As many of you know, starting at around 33 weeks of my pregnancy Dr. Pope started getting concerned about Miss Kalia's size. He said that she was measuring in the 17th percentile, meaning that out of 100 babies there were 83 babies that were bigger than her. So he sent us to get an ultrasound done to check up on her. I was also measuring at a week behind at that point. We went to the ultrasound that afternoon and left feeling a little better because we were told she was measuring in the 47th percentile.
Dr. Pope wanted a follow up ultrasound, as is standard procedure, so at 35 weeks, we went back for another ultrasound, and at this point I was measuring 2 weeks behind and she was measuring in the 16th percentile (I don't understand what happened with our first ultrasound), but still she was healthy, everything was working, she was doing what she was supposed to be doing and scored an 8 on the bio-physical profile. So we were still a little worried but were relieved to know that she was at least doing all those things they look for when trying to make sure the baby is healthy.
We didn't think we would have any more ultrasounds, but at 37 weeks Dr. Pope wanted another look to see how she was doing, so we went back and got another ultrasound and at this point I was measuring 3 weeks behind and she was in the 14th percentile. She was still scoring an 8 on the bio-physical profile, but she just wasn't growing. At that point Dr. Pope, Chris and I had started talking about a possible induction because there was obviously something going on for her to not be growing the way she should be growing. But it wasn't a huge topic of conversation, just something basically in passing.
We talked a little more about it at my 38 weeks appointment and knew that there was a definite possibility that the following week, we could be headed into St. Luke's to be induced, but still nothing was for sure. Which brings me to last Wednesday, August 17th. Chris and I went to see Dr. Pope for our normal weekly appointment, Dr. Pope did his normal thing, check the heart beat, measure me, nothing out of the ordinary. When he was done doing his thing, he said that it was time to seriously consider being induced because of her size. He said that it was better for her to be out than in because of the fact she was so little. Chris and I trust Dr. Pope 100% so we were all for it. The health and well being of our baby girl was at stake, so we agreed with Dr. Pope (after all, he is the one who went to school for this) and decided that being induced was the best thing. He then asked us to meet him in his office so we could go over details.
When we got into his office, he had already put everything into the computer and sent over all the information that was needed to St. Luke's and told us we needed to be there for 6:30 THAT NIGHT! lol. Talk about overwhelming!!! When we had talked about induction it was always Thursday the 18th, we thought that we at least had one more date night before being sent to the hospital to have our baby. I was completely overwhelmed and walked out of Dr. Pope's crying, lol. I couldn't believe that in 7 hours I was supposed to be at the hospital to start the induction. Chris and I left, and we decided to have a lunch date, so we went to Olive Garden and spent more than we should have and ate enough for a month (or so it felt like). We then went to the market, got some snacks (I had been reading that there should be snacks packed for the dad.), and then we came home and packed up the last of what needed to be packed, cleaned up a little and waited for 6:30 to roll around.
At 6:30 we walked over to St. Luke's (it's like a 90 second walk for us), went up to labor and delivery and registered. I got into my johnny, they took blood, hooked me up to the fetal monitors, inserted an i.v. line so when the time came I would be all ready for any iv's I would need. (This was the only time I ever saw Chris kind of freaked out. He just sat there and said "Woah" as he looked at me all hooked up and ready to go. I think that's when it hit both of us that this was it. We would be leaving the hospital as parents. It was such an overwhelming thought.) At 8:00 p.m. Dr. Johnson, another o.b. from Health Care for Women, came in and started me on Cervadil (I don't know if I spelled that right), to help my cervix along so that when it was time to start the pitocin in the morning, my body would be ready. By about 11:00 p.m. I was having some wicked (or so I thought they were wicked in that moment) contractions! I was so uncomfy it was unbelievable, so we called in a nurse and I was able to get some stadol, which I HATED. I mean I liked that it helped with the pain, but it made me feel wicked drunk. As soon as I got it the room started spinning and I started having trouble concentrating. It definitely was a weird feeling, but again, it did help with the pain and I was able to sleep. However, after a few hours it wore off though and I was told that it generally doesn't work a second time around, so I just had to deal with it. I also had to deal with the woman in the room behind me SCREAMING, and CRYING and YELLING that she should go through labor, that it was too hard, that she wasn't going to be able to push the baby out. It COMPLETELY freaked me out. For about 6 hours all I heard was this woman through out her labor. Really got me pretty apprehensive about what was to come for me.
The plan was to remove the Cervidal at 7:00 the next morning and then start the pitocin at 9:00. However, I guess labor and delivery filled up over night, and when someone is put on pitocin, they have to have their own personal nurse, and all the nurses were super busy, so I had to wait until 11:00 to be put on pitocin. Around 2:00 I had the WORST contraction in my back. I have NEVER felt pain like that before in my life. I started crying and couldn't move. It was UNBELIEVABLE, so Chris went and got my nurse, and I was started on an epidural. I felt like an idiot though because I was only 1.5 cm dilated. Who gets an epidural at 1.5 cm dilated? and I was only 70% effaced. I felt like a big cry baby, but if that contraction was that bad at 1.5 cm dilated, I had no interest in finding out what a contraction felt like at 10 cm dilated. The epidural was HEAVEN SENT! Within minutes I couldn't feel anything. I wasn't too happy about the idea of a catheter, but it was so nice to have that relief from the pain. I took out a book and started reading. About an hour later, I heard something go off, but didn't think much of it. All of the sudden Dr. Pope and my nurse were in my room looking at the fetal heart monitor. Dr. Pope then went out to another area to monitor Kalia even better and about 20 minutes later he came in and said, "We need to talk". Chris and I both knew right away what that meant. Dr. Pope then explained to us that every time I had a contraction Kalia's heart rate would decrease meaning that she was in distress. He went on to say that the fact that I was only 1.5 cm and she was already in distress didn't fare well for her doing well later on in labor. Basically, she wouldn't survive labor and that having a c-section was our best option in ensuring a safe delivery and healthy baby. They stopped the Pitocin so I would stop contracting and about an hour later (there was a c-section that was more of an emergency than ours) I was taken down to the o.r. It was really neat, as I was being wheeled down, I was able to see my mom, my sister and sister in law who were all out in the hallway. It really helped me stay calm knowing that my family was there. About 15-20 minutes after we got into the o.r. I heard my baby girl cry for the first time!!! Chris was AMAZING and he was able to get some really neat photos of her coming out.
I wish I remembered more of what it was like in the c-section room, but I had a lot of medication going through me (so much so that the room was spinning the whole time Chris and I were in there) and I ended up getting super sick, but when I was all stitched up and taken to the recovery room and they brought my sweet baby girl in, it was amazing! I swear the moment we made eye contact we imprinted (for those who are twilight fans). However I do remember telling Chris that Kalia needed a brother! lol. He just looked at me like I was smoking the funny stuff! But serioysly, seeing her for the first time and holding her were seriously two of the most amazing moments of my life. I know I complained my entire pregnancy, but she was worth every second of it.
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