Before I Forget
Annie's Birth Story
I don't want to forget...
Week 35:
So, this story starts at 35 weeks. I went in for my appointment and I was already 3.5 cm dilated and 40% effaced. The doctor said that for a first time mom, I was doing awesome and would probably not make it to my due day.
Week 36:
Still 3.5 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Doctor changed his mind and said I would probably have her around my due date, August 13.
Week 37:
We go over my birth plan. I hadn't progressed at all. So at this point, we think she will be born on her due date.
June 30, 2018 Week 38, 10:15 AM:
My doctor is on vacation and I'm worried because I don't know the doctor I'm seeing today. I tell Gleiser "I hope this doctor doesn't break my water because I don't know him and he might be too rough with the pelvic exam." So, we go and he does my exam and I'm still 3.5 CM and 60% dilated. He says she will probably just come on her due date and to wait for that to happen.
After this appointment, I went out with my mom and sisters to go look at model homes in West Jordan for fun. We stopped at Garbett Homes and I jokingly said to the salesman "we are just here to see if we can get this labor going." We walked around and looked at a few houses, then we went back to my parent's house and I took a nap because... well... being pregnant and walking is exhausting.
At 4:00 PM I came home because I needed to prepare to teach a class online with Qkids/VIPkid. I decided to take another small nap and then get going on that, but then I got distracted playing a game on my phone. I went ahead and just came into the kitchen and cleaned a little bit, then decided to really buckle down because my class was going to start soon and I hadn't looked at the lesson plan.
At 6:00 PM I'm sitting there reviewing the lesson plan when I hear a pop. (I had been hearing pops the entire pregnancy and the doctor had told me it was just the baby's joints--just like ours pop)... But then, I got up and started dripping everywhere. So, I called my mom and said "mom, my water just broke." She hurried over with my sister, I called Gleiser, and he rushed over from work so at 7 PM we arrived at the hospital.
8:00 PM - My contractions start and they're about 5 minutes apart. Everything is looking good, we are using hypnobirthing techniques and although the contractions hurt, I'm doing okay. Everything is going awesome. They told me that they would come and check me in two hours to see how far I had dilated. In two hours, I had only dilated to 5 cm and I was 100% effaced.
10:00 PM - My contractions are now right on top of one another and my hypnobirthing techniques are NOT working at all. I can't get my body to relax and I ask them how long they think it will take at my rate to fully dilate. They told me that it would probably take another 6 hours, but the problem is that my temperature at this point had started to climb and if it got too high, they would need to do a C-Section for possible risk of infection. So, I had to make a decision. Do I continue without an epidural and suffer for another six hours with a possible C-Section? Or, do I get an epidural to calm my body down and hopefully get the baby out before I need a C-Section?
I thought about it for a few minutes and then decided to just get the epidural. My body was in anxiety mode and I couldn't get it to relax at all. (Before this, I had a little convo with God saying that I know Adam and Eve messed up and this was the consequences, but that also he gave people knowledge to create medicine.... soooo I was sorry but I was going to do the medication LOL).
The anesthesiologist came in at about 10:10 ish and it was super scary, but he got it in. Took him about 5 minutes and the entire time I was having huge contractions. It was so hard to stay still. I had the normal body shakes and things for about 15 minutes, and then I felt nothing at all. All I felt was a little pain in my back (like when you need to stretch). The attending doctor told me that was good because I could still feel when I was having contractions and not have to wait for them to tell me when it was happening to push.
11:00 PM - Less than an hour after getting the epidural I had gone from 5 CM to 10 CM dilated. (Why didn't I do this sooner???) Anyyyywayyyys, we did REST and DESCEND for an hour and at 12:20 AM, July 31 I started pushing. Thankfully, I still had feeling because if I hadn't, I don't know how I would've pushed.
12:48 AM - 28 minutes pushing and she was born! There we go. She had some respiration problems in the beginning (too many respirations per minute and she had inhaled amniotic fluid). She also had low blood sugar so we had to supplement her regular feeding with formula. (Still on that a few days later). I had to have a dose of antibiotics because at this point, I did have a fever. Anyway, other than that, everything was perfect. I had the most peaceful birth ever (after the epidural) and was able to laugh and tell jokes and be in a good mood. Thank God for medicine!
Annie Elizabeth Escarate Lopez
