a high school football game. Perfect. 

But the party really started on October 29th at 6:45pm. I had just gotten home from cheer practice, and we had to be at small group with friends from church at 7. Someone had made us a breakfast casserole a few days before, so given our timeframe that night, we had it for dinner. Jeff text the friend that made it for us and said how perfect it was. I looked at his phone and saw he said "damn group" instead of small group... Honest mistake. Which I found hilarious and started laughing hard, so hard I peed... But actually I've never been one of those girls to pee myself while laughing so then I realized it could be my water breaking. After I changed three different times because I kept "peeing" we assumed it was the water breaking. My first reaction was to start cleaning and doing all the things I had been wanting to do before the baby arrived, and we made it to the hospital around 8pm. I literally had one bite of the breakfast casserole, and we never made it to small group. 

When we got to the hospital they needed to know how certain I was that my water broke- I was 90% sure. So I was admitted, but feeling great so everyone was skeptical. I would have been SO mortified had it been pee. They had to run some test on the "water" to be certain it was amniotic fluid.. And results would be back in an hour. They checked my cervix.. I was 1cm dilated 75% effaced, which is what I had been for over a month now. It wasn't looking good the nurse and my doula (EVERYONE NEEDS A DOULA, just saying) said it would be a loooong night and process. We talked to my doctor at 11pm and she wanted to start me on pitocin at 1am if I hadn't made any progress. 

Also important- at 30 weeks pregnant I switched doctors. Bold move, I know. A lot of thought and prayer went into the decision. Now, we fully believe it was the right decision. I had marginal placenta previa, which means the placenta could potentially block the baby's exit. So there was talk of a possible C-section. I had to have so many ultrasounds and my doctors seemed to be settling on the idea of a C-section, despite the possibility of the placenta moving. I wasn't searching for a different answer, and have nothing against C-sections, but I wanted the opportunity to at least try a vaginal delivery. I didn't exactly trust that the doctors had my best interest in mind, so I got a second opinion. Sure enough, my placenta was fine and I was totally in the clear to have a vaginal birth. Later, I learned a lot of horrible things about the practice I was originally at. 

I wanted to attempt to have an all natural birth experience. When the possibility of pitocin came up, I was nervous because it can make the laboring so much more intense, and it's less likely to manage the pain without drugs. We (husband, doula, and I) walked, walked, and walked around that hospital- so much so that nurses kept calling the women's center to let them know I was roaming around, and making sure it was ok. Ha! At 1am the nurses checked me and I had dilated to a 4! So I was good to keep letting my body naturally progress. The rest is a blur... I wish I remembered the whole process, but I was in a deep state of meditation. I barely said any words or made any noises. Apparently I was the most quiet and composed laboring women the nurses and my doula had ever seen! At 4am my doctor arrived and it was time to push. Everything I read said when you get to the pushing- it's over. Well, go figure, it was the opposite for me. I pushed for over 2.5 hours and nothing I did could get the baby out! Finally, my doctor called for the "small vacuum". Before I knew what was going on, I had the biggest relief of my life and was told I had a BABY GIRL! At 6:51am my baby girl was in the world! 

Jeff was weeping and I was being tended to. All I kept asking was "How much does she weigh?" I was in such a strange state of mind, I didn't even realize she wasn't crying. Within seconds they were able to resuscitate her and I was able to hold her, but I had to keep hitting her back to help loosen up fluids. The trauma in the birth canal made her heart rate drop and the umbilical cord got wrapped around her neck, so she wasn't breathing at birth. The pediatrician said there would be no lasting/long term effects of her birth trauma. 


Sullivan Carolina Thompson as born October 30, 2013 at 6:51am. She weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce and was 21.25 inches. She has forever changed our life and has been the best, most perfect gift from God! 



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