Birth story - Rebekah and baby Isaac

*Trigger warning* - Contractions (not negative to me) IVF baby, Adoption, Growth Restriction, failure to progress, pain in recovery.

Pregnancy:

After 4 failed Intrauterine Inseminations, we were delighted to be pregnant after our first IVF treatment. Also that same week, we got a call to adopt two children ages 5 and 3, something we had been waiting for for a little over 5 years! So large family it was and all at once! Thankfully my pregnancy was very smooth, hardly any morning sickness (I threw up twice in the whole first trimester) and normal tiredness from pregnancy and adaptation to two young children at home. I basically loved being pregnant, stayed normally active, travelled, went on family vacation, worked and enjoyed those 9 months with our two new children as my belly grew. The kids were excited to see my belly grow as well and asked lots of fun questions about birth as they were both born via c section.

Preparation

I knew I wanted to have a natural and respected birth and enjoyed the PBC class preparing with my husband and trying to get my health providers on board. People here were fascinated with my ideas hahah and lots of good natured teasing took place between friends (I am a nurse). There was also lots of advocating for myself before the birth with the hospital and doctors! I tried to eat 4 dates a day as of 37 weeks . I was finally able to drop off my birth preferences and actually speak to a midwife, doctor and neonatologist from the hospital on Thursday March 11th and was feeling super pleased with myself and confident that my concerns as a first time birth mom had been heard and that most of what I wanted could be achieved. (Delayed cord clamping, skin to skin, and trying a physiological birth of placenta, as well as pushing in position of my choice).

Unfortunately that same day in my last growth scan, Isaac had dropped to the 12th percentile in growth (he had previously been doing quite well in the middle 40-60th percentile) and when I mentioned this to my OBYGEN friend she immediately recommended a C section. I had a good cry as this was very unexpected for me, I was expecting a big baby and probably after due date! (both my husband and I were bigger babies 3600gr and 4170gr). My next doctor appointment was on Tuesday March 14th so I used my BRAIN and said I would pay attention to the baby’s movements and wait and see what the doctor recommended at my next appointment, still holding on to the hope of starting labor naturally. I spent the weekend reading positive induction stories and reduced growth stories on the Facebook group.

Sunday we had our maternity pictures done so got lots of oxytocin flowing and baby seemed fine. My OBYGEN friend also had offered to check me and do a stretch and sweep, so Monday morning (39 w) March 13th, she checked me first and my cervix was closed but soft so then I consented to my first stretch and sweep to 1 cm which was uncomfortable but bearable. I carried on about my day normally and was happy about this, as I was worried my Doctor would also want to do a C-section when he saw me. I took a nap with a hot water bottle and felt some random tightening throughout the night but slept fine.

Labor

Tuesday morning (39,1) I dropped off the kids at school and cleaned and did housework as my parents were arriving at midnight! I felt like I was running against the clock with last minute things to do! My mom was bringing the tens machine, raspberry tea, clary sage oil and birth pool haha so all that went out the window … I also went to the bathroom midmorning and wondered if my body was cleaning it’self out as I continued to have a tight belly quite frequently but did not bother to time the contractions. By the time I had to pick up the kids and have lunch at 1pm I was feeling uncomfortable so I ate lunch on my birth ball and then decided to take a shower, with the hopes of painting my nails and doing my make up to look nice (spoiler alert, I did not).

I went to the bathroom and was delighted to see my mucus plug in my pad at 2:30pm which meant things were getting ready! I showered as my husband who was home put the kids down for a nap, and after the shower I went to the bedroom to show my husband how I thought I might be having regular contractions and the rest of the mucus plug that had come out. At that moment as I leaned over the bed in a contraction I felt a pop and my waters broke at 2:50pm. I quickly waddled back to the bathroom as my husband decided to get the kids back up and bring them to my mother in laws house according to plan. (cue her screaming on the phone: you need to go to the hospital NOW! )

I sat on the toilet (waters were clear) and felt the contractions ramp up so I finally got out the Freya’s app at 3:20 and began timing them and I was already in established labor with contractions coming every 2-3 minutes! I knew I would have to go in to the hospital with the waters breaking so early so I made the best of my little hour to myself at home kneeling over the birth ball on a puppy pad my husband came back 40 minutes later and threw together the rest of my hospital bag (baby bag was ready but mine was not and I wanted to bring all my tools to the hospital now). I then got in the back of the car (Peugot partner) in the little nest my husband had prepared with the ball and more puppy pads and we drove slowly to the hospital (30 minutes) as I continued to breath through the contractions every 2-3 minutes. Unfortunately I had a bad stuffed nose that day so I was moaning through my mouth on the 6-8 seconds out part which resulted in a very dry mouth very quickly, but I kept drinking water and power aid and felt good and in still in control of the situation.

Hospital

At the hospital around 5pm the same midwife I had met on Thursday checked me and found me at 2 cm dilated with low head and effaced? So I was admitted, I asked to wait as long as possible for antibiotics as I had no sign of infection and they did a quick blood draw to get some base stats on me (I don’t mind needles). I was happy not to have an IV catheter in for better mobility. Thankfully we had the room to ourselves so my husband quickly dimmed the lights and got our little space set up with the birth ball more puppy pads as I continued to leak at each contraction, the Freya app and more poweraide to stay hydrated. I continued with up breathing and moving around until my next exam around 8 pm where I was at 4 cm. I was super happy with the hospital environment it was much better than I was hoping for and the midwife and doctor on duty (who happened to be pregnant with twins) loved my birth ball and were very encouraging. The doctor even mentioned the possibility of trying to birth in the hospital room as I was alone, and tried to get the neonatologist on board by warming up the room, but the neonatologist was super convinced. I didn’t care at this point I was focusing on the contractions but appreciated her kindness and the effort for a more natural birth!

At my next check, around 11pm, I was 6 cm so things seemed to be going great. However for some reason after this check things began to slow down by themselves my contractions turned to every 5 minutes instead of every 2-3. At the next check around 1 am I was still at 6 cm so the doctor suggested and injection of butylscopilamine an antispasmic drug to try and relax my cervix which was effaced but tight. I was happy to give this a try, but unfortunately at 3 am everything seemed the same and I had failed to make any progress despite the great environment. Isaac’s heart rate was good, but the doctor didn’t think pitocin was a good idea or would actually do anything since I had been “doing everything right” with the regular natural contractions, she could feel a little edema forming on his head and thought that his chin might not be tucked down so she thought a C-section would be the best option at this point. I was pleased with my efforts up to this point all naturally and felt like I had given it my all but also was getting tired as was my husband who had been a real trooper the past 12 hours helping in every way, massaging my legs, giving me liquid, going back to the house to get more supplies and pillows etc. So after a quick BRAIN we consented to the C-section.

C-section

At this point I had an IV cannula fitted with antibiotics as 12 hours had passed since my waters had broken. My doctor then appeared to do the C-section and checked me one last time just in case but I only was at 5 cm according to him so that was that and I was wheeled off to the operating room. My husband was able to be present (no pictures no cord cutting) but he was in charge of the skin to skin once Isaac was born so he had his shirt off under his gown. The C-section was uncomfortable, I didn’t mind the spinal block but was surprised how much I could still feel and wiggle my toes as they did the C-section and having seen other people’s C sections, I certainly didn’t enjoy hearing all the sloshing sounds and feeling all the tugs and pulls on my own body but after what seemed like 5-10 minutes and lots of up breathing to try and stay calm, Isaac made his appearance with the cord wrapped once around his neck. He cried pretty much straight away Apgar 9/10 and then the cord was cut I assume and he was brought over to my head where I could give him some kisses before he went off with my husband to get weighed, vitamine K etc and then skin to skin time while I was being sewn up.

Isaac latched to my breast right afterwards and we were brought back to the room where we had 4 hours of snuggle time together as I couldn’t talk for 3 hours and had to wait for the nurses to come change me before getting up.

Recovery

I found the recovery after the C-section to be painful the first 3 days, mostly because I had a really hard time getting up out of bed after having been so mobile all pregnancy, wiggling around like a worm in bed to be able to get up was so frustrating and I could not laugh or cough or sneeze with out feeling like my inside stitches were being ripped out which made me feel very panicky the first days with all the hormones too! I asked for tramadol twice to help calm the pain in the hospital and that worked well along with the ibuprofen they were already giving me. My mom who had just arrived spent the second night with me in bed in the hospital as my husband went home to be with the kids. Isaac was doing great and after getting home (quick discharge 36 hours later) I stuck to paracetamol and diclofenac for 3 days every 8 hours and after that I was considerably less sore and then finally feeling myself again after about 10 days. I was also grossed out/felt like weeping every time I massaged my hard uterus to help it shrink back so I put my husband on that job and that has worked a lot better.

I am thankful for the PBC class this helped me prepare for birth, advocate for my self, help my husband understand and feel part of the birth process and make decisions that felt right for us and our baby! Isaac continued to thrive breastfeeding at home, no jaundice whatsoever and had recovered his birthweight on his 7 day checkup! We are grateful for a healthy baby and no complications and can’t wait to get to know him more. I would recommend the PBC and look forwards to another positive birth experience if we get a chance in the future.