A Delivery to Remember...a timeline of events.

....Alas...I am able to hopefully post the details of my labor and delivery to all of you!  I can't believe my darling Portia is a week and 1 day old already!  It's been quite a journey just to get here and suddenly feels like a blur.  It seems that nothing in my life ever happens simply and often ends up in some dramatic realm somehow, but I am very thankful for the many blessings bestowed upon me and my family.

...So as you all may know, from my last post at 38 weeks and  4 days preggo, I was anxiously, IMPATIENTLY awaiting Portia's arrival.  I had, up to that point, exhausted every possible way of inducing my pregnancy in hopes of going into labor both naturally and spontaneously so that I could attempt a VBAC:  I drank raspberry leaf tea, bounced on a yoga ball, walked everywhere, "did the deed" and was just shy of doing acupuncture to bring this girlie out but to no avail....she did not want to make her appearance...YET!

...So as the night before December 30th approached....we all eagerly prepared for the events that were about to take place the next morning.  My c-section was scheduled for 12:30pm in the afternoon and I was told to be at the hospital at 9am to do preliminary admissions and registration and paperwork.  I had all of my bags lined up and ready to go the hospital...my parents had already came to stay with us and all of us were super anxious for the next morning to come.

...I got to the hospital at 8:45am and started the check in process.  It took a good hour to do paperwork.  My c-section coordinator/nurse then got me prepped in my gown and got my IV started and then one by one I started to meet my nurses and doctors that would aid in my csection surgery.  My doctor wasn't scheduled to do my csection, but I was so lucky to have Dr. McCloud be my doctor, who was not only cool, but super experienced and totally made me feel at ease considering it was my first time meeting her.  She came in to introduce herself and asked if I had ever considered doing a VBAC and I emphatically replied, "Why, yes, of course!  But I figured since I didn't go into labor on my own and since the csection was already scheduled, this was my final decision so..."  She went on to say, "Well, you are contracting pretty regularly...every 8-10 minutes but you're only 1cm dilated and about 70% effaced;  If  you want to attempt a VBAC, you still can; we'd have to do a few things to get it moving--that is, if you're interested."  I was in shock!  I thought my attempts at VBAC were pretty much non existent at this point so this was twist of events to me and I wasn't prepared to consider it since I had resolved myself to thinking, I will have my csection and my baby will be here at around 1:30pm and then it's over. 

So now I was mildly frustrated because I now had to make a decision when I didn't know anymore decisions would be made at this point.  I told her I had to discuss it w/Gregg and would let them know.  She said no rush and to think it over.  She also added that if I decided to do a csection, because of the previous appendisitis surgery I had had, potentially, there could be alot of scar tissue left over considering they removed half of my colon along with it...and because of this, my csection, may be a bit more complex of a surgery which also posed a concern but wasn't anything to be alarmed about but she wanted me to be aware of it.  She said worst case scenario, I would attempt a VBAC and if it didn't pan out, I'd do a csection the next morning so it was whatever I decided.  I also forgot to mention when they were discussing these details with me...the resident doctor, Holly was doing an internal exam and she pretty much dilated me "manually" from 1cm to 3 cm while we were in conversation over this...interesting and Gregg couldn't believe she was able to do that!

....So now I felt like I was in a rock and a hard place.  I came to the hospital that day thinking one thing would happen and then now I had to make a decision to decide otherwise...I ran through a pros and cons list w/Gregg and it took about an hour until I was ready to make my final decision.  By this time it was probably 11am or maybe a little after?  I'm not even sure of the time since everything seemed to happen so fast yet there was alot of down time in between. 



I decided to attempt the VBAC!!!!  In my heart of hearts, I had always hoped to do the VBAC especially since they said if I did a csection this time around, all of my future births would HAVE to be csection but if I did vaginal, I could go either way the next time....AND knowing that if the VBAC didn't pan out, the option of doing the csection the next day was still on the table so I figured, why not?  I loved this since now Vanessa would be allowed to be part of the birth which is what I had always hoped for anyways.

...So I gave them my official decision and they were very happy about it!  This particular hospital actually advocates VBACS over csections and the staff here was so amazing that I am very lucky to have had them be part of my labor and delivery.  So now that I wasn't having a csection anymore, they moved me over to the part of labor and delivery that was designated for vaginal deliveries.  They got me set up in my birthing room and then we just waited....

...They explained to me that...since I was only 3cm dilated...they would fit me with a "foley bulb" to aid in dilating me for labor.  They fit this bulb into my cervix and what happens is every 30 minutes or so, they come and "tug" on it; if it stays in place, my cervix hasn't yet dilated but if it pops out easily, it means that I am dilated to whatever centimeters they have it set at which in my case, was 5 cm. They inserted this foley bulb at roughly around 2pm and I believe it stayed there til about 5pm or so and then it popped out so then the next thing was to add pitocin to my IV to induce the contractions...which I will say...initially I handled very well but as the time passed, it just got worse and worse.  PITOCIN is an EVIL drug and I wouldn't wish it even on my worst enemy, HOLY GOD!  I was contracting very regularly BEFORE the pitocin and without any pain and once they started to up the amounts of it, It was horrific.  They broke my water about 30 minutes or an hour after the foley bulb came out and then it was a waiting game again...

EVIL drug, Pitocin, holy god!

The next few hours seemed to go on forever....I didn't dilate at all or progress and my pitocin induced contractions were coming more frequently and were so strong that I couldn't talk through them at all.  They would only last maybe 30 seconds but oh my!  those 30 seconds felt like an eternity....Docs and nurses kept asking me if I wanted an epidural and I kept holding out, but then finally I could not breathe through them anymore so I ended up giving in.  My main concern w/getting the epidural was I didn't want to be so numb that I wouldn't be able to feel my contractions; I didn't want to be limp like jelly and they said I would definitely still have feeling enough to know when to push but it would take the edge off so I agreed to get it.  It was probably another 30 minutes to an hour when the anesthesiologist came to do the epidural.  Once she did that, the epidural kicked in within about 30 minutes and the relief I had was euphoric, lol.  I could still my contractions but they were sooo much more manageable, thank goodness...By now it's probably 9pm and when they last checked me I still hadn't dilated so Gregg was almost convinced that Portia would be born December 31st since we only had a few hours left til the day would be over.

...Amazingly when they checked me at around 10pm I want to say, by now my time recollection is all a blur....I was dilated a full 10 cm and 100% effaced so they said it was "go" time!  We were so excited but who knows how long it'd take me to push so we weren't totally in the clear that she'd arrive on time.  It took about an hour for everyone to get prepped and ready as there were other deliveries going on as well as an emergency csection;  I started pushing at around 11pm...We got the video camera set up, Vanessa and Gregg both had their scrubs on...my parents waited outside...they couldn't stomach seeing me so stressed yet it did seem very relaxed to me.  I started to push....with the instruction from the docs and nurses...push like you're having a bowel movement...so basically, it's like you are having the shit of your life, lol.  The sensation you feel, truly feels like you have to poop; like you are going to have the biggest poop of your life...sorry to put in such basic terms, but that is...what it is...it's not glamourous at all by any means and being the vain, dainty kinda gal I am, this was so hard for me lol.

...I pushed and pushed for the next 40 minutes or so and my doc said to me it's going to feel like a burning ring of fire down there....breathe through it and push from your bottom and back not from the front.  I literally could feel every movement...and I could feel Portia's head inching down and out...I envisioned seeing her crowning and coming through....it was truly overwhelming to know I was birthing my baby and so touching to know that Gregg and Vanessa were there to support me and witness this miracle.  As I pushed her through, the doctor grabbed her head and shoulders and said, "Elise!  grab  your baby!  you can grab her and pull her onto your body!!!"  I was so surprised!  I put my hands down and grabbed her by the arms and pulled her all the way up and onto my chest! OMG!  There she was!  There was my darling baby girl!!!  Vanessa started bawling out of excitement and said it was amazing and told me I did such a good job!!! (tear)

It was so surreal what had just happened...Gregg cut the umbilical cord and Vanessa got to play nurse assistant with the nurses as they took Portia and cleaned her up and weighed her.  Incredible.  Mindblowing...it was just....perfect.  Though, nothing could prepare me for the events that would happen next.  After delivering my placenta, I was still bleeding and they couldn't get it to stop.  They tried to scrape whatever leftover placenta may have been still stuck inside my uterus in hopes that it would stop my bleeding, but it didn't.  Nothing they did would stop the bleeding.  They gave me a few dissolvable sutures which I was very lucky that I didn't have any significant deep tears at all....just a few small superficial ones that were like scratches...yet the idea of peeing has already made me cringe knowing that it will burn and sting.

They do some ultrasounds to see if they can figure out what is causing the bleeding, but they can't figure it out.  So they mention the possibility of a blood transfusion.  Of course I won't reject it yet it is so scary knowing you're getting someone else's blood in your body.  Gregg didn't say anything during this phase but after I got home, he did say I was white as a ghost and it really worried him.  Vanessa said I was so pale it was a bit scary but she knew they were taking care of me.

After all of this they decide to move me into another room to monitor me for a full night before moving me to the postpartum floor.  They are hoping that I won't need a blood transfusion but won't know for sure so we ....wait again.  By now, it's about 2:30am and my parents take Vanessa home and Gregg stays with me for the night.  I end up breastfeeding Portia for the first time at about 4am in the morning and I continue to be monitored and wait it out...

Over the next day, the docs decide I need to have a blood transfusion.  I have had about 10 bags of saline at this point...I'm super swollen allover my body...my hands and feet feel and look fatter than fat, lol.  It takes about 4 hours to pump 2 units of blood into me and they check my vitals to ensure that the blood transfusion is working its way through and that I don't have an adverse reaction to it.  They have to be sure I am OK before moving me to the postpartum floor.  Nurses are surprised at how calm I am through this whole ordeal.  I just want to make sure that everything goes the way it should so whatever they say to do, I will do.  They finally move me around 3pm on the 31st and my parents and Vanessa come back to hang out for the night to ring in the New Year with me and Gregg....

...I stayed at the hospital from Friday, Dec. 30th through Monday, January 2nd, 2012....and truly it went by in a blink of an eye.  I was welcomed home by family togetherness-- Gregg, Vanessa, my parents and then also Gregg's family came and his brother Michael put together an amazing dinner!  Low-key and just relaxing and now I've just been having the time of my life with my cutie patutie baby girl, Portia and enjoying every moment of Mommyhood.  We are all in love with her and are so happy to have the chance to share these milestone moments w/you!

Welcome Home Baby Portia Mi-Lan!

6lbs 6 oz, 19 3/4 inches long on Dec.30.2011 at 11:49pm

Brand New!

Already Daddy's Little Girl

Big Sis Vanessa Lan-Anh and her baby sis, Portia Mi-Lan

Sleeping Beauty.

My biggest support coaches, Gregg and Vanessa! :)

Elise_Is_Mommy to Portia and Vanessa