Camille's Delivery

I've been meaning to sit down and write this post, but time seems to slip by so quickly with two children.  A moment to myself is pretty hard to come by these days.  Of course, I wouldn't trade it for the world, but unfortunately, it's why the blogging has been put on the backburner lately.  So here I am, writing in my "spare time".  Tripp is actually at school right now and I'm typing and nursing Camille, multitasking at its finest. 

So, back to the more important story, Camille's delivery.  On Wednesday September 26th, I went into my OB's office for my weekly check-up.  I was 39 weeks and 3 days that day.  My platelets had been running lower than normal.  This was not new to me.  It's something I dealt with during both pregnancies.  My count actually ran a lot lower than 100,000 during most of Tripp's pregnancy, but went up right at the end to a whopping 119,000 and I was thankfully able to get an epidural.  The rule at Northside is that your platelet count must be greater than 100,000 in order to get an epidural.  Some anesthesiologists will put one in for a count higher than 90,000, but that all depends on who comes to do the epidural.  Normal platelet counts in most adults are above 140,000, so I technically wasn't "normal," but it was high enough to get the meds.  My platelets tend to run low normal even when I'm not pregnant, but for whatever reason, I always get this unexplained gestational thrombocytopenia.  During most of Camille's pregnancy, my platelets seemed to be holding steady in the 140,000 range, but in the last few weeks prior to delivery, they started to drop and I wasn't getting numbers any higher than in the 90,000's.  My OB, Dr. Grogan, talked about giving me a small dose of steroids to help boost the platelets if they continued to drop, but there are no guarantees that will work.  When I went in for my 38 week check-up, she mentioned the option of inducing me at 39 weeks if my platelets continued to drop.  I was a little hesitant to talk about an induction because of my fear that my body wouldn't be ready for labor, I wouldn't dilate, and therefore I'd have to have a c-section.  My delivery with Tripp was so perfect, my water breaking on it's own, that I didn't want to risk something bad happening because of my need for an epidural.  Dr. Grogan said we could always reassess my situation at the 39 week appointment, but if the level dropped any lower, than an induction would be in the best interest of both me and Camille.  I saw Dr. Mobasser at the 39 week appointment, since Dr. Grogan was at the Cumming location that day, and he decided to send me in for an induction that night.  My platelets were still low 90,000's.  He didn't check to see how much I was dilated that morning, but the previous week I was 2 cm, 70-80 % effaced, and Camille's head was very low.  He said the nurse would check me at the hospital that night and that would determine how the induction would proceed.  He took me into his office and I sat across from him while he wrote my orders.  When he was finished, he handed them to me and told me to give them to my L&D nurse when I arrived at the hospital that night.  He took me over to the induction coordinator's office and she got everything squared away with the hospital.  She gave me instructions to call the hospital after 12:00 pm that day so they could give me a time to arrive.  I left the office feeling both excited and nervous.  I called Rob, he was waiting patiently for my call, let him know what the plans were, and Tripp and I headed back home.  When I got home, I fed Tripp and called the hospital to inquire about my arrival time.  The L&D charge nurse said she would call me back after 4:00 pm to give me a time.  I put Tripp down for a nap, watched TV, and waited for Rob to get home.  I really didn't know what to do with myself.  I was already completely packed and there weren't any more tasks I needed to get done.  I could have slept, but I was too excited to do that.  Since I was still waiting on the call at 5:30 pm, Rob fed Tripp dinner and I went upstairs to take a shower.  Finally, around 6:30 pm, I got the call to be at the hospital by 8:30 pm.  I called my mom and she headed over to help with Tripp that night.  We actually planned to have my mom in the delivery so my brother was also available to help with Tripp in case she needed to leave quickly.  We took a few pictures of our family of three before leaving and Rob and I headed out.  Rob was starving, so we stopped at Chick-fil-a for his dinner.  I realized I hadn't really eaten much that day and even though food didn't sound very good, I decided I'd better eat a sandwich then since I might not be able to eat again for awhile.  We drove to Northside, parked outside the L&D, checked-in, and waited patiently for the room to be set-up.  Finally around 9:15 pm, they called my name, and Rob and I headed back to room F5.  The hour or so after consisted of filling out paperwork, putting me on the monitors, and getting my labs drawn and heplock started.  My L&D nurse, Sarah, was wonderful.  She was easy to talk to and got my IV without any problems.  After she got my IV, she checked my cervix.  My cervix was still pretty posterior, behind Camille's head, so she had another nurse come in to verify my progress.  They both agreed that I was still about 2 cm, 70% effaced, and that Camille's head was super low.  Dr. Mobasser had ordered cervadil, a medication that softens the cervix, to be placed on my cervix that night if I was less than 3 cm.  One of the nurses asked if they should call the midwife to verify if she still wanted the cervadil since Camille's head seemed to be so low.  I was only having sporadic braxton hicks contractions at that point so after talking it through, they decided to go ahead with the cervadil.  They laid me down and placed the cervadil.  Around 11 pm, a new nurse came on and she gave me some Ambien to help me sleep.  I wasn't able to get out of bed for atleast two hours after the cervadil was placed so I figured I might as well try to get a little rest.  I'm not 100% sure that I would ever take Ambien again.  It almost had the opposite effect on me.  I never really could fall asleep other than dozing off and on throughout the night.  At a little after 6:00 am, the night nurse came in, gave me a soap suds enema (yes, you read that correctly...I didn't want any accidents during the delivery), and let me take another shower before they started the pitocin part of the induction.  At this point in the morning, I was having contractions a little more regularly, approximately every 4-8 minutes.  The contractions were slightly more uncomfortable at this point, but not too bad.  I showered, got back into bed, and the night nurse came in at about 7:20 am to start my pitocin.  A few minutes later, the dayshift nurse came in to introduce herself, checked my cervix, and I was already 4 cm (in active labor!).  She asked if I would like to get my epidural soon because my platelet level was 103,000.  I said sure, and by 8:15 am the anesthesiologist was in the room and had my epidural started.  Then, my midwife, Wendy, came in, checked my cervix (4-5 cm and 100% effaced) and broke my water.  That's when the "fun" started...and by "fun" I mean worsening pain, nausea, and vomiting.  I wasn't getting any relief despite having an epidural.  I went through blue barf bag after bag throwing up everything and when I had nothing left, I just continuously dry heaved.  It was awful.  I got a dose of zofran to help with the nausea, but that didn't help so they gave me another.  After about 1 hour and 45 minutes of this, I was over it.  I told my nurse I still wasn't getting any nausea or pain relief.  The midwife came back in to check on me again and to see what type of progress I was making.  I was 9 cm!  She said she thought I'd have my baby within an hour.  Thank goodness, I thought, pain aside, I didn't know how much more vomiting I could take.  Just as the midwife was finishing up with my check, the anesthesiologist walked in with a gigantic syringe of medication to really dose me up.  He seemed a little stumped that I wasn't getting any relief.  Wendy, my midwife, stopped him from giving me the meds since I was so far along and had been throwing up so much.  She said the combination of me dilating so fast and the epidural meds causing my blood pressure to drop were most likely the culprits causing the nausea and vomiting.  Any more medication on board would only aggravate the problem.  She said she'd be back in about an hour to check me.  No more than 5 minutes later, at the most, I started feeling pressure.  Rob called out to the nurses station and within a minute Wendy was back in my room.  She offered to check me again and sure enough, I was 10 cm and Camille was ready to come out.  Wendy told the nurse to get set-up and told me that I'd have Camille in just a few pushes.  She asked if I wanted to use a mirror to see the delivery.  I didn't do it with Tripp, but this time I thought, what the heck, and they set-up the mirror close to my bed.  A minute or two later, I started pushing.  I'm not sure why, but at that moment, my epidural started to give me slight relief. After the second push, Wendy told me to stop.  She said Camille would come out, but that I would tear if I pushed her out right then.  I waited just a minute, the nausea getting terrible again, and at 10:32 am on September 27th, I delivered the most beautiful baby girl I've ever seen.  Wendy even let me pull her out after the shoulders were delivered.  It was seriously awesome.  I forgot all about my nausea and enjoyed looking at my baby girl.  I held Camille while Wendy stitched my small tear and it was one of the best moments of my life.  I'm so thankful that even though my epidural only worked after I started pushing, it prevented me from feeling the small tear and helped during the stitching.  After everything was finished, my nurse turned off the epidural.  The admission team nurse came in to assess Camille and I got a dose of Benedryl for the post-epidural itching I was experiencing.  It wasn't terrible at that point, but after Tripp's delivery, I learned to ask for it early.  I was still a little nauseated, but I was determined to not dry heave anymore.  Camille ended up having a low blood sugar so the admission team nurse gave her some similac and said she would have to go up to the newborn nursery for two more good blood sugars before she could get her bath.  At this point, I was fine with that because my nausea had returned in full force.  She took Camille up to the nursery and I started to throw up yet again.  Wendy came back to check on me and ordered a shot of Phenergan to help me.  My nurse gave me the Phenergan and within 15 minutes I felt much better.  So much better, in fact, that I could barely hold my eyes open.  After a morning of vomiting, pushing out a baby, and with a slew of meds on board, I was incredibly tired.  Rob and a tech helped me into a wheelchair and we went up to room 491.  I rested for a bit while Rob and Claudia went to watch Camille get her bath.  My mom and sister went to pick up Tripp so they could bring him back to meet Camille.  Unfortunately, I knew my dad wouldn't be able to meet Camille that day because he was in Louisiana helping with my Grandmother.  He was so disappointed, but my mom called him right after the delivery and I made sure to send him a picture before I posted anything on facebook or sent anyone else a picture.  That day was seriously one of the three best days of my life...the other two being my wedding day and Tripp's birthday.  I may not have felt great that day, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat.  Meeting my precious baby girl was worth every moment of discomfort.  My heart has literally grown 10 sizes and I'm so happy to see what the future holds for our family of four.

Our last picture as a family of 3 before Rob and I left for the hospital.

Laying in bed during the cervadil part of my induction.  I wasn't allowed to get up for 2 hours once the cervadil was placed.  I was feeling pretty good here.  No real contractions yet.

The pitocin had just started.  My contractions were already every 4-8 minutes and slightly uncomfortable at this point.

Taking a picture in between bouts of nausea and vomiting.  This was taken right after the midwife checked me and said I was 9 cm. 

Daddy holding his baby girl for the first time.

Mommy and Camille.  Yes, that is a blue barf bag behind her head...a clean one.  If I ever have to use one of those again, it will be too soon.  I seriously cannot even remember how many I went through.

Talking to my dad on the phone and telling him how beautiful Camille is.

Uh oh, baby girl's blood sugar was 37.  It needed to be atleast 40 so the admission team nurse had to give her a bottle to get it up.  Her repeat sugars were fine after this.

Memere and Camille

Grammy and Camille

Mommy, Aunt Alli, and Camille

Getting ready to get her 1st bath

Tripp meeting Camille for the 1st time

Tripp opening his big brother present

Tripp's favorite...Thomas trains plus "The Tigger Movie" and a book.

Sweet big brother offering Camille his new trains.  This was surprising because Tripp is not quick to share his trains!

Hugging Daddy

Uncle Matt, Tripp, and Camille

He really loves her!

Family of 4!

Daddy's first diaper change with Camille.  No instructions needed for baby number 2!

Getting ready to go to "sleep" after a long, but wonderful day!