I still cannot believe that I stayed pregnant a whole week after my water broke! All my nurses said they knew "so and so" or another patient who went weeks and weeks after their water breaking so I know I was no record breaking case or anything but I def was the only patient on the floor who was in that situation. I went in on the 12th thinking we'd be having a baby that day but the Drs immediate plan was to keep me pregnant as long as possible to minimize Laurens stay in NICU and give her a better start to life. My contractions never started so that kept everyone on staff happy for a week. I was known as the "undelivered patient in room 430." I was starting to go a little nuts and some days were just downright sad. It was a long week mentally even though I knew it was best for Lauren. On the 18th the Perinatologist from Yale did a consult with the Dr that was delivering me (the doctor situation is a whole other story but I'll get to that) and they all felt it to be a good idea to go ahead with the delivery on the 19th seeing as that would put me at 34 weeks and 3 days giving Lauren a better shot. I really thought they would wait until tomorrow (the 23rd) which would bring me to 35 weeks but the risk of infection to either me or baby was still there and the delivery was a better option than waiting a few more days and risking infection. I was hooked up to IV antibiotics for most of my time there then they switched me to oral meds but still had me attached to the monitors24/7 until Wed night,then I got monitored for just an hour 3x day. As far as my labor was concerned it was really long because they had to induce me and were being extremely cautious witht the pitocin. In order to avoid any tearing to my C section scar my dose was started at bare minimum and was increased only once an hour by a very small amount. My nurse started me around 8am and I was able to tolerate labor very well without an epidural until around 4pm. The Dr noticed that my cervix wasnt changing fast enough and by 4 I was only about 5cm. I had been rocking in a rocking chair and rolling around on the birthing ball to try and get baby to move down faster but it wasnt working. So my plan was to get the epidural in case they had to up my pit dose a bit faster and so I wouldnt have to feel the actual birth....that has GOT to be painful. Anyway, I had all week to stress out about the birth/epidural and I was so anxious by the time the "Gas Man" came in to do the epi that I was a nervous wreck. I cried though the whole thing and when I finally calmed down I had the shakes. I had clung to the poor nurse like a little monkey during the epi process and felt like a big baby but for some reason I was a total anxious, nervous mess about getting it. So after I was numb I had to stay in bed for the rest of the labor and still wasnt dilating fast enough. If I labored too long I understood my uterus would get tired and my risk of bleeding would increase and that also put the baby at risk. SO we had to get things moving. Dr increased my pit every half hour by a larger amount and they did the foley cath to empty my bladder. That is what did the trick, turns out my bladder was really full and with it empty, baby could actually move down and dilate me. I was 10cm by 9pm and pushed for an hour...a lot longer than anyone thought I'd needed to push cuz I was only 34 weeks. Well, Lauren had her hand on her head and it took me a good 15 minutes to remember how to push properly. During pushing, her heartbeat kept dipping and it scared me and the Dr and nurses even raised an eyebrow but I trusted them and they seemed confident because it always came right back up. Turns out, the cord was wrapped around her little neck! When she was finally born, I cried right along with little Lauren who came out screaming! It was such a relief to hear her after such a crazy pregnancy. Bill was out of his mind excited and he cut the cord, the nurses wrapped Lauren up tightly and gave her to me for a minute...that's when I knew there was no way she even weighed 5lbs. She was so small!!! They took her to NICU and by 1230am I was wheeled over there to pay her a first visit. She had her CPAP and some IV meds but otherwise looked great and showed lots of promise for a speedy recovery. After that first visit I was so tired and my body would not stop itching from the epidural so I was taken back to my room where the nurse cleaned me up and changed my sheets and gave me a benedryl through my IV port. I was passed out within 15 minutes! All in all a good birth/labor, Im happy about having a VBAC and after being in that hospital for a total of 9 days I have a new found respect for the L and D nurses. They are amazing people and it really takes a special person to do what they do.
As for the Doctor situation, my regular docs at Norwich ob/gyn had always told me that if my water should happen to break early I would deliver at Women and Infants hospital in Providence. WELL for some reason, when I called at 5am on the 12th to tell them my water broke the Dr told me first to go to Hartford UConn medical center and I was scared to go there seeing as I knew nothing of the place but we were willing to go where we were told. So I hung up and no sooner did I hang up she called back and told me to go to L&M down in New london! Im like "uh are you sure? Im supposed to go to Providence." But she said yes so off I went. I didnt get to the hospital until 8am and even by then my doc still hadnt called the on-call doc at L&M to let him know I was on my way and they didnt have my chart either!!!! They were so confused as to why this strange lady (me) was there with a broken water at 33 weeks. The on-call dr was clearly annoyed with my drs office but he took me right into Triage and had a plan with what to do with me in a matter of minutes. They finally got my chart by 9 or 10! In the end it worked out great because I was familiar with the NICU there...Cami had a 2 weeks stay when she was born. I know the nurses would be amazing with Laurens care. Thats it! PHEW!!!!!!!!!!
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