Accepting a Different Plan ~Birth Story Pt 2

Last week I shared the first part of our birth story: When Plans don’t go as Planned.  Accepting a different plan wasn’t easy. I had wanted a homebirth and it was hard to give that up. But, from the first time we did blood work, I was trying to prepare myself for that possibility.

Monday I called my midwife again and talked to her about ICP some more. I then went in for blood work the second time. Jason went with me because he had gotten into poison ivy so bad that he decided to take a day off just so he could treat it every hour and hopefully get rid of it without a shot.

After I had my blood drawn I went to both the massage therapist and the chiropractor in hopes that they could help start my labor. However that didn’t work. Later that evening we went to the midwife to check baby and make sure he was in position.

He was posterior and head down at that time. His heartbeat was strong and by all indications he was healthy. However, with ICP there are so many variables that we just couldn’t tell. We also discussed the strong possibility of accepting a different plan, and things I should expect with a hospital birth.

Tuesday my mom and siblings came up and helped me with a bunch of cleaning. I was exhausted and hoped that would bring on labor. No such luck. They came up again on Thursday and we got a lot more cleaning done. Thursday afternoon my test results came back positive for ICP.

Accepting a Different Plan:

What followed was phone calls to the Dr’s office, calls to my midwife and a Dr. appointment for Friday morning with the understanding that I would indeed be going to the hospital for an induction and delivery.

Friday morning we go to the Dr and discussed our options. We were told I didn’t have to start with Pitocin first, if I didn’t want to. He said we could go with a prostaglandin and that it could be all that was necessary to start labor. We were also told that a water birth was still a possibility.

We left with instructions to be at the hospital around 4 that afternoon. I chose to go to the massage therapist again. Not for the labor inducing part because I already knew that wouldn’t work for me, but more for the last minute pampering part.

Afterwards we indulged in a huge meal of Chinese food. Then with our bags and baggage we headed down to the hospital.

We were shown to a room and monitors were hooked up on me around 6pm. After monitoring for an hour, they checked my cervix and I was only at 50% effaced and 1cm dilated. At 7pm they put in the prostaglandin. I had been having regular braxton hicks for weeks at this point, but once the prostaglandin was inserted I began to feel a difference.

I had to lie still for an hour and then I was allowed to get up and walk around. However I had to stay attached to the monitors because it was the baby at risk and they wanted to make sure he stayed okay. In fact those monitors were on me the entire time with the exception of two glorious showers.

I hated those monitors at first. That goopy gel, the fuzzy bands and already itchy skin made for a very itchy belly. The IV port in my arm also annoyed me.

By 9 I was having 5-10 contractions every hour. Sadly every one of those contractions were in my back. We set up my cd player with soothing music and tried to sleep. The bed wasn’t comfortable and the contractions often woke me up. So my Friday night wasn’t very comfortable at all.

Saturday morning 7am they removed the prostaglandin and checked me again. 70% effaced and still only 1cm. I sorta panicked at that time and worried that they would start the Pitocin. However, they came around 9am and said they would put another prostaglandin in. They felt it was working.

Saturday morning passed in slight boredom. The contractions were just strong enough to hurt and be annoying without really being terribly painful. I was also very sleepy and couldn’t rest well, I finally accepted an Ambien which gained me about 2 hours of needed rest.

I talked to my mom some and she ended up stopping by for a awhile. My sis braided my hair while they were there and I noticed my contractions becoming much more painful.

After they left, I tried to rest again, but the pain was a bit much. I finally accepted a small amount of pain killer via IV and fell into a fitful sleep.

Stop back next week for Joy Comes in the Morning. The final part of my birth story. The best way to make sure you don’t miss any of it is to subscribe to my weekly email updates.