My Story

In hindsight I guess I'd have to say it all started around 4am on Monday, March 29, 2010. I started having pain around my pelvic bone and in my half asleep state I never considered I was having contractions. I thought Maddie was just dropping down into my pelvic canal... finally. Then I had two contractions; one at 5:00am and another at 5:20am. After that I fell back asleep. Dustin left for work around 5:30am with me assuring him I was not in labor. Then at 7am things started changing. I started having regular pain, but for some reason I was in a complete state of denial that they were labor contractions. I started timing at 7am and the "pains" were 5 minutes apart. I thought, well, that can't be right because when you start labor your contractions are approximately 20 minutes apart... it's only when they become 5 minutes apart that you leave for the hospital. It can't be time for me to go to the hospital... I just started timing for goodness sake. So I called my mom and asked her, "Mom, what does a contraction feel like?" And what she described was exactly what I was having. She told me I need to call Dustin, but I still didn't want to bother him at work... Mom told me otherwise. So I finally called Dustin and told him what was going on. By this time I was having contractions 5 minutes apart for the past hour. Needless to say, Dustin quickly made his way home. He got home about 40 minutes later and we finally left for the hospital.
Once we got to the hospital the "fun" began. First of all the previous night was a full moon and women were dropping babies left and right... I got the last available delivery room. Once I made it back into the labor and delivery room my contractions were VERY strong and 3-5 minutes apart. I was never so happy to see the anesthesiologist in my life. I signed all the forms and curled into a ball for my epidural. As soon as the drugs hit I was a happy camper, but then things went downhill. It's well known that an epidural will drop your blood pressure, but mine completely bottomed out! Dustin had walked away to use the restroom and by the time he got back I was as white as a ghost and pretty much out of it. Dustin looked at me and tried to get me to respond, then he looked up to see about 10 different doctors and nurses busting into my room. With my BP so low it was also having an effect on Maddison, her heart rate jumped up to about 170 and she was being over stressed. They were having a hard time getting my BP back up. The anesthesiologist was called back into the room and gave me some meds to increase my BP, which finally had me stabilized after about an hour. But all the stress on Maddison had caused her to have her first bowel movement, so there was meconium everywhere. The nurses busted my water, put in an internal fetal monitor and also ran water into my uterus to clean out the meconium... there was a lot going on.
Now that I was stabilized 100% of the attention was turned to Maddie. It was discovered that she was not head down, instead she was laying horizontally in my uterus. Also for the birthing process you want the baby to be face down, but Maddie was face up. And to make things worse she had her umbilical cord wrapped around her! You know they say if things are going well you'll only see the doctor when it's time to deliver... not me, the nurse never left my side and I kept seeing the doctor over and over. It turns out that with each contraction I was having the umbilical cord was being compressed causing uterine placental insufficiency and Maddison was not tolerating the labor very well. So I was put in a couple different positions to try and get Maddie to turn and release the cord... that never happened. Finally, the doctor called for the c-section. Dustin dressed in his cap and gown and I was wheeled to the OR... about 30 minutes later Maddison was born happy and healthy!
As eventful as the labor was, the c-section was the exact opposite, and thank God! I don't think my husband could have taken anymore 'events.' Since Maddie was pulled from my belly she has been just perfect. With it all said and done, I wouldn't change a thing. My daughter is perfect and has already brought more joy to mine and Dustin's lives than we knew possible. Thanks for everyone who stood with me through the stressful few hours and for everyone who has expressed their love. We love you, too!