Landry Grant
Our birth story began at the 34 week appointment when our midwife thought through palpation that our baby was breech. They decided at the 36 week appointment they would do an ultrasound to confirm breech or not breech. During this ultrasound they measured baby and estimated its weight at 8lb 5oz, a big baby for 36 weeks. They also told us at this time that baby was head down. The due date came and went and when I was 6 days overdue they wanted to do another ultrasound to measure the size of the baby and do a biophysical report where they measure a few different things including baby movement to make sure baby is tolerating the pregnancy still. At this ultrasound baby measured 10lb 8oz. My husband and I were certain they were wrong, as ultrasound is not always an accurate measure of baby’s size, especially late in the pregnancy. Due to the baby’s size hospital policy dictated that our care had to be transferred from the midwives to a physician. Once a baby exceeds 4500g the midwives can no longer oversee the pregnancy as it is considered high risk. This was difficult to learn as I was now 7 days overdue and we would now be delivering with a doctor that we had no prenatal care with.
I was scheduled to be induced at 41 weeks 4 days; 11 days overdue. We arrived at the hospital at 7am to check in and the induction began at 9am with half of the regular amount of prostaglandin gel put on my cervix and a foly balloon catheter inserted. The gel contains hormones that cause your cervix to dilate and the balloon is filled with saline and also causes your cervix to dilate. The balloon falls out when you reach 4cm. The nurses told us we could expect the balloon to fall out in 4 hours. Contractions started almost immediately with these two induction techniques. I was required to be on the external fetal monitor (EFM) for 30 minutes which required me to stay in bed. This was a long 30 minutes as my contractions were 2 minutes apart and I could not find a comfortable position to relax in without the monitor moving. The nurses promised me that this was the only time I would have to be on the EFM as long as things continued to progress and that we could use the doppler to monitor baby’s heartbeat for the remainder of labor.
Once the 30 minutes had passed I was allowed out of bed and decided I would walk in the hallways, hoping the walking would help labor speed along. I only managed 2 laps in the hallway, pausing every 10 steps and leaning on the wall during a contraction. My husband and mom walked with me during this time. After 2 laps I was uncomfortable enough where I wanted to be back in my room. I sat in the rocking chair for awhile, staying still during contractions. I got up to go to the bathroom and the foly balloon fell out. It was only 10:00am, 1 hour since it had been inserted. This was a good sign that my body was accepting the induction and that labor would move along without needing other induction techniques, like Pitocin.
I labored in the room from 10am-11am trying various positions, including the birthing ball, leaning over on the bed, the rocking chair, and standing and leaning on my husband. The most comfortable position for me was the rocking chair. Around 11:30am I got into the tub. This helped me relax immensely. I was falling asleep between contractions and they were still around 2 minutes apart, sometimes less than that. I stayed in the tub for almost an hour. It was suggested I get out of the tub because if you get too relaxed and stay in one position for too long it can actually stall labor. I was not too enthused to move from my relaxed and comfortable position. Dr. Moussa checked me at this time and I was at 6cm.
Again I continued to labor in the room until my contractions were getting very strong and around 1 minute apart. At this time I wanted to get back into the tub, it was around 2:30pm. The contractions were peaking for me at this time and I began to enter transition where I thought I couldn’t do this anymore. At one point in the tub I told my husband if he didn’t go get the nurse to get me an epidural that I was going to pull the cord in the tub to get the nurse myself. I kept thinking between each contraction that I could do one more contraction and then I would ask my husband to get the nurse. I did this for a half hour before I actually verbalized my doubt.
Finally, after a lot of begging my husband asked the nurse to come into the bathroom. We decided they would check me so I got out of the tub at 3:30pm. I was 8cm. When I heard this I thought to myself there is no way I am giving in now. Dr. Moussa suggested she break my water as this can help the last bit of labor go faster because the baby’s head will apply more pressure on the cervix instead of the watery cushion and this will cause dilation. I gave her consent to do this and the bag of waters was clear fluid. This gave me an extra boost of energy as I was worried about meconium staining because of the size and gestational age of my baby.
Dr. Moussa asked me to push during contractions to see if my cervix would open up further and it did. She let me have a few more contractions without pushing and then informed me shortly after that I was at 10cm and could begin pushing when I wanted. This hour went very fast as I was checked at 8cm around 3:30pm and began pushing at 4:30pm. I pushed for ~45 minutes. Baby had a mild case of shoulder dystocia which is where one or both shoulders can get stuck after the head comes out. It is a common risk factor with big babies. Dr. Moussa had to reach in and free baby’s front shoulder, it was ~15 seconds of panic in the room.
Landry Grant was born at 5:12pm at 10lb 9oz. It turns out the ultrasound was right on. :) He was healthy and was put directly on my chest. I held him there for ~10 minutes and he was screaming the whole time. They took him to weigh him and get checked by the pediatrician and then brought him back to me to nurse. He latched on right away and was nursing within 20 minutes of being born. I had declined an IV but needed Pitocin after Landry was born to help reduce the amount of bleeding I was experiencing so they put in an IV while Landry was being examined by the pediatrician.
There were no other complications with Landry or myself.
I was scheduled to be induced at 41 weeks 4 days; 11 days overdue. We arrived at the hospital at 7am to check in and the induction began at 9am with half of the regular amount of prostaglandin gel put on my cervix and a foly balloon catheter inserted. The gel contains hormones that cause your cervix to dilate and the balloon is filled with saline and also causes your cervix to dilate. The balloon falls out when you reach 4cm. The nurses told us we could expect the balloon to fall out in 4 hours. Contractions started almost immediately with these two induction techniques. I was required to be on the external fetal monitor (EFM) for 30 minutes which required me to stay in bed. This was a long 30 minutes as my contractions were 2 minutes apart and I could not find a comfortable position to relax in without the monitor moving. The nurses promised me that this was the only time I would have to be on the EFM as long as things continued to progress and that we could use the doppler to monitor baby’s heartbeat for the remainder of labor.
Once the 30 minutes had passed I was allowed out of bed and decided I would walk in the hallways, hoping the walking would help labor speed along. I only managed 2 laps in the hallway, pausing every 10 steps and leaning on the wall during a contraction. My husband and mom walked with me during this time. After 2 laps I was uncomfortable enough where I wanted to be back in my room. I sat in the rocking chair for awhile, staying still during contractions. I got up to go to the bathroom and the foly balloon fell out. It was only 10:00am, 1 hour since it had been inserted. This was a good sign that my body was accepting the induction and that labor would move along without needing other induction techniques, like Pitocin.
I labored in the room from 10am-11am trying various positions, including the birthing ball, leaning over on the bed, the rocking chair, and standing and leaning on my husband. The most comfortable position for me was the rocking chair. Around 11:30am I got into the tub. This helped me relax immensely. I was falling asleep between contractions and they were still around 2 minutes apart, sometimes less than that. I stayed in the tub for almost an hour. It was suggested I get out of the tub because if you get too relaxed and stay in one position for too long it can actually stall labor. I was not too enthused to move from my relaxed and comfortable position. Dr. Moussa checked me at this time and I was at 6cm.
Again I continued to labor in the room until my contractions were getting very strong and around 1 minute apart. At this time I wanted to get back into the tub, it was around 2:30pm. The contractions were peaking for me at this time and I began to enter transition where I thought I couldn’t do this anymore. At one point in the tub I told my husband if he didn’t go get the nurse to get me an epidural that I was going to pull the cord in the tub to get the nurse myself. I kept thinking between each contraction that I could do one more contraction and then I would ask my husband to get the nurse. I did this for a half hour before I actually verbalized my doubt.
Finally, after a lot of begging my husband asked the nurse to come into the bathroom. We decided they would check me so I got out of the tub at 3:30pm. I was 8cm. When I heard this I thought to myself there is no way I am giving in now. Dr. Moussa suggested she break my water as this can help the last bit of labor go faster because the baby’s head will apply more pressure on the cervix instead of the watery cushion and this will cause dilation. I gave her consent to do this and the bag of waters was clear fluid. This gave me an extra boost of energy as I was worried about meconium staining because of the size and gestational age of my baby.
Dr. Moussa asked me to push during contractions to see if my cervix would open up further and it did. She let me have a few more contractions without pushing and then informed me shortly after that I was at 10cm and could begin pushing when I wanted. This hour went very fast as I was checked at 8cm around 3:30pm and began pushing at 4:30pm. I pushed for ~45 minutes. Baby had a mild case of shoulder dystocia which is where one or both shoulders can get stuck after the head comes out. It is a common risk factor with big babies. Dr. Moussa had to reach in and free baby’s front shoulder, it was ~15 seconds of panic in the room.
Landry Grant was born at 5:12pm at 10lb 9oz. It turns out the ultrasound was right on. :) He was healthy and was put directly on my chest. I held him there for ~10 minutes and he was screaming the whole time. They took him to weigh him and get checked by the pediatrician and then brought him back to me to nurse. He latched on right away and was nursing within 20 minutes of being born. I had declined an IV but needed Pitocin after Landry was born to help reduce the amount of bleeding I was experiencing so they put in an IV while Landry was being examined by the pediatrician.
There were no other complications with Landry or myself.
