Welcome Baby

Welcome to the World!

Introducing Oliver Donovan Wampler

weight: 7 lbs 14 oz

length: 21 in

time: 12:57 am October 19, 2014

And here's the birth story. I like to record all the details, every last bit. If you'd rather not know, by all means stop reading now. :]

This story really starts on Thursday. For the past couple weeks my blood pressure has been elevated. Nothing high enough to raise concerns but considering my history of extremely level blood pressure, I was worried. I'm normally at around 100/60. My slightly elevated was 118/68. Still, not high enough to require action. Then, at my 38 week appointment my blood pressure was 150/96. Whoa. I officially broke into the high blood pressure realm. That combined with my excessive swelling in my hands, feet, and ankles, my doctor starting thinking preeclampsia. My blood pressure was elevated at my 36 week appointment as well. It was 140/72 or something close to that. At that appointment, I also had an 8 pound weight gain. 8 pounds in 2 weeks. All these things combined made my doctor very worried. She immediately put me on bed rest, very strict 'do nothing but lay there' bed rest. And she told me to come back to the office the next day to check my blood pressure again. She said if it was just as high that we would talk induction as early as Sunday. Then the doctor came in and said we were going to do a 24 hour urine protein test. That's pretty much like prescribing torture! I had to collect urine for 24 hours, all urine that I passed, and put it in this container. Yay? Needless to say, that doctor's appointment did not do good things for me. I was extremely upset the whole night just thinking of all the terrible things that could happen to me and the baby. Things like placental abruption (where the placenta detaches and the baby suffocates), low oxygen intake for the baby, stroke for the baby, liver, kidney, and brain damage for both of us. So I didn't sleep well and could only think something terrible was bound to happen. There have been multiple times in this pregnancy that I have had a really really bad feeling that something bad was going to happen. And Brenda called me and told me she was coming for the weekend. This made me feel better. This was about the only thing that made me feel better, actually.

Friday I went in right after we dropped Ivan off at school. I had Michael drive me there, so I could try and relax some. Yea, like that actually happened. I get there and they check my blood pressure in a different room than usual and with a different blood pressure cuff. The reading they got was 118/62. Funny. That made me feel better and worse at the same time. Then my doctor came in and we talked for a bit and I told her I've been having some headaches and she said she wanted to check my blood pressure one more time just for fun. She saw that we'd used a different cuff than what was used the day before so she asked that we used all the same stuff just to be consistent. And my blood pressure was now 150/92. Interesting. Checked again, same thing. Checked again, still the same. So we spent some time talking and laughing. This was actually the most humorous doctor's appointment I've ever had, especially considering the circumstances. Then my doctor said she wanted to induce me that weekend. She called the hospital, since she was already booked with inductions for the weekend, to see when they could fit me in. She stripped my membranes to see if maybe I would start labor on my own first. Then I was told to go home and lay down. That felt counter productive to starting labor. So I scheduled some last minute maternity photos. I did manage to lay down most of the day. Then Brenda came over and we waited to hear when I was going to the hospital. My doctor called and said to call the hospital the next morning at 5:30 and they would have instructions for me.

Saturday I called at 5:30 and they said, well we're kinda full right now so call back at 9. I called back at 9 and again they said they were kinda full. So before they just hung up on me, I told them my symptoms and I think they realized I was a medical necessity not just someone who was tired of being pregnant. (Although that fit right in too.) After being on hold for 30 minutes, they told me they would call around noon and tell me to come in. At about 1 they called and told me I could come in as soon as I wanted. Bags were packed and in the car since the night before, the kids were napping, and Brenda was there to watch them. Michael and I jumped in the car ready for this to get started.

Theressa was the nurse that checked me in. She helped me a lot when they were putting in the IV. The next nurse to come in, the one who was there to help deliver, was Arleigh. She was the same nurse that helped deliver Charlotte!

We checked in around 1:30. They hooked up my IV, asked me 50 questions, and put all sorts of arm bands on me all at the same time. Getting an IV sucks, that was one of the worst parts of the entire experience. Not only did they put in the IV at the same time as a bunch of other crap going on, they drew a ton of blood too. Then there's the phlebotomist that was putting all the arm bands on me. They had this giant hot pink band that was not flexible at all that I had to wear the whole time. This band was to show that the hospital didn't have record of my blood type. What? I had delivered 2 babies at this same hospital within the past 3 years. I've been seeing the same doctor for the last 2 pregnancies. Why would they not have this information? I also carry a blood type card printed officially by the American Heart Association, but that's not reliable information. Anyway, it took this lady 5 minutes to get this dumb band on. She sucks. At least my nurse was amazing.

I finally got started on pitocin around 3:30 and they started me slow. My request was to start the drip and once my body took over, they would turn it off. I've heard some intense things about what pitocin does to your contractions and since I wanted to have a natural birth I thought that would be a safer bet than enduring pitocin contractions the whole labor. So they started me slow and increased the drip about every 30 minutes. My contractions started smoothly and were consistent, around 30 seconds long andabout 3 minutes apart. Then they would increase the drip and my contractions would be more intense for about 5 minutes then ease back into the same pattern as before. This happened for hours. My doctor got there and tried to break my water at about 5:30 to see if that would really get things going. After a few minutes of really digging deep to find the right spot (not fun), she decided I needed to labor a little more for her to be successful. Thankfully she had another patient she had induced at the same time that could keep her busy. I labored more and my pitocin kept getting increased and nothing was happening. My doctor came back to check me and try to break my water again around 10. She managed to find the spot more easily, but she wasn't able to fit the hook in to break my water. And that time was a much more painful experience than I ever anticipated. She left, I cried. I just felt like we were really forcing it. I was 2 weeks early and thought maybe I just shouldn't be there. Then I remembered why I was there. If I did have preeclampsia, it was imperative for me to get the baby out as soon as I could. My nurse, my sweet sensitive nurse came back and brought my doctor to me. They gave me a little pep talk, right after Notre Dame lost, which let's face it, that's really why I was crying. I hate Florida State so much right now. I walked a bunch of laps around the nurses station, stubbed my toes a billion times on my IV pole, and sat on my exercise ball while practicing my relaxation techniques and visualizing a rose blooming. This did just enough to open me up so my doctor could break my water. This also gave her time to deliver the baby of the other lady that was there. Now when I checked into the hospital, I was dilated to a 2, which I had been pretty much the whole pregnancy. By the time my doctor came back to break my water (for the third time) I was dilated to a 3 and a half. Some progress is better than none, right? This was with 8 hours of pitocin under my belt.

Just before midnight, my doctor came in to check me and break my water. Thankfully I was dilated just enough for her to actually get to my water. She broke it and it gushed. When I went in to the hospital with Ivan, the doctor broke my water and about 2 drops came out. When my water broke with Charlotte, it leaked for 5 hours. When she broke my water with Oliver, it gushed! Seriously, it felt like a waterfall down there. And every time I moved, more came out. I could not believe how much was in there. Sorry if that's gross, I warned you.

I seem to have good timing with when my babies are born. Ivan and Oliver both in the height of football season. Charlotte was born during March Madness basketball season. Watching football actually helped out an extreme amount. It helped to pass the time and take my mind off of my slow progress in the beginning.

Now here's where the fun starts. Remember when I said I was dilated at a 3.5? That's what I was when she broke my water. My contractions started to get really intense and I asked to be turned off the pitocin. Since I was on it for so long without any change, they wouldn't turn it off, they only turned it down. I lost all sense of my relaxation techniques. I tried really hard to listen to my body and move and sit in ways that felt good to me. That meant I told Michael "I need to get up" "I need to sit down" "I need to move" "I need to..." Since I was induced, and it was for a medical necessity, I had to be continually monitored. That meant the baby's heart rate monitor, the contraction monitor, and the blood pressure monitor needed to be hooked up the entire time. If I got up to use the bathroom I could unhook but I had to reconnect as soon as possible. Between that and being hooked up to the IV, I was pretty helpless. Michael really saved me there. I cannot believe how incredible he was. He helped me hook and unhook all impossible attachments. He massaged my feet, rubbed my head, fed me ice chips, put cold rags on my neck, and gave me hugs. He also brought me "the thing off the table" when I felt like I was gonna puke.

I labored very intensely over the next thirty minutes. I couldn't believe how intense it was. I managed to spend time on the toilet, it just felt natural at least for a few seconds. But that meant I didn't poop on the bed! Yay! I'm so proud of myself for this. Ah, it's the little things. After one of my many trips to the potty, I asked about an epidural. I wasn't in the right mindset for hypnobirthing to work (one of my many concerns of an induced labor). Something about saying that out loud instantly made me feel better and like I could handle the rest. I asked to be checked to see how things were going and I was already at a 6! Mind you, this is only 30 minutes after my water broke. So I got an IV pain med, Nubain, and that helped a little. Mostly it just made me super loopy. I still felt all of everything with the contractions but my mind was in a different place.

I said some crazy things, like when Michael was massaging my head "You're good with your hands." I said that in front of my doctor! Then there was "more cowbell" and when Michael asked me what color a zebra was I said "black and white, polka dot, afro." You know, cuz we just watched Madagascar 3. I even said "I'm a crazy person. I can't believe I don't remember this part." I was talking about all the contractions. Of course I didn't remember that part. When I was this far dilated with Ivan I got an epidural. When I was this far with Charlotte I was hypnobirthing. I'd never had an experience like this before.

Then my hands started cramping. That was the absolute strangest thing. Then the blood pressure cuff went haywire. It inflated, then inflated again, then infated again! All while I was wearing it. I was pretty sure my hand was just gonna pop right off. So ten minutes after I asked for the epidural, now 40 minutes after they broke my water, I started to feel like I needed to push. (Did I mention I didn't actually get the epidural? So proud of myself.) I tried hard as I could to concentrate and breathe through my contractions and it just wasn't working. I was getting more and more delirious with each surge. Did I mention the hand cramping thing? Seriously, so weird. They cramped and I couldn't move them. It really freaked me out because I thought it meant I was gonna have a seizure or something.

A part of me realized things were going too fast. I ended up sitting up to try and slow down my labor and let the baby push more and get things moved out of the way and open me up. This helped a little. Then I laid back and started pushing. I couldn't control myself. I pushed and pushed and his head was out. Then he got kinda stuck. I pushed as hard as I could and my doctor, in a very stern voice, said "Amanda, look at me, push as hard as you can." She coaxed me through a few more pushes, all while pulling on Oliver's head, and finally his shoulders were free at 12:57. And after he came out, there was a huge gush of water. My doctor said she'd never seen anything like it, to have that much fluid when they broke my water and even more after the baby came out. He was out and was blue, maybe even a little gray. He barely moved and didn't really try to breathe either. They gave him some forced air oxygen and he pinked right up. And he looked huge! They weighed him and everyone was surprised he was less than 8 pounds. His little nose and ear got bruised from being tugged out but other than that he was perfect. And he was born within an hour of them breaking my water.

I am so in love with this little guy! I also thoroughly enjoyed my shower, you know the one where you discover your feet again? My swelling has already decreased a considerable amount in my hands and feet. My ankles are still swollen up to my knees though. And my blood pressure dropped back to normal. It was between 118/76 and 106/62. Pretty fantastic! They ran liver and kidney function tests on me and everything came back normal.

I did tear a little. Just about 3 stitches worth and to me that's amazing. My biggest baby and the least amount of tearing.

Although this delivery did not go as I had planned, prepared, and dreamed, the end result was exactly what I wanted and needed. I'm not pregnant anymore and I have a beautiful baby to show for it! I was extremely nervous about having to be induced. I didn't want to have an IV or be attached to monitors. I wanted to labor at home as long as I could. I wanted him to come on his own time. But I'm glad he came early, with as big as he is he would have only gotten bigger the longer he stayed in there. And I'm very very grateful I was already at the hospital when my water broke or I might not have even made to the hospital in time. I'm extremely grateful there weren't any negative repurcussions of the preeclampsia.