birth story

so i feel as if i need to write down everything before i forget it. my labor story is long; it started on tuesday, january 18th at 9am and ended on thursday, january 20th at 6:42am with griffin being born. scott & i went to the hospital for an amnio on monday, january 17th at 7:30am. by the time we got home from SF, the doctor called to say the lungs were mature and we would induce the next day. we got a phone call at 6:30am on tuesday saying that they were ready for us at Kaiser SF. we got situated into my hospital room at 9am on the 18th. at 11am they started me on cytotec, a drug used to help dilate the cervix. you can have up to 6 doses of cytotec and you take it every 4 hours. after 4 doses and 20 hours i was only 1/2cm dilated. so the doctors decided to stop the cytotec and start with plan b. they inserted a foley catheter with a deflated balloon at the end of it. once inserted, the balloon is then inflated with saline. when the balloon falls out you're about 3-4cm. this was inserted at 7am on wednesday 1/19. for a good portion of the day i was still only 1/2cm dilated. the doctors started talking to me about going home and trying again the following week. i was NOT having that. i could not go through it all again a week later. we were having this baby!! i was determined. they decided to start the pitocin to see if it would help me dilate. around 3pm the foley was able to fall out and i could slightly feel my contractions from the pitocin. i was 3cm dilated, and we were on our way to baby! the contractions started getting stronger around 5pm and i decided to start trying the techniques we learned in birthing class. we "danced", lunged, rocked, and i even sat in the shower for awhile (that was amazing!) and let the water hit my back. it helped, for a little while, but the contractions got worse and worse. at around 7:30pm my water broke. it was meconium stained. the contractions got unbearable after my water broke. i could barely breathe. i just held the side of the hospital bed and moaned. scott tried to get me to breathe, but i couldn't do it. so i opted to try fentanyl. it worked for about two contractions, but then the contractions felt so much worse. at that point i knew i was ready for my epidural. i was 5cm dilated (my personal goal to reach before the epidural) and ready for some pain relief. what a great decision! my epidural took immediately and i felt so much better. it was 8:3opm and i needed some sleep. the doctors were checking me every 2 hours. at 2am on thursday the 20th i had a fever, was shaking, and was put on oxygen to help the baby. i was only 6cm. i knew the epidural would make the labor last longer, but i thought i'd be further along. at 4am dr. devoy said that she was hoping to deliver my baby and was sad that it didn't look like she was going to get that chance (her shift ended at 7:30am). she said "well, i guess there's still time" and i said i hoped that she'd be delivering the baby too. by 4:30am i felt immense pressure and knew i needed to be checked. i called for the doctors. i was 8cm. they said they'd be back in two hours to check me again, and decided that they would move me to the OR at 6am where I could finish my labor. they wanted me to deliver in the OR because it was a bigger space for all the doctors that would be at the delivery. at 5:30 i started feeling like i was getting close to pushing. they moved me to the OR. it was just me, scott, our doula and the nurse. i was shaking and puked. it was very glamorous. at 6:15 i wanted to push, but dr. devoy told me to wait until the baby descended further. at 6:30am i couldn't wait anymore. i needed to push. scott and our nurse held my legs so i could push. a few minutes later the nurse was calling the doctors into the room. he said "i can see hair". i couldn't believe i was so close to meeting the baby. i thought i'd be pushing for hours and hours. all of a sudden there were doctors everywhere, but i barely noticed them. i pushed a few more times and then all of a sudden griffin was there at 6:42am after about 15 minutes of pushing. he wasn't crying, he was just stretching in Dr. Devoy's arms. he looked a little dozed, as if we'd woken him up from a nap. he was taken to the next room immediately and scott followed to take pictures. then he was wheeled in to see me. it was so great to meet him. i held his little hand and was so happy. i'd never been so happy. i loved him immediately. he was adorable and i was so relieved that he was finally here.

Griffin Reed Westerman

born Thursday, January 20th at 6:42 am.

taking a little hiatus from the blog while we adjust to life in the NICU and as new parents

january

january is national birth defect awareness month. just thought you all should know.

the birth plan

another baby update. one of the final pre-birth updates, which is kind of exciting! we saw Dr. Wu on thursday, as well as having another NST and ultrasound. we discovered that my blood pressure is only high when i'm in perinatology (shocking!!), so Dr. Wu thinks I have white coat hypertension and just wants me to keep monitoring my blood pressure at home, but isn't too concerned about it. the ultrasound showed us that the baby is growing well (they estimate that he weighs 4lbs 14oz, he has a full head of hair, and a GIANT head!) and his intestines look "fine", so there is no need to induce earlier than we have been planning, which is wonderful. the plan is what we've been expecting since we found out about the gastroschisis. i'll be induced at 36 weeks to prevent any other issues from arising (a lot of times the hole can start to try to heal itself and pinch off the bowel that is outside... which is bad because then you lose bowel, and that's just one of the many issues that can happen as you get closer to full term, in addition to a higher risk of fetal death).

the plan: on monday the 17th i'll go to labor & delivery in SF for an amnio to test lung maturity. the results of that will dictate what occurs during the next few days. plan A: if the lungs are mature then i will come back to L&D on the 18th to be induced. plan B: if the lungs aren't mature i'll be given a round of steroid shots to jump start the lungs. the first shot will be given on the 17th, the second one given in santa rosa on the 18th, and then i'll be induced on the 19th.

the induction: the process isn't as simple as going on pitocin (a synthetic form of oxytocin, the hormone that contracts your uterus) and having the baby a few hours later. since the birth is taking place a month before it should my cervix is "unfavorable" (a horrible term that basically means my cervix is not ready yet). starting pitocin would give me contractions but it won't dilate my cervix, and that would be pointless, so we have to dilate my cervix first. the way Dr. Wu is going to do that is by giving me a synthetic prostaglandin (prostaglandins are produced by the body and help to soften and dilate the cervix), such as cervidil or prepidil, to start the dilation process. Dr. Wu told me that he won't start pitocin until i am 3cm dilated. he also said that it could take up to a few days to get me to 3cm. and yes, i'll be in the hospital the whole time. once i'm 3cm, we will start the pitocin (i'm going to ask to be started on a low dose of pitocin since it'll make the contractions come on hard and strong) and depending on how i'm progressing Dr. Wu might decide to break my water (which can speed up labor). that's the plan. we're not sure exactly which day i'll start the induction process yet, and we don't know how long it'll take, but isn't that the way it's supposed to be? we'd all be waiting and wondering if i was going to term, so why should this be any different? brianna said that other day that she didn't want to be hanging out at the hospital for "10 hours" and i was like, well that's labor! i'm hoping for 10 hours! that'd be fast. it takes a long time to get a baby out, and we have to be patient. our little boy has a lot to deal with when he is born, so he can take all the time he needs.

engaged

scott & i are now engaged (which makes me feel much better about being enormously pregnant) and now i'm so excited to be able to share all the wedding inspiration i find all over style me pretty every day. stay in touch for all the wedding pretties i find all over the blogs.

image via style me pretty, natch.

also, i should mention how happy i am to be engaged to scott and lucky i am to have him in my life. but i can save the mushiness for another post that will be dedicated completely to the best person in my life. i love him and am so happy to share my life with him.