Masen's Story

Masen finally came into the world on November 2, 2010 at 3:02AM. He was 9lbs 5oz and 21 inches long. He has been such a wonderful addition to our little family, and we love having him here with us! And now that I am home and settled in, I thought I would share his birth story...

It all began at about 5AM on Sunday morning, which is when I believe I first started laboring. I didn't realize it at first, because the contractions were so light, so I've been saying that labor really started at 8AM, which is when I finally got out of bed from the discomfort they were causing me.

From the start my contractions were fairly close together... about five to six minutes from start to start. They weren't very painful, but I could tell they were increasing in strength, so Scott and I started getting everything together to head to the hospital. I was told that once they were five minutes apart we should go, so off we went.

At the hospital they monitored my contractions and Masen's heart rate, and they checked to see how far dilated I was. As it turns out I was only 1cm dilated and I was informed that although my contractions were getting stronger and were coming less than five minutes apart, I needed to wait to come to the hospital until they were so strong that I couldn't walk or talk through them, so home Scott and I went.

At home I continued to labor, and tried all sorts of different techniques that they had taught in our birthing class to try and get through them, but every contraction was back labor, and it felt as if someone was tearing my back apart. At this point I was feeling very thankful that we live in a house because I have a feeling my screaming and yelling through the contractions would have brought about some concern in an apartment or townhome.

Finally, a little before midnight, I decided that I had had enough, and that we just needed to get to the hospital. I was determined that even if they told us to go home, I was going to just sit in the parking lot and labor there, because riding in the vehicle through contractions was torture! Every turn and bump in the road felt like knives piercing into me, and I was not going to ride home just to have to make a return trip back to the hospital!

When we arrived at the hospital it was a little after midnight, and I was slow going to the door as I could not walk at all through my contractions. Thankfully there were some nurses in the parking lot who brought me a wheelchair and took me straight into labor and delivery, so I didn't have to wait like I did the first time.

They got me settled in my room and checked my cervix, which was measured at 2-3cm. I was frustrated that I had made such little progress, but it was enough to have me admitted, so I was at least in and staying, which was a relief.

Basically from here on out it was 16 hours (until 4PM) of me screaming and wishing that it would just be over. Every time I moved even the smallest muscle, I had contractions rip through me with increasing intensity. They were coming less than a minute apart and lasting as long as two to three minutes. Sometimes just as one would end I would be hit with another, and there would be no rest, so I would have a contraction that felt like it was lasting for five minutes or more straight.

It was torture, and I had been laboring 32 hours without sleeping or hardly eating anything (just a few bites of a sub that I had the day before after being sent home the first time). I was so exhausted that I was falling asleep while talking and even at the end of contractions while I was doing my deep breathing. I was also mumbling incoherently to Scott as I would slip out of conciousness midsentence. Looking back it's kind of funny, but at the time all I knew was that I was tired, and I wanted rest.

So basically at around 4PM things changed when my nurse, who had been with me for most of the morning, came in and talked to me about an epidural. She brought up the good points that I was exhausted, that I might still have another 12 hours or more of labor, and that my contractions were only going to be worse once my water broke, and I could be laboring through that for some time as well. Her concern was that I would be too tired to push when the time came, because I would be so worn out from labor. At this time I was only 6-7cm dilated, and I was becoming increasingly frustrated with just how long it was taking! Back labor is merciless, and it was only getting worse, and I was so very tired already. When the nurse left, Scott and I discussed it as best as we could through my contractions, and came to the conclusion that it would be best to get the epidural, so I could rest, and that we would have to hope that I would be able to push when the time came. The way the nurse explained it was that if I couldn't feel to push, then they would be able to turn down the epidural, until I could push, so I was feeling fairly optimistic, although a little disappointed with myself.

Thankfully I have a very supportive husband, and Scott assured me he was not disappointed in the least, and that he was proud of how long I went as it was. It did help to make me feel a little better. So in they came with the epidural, and the relief was almost instantaneous. Being a sell out had never felt so good, haha. By this time I think it was closer to 6PM, but I was really having a hard time keeping track of time, so that may be wrong. All I can really remember is taking a nap, and then having the doctor come in to break my water, and telling me that Masen had had a bowel movement, and there was meconium in the amniotic fluid. I then was able to start trying to push, which I was able to do (I had an amazing anasthesiologist, and although I was completely numb, I could still move my legs and support myself, etc... it was great), but the nurse noticed that whenever I finished pushing, Masen's heart rate would drop drastically to an unsafe level.


We tried having me change positions for him, and I was given oxygen, but it still happened, so the doctor said that between the drop in heart rate and the meconium, it was going to be dangerous for me to continue pushing. It also turns out that Masen wasn't as low as they thought he was, and so I had a lot of pushing (as in hours) ahead of me. I now had to make the awful decision to have a c-section, which was the absolute last thing I ever wanted to have, but I didn't want to endanger Masen's life.




As soon as I made the decision to move forward with the c-section I was quickly wheeled out of my room and Scott was instructed to clean up our belongings and move to the mother baby unit where I would go after recovery. Within about ten minutes I was on an operating table and they were quickly getting underway to have Masen born!



Thankfully Scott made it in time, and he was able to sit close by, and in what seemed like only a few minutes they were telling Scott to stand up and see our little baby. Scott said that it was a little awkward because Masen appeared to be stuck, and he said there was much tugging and pulling to get him out, which I clearly remember feeling. And once he was out, it felt like all my insides were going to follow! I had terrible chest pain, which had something to do with my lungs being squished by Masen, and then no longer being squished. I was able to momentarily forget it all when they brought me Masen, but he was only beside me for a short while before they whisked him away to the nursery, and I was alone to be sewn back up.






This is when I fell asleep... or maybe passed out... I'm still not sure which. All I remember is waking up in the recovery room. I don't know if Scott was there when I woke up, or if he came later, but I remember he gave me some ice chips, because I was super thirsty. I remember as well that it seemed like I was in there forever and a day, but they finally wheeled me out to take me to my room, and they even let me stop by the nursery to hold Masen for the first time. He was so incredibly big, that I didn't know how best to hold him, haha. I was so happy to finally have him in my arms though, and everything seemed to be going so well. He was a 9/9 on the Apgar, and he was so alert and happy.

They then took me to my room, and let me settle in, and then they brought me Masen, so I could begin nursing him. This is when the nurse pointed out his breathing, and after letting me work with nursing him for about five minutes, she said he needed to stop so he could go back to the nursery and be monitored. I think it was about 5AM when this happened, and by 8AM a nurse was in my room telling me that Masen had been taken to the NICU for breathing issues, and then our pediatrician came in to explain it all in more detail. Basically they heard a crackly noise in Masen's lungs, and they were concerned that he had gotten meconium in them, and they were going to do x-rays and put Masen on antibiotics. I was definitely worried about Masen at this point, but had no idea that this would lead to him being in the NICU for the next three days, which was the rest of my stay at the hospital as well.






It turns out that although he only had amniotic fluid in his lungs, and was really doing okay, he had to complete a 72 hour stay anyway. The first 24 hours he was under an oxygen hood, but after that he only needed IV fluids. It was really hard to go visit my otherwise healthy baby, but not be able to take him back to my room with me. It was also difficult because I would get so worn out moving around because of my surgery, that it wasn't always easy to go visit him. But we did get to visit with him, and although he was partially formula fed, I was able to work on nursing him in the NICU. It was good to be able to bond with him, and talk to him, and I always knew that if I couldn't be down there with him, Scott would at least go.


Now he is home, and healthy, and we are all happy (except for the few meltdowns that Masen and I both share having, haha, but Scott is pretty good about handling both us). It took a while to get him to fully accepting nursing, but he is now completely off formula, which makes me very happy! And at his first doctor appointment we were told that his lungs have completely cleared, and that we have a very healthy little man!



Whew, that took a lot longer than I was expecting it to, but now it is out there, and I can move on to blogging about our day to day life! I am actually quite excited about that, because truly, it gets a little boring sitting around the house all day, haha. It'll be nice to start blogging a little more regularly again.