Laurel’s Birth Story

So I did have my July baby after all and she is already a week old!  I decided to take some time to share her birth story.  No worries…I won’t include any graphic details, but it is quite long.

Days Leading up to the “Big Day”

So you may remember that my original due date was July 3oth.  When I went to the doctor on Wednesday, July  20th, I was fully expecting to be told I was going to be induced since my amniotic fluid was getting low the previous visit.  However, the fluid level was fine, baby was measuring 7 1/2 pounds, and everything was ok, except my sudden spike in blood pressure.  My doctor had me come in on Friday to check my blood pressure again and I also had some labwork done to test for pre-eclampsia, but everything was normal.  My cervical check revealed I was only 1cm dilated and 60% effaced.  So after my appointment on Friday, I thought I would likely make it to my due date and perhaps longer.  On Saturday, we were out and about like any other usual weekend day.  I spoke with my father-in-law that evening who is an OB/GYN and he asked if I was experiencing any Braxton-Hicks contractions.  I told him I didn’t think I was, but reflecting back, I may have had some and just didn’t realize what they were.

Pre-Labor Begins

Around midnight or so on Saturday night/Sunday morning, I started experiencing what I quickly realized were true contractions.  They were anywhere from 6 to 13 minutes apart.  The contractions kept me from falling asleep, so I went into the family room to keep from disturbing William.  Around 4am, I woke up William and told him, “I think today is Laurel’s Birthday”, to which he replied “Really?!” with a big smile.  I decided to take a shower and make sure everything was ready to go.  William soon got up, showered and packed the remaining items in his hospital bag.  By this time, it was close to 5am and the contractions were coming consistently every 8 or 9 minutes.  My doctor wanted me to call her when my contractions were 8-10 minutes apart, so I called her and she told me to go ahead to the hospital.  So, we anxiously headed out the door knowing we would return with one more family member 🙂 …..

Labor

We arrived at the hospital around 6am and got checked in.  I was hoping I was at 3 or 4 cm.  I was at 2cm.  I figured we were either in for a very long day or would be sent home.  Fortunately, my doctor was on call, so she was fine with keeping me and starting Pitocin to help me dilate.  I was moved from triage to a labor and delivery room and things got going.  We called our family to let them know I was in labor.  While in triage, I was suprised that th nurse said my contractions were about 1 1/2 minutes apart.  I certainly was not that uncomfortable.  Although they were coming fast, they were not very strong.  Pitocin usually helps with that and it certainly did.  The contractions started getting a bit stronger and I began getting very uncomfortable.  I knew I planned to ask for an epidural and didn’t really see a reason to wait, so I asked to be checked to see if I was at 4cm (this is the magic number that most want you to get to before you get an epidural).  I was only 3cm when she checked me, so I labored a while longer.  William and my sister did a great job helping me breathe through the contractions.  I had my relaxation music playing and closed my eyes and went to my happy place (the beach in Turks and Caicos where William and I honeymooned).  I got the epidural around 11am or 12 noon and felt comfortable enough to watch a little television (Cake Boss).  I quickly progressed to 4cm and then 5cm.  I know most people say everything is a breeze after the epidural, but  I actually had to have mine adjusted because I was numb on my left side, but not as numb on my left and felt severe muscle pain.  I soon felt some relief.   Somewhere in between, my doctor came to rupture my water and things picked up tremendously from there.  The contractions were coming every 30 seconds to a minute apart it seemed, and I quickly went from 5 cm to 8 cm.  I became pretty uncomfortable again because I started experiencing extreme pressure that the epidural was not helping with that .   All I could remember was closing my eyes, practicing the breathing techniques I learned in childbirth class, and trying to go to my happy place again.  I was soon at 10cm and still very uncomfortable from the pressure.  I had a couple bolus injections of something to help with this so I could comfortably make it through delivery.

The delivery

I think I started pushing at 4:30pm.  I couldn’t really tell if I was doing a good job because I didn’t necessarily feel like my pushing was doing anything, but I do remember the nurse calling my doctor and telling her she thought things were going to go pretty quickly.  This made me feel good.  With each contraction, we pushed until less than an hour later at 5:21pm, Laurel Annette Cody arrived.  She let out a short cry, but apparently was breathing fine.  After William cut the umbilical cord (which he said was much tougher to cut than he thought it would be and took him 3 cuts to get through), they laid her on my chest and began to clean her off.  William and I stared in utter amazement that we were finally looking at our daughter!  After a little more skin to skin kangaroo time, they took her over to weigh and measure.  She was 7 lbs, 5 oz and 21 inches long.

Post-Partum 

A couple hours later, we went upstairs to the post-partum unit.  Laurel was in the nursery quite a while and didn’t come back to the room until about 10:30 or 11pm.  She roomed in that first night, which I wondered if I was going to regret because I needed sleep, but it was good because I was able to have lots of skin to skin time and stare at her a while longer.  She was very content and did not cry much at all.   The bonding time was a good thing considering what was soon to come.  On Tuesday, my recovery was going very well and although I was sore, I was not in pain and didn’t have to get any additional pain medication, so I was discharged.  However,  a lab test revealed that Laurel’s bilirubin level was high and she had jaundice, which causes some yellowing of the skin).  I didn’t realize how common jaundice was, but about 60% of babies develop jaundice.  Her levels were high enough for the pediatrician to recommend phototherapy where the baby is placed under blue lights to help rid the body of the bilirubin.  This may not seem like a big deal, but when your newborn baby is taken and placed under lights wearing only their diaper and a blindfold to protect their eyes, and you cannot take them out except to feed the baby, it can be quite traumatic.  Not only that, but our calm baby who rarely cried soon started crying often because she did not want to be under the lights and kept waking herself up and was probably a bit confused about where she was, especially considering she could not see.  We had to give her a pacifier at one point, which I was hoping to avoid since I was nursing, but we really had no other option to help her sleep.  She also would not eat and we were having problems with breastfeeding, so I was working with the lactation consultants, but the phototherapy seemed to take all the energy out of her and she would not wake up for feedings.  I had to pump and feed her using an oral syringe.  That was difficult also.  I don’t think I slept at all that night.  The next morning, her bilirubin level dropped, but only a little, so the phototherapy continued.  William had left to go teach his class, so I was by myself and all I could do was cry.  I prayed her levels would drop so could just hold her and let her know I was here and did not abandon her.  My eyes are tearing up just thinking about that experience again.  I just wanted to hold my baby.  Because she was not feeding well, they also tested her sodium levels to check for dehydration, but fortunately that level was normal.  Around noon, the doctor told us she needed to stay under the lights a little while longer, but we could go home that afternoon.  I was thrilled.  I could not wait to take her home.  The pictures that William posted on Flickr of him holding her with just her diaper on are pictures from when she was finally about to come out of the phototherapy.  After another last minute consultation with the lactation consultant, we were finally on our way home!  We left right at 5pm during rush hour traffic in Dallas.  Thank goodness for the carpool lane!!  It’s so nerve racking on the first drive with a 3 day old baby in the car, but William did a great job.

At home

Now that we are home, we are adjusting to life with baby Laurel.  We are learning her routine, which mainly consists of one thing that you probably would not associate with a new baby…. sleep.  Laurel sleeps all the time.  She probably sleeps a good 22 of the 24 hours each day.  You may think this is every mother’s dream, and I must admit that I do appreciate being able to get my rest as well.  However, her lethargic nature this first week has also been my biggest worry.  Why?  Well, in most cases, you will hear the recommendation to let babies sleep… they will let you know when they are hungry.  However, most pediatricians will recommend that for the first 2 weeks until the baby has gained back the weight they lost after birth and are back to their birth weight, you need to wake your newborn every 2-3 hours to feed them.  There is a risk of dehydration if they do not eat, so I certainly want to avoid that.  All newborns lose weight after birth, and Laurel was no exception.  She was down to 6 pounds, 10 ounces when we left the hospital, so we have lots of work to do to get her back to her birth weight in 2 weeks.  So… I have been waking her up every 3 hours (sometimes 4) to feed her.  There are times when she is on board and sometimes when she would rather sleep, so this is a bit distressing for me, but I know we will get it figured out.  The sleep concern brings on even more worries…. will she stay hydrated?  Will she gain back her birth weight soon?  Will I maintain my milk supply to I can continue to breastfeed since she doesn’t feed as often?  Will she suffer from plagio0cephaly (flat head syndrome) from sleeping so much?

The other difficult part of this week has been my poor husband who is suffering from a sprained muscle in his back (likely from sleeping in an uncomfortable position on a chair while he was in the hospital with me).  He didn’t have to stay, but he chose to sleep at the hospital and go to work from there.  He has two more weeks of classes for summer session and then he gets a 2 week break.  So due to the sprain, he has been in severe pain.  He has been taking pain meds, muscle relaxers, and using heat therapy, but his recovery has been slow.  So, I am praying for a speedy recovery for him so he is back at 100% again.  Despite his pain, he has been great with encouraging me and helping with the baby when the pain is not too severe.  He is great at swaddling the baby, which we have been doing while she is sleeping.

So… it has definitely been a challenging week.  I am constantly on the internet and in books reading about various topics.  Despite all my worries, I love the fact that I am the mom and we have a beautiful baby girl that is healthy.  William told me a couple days ago… “I love our life right now”.  It doesn’t get any better than that 🙂

We took photos with our parents (minus my dad who is back in Cleveland).  Click here to view them.