Sunday, May 15, 2011

Zekes Birth Story

WARNING: this is a Birth Story.

I wanted to save this in another location so I am posting it here.
You don't have to read it as this is for me to remember and for friends who want to know how I had an AMAZING C-section.

This was written for my Child Birth Classes Teacher 
(they like to get the new moms to talk to the expectant ones- but they were closed due to an outbreak)

enjoy!


Debbie



PS- my doc was really nice, most want you to have a catheter ands stay in bed 24 hours afterbirth

So here we go!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello there!

This is Debbie DeBaeremaeker. I was in the Childbirth Classes that ended Oct 6. We also didnt know the sex of our baby.

this is my birth story (its kinda long but a good one):

My due date was Oct 7. So we were not sure that we would make that date. In fact we did and we also went past. 

On wednesday Oct. 7 we went for our weekly appointment where I was only 2cm and baby hadn't "engaged" yet. so they scheduled us for a non stress test the following monday. 

So Monday came around and we went to the dr. office to be put on the monitor and have an ultrasound. Baby was sounding good and had lots of fluid and a good placenta. The ultrasound technician was very surprised with our baby's size. It was measuring at 11lbs!!! she went to get the doctor and he was also surprised. (Now- there is a margin of error of about 2 lbs- but that gave us a range of 9-13 lbs!). 

both Dr. D and Ann (my midwife) felt my belly and thought the baby would be about 9lbs. I am short so they also were thinking that i would just be feeling big but not really have that big of a baby. 

Since I was not dilated or effaced much and baby wasnt descending they were suggesting a number of options. They were letting me have the choice to wait to have the baby naturally, to be induced or to have a c-section. 

Both Ann and Dr. D both felt that the first 2 options would likely end up in a c-section anyways. And I wasnt too fond of the idea of pushing out a 11 pounder!

We decided to sleep overnight on it and had an appointment first thing tuesday morning to ask any last minute questions and let him know our decision. 

Dave and I talked it over and decided to go with the C-section. 

Dr. D has the OR time of Thursday mornings. So that was our babys soon to be birthday- Oct 15. 

Wednesday we went for the pre-op visit and were given special bacteria wash. for the night before and the morning before. 

{oh- i should mention that i had a really bad case of poison ivy all over my legs, arms and a bit on my back and sides (spread by a bath)}

Thursday we arrived at the hospital at 6 am (there was a c-section before us) and i was prepped for the surgery. They shaved my belly and upper pubic hairs (which is annoying - and I will tell you why later)

at 7 am my minister came to pray with us before we went down. shortly there after I was rolled down to the OR where dave was allowed to wait with me. I had an IV put in my crook of my arm. The nurse upstairs couldnt get it in the hand so that was the next place they tried. I had on pressure leg things on - but they were not used til i retured upstairs. This was very annoying and itchy on my legs!! I was given a nasty drink (i cant remember what for) and i went to the bathroom one more time before the operation. 

We saw a doctor we knew walk by and say hello. The anesthesiologist was actually someone we knew as well. He did give us the option to have someone else there (since he would see me in such a state!) but i was fine with him staying. 

about 9 am i was rolled into the OR (and dave had to stay back) where i was transferred to the operating table and a nurse helped me lean over as i was given the spinal. The freezing did feel like little bee stings. The spinal started taking affect really quickly. I was starting to feel pins and needles and the nurse and anesthesiologist helped me lay down. They did not strap my arms down- they just laid blankets over them to keep them warm and still. they tilted me on my side slightly which i felt initially but after that it felt like i was flat on my back. 
I was asked questions on how i was feeling and apparently I gave the answered that they were looking for. 
I was told how things were going to happen and how i might feel. I did have some freezing come up a bit higher and it felt like i had a bit harder time breathing- but that was normal and expected and not a problem since i was still breathing.  :)

Dave was brought in just as I was being cut open. I was like- "oh- i didnt know i was being cut yet!" Dave did stand and watch the whole thing (i was surprised) My midwife- Ann  managed to rearrange her schedule to be there for the operation as well.

I did feel some tugging and pulling as they were cutting the different layers. The part that i was told about by the anesthesiologist was the so called "labour" of the c-section. This is when they push on you fundas (sp?) (the top of your uterus). It felt like they were pushing on my lungs and causing me to have a hard time breathing- i just kept taking breaths as they pushed on my and it was over in no time. Just after that i could hear sucking - they were clearing out the passages of baby's nose and mouth. And then he cried! Right after they pulled baby out the rest of the way  so Dave could announce that it was a boy!!

Ezekiel Thomas weighed in at 10 lbs even. 20.5 inches long. I did have them save the tape for me. Apgar score of 9!

Dr. D then pulled out my uterus to take a look at it and removed a fibroid that was on it. Its very normal to have and they usually leave them but this was nice and close to my incision so they took it off. So Dave now knows what my uterus looks like and i dont! lol


Dave went over and watched him get cleaned up a bit and then brought him over. we got a few pictures before he was taken upstairs with dave. 
I started to feel nauseous when were were taking the pictures so i let my anesthesiologist know and he gave me some drugs in my IV to help me with that. (dont try to be brave- get drugs if you need them) He also started me on pitocin- which i didnt feel since i was still numb. I had 2 IV bags with potocin while being sewn back up.

I was then sewn up and transferred back to my bed i came down on and taken to recovery. I was told that i would be there til the spinal was wearing off and i could move my legs. So i kept trying to move my legs. I couldnt feel a thing- but the nurse there was laughing at how much i was moving them!

I was brought back to my room where they hooked my legs up to the preasure machine. They brought Zeke to me to try to start breastfeeding. Since i was still frozen I was able to do the normal hold but after i had to switch to the football hold to keep him off my belly. breastfeeding went well and i was starting to feel my legs. When i only had pins and needles left in my feet i called for the nurse to help me to the bathroom. I did not have a catheter at all for the c-section.
I also did not have any bleeding yet which surprised me- but the nurse said that Dr. D is pretty good about cleaning things out. It did start a couple hours later - how fun!

breastfeeding was kinda hard with the IV in the crook of my arm. the machine kept beeping at me when i bent my arm since there was an "obstruction"

I got permission to have the leg cuffs removed because of the poison Ivy and the fact i was up and to the bathroom twice. (you pee a lot with that much IV fluids going in!)
I was also lucky to get the IV removed after a few hours as well as long as i kept drinking water.  The nurses were great about getting the cup full of ice water!

Dave got to do a lot of diaper changes since i couldnt get up without help the first day or two. 

On Saturday I felt well enough to go home around 6. this was good as they had 3 people come in labouring right about then!

Monday we went to the Dr. for Zeke's follow up visit. He was doing very well. 
Tuesday I got the staples removed and then the incision was covered with strips of tape. This was fine until the hair started to grow back in! 

I got some drugs (since i was not pregnant- just breastfeeding) for the poison ivy which cleared up pretty fast. I stopped taking the pain meds they gave me about a week after the c-section. at that point i was only taking them at night if i needed them.

Zeke and I both got thrush (which hurts by the way!). I would recommend seeing someone - like the lactation nurse- if you are still sore with breastfeeding. it might not be they way you are feeding- but thrush or something else. 

Zeke is now 14 days old as i write this. So far so good!





A C- section is a good way to have a baby if you need too. Im glad i didnt try to push out a 10 pounder just to find out i needed a c-section anyways. I dont have any regrets but i hope to have a VBAC next time around- but we will see!

of course this all happened after we had a great birth plan all worked out!

good luck to you all!

if you have any questions- dont hesitate to ask :)

Debbie

1 comments:

Unknown said...

thanks for sharing, that was an insight i've never heard about before.
funny to have met zeke well before reading this....must be so interesting to look back and remember the anticipation and everything!!

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