It's a long story, but also not a very long story.
We moved to Waukee for Clark's new job, so I needed to find a new care provider for this pregnancy. In smaller Iowa towns, your family doctor is your pregnancy doctor and you deliver at county hospitals, with higher risk cases directed to the bigger city hospitals that have the NICU.
But, because we lived in the bigger metro area, I saw a group of OB/GYN specialists, because family doctors in the city don't handle obstetric cases. The group of doctors I saw delivered all babies at the large hospital downtown.
I have a history of making bigger kids, so it was no surprise that a size ultrasound in the my third trimester showed the baby already weighing 8.5 pounds. I talked to my doctors about getting an induction to prevent the baby from getting too big. However, because the large hospital have so many patients from the entire Des Moines area, they have a blanket policy against inductions without a favorable cervix (someone who is already dilating and effaced). However, my body has blanket policy against dilating early. I spoke to my doctor on Tuesday morning, and after a quick cervix check, she said the hospital would not accept me as a patient for induction, despite the fact that the baby was big. They scheduled another ultrasound to check on baby for Friday, with the assumption that if the sonogram showed that she was over 10 pounds, the hospital would allow for a scheduled c-section to avoid complications of an overdue baby who will only get bigger.
I kind of felt railroaded. I knew I wouldn't need a c-section if I could find a place to get induced. I wanted the chance to at least try. I was miserable as I drove home. I called some friends to complain, and then I had the idea that I would contact my old family doctor who oversaw my care with Jonas, including the induction and the delivery. I called his office and explained the situation. He said he would be happy to have me deliver with him at the small county hospital about an hour south of where we lived, and said he could see me the very next day.
We packed up the car quickly and drove down to Clark's parents to spend the night there, and then we drove over to the county clinic, which is part of the hospital complex. Dr. Miller did an exam and sent orders over the labor and delivery for me to have cervix softening that day, with the intention of starting pitocin to induce the day after -- once my cervix was more ready for labor. Before we checked in, we went to Walmart. Clark got his hair cut and we picked up a protein smoothie for me. I was feeling nauseous and did not really feel like eating, but I knew I'd need the energy, since you can't eat with the cervix medication in place.
I was settled into my room at about 12:30 PM, and the first few hours I just chilled. Wrote an article for work, checked Facebook. At 2, the nurse came in and started my IV for penicillin. However, I started to get steady contractions that were uncomfortable at around 3 PM. They were almost immediately 2 minutes apart, and getting stronger by the minute. At 5 PM, the nurse checked me and told me I was only 1 centimeter progressed, but I still had hours to go on the softener before the induction was supposed to begin. They brought me some orange jello and beef broth to eat.
From there things got very intense very quickly. The contractions were almost on top of each other, and I had a hard time not panicking. I got into the shower, and Clark helped me with counter pressure, and at 7 PM the nurse checked me again, and I was still only at a one. I was devastated because things were so painful, but technically it was still too early for pain medications, and I felt like the last two hours had been a waste. The nurse took pity on me at 7:30 or so, and gave me a shot of Nubain, which took the edge off the contractions and slowed my breathing to help me relax better. I did calm down and just sort of silently labored through the contractions, until about 8:20, when I felt strange. I felt like there was something in the way of the contractions, and so I turned around and made a weird noise, and then my water broke.
I immediately told the nurse to call the anesthesiologist (I was sure I still had hours to go since I had only been at a one an hour before), and she said she would in a minute as soon as she had a chance to call the doctor for the order. She checked me to be sure and said I was at a 4. She left the room, and then I immediately felt like I needed to bear down like I needed to go to the bathroom. Then, I felt panicky, because I could feel the baby moving down. When the nurse heard me say that, she rushed back into the room and said that I needed to get onto the bed. I had barely gotten onto the bed (I was kind of laying there weirdly diagonal) when the burning feeling started to come. I remember being afraid because the nurse had just checked me literally 30 seconds before and said I was at a four, and I remember thinking that I couldn't push out a baby with only a 4. Clark was right there, and I kept asking him what was happening. Then the baby was really crowning, and I screamed and she came out just like that.
I just kind of laid there weirdly limp while the nurses were still trying to get a labor tray ready. They put the baby on my chest and she didn't even cry; she just sort of laid there half asleep. I wondered if something was wrong with her, but she was breathing. After a minute, I asked them to take her off because I was shaking and I felt like I couldn't move my body. I was just sort of out of it. I remember asking Clark if she was really a girl. He said yes.
The nurses gave me some pitocin in my IV to help prevent bleeding and to help the placenta come. The doctor still wasn't there yet, but he came in a few minutes later to help deliver the placenta, which was enormous. They finally clamped and cut the cord. Everything was a mess because nothing was ready for the delivery, so people were kind of rushing around trying to get things cleaned/get me taken care of/get the baby under the warmer because I wasn't ready to hold her yet.
I took the baby back from the warmer and she latched on super easy and started to eat. After about twenty minutes, Clark took her. I was still in shock over how things had gone, and my only thought was how wet I felt and how I wanted to be clean. I got into the shower and washed off as best as I could.
When I got back into the room, everything was a lot cleaner, and I was finally beginning to process what had happened in the last four or so hours. We didn't even make it to the induction the next day, my body just kind of took over. I felt super validated in choosing to switch hospitals at the last minute to avoid getting a c-section, especially because of how quickly everything progressed.
Baby Nadine just seemed to take everything in stride. She is a super chill baby. They gave her a bath this morning and she fell asleep as soon as she got into the tub with the warm towel wrapped around her body. She never really has cried, even when they prick her foot for blood tests, she mostly just sort of grunts a complaint. She continues to nurses pretty well. We are excited to bring her home and start the recovery process.
