Annie's Birth Story

Now that we have a few weeks of having Annie home under our belt, it's time to start blogging again!  

Welcome to our precious little girl, Anne Jeanine Woloszyn!

...or "Annie" as we like to call her :)

Annie was born on December 28, 2012 at 6:41pm.  She weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces and was 19.5 inches long (or as Ben accidentally put in an announcement text...19.5 feet long! haha).

So here is Annie's (long) birth story (if you are interested!)....

The day had finally arrived!  Thursday, December 27th was the big day...our induction day!  I was instructed by the doctor to call Labor & Delivery around 4:30pm on Thursday to find out what time we should come to the hospital, and to make sure they had room for us.  Luckily when I called, it sounded like it was a pretty slow evening, so they were ready for us to come in at 7pm!  I was very thankful for that - I can't imagine being so anxious for the 27th and then having to wait until the next day!

But off we went to the hospital at 7pm on Thursday.  It was sort of surreal leaving our apartment, knowing that the next time I'd be walking through the door, it would be with a baby!  The first step in the induction was to get a medicine called cervidil on Thursday night.  The cervidil doesn't put you into labor (well, I guess for some people it does, but that's kind of rare) - the cervidil just helps to get you more "primed" for the pitocin the next morning.  So the first night in the hospital was basically us just sleeping before the big day (or trying to sleep...).

One thing that was a little weird about being induced is being in the hospital, and in the room that I would eventually deliver Annie, for just over 12 hours without really being labor....things were very calm - so we were just waiting, anticipating when things would get started the next morning! 

After a very restful sleep (...or not), the nurse started pitocin the next morning at about 7:30am.  Unfortunately, the cervidil didn't make me progress any further that night, so I was starting the induction at about 1.5 centimeters and 50% effacement - and with her head still very low!

About an hour after the pitocin started, Dr. Fulfer came in and said that they are going to need to keep a closer eye on Annie, because her heart rate kept dropping slightly after each contraction.  In order to monitor her heart rate more accurately, they would need to insert internal monitors - which they would have to break my water to do.  So at about 9am on Friday, Dr. Fulfer broke my water (that is a weird sensation!!) and inserted the monitors - one attached to Annie's head to monitor her heart rate and the other is a pressure sensor that goes inside my uterus.  I remember hearing about the monitor that attaches to the baby's head in our labor class, and of course I hoped we wouldn't have to use it.  But Dr. Fulfer assured us that it doesn't hurt Annie and that she may come out with a little mark where it was, but that's it.

After the internal monitors were in, the nurses and Dr. Fulfer were watching closely to see how Annie was responding to the contractions.  If she continued to have a deceleration in her heart rate after contractions, I would have to be prepped for a c-section.  Honestly, at this point, I was pretty much convinced I would be going in for a c-section and we would be meeting Annie much faster than we expected.  But, luckily, the internal monitors were showing that Annie was actually responding much better to the contractions, and the nurses slowly increased my pitocin throughout the morning.

One of the weirdest things about the internal monitor that was attached to Annie's head was that I could feel when she moved her head - because when she moved her head, the cord to the monitor would move!  When contractions got more intense, she was actually my clue that a contraction was starting because her head would move a certain way, then the contraction would start.  It was really weird (and cool!).

Once my water was broken, I started feeling the contractions more, but they weren't too painful until around noon.  It was around noon that I really started contemplating an epidural.  I went into labor actually trying not to get an epidural.  A few reasons: I didn't want anything to slow down labor, and sometimes an epidural can do that if you get it too early.  Also, I really didn't want to be stuck to the bed - I really wanted to be able to move around so I could let changing positions progress labor.

I started thinking an epidural may be the way to go though.  Few things made me want to go the epidural route...even though they can't guarantee it 100%, the nurse felt I was at the point (I was about 6cm), that an epidural would not slow down my labor.  Also, I was stuck in bed anyway because of the internal monitors.  Also, the contractions were getting very intense (as I expected of course!), my hip pain was like nothing I had felt before (and I could only lay on my sides because she didn't respond well to me being on my back), and I was already exhausted and knew I had a long way to go - so I figured it might be nice to get a little bit of rest before pushing had to begin.

I was scared though to get an epidural!  That huge needle going in my back really freaked me out - I asked Ben to call in my mom and sister to help me make up my mind.  It was good to talk to them and for Katie to remind me that getting an epidural really isn't that bad - and that the relief of pain I will have after is well worth it.  So, I decided to get the epidural.  A decision I am very happy that I made.  However, I didn't have the best experience actually getting the epidural - it hurt a lot more than I thought it would!  Unfortunately, the anesthesiologist tried 2 spots initially and hit nerves...a really sharp pain shot down my back and my leg and wouldn't stop.  But, the third time was the charm and the epidural was in!  And, despite the pain of having it put in, I am very happy I got it - I couldn't believe how I felt nothing when I was having a contraction!  That was really nice to relax and rest up before it was time to push!  And, since I was more relaxed, I was actually able to start getting excited again about meeting Annie very soon!  That was really nice, to remind myself why I was there and that it was almost time to meet our daughter! :)

I also think being able to rest sped things along since I was able to relax a little bit and within about 2.5 hours, I dilated the additional 4 centimeters and was ready to go!  I started pushing around 4:45pm - I ended up having the "perfect" epidural (so said the nurse) because I couldn't really feel any of the pain, but I could feel enough of the pressure to know when contractions were happening to push.  I pushed for about 1.5 hours with just the nurse and Ben in the room - Ben was a great counter for me! :)  Pushing was different than I thought it would be - my contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart, so that 2-3 minute rest in between was very nice.  For the first hour, Ben and I and the nurse were just talking in between contractions - about random things like the nurse's upcoming wedding, what Ben and I do for jobs - which isn't what I expected (obviously the epidural helped keep it a calm environment during this time!).  But, towards the end, pushing definitely started getting more intense even with the epidural.  Finally, Annie had crowned and it was time to call Dr. Fulfer in for delivery!!

So the nurse called...and we found out that Dr. F had just been called to another delivery!! Agh!  So I had to sit there for like 10 minutes with Annie crowned and really ready to go (her head was pushing out at each contraction, without me doing anything!). Finally, Dr. Fulfer came in and it was time to really push!  It went well until her head was out and we found out that her right hand was up by her face (yes, that position that she loves to sleep in, she was born that way!!!)...that made it difficult to get her out at the very end, but she finally made it out!! 

I feel very lucky that everything went well - and that I was able to have her "normally" (without a c-section) - especially after that scare at the very beginning of the day.  No matter how you have your baby though, it is an absolutely amazing experience and nothing beats the first time that you lay your eyes on your precious child.  We love Annie more than anything and cannot imagine our life without her!!