Violet’s Birth Story
My estimated date of delivery was April 7th, 2012. That date came and went without much fanfare. This pregnancy was a lot different than Jude’s. I had LOTS of heartburn and I was much more uncomfortable towards the end. I think that was mainly due to also having a toddler this time. Also, I was working when I was pregnant with Jude and I think that helped me keep in better shape. Violet decided early on in the third trimester that she was very comfortable being in the breech position and despite lots of effort on my part, she stayed that way up until 38 weeks. At this point we decided to have an external version done. We drove all the way up to Statesville to have Dr. Roque do the procedure. She is an awesome doctor and was successful right away. The procedure itself was pretty uncomfortable but not painful. It didn’t take very long and was fairly easy. I was so thankful because now I would be able to deliver at the birth center and that is what I had wanted from the beginning. I was also very worried she’d flip back over but she didn’t!
Fast forward about 3.5 weeks. I am now 41 weeks pregnant and I wake up at 2 am with contractions. I was thinking “This is it!!” Finally, time to have this baby. I couldn’t sleep because of the contractions so I got up and went to watch tv. The contractions were pretty mild and about 10 minutes apart. My mom was planning to leave this morning to come up for the birth so at about 5 am I texted her to let her know I was having contractions and that she should get going (an 8 hour drive) so that she could be here in time. At about 8 am I called my midwife and photographer to let them know about the contractions and I decided to try to rest. Jude and Jason went off to Jude’s swim lesson and I putzed around the house. I decided to take a shower which slowed the contractions down but every time I laid down to rest, they picked back up. At about 10 my photographer (and good friend who would also be acting as a doula) showed up to keep me company. We chatted as I worked through contractions. Once my husband and son got home we all decided to go for a walk. It was neighborhood yard sale day and we thought maybe walking would help my contractions pick up. No such luck. I was still contracting and having some “show” but it didn’t seem to be making much headway. At about 3 I decided to go into the birth center to have my midwife check me. Unfortunately, I was only 2 cm and my contractions had pretty much stopped. I went home to take a bath and try to nap. Long story short, this was not it! I had prodromal labor for the next three days only at night.
On Wednesday of this week I had my scheduled appointment with my midwife. At this point I was about 3 cm and very uncomfortable so we decided to try to encourage labor with a foley bulb. She inserted it into my cervix and sent me home. A couple hours later the foley came out (which meant that I was at least 4-5 cm) but there were no contractions. The next day (41 weeks and 4 days pregnant) I went back to the birth center and was indeed 5 cm. My midwife and I made the decision to go ahead and break my water, it felt very weird. We then left to go walk around a little bit. We went to a place called Plaza Fiesta where my son could run around and climb a bit. After an hour or so we decided to have lunch, delicious Mexican food!! We were almost finished eating when I felt a gush of water. It was the most embarrassing moment of my life. I didn’t realize that there was that much more! The baby must have shifted and released another pocket of fluid. It was everywhere, all over my chair and skirt. We tried to leave as quietly as possible as to not draw attention to myself, it was really gross feeling, no slow trickle for me!
On the ride home I started contracting. These were not the easy early labor contractions I’d been having. These were intense and lasting about a minute. They quickly became about 5 minutes apart. I called my midwife and she told me to call her back after they were 5 minutes apart for an hour. We got home and I changed clothes but the contractions were becoming more intense and I needed to get to the birth center. I had Jason call the midwife and photographer and we headed into the birth center.
By the time we got there, my contractions were super intense and I was having a hard time. Thankfully my midwives had already gotten the room ready for me and the tub was filling up. I really wanted to get into the water. About 10 minutes later the tub was ready and I got in. It really helped for a little while but I was becoming more uncomfortable. At about 3:45 I asked Leigh to check me to see what was going on. At this point I was 9 cm but she was still pretty high up. We decided to go for a walk to see if that would help bring her down. It was really hard to walk, I had to stop ever 15 or 20 feet to hold onto Jason during a contraction. Leigh made me agree to walk around the building twice before we could go back in.
Once we got back into the birth center I tried a variety of different positions and even some pushing to try to move Violet down but to no avail. We tried for many hours and in every imaginable position. At one point I practically begged everyone in the room to take me to the hospital for some pain relief. I couldn’t understand why I was still in labor. I’d been nine cm for HOURS, she was supposed to be here already!! I am very thankful that my support team was able to remind me that I really wanted a natural birth and they convinced me to stick it out for a while longer. I kept thinking, any minute now, I’d turn a corner and this baby would be born.
By 10PM it had been decided that I was in need of pitocin. Both midwives had tried numerous times to determine the position of Violet’s head but it was just too high for them to be able to get an accurate idea. So the plan was to head to the hospital to get a pitocin drip to hopefully intensify my contractions and get Violet to move down. Once we got there I asked for an epidural and the pitocin. It took a while to get pain relief as the anesthesiologist was busy with an emergency c-section but eventually he made it to my room and was able to place the epidural. It took about 5 attempts to get the epidural in the correct position but I didn’t care, it didn’t hurt nearly as bad as the contractions that were now coming every 2-3 minutes. Once the epidural was placed, the on-call midwife came in to check me (still 9 cm and high-she also could not feel the sutures for head position) and the pitocin was started.
The nurse came in every 45 minutes to turn up the pitocin but my contractions were still not responding. By the next morning the pitocin was turned up to 13 (we started at 1) and my contractions were still not effective enough to move her down. Also, my epidural was beginning to not be effective enough and the pain was getting very intense. While we were waiting on the anesthesiologist to come fix the epidural I vomited all over the nurse because the pain was so intense! The doctor did what he could but I was still feeling a lot of pain.
At this point the on call doctor came in to check me over. I was still 9 cm and high but he was able to feel the sutures and determined that she was in what they call a “high transverse arrest” position. Basically this means that she was facing my side instead of my front or back and it would be virtually impossible to get her to turn at this point. My only real option was to have a surgical birth. To make matters more complicated, it was also determined that I was suffering from chorioamnionitis, which is an infection in the uterus which is most likely the reason I was having so much pain and why the epidural wasn’t as effective as it should have been.
It was pretty quick and before I knew it I was prepped and in the OR for my c-section. I had been warned in advance that I might have to go under general anesthesia if my epidural wasn’t good enough to use for the surgery. It was not, so I was put under. This was one of the most disappointing parts of the entire ordeal. I wasn’t able to be awake for the birth of my daughter and Jason was not able to be in the room either. There also was some sort of mix-up in the OR and no one told Jason what was going on so he didn’t know anything until he heard Violet cry. I feel very sad that he was not able to witness her birth.
Sometime while I was asleep Violet got an IV in her hand, Jason did skin to skin with her, and she got her first dose of antibiotics (because of the infection I had). I knew Jason was with Violet so I asked the recovery room nurse to get Leigh to hang out with me while I was stuck in recovery. Leigh brought me some pictures of the baby on her phone so I got to sneak a peek at her. Two hours after her birth I was recovered enough to go back to my room and meet my little girl. She was curled up with her daddy when I arrived and he immediately brought her to me. Leigh and Lora (my photographer/doula friend) were also in the room. Leigh and Lora both documented my first moments with Violet (for which I am eternally grateful). I got still pictures and a couple of iPhone videos. After admiring my new baby for a few minutes I put her straight to the breast and after only a few attempts she latched right on (and has been attached ever since).
Violet and I both got three days worth of IV antibiotics and a lot of tests to make sure we were healthy. After what seemed like an eternity (4 days) we were able to go home. Not exactly the birth I had dreamed of but I am very grateful for a healthy baby girl and quick healing from my surgery. It took me a few weeks to come to terms with everything that had happened during Violet’s birth. I really wanted a beautiful, natural, intervention free birth experience. As a doula, I have seen quite a few of these and had longed for this experience. I’m still grieving this wish but have come to the realization that I am so very lucky to have been surrounded by such a wonderful birth support team for my entire labor. Even though it didn’t go the way I wished, I felt loved and supported the entire time. Thank you to everyone involved: Jason, Jude, Leigh, Lora, Jackie, and my Mom. What an amazing team!
Violet Reese Bochniak
April 20, 2012
9lbs 8oz, 20.5in
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