Munchkin's Birth Story

My alarm was set to go off in 45 minutes, but I was too anxious to sleep... it was 4:30am and I was due at the hospital in two and a half hours. The past year had seemed to go by so incredibly fast. And here we were, the day my intended parents had been waiting years for, munchkin would be born TODAY.

Part of me was very nervous that we decided to induce munchkin early. I had been asked by many people why my doctor was inducing me early, and without a medical reason to give them, my anxiety grew. Why were we inducing early? Convenience was the only answer I could come up with. My doctor was on call that day, so we were guaranteed to have her deliver munchkin. Yet the fear of my body rejecting the induction and not cooperating with the meds loomed over my head. All I could do was listen to my doctor's reassurance that because this was my third pregnancy, my odds of having a successful induction (without resulting in a c-section) were very good.

Despite waking up 45 minutes early, I had slept well and felt ready for the big day. I took my time getting ready in the morning, making sure I had everything I would need. My husband and I arrived at the hospital a little after 7am, we were checked in and my IV of fluids were started.

Munchkin's parents were still on their way, which was OK, since I had a feeling this would be a long day anyhow. The nurse checked my cervix after administering the IV, and I was still at 3cm and my cervix was still very thick (I had been at 3cm for a couple weeks). Then she left to go speak with the doctor and see what the plan would be for my induction.

By 8am, munchkin's parents had arrived and the nurse came back to say that the monitor was showing that I was having a few contractions about 4-8 minutes apart, but nothing regular. Since I was contracting some, the doctor wanted to try an oral pill called Cytotec to help ripen (thin out) my cervix. The nurse inserted the pill a little after 8am and said she would check my cervix again in four hours and see if it helped at all.

So the waiting game had begun, the first timeline was set at four hours. I had no idea there were other methods of inducing labor other than pitocin. With my second child, I was induced using pitocin, and that seemed to work great. I didn't have much faith in that little pill, but I shrugged in off and settled in as the minutes ticked by until I would be checked again.

While we waited the nurse made sure to tell me not to get up to use the restroom without asking for her to help me. She advised this because she once had a patient get up on her own and ended up delivering her baby in the bathroom and screaming for the nurses to come help her. That story seemed crazy to me, but I made sure to call the nurse every time I had to use the restroom - just in case! The rest of the waiting game was very uneventful, I felt like I should have been performing for my "audience" made up of munchkin's parents and my husband. All eyes on me, and nothing was happening! It was frustrating, but I was prepared for it to be at least an all day thing, since my other two labors were both 12-13 hours. 

Munchkin's daddy and my husband decided to get some food from the cafeteria while they waited, and they annoyingly brought it back to the room with them and ate in front of me! Luckily for them I wasn't in any pain at this point, or else I may have yelled at them. My giant "cup-o-ice" wasn't cutting it, I was hungry.

Eventually 12pm rolled around and I was checked again, and as I suspected, the pill hadn't done much. My cervix was still thick and I was STILL only 3cm. One change was that I was beginning to feel the contractions, though they were still about 4-8 minutes apart. My doctor came by to check on me and said we would be starting the pitocin now. "Yay," my inner voice shouted. It was about time we got to the real drugs! Ha! And the nurse said she would check me again in about three hours. Annnnd the waiting game continued.

At 3pm, I was checked again... 4cm. A whopping 1cm in three hours. And my cervix was still thick. Doctor increased my pitocin level and said she would check me again in two hours. My contractions were increasing, every 1-3 minutes now, and I was feeling them a lot more. My nurse asked me, "On a scale of 0-10, what is your pain level?" I always hate answering this question, but I went with a 4... I could feel the contractions and they were not very pleasant, but I was still able to update Facebook and talk my way through them. :)

Just before 5pm, the nurse came by, "We are offering a special on epidurals right now, would you like one?!" My pain wasn't terrible yet, but I knew the doctor would be coming soon to break my water and that I did NOT want to happen without having an epidural first. So I said, "Yes, please!" My team left the room as the anesthesiologist arrived. I overheard the nurses comment that this particular doctor was very fast at administering the epidural, and thought "well, that's good!" Yet my body wasn't prepared for just how fast it would be. I told the doctor that in the past the two epidurals I received made me nauseous and asked if there was anything they could give me to make that not happen. He said, "but if you get nauseous it's probably from being pregnant, not from the epidural." Ok, doc, I may not have a medical degree, but I do know that I don't feel nauseous right now, and in a few minutes when you stick that giant needle in my back I will be. The nurses said they can give me an additional medication to stop the nausea, if it happens. Oh, it happened! The doctor was not only fast at administering the epidural, he used a fast acting dosage amount as well. I immediately felt nauseous and my blood pressure started to drop. I could also feel the epidural as the meds rushed down my legs. My blood pressure stayed low for about 30 minutes, while the nurses administered some anti-nausea medicine. Unfortunately the medicine did not seem to help my nausea, but on the plus side I wasn't feel the contractions anymore! 

My nurse was pretty wonderful and fanned my hot face and put a cold washcloth on my head until my hubby arrived to take over fanning duty. My nausea got better, in that it only came in waves instead of staying constant. My doctor arrived to break my water around 6pm, and she checked my cervix as well - only at 5cm! And I'm not sure why, but I felt like this was going way too slowly by this point, we had reached 10 hours and I had only progressed 2cm! (This was when I secretly prayed to not have this end with a c-section!)

Seven o'clock came and brought with it a new nurse. I had already felt attached to my first nurse, so I was a bit disappointed. My new nurse was still good, just not as personable. I also felt very drowsy. Whether it was from all the meds or my body's way of telling me there was something happening soon that I needed to rest for, I wasn't sure. But either way, my eyes were happy to close and I took advantage of it and rested a little. At 8pm, the nurse checked me and said my cervix was at 6cm and about 70% effaced (thinned out). I was bummed at only progressing 1cm in 2 hours, but thrilled that my cervix wasn't so thick anymore! The nurse left and said she would be back in a while to check me again. With this news, munchkin's daddy decided he would go grab a drink from the cafeteria in the basement of the hospital. 

Ten minutes later, both of my nurses rushed into the room and said, "we saw the baby's heart rate increasing on the monitor, we think he's ready!" She asked if I was feeling any pressure. I said no, not yet. And the head nurse immediately checked my dilation ... my cervix was at NINE cm! Really?! I had just progressed 3 centimeters in 10 minutes?! Now the whole story of the mom giving birth in the bathroom was making a lot more sense to me. :) THEN the pressure came. I could feel it, munchkin was ready and he was coming fast.

The nurses quickly began transforming the room to prep it for delivery. But where was munchkin's dad?!?! He was still gone! Munchkin's mom laughed nervously at the thought of how panicked her husband would be once he saw her text messages that said to hurry back soon. The nurse checked me again just 5-10 minutes later, my cervix was dilated to 10 cm and fully effaced and baby's head was right there! 

Munchkin's daddy finally made it back, just in time. And they both put on hospital gowns to prep for skin-to-skin once baby arrived. My doctor entered the room and it was time to push. Now the interesting thing about pushing when you've had an epidural is that you have no idea when you are supposed to be pushing, because you can't feel the contractions. My doctor gave me the cue that I was having a contraction so at 8:25pm I started pushing. After the first push, I felt like I had pushed all wrong (more in my head and less from my bottom). My doctor reassured me that I would get the hang of it and we tried again, this push was a lot better and I could feel the baby's head making progress to come out. Another push or two and the baby's head was half way out. My doctor asked me to stop pushing (I think to let me rest?). I remember my husband saying, "He has dark hair!" And I told him, "I don't care!!!" All I cared about in that moment was pushing the rest of him OUT. It didn't hurt, but the burning sensation where munchkin's head was didn't feel good either. The doctor said, "Do you want to keep pushing?!" I shook my head up and down quickly. "Ok, go ahead and push then," ordered my doctor. One more final push and munchkin was here, it was 8:31pm, I had only pushed for six minutes. It was amazing how long those last six minutes had felt. :)

Roman Franklin (aka munchkin) arrived at 8:31pm on February 10th, 2013 weighing 7lbs, 10 ounces and 20 inches long.

 

 
Roman was perfect! And I let out a huge sigh of relief knowing that he had all 10 fingers and all 10 toes. :) 

As I watched in the moments after Roman was born, I saw his parents smile and cry for their first born child. Words cannot describe how happy I felt, knowing that I helped build a family! 

Roman and his parents headed up to the recovery floor first, my doctor wanted to keep me in the delivery room for a few hours because I had lost a lot of blood and she wanted to monitor me. My nausea was back, and as I tried to finally eat some food, my body quickly rejected it. Throwing up made me feel better though. Sometimes I wonder if pain would be more preferable than all this nausea ... sometimes! ;)

I finally made it up to recovery a little after midnight and my husband went home to relieve the grandparents who had been watching our two little guys. I was exhausted and hungry, but my stomach wasn't ready for food just yet. So I slept instead and at 7am, I woke up to my husband calling because Roman's parents had already been asking if I was awake and ready to see Roman. I was awake, but food was a higher priority right now. I ate and got ready and walked over to Roman's room. He had made it easy on his newbie parents, sleeping most of the night. They both asked me if I would like to be "Aunt Leslie" now. I could not have been more thrilled! Of course I would. I've said it before, but I will be forever grateful for being matched with such an amazing couple, and knowing that they considered me family now made this whole journey even sweeter.  

Roman and I both stayed another night in the hospital. Unfortunately, Roman had failed to pass his hearing exam, so he would be returning to the hospital in a week to have the exam redone. (Update, Roman has passed his hearing exam, yay!) On the second night in the hospital, I reflected on how happy I was feeling. I knew I would be happy, but I was also prepared to feel a little sad too, but I wasn't. I give the credit for that to Roman's parents, for being so welcoming and encouraging me to visit as much as I'd like. They even bought me a gift, a necklace with a pair of angel wings. I've also received updates (almost daily) with pictures and videos of Roman. They did not have to be so generous and show so much gratefulness, but it was exactly what I needed.

There is a new precious little life, that I helped bring into this giant world. It brings tears to my eyes to think about our journey. So magical, so perfect. And I loved every minute of it. 

Roman and his TEAM:

I also want to say a huge THANK YOU for all the well wishes and encouraging words throughout this entire journey. I could not have done this without so many great family and friends supporting me along the way!  


~The Baby Fairy