Baby Freddie joined our family on May 26, 2015. I was, again, blessed with a relatively easy, uncomplicated pregnancy. I felt great throughout most of the pregnancy, very similar to how I felt with both girls. At the time of our anatomy survey, they again discovered that he had a single umbilical artery, just like Matilda. We then underwent much of the same surveillance as we did with Matilda, including a fetal echo and monthly growth scans. This time, they also recommended weekly non-stress tests starting at 32 weeks, which I got at Dr. Pool's office. Because of the prior history of prematurity with Matilda, I also was on progesterone supplements from 17-36 weeks.
As we got nearer and nearer to my due date (May 30), I was grateful for each passing day, knowing that this meant more time for Freddie to develop and get himself ready for life outside the womb. With a history of a preemie (even though Matilda did wonderfully), each day was a blessing. Dr. Pool repeatedly kept saying that she thought Matilda's early arrival was a fluke, and that this guy might not come early at all (boy, was she right!). Regardless, we started cervical checks at 29 weeks to see if things were starting to happen. I was noted to be at 1 cm around 37 weeks, with progressive softening of the cervix at subsequent appointments. We tentatively scheduled an induction for 5/26 (the day after Memorial Day) at 39+3. Ordinarily inductions aren't scheduled prior to due dates, but because of the SUA and the risk of stillbirth, it was medically indicated to get him out as soon as he was ready, rather than risk continued pregnancy with possible complications. At my check on Thursday before my scheduled induction, Dr. Pool was somewhat disappointed that I hadn't progressed further. She implied that my induction might end up taking longer than if I had already dilated a little bit more, because I might need cervical prostaglandins to ripen the cervix for induction (which can take 4-8 hours at a minimum). She did feel that my cervix was soft enough, though, that as soon as Freddie decided to drop into the pelvis more and apply pressure to my cervix, it wouldn't have any difficulty dilating. We were both still hopeful that I might spontaneously go into labor over the weekend prior to the induction.
...no such luck.
Tuesday morning rolled around, and baby Freddie was still comfortable. Contractions for me were no more regular or frequent than they had been, and it was clear that he was not planning on coming out on his own at this time. My mom had arrived Monday afternoon to help out with the girls/transportation. She and I headed into labor and delivery at 5:00 Tuesday morning, while Greg stayed home and took the girls into daycare when they woke.
Upon arrival to L&D, we were told that they were somewhat short on rooms and that they may not get me into a room until 7 AM. Around 6:45, I was taken back to a room, but with the timing coinciding with a nursing shift change, I didn't actually get taken care of until nearly 8 AM. My nurse, Amy (who was wonderful), worked on getting an IV placed and I had my intake done by the resident. As I was still at 1 cm and 50% effaced, they contacted Dr. Pool to determine the next course of action. They ultimately decided to place a Foley catheter inside the cervix - the balloon-like end of it simulates a baby's head applying pressure to the cervix to cause it to dilate. They started Pitocin at a low dose at the same time, around 9:15. I was told that it takes anywhere from 1-4 hours for the Foley to work, and it simply falls out on its own when the cervix is dilated to 3-4 cm. The placement of the Foley was less than desirable, and I actually started to feel painful contractions within 10-15 minutes of the Pitocin starting. When Amy tugged the first time to see if it was loosening at all, the Foley came right out and I was at 4 cm. Less than an hour ~ 10 AM! Pitocin continued to be increased at this point to get the contractions stronger. Interestingly, the contractions were more comfortable at this point - probably because with the catheter in, there was more pressure. At this point, it was just the waiting game to see how things were progressing, with checks every 2 hours.
Prior to the planned check at 12, we decided to go ahead and get the epidural. They thought that with the noon check, that'd be a good time to break the water, and it'd be best to have the epidural in prior to that. The epidural was placed just before noon with great relief of the contractions - though my overall pain was quite low. (They kept remarking that my pain tolerance must be quite high, as I didn't flinch for the IV, epidural, cervical Foley, etc). My cervix was right around 5 cm when they broke my water just after 12.
Dr. Pool happened to be at L&D delivering another patient, so she stopped by to see me. At this point, I was around 6 cm. Freddie's heart rate kept going off the monitor and started to drop with contractions. Dr. Pool was trying to decide whether she should go back to the office or should stick around - based on my check, she was favoring going back to work. She decided that she'd step out and do some paperwork while watching the monitor to see how Freddie was doing and make the decision about whether something needed to be done sooner rather than later. When switching from side to side wasn't helping, Dr. Pool came back in shortly after 1 PM to see how things were going. At this point, I was in more pain and starting pressing my bolus button on the epidural to get additional relief. Dr. Pool decided to place a fetal scalp electrode to allow better monitoring of Freddie's heart rate. Shortly thereafter, I started feeling bladder pressure, then rectal pressure. I also started to shiver, and things were getting more painful. I told Dr. Pool all my symptoms and that I felt like things were progressing. She checked me again and, sure enough, I was fully dilated and ready to push! She donned her gear, they set up the bed (which was missing a stirrup - so my legs were held up by Greg and Amy), and 2 contractions later, Freddie came flying out!
He immediately went to my chest for skin-to-skin contact, while Greg cut the umbilical cord. He seemed a little purple, so Amy took him over to the warmer when he was around 5 minutes old. His oxygen was noted to be in the 60s, so he was given CPAP. When they couldn't take him off the CPAP without his sats dropping for about 15 minutes, they called the pediatricians for an assessment. They decided to take him to the NICU, where he received another hour of CPAP before he was stable on room air without any further complications! We all decided that a fast delivery led to some gulping of some fluid!
We are so happy and thankful that Freddie has uneventfully joined our little family!
