Charlee's Birth Story

At about 30 weeks, right around the Thanksgiving holiday, I developed blood pressure problems and was placed on bed rest. In December, I was in and out of the hospital for 24-hour workups for blood pressure, urine checks for protein, and non-stress tests. The day after Christmas, I was once again placed in the hospital for the 24-hour workup. I was almost 38 weeks so I talked to my OB about inducing labor. At first he was opposed because induction increases the chance of a C-section, but when he saw that I was showing signs of depression from being on bed rest, he agreed to the induction.

On December 27, 2006 at 6 PM, I took a pill that would start contractions and soften my cervix. The contractions were comparable to severe menstrual cramps and were coming every 15 to 20 minutes. They weren’t terribly painful but it was impossible to sleep that night.

At 8 AM the next day, I was only a fingertip dilated so they started a Pitocin drip and the doctor broke my water. The contractions got very strong and painful, coming every two minutes or sooner. I would labor through one and before I could catch a breath another was beginning.

At 10 AM they gave me Stadol which stopped my labor, so they had to bump up the Pitocin. At noon, I was worn out from the continuous labor pains, and even the smallest contraction would tax me. The doctor checked me again and I had only dilated to one centimeter. They decided to give me an epidural.

After the epidural, I was able to sleep on and off. It helped the pain of the contractions, but I was able to feel the pressure of them. At 2 PM, I had dilated to five centimeters; at 5 PM, I was at seven. At 6 PM, I felt like the pressure was changing, feeling it more in my rectum than in my pelvis area. I was checked again and was completely dilated. My doctor was very happy and believed that I would be able to deliver vaginally after all. The only problem was that the baby was still very high.

We began pushing but it didn’t help the baby to move down at all. The doctor decided that a C-section would have to be performed because my pelvis was not big enough for the baby to pass through.

They set me up for surgery, and before I knew it, I felt a pulling sensation and then my baby was presented to me. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Her daddy was able to bring her out and show her off to the family. She was seven pounds, 13 ounces, and 19 inches long, born at 7:35 PM, December 28, 2006. On New Year’s Eve, baby and I were released to go home with clean bills of health.