Introducing Madeline, and her birth story.
We checked into the hospital at 5pm on Monday evening. I was nervous, anxious and excited. They hooked me up to all the necessary monitors before they decided to start the induction process with the first dose of Cervadil. Everything looked great, and we began the Cervadil at 7pm. I didn't really feel anything, except a few contractions here and there, and I was having horrible indigestion. The nurses kept a close eye on me and were monitoring my progress. My blood pressure was high (abnormal for me), but I was convinced it was due to nerves. Hours later, my indigestion was absolutely awful, so they gave me an IV of Prevacid.
During the night, my indigestion became quite painful, my blood pressure was still high, and the contractions were picking up. At 6am Tuesday morning, my OB came in and decided to check on me. I was 1 centimeter dilated, and we went ahead with the Pitocin induction. My contractions started to pick up about an hour after the Pitocin, and my heartburn and indigestion had subsided.
Around 10am, my OB decided it was time to break my water. At this time, I was 3 centimeters dilated and making steady process. And oh my gosh, getting my water broken hurt so bad because I was fully effaced, and not on any pain meds at this time. I mean, really painful. Next, my OB said to go ahead with the epidural. I was thinking, that this was probably going to be a very long day.
I was nervous about the epidural, but they hid everything from me so I couldn't see anything. The epidural took about thirty minutes from start to finish. The hardest thing about the epidural was staying still during contractions. They were picking up significantly and becoming pretty painful. But, as soon as the epidural was in, I didn't have any more pain. It was amazing. I was checked again for dilation and at this time I was 5 centimeters. My blood pressure was still unusually high.
After the epidural, I felt great. It was a weird feeling everything being numb. About an hour later, they decided to check again, and I was 10 centimeters dilated! We were so shocked. The nurses asked me to do a practice push, then made me stop because Madeline was on her way! They called my OB, prepared my room, and we were getting ready. We made the calls to our parents to head to the hospital asap.
I pushed 3 times, and Madeline was born. It was not painful at all since I couldn't feel anything. I didn't even know that I was pushing...I just kinda had to guess how to push. I did ended up tearing, and receiving stitches.
Madeline was born on August 14th at 11:36am, weighing 5lbs, 12oz and 19 inches long.
After Madeline was born, the nurses checked her out, and decided that she needed formula due low blood sugar, so they whisked her away for a few moments, then layed her in my arms. Tommy and I were so excited. I was able to feed, get cleaned up, then our parents were allowed into the room.
Everyone was so excited. The doctors and nurses were still monitoring my status, and I was fine (actually, I felt awesome), but my blood pressure was still unusually high. Our parents stayed for awhile, then gave us some privacy. Then, the horrible indigestion and heartburn kicked in again. And, I mean horrible. I couldn't talk, much less open my eyes much. It was seriously the worst feeling I have ever encountered. The doctor immediately ordered me a cocktail of Lidocain, Belladonna, and Maylox, as well as a pain medication through my IV. The cocktail was definitely potent, and would give me immediate relief. However, it took over an hour to get the meds, because the ER was having to mix it by hand for me. Let me to tell you, I have never experienced pain like this before. I seriously would have rather been in a coma. It was awful.
As soon as the drugs were administered, I had instant relief. The doctor came back in, and told me that I was going to have to be placed on magnesium and blood pressure medication. I ended up developing HELPP, a rare and most severe form of preclampsia. The indigestion and high blood pressure beginning on Monday night were signs that I had HELPP, but they weren't aware that it was as severe at as it was until I got my blood work results back.
I was put on the magnesium, and felt okay until the next morning. On Wednesday, I was so loopy and out of it, it was seriously awful. The side effects hit me all at once when I was attempting to eat breakfast (prior to breakfast on Wednesday morning, I hadn't been able to eat anything since Monday night, plus once I started the magnesium, I could only drink 50mg of water per hour). I could barely even hold my fork. And, I started to cyring, and freaking out. I just didn't think I'd feel that bad.
I was given the highest dosage of magnesium available, and once I was off of it, it slowly started to fade. I was told that evening that my HELPP Syndrome was so bad that if I hadn't been induced, I would have likely had liver failure and/or bled out by Thursday. Sometimes, things happen for a reason. All this time, I was so worried about Madeline, and I never thought anything would be wrong with me. I'm so thankful that everything is okay. It's very scary to know that both of us could have easily died, had I not been induced Monday. I'm sure if I wasn't, I would have just assumed that my indigestion and heartburn wasn't a big deal and just dealt with it...that is until Tuesday's episode.
They continued to monitor me, and decided to release both Madeline and I on Thursday (my labs significantly improved and my blood pressure lowered). Tommy and I were both exhausted and anxious to get home. Since we've made it home, I still feel loopy, exhausted, and I'm quite sore from the delivery. We are all taking it easy. Madeline is doing great, feeding well, and is just absolutely a joy. We are so thankful!!!
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Madeline Kate's Birth Story
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I'm glad that the induction, labor, and birth were so easy, but I'm sorry you were so miserable afterward. What a blessing that things worked out the way they did. 
Sorry to hear about all the complications afterwards - hope you continue to recover!
10/29/11
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