The day after my 36 week OB appointment I began having painful contractions. Given that my due date was 4 weeks away, we wrote these off as strengthening Braxton-Hicks contractions. Each day the contractions intensified and began keeping me awake at night. Having no personal experience with true contractions, I talked to my mom who reassured me that she had contractions like this for weeks before each of us was born. I was disheartened to hear that I might be in pain for weeks and be completely sleep deprived before the baby was even born!
On Saturday morning (July 2nd) Brandon and I woke up and drove to Continental Bakery with Brutus for nutella croissants, followed by a walk at Jemison Park (with the intention of making progress by my 37 week appointment ... not going into labor that very evening!). We then picked up our glider from the baby store in Homewood, hung artwork in the nursery, bought a going home outfit, and unboxed the car seat which had just arrived from Amazon.com. We met my parents and Catherine for lunch at Urban Cookhouse, by which point I was really uncomfortable. Catherine and Mom commented that they could definitely tell the baby was head down by the way I was carrying - which is funny in retrospect. I spent the rest of the afternoon in my parents' basement watching My Best Friend's Wedding while Brandon went to the gym.
That night we had planned a quiet evening of grilling out and watching a movie. Around 7:00 I began having some spotting prompting me to call the OB - who wasn't concerned given my lack of regular contractions. So Brandon put burgers on the grill and we made Dallas Cowboy dip. Around 7:30 I had a string of increasingly painful contractions. Like I had done the previous few nights, I started to time them. An hour passed, and the contractions continued. Both of us were still convinced this was a false alarm. However, hour after hour passed and the contractions continued. A hot shower, as suggested by my mom, helped briefly but the contractions returned. We decided to go to sleep to see if that would make them go away. I could not sleep, became shaky, and was in unbearable pain. Around midnight I called out from the bathroom that I thought I could feel the baby's head and we needed to head to the hospital immediately. That grabbed Brandon's attention - he jumped out of bed, grabbed the camera, and drove me to the hospital (bags had not been packed yet ...).
We arrived at labor and delivery around 1:15 A.M. Sunday morning. The OB came in to check me and we were all surprised that I was already 4-5 cm dilated. I was admitted and quickly got my epidural. The next few hours were very peaceful and relaxed. Brandon and I felt really excited about meeting our baby, but a little unprepared and nervous about her early arrival.
By 4:30 I was complete and ready to push. Brandon and my mom, who by this point had drunk enough coffee to overcome the sleeping pill she had taken several hours earlier, stayed in the delivery room with me. After two hours the doctor was called for delivery and we prepared to meet our baby. Seconds after performing an episiotomy, the look on his face took a sudden turn for the worse ... the next words out of his mouth were "son of a bitch, this baby's breech!" Unlike most breech babies who presents butt first or feet first, Charlotte was presenting with her right hip ... and apparently a hip feels like a head on exam. Both my OB earlier in the week and the OB on call thought she was head down, as did my two labor and delivery nurses. Apparently her presentation was very unusual, and it was even more unusual that she was able to descend all the way through the birth canal and "crown". The OB later told Brandon he had never seen a case quite like ours in his career.
The next couple of minutes were a whirlwind as the room became filled with people and I was quickly prepared for an emergency c-section. I was terrified and felt like the baby was falling out of me. The anesthesiologist explained that if he could not boost me epidural enough, I would have to be put under general anesthesia. At this point all I wanted was for them to get Charlotte out safely.
Before I knew it I was in the OR and the opening incision was being made. I was terrified that I would be able to feel the procedure given that I could still easily wiggle my toes, but all I felt was pressure and pulling. She was pushed back up the birth canal by one doctor and pulled breech through the incision by another. Brandon appeared by my head and within minutes I heard a cry (6:54 A.M.), and Charlotte was being held over the curtain for us to see.
I just remember thinking how tiny she looked. She was taken to be weighed and cleaned up, and a monitor was turned on so I could watch. Her weight was called out at 5 lb 5 oz, which was a relief to me that she had passed the 5 pound mark.
For the first few minutes she required supplemental oxygen and seemed very floppy, and I could hear the nurses talking about a large bruise and abrasion on her right hip.
These were a frightening couple of minutes, but she perked up quickly, was released by the NICU team, and brought to me to hold. Her eyes were wide open and she looked absolutely perfect.
Brandon walked her back to our labor/delivery room while they finished up with me in the O.R.
After some IV fluids and ephedrine for my low blood pressure and a tegaderm pressure dressing for excess bleeding from my incision (later I would find out that I am very allergic to tegaderm), I was feeling good and got to breastfeed and do kangaroo care. These were some of the best moments of Charlotte's birthday. Though Charlotte and I both ended up with a few battle wounds from this crazy delivery, we both came through it healthy which is all that really matters ... and we got a pretty good story.
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