please forgive the incorrect grammar and frequent mispelled words!
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Tuesday May 17th
2pm ultrasound appt. w/ a guy tech.
1) he measured low amniotic fluid
2) he saw a very mature placenta
3) baby was ~ 35 wks size at 39 wks age.
3:15pm Meet with Dr Peterson. She wants to induce Heidi for the above listed reasons. We were pretty disappointed. Heidi cried, but we wanted to take care of our baby.
4:10pm Dr Peterson says to meet her at the Hospital before 6pm to induce.
4:25pm Stop at the Capitol to tell what we’re doing – Leave my motorcycle there at work. We called Grammy H and our Doula (Amy) on the way home.
4:47pm Arrive home to gather our things.
5:30pm Leave for hospital. More calls on the way.
5:55pm Standing at reception desk on 3rd floor of birthing center.
6:30pm Actually checked in and given a room.
7pm Dr Peterson gives Heidi Cervadil to “soften/ripen” her cervix to prepare for contractions (normally induced with Pitocin) on a planned induction.
11pm Heidi is experiencing her first small contractions. They continue and grow through the night. She didn’t sleep at all… but tried to dose between contractions. I slept ~30mins on concrete floor next to her & ~40 mins on the sofa bed-thing when I discovered it had wheels (so I could move it next to Heidi)
First night’s nurses: Nancy ‘til 7pm. Kacy ‘til 3am, and then Jessica ‘til 7am.
7am (Wednesday May 18, 2005) Jessica removed Cervadil. Contractions continue on their own. Then we began natural stimulation to help them continue and grow. (it worked very well)
Nurse: Kathleen 7am ‘til 7pm
*we were nervous about our next meeting with Dr Peterson… we got the impression she wanted to induce 1st thing in the morning.
8:45am Dr Peterson says Heidi is at 1-2 cm and 70% effaced. (we prayed that we would get another hour to progress). Dr Peterson said to the nurse “give it another hour (‘til 10am) or so & check progress again. Answered prayer… we didn’t talk to the doctor about what we hoped for, but those were the exact words she used.
Walked / Heidi leaned on me during contractions. Natural stimulation helped keep them coming very effectively.
10am Kathleen generously says “maybe 2.5 cm” to the doctor… which bought us more time without Pitocin. Dr. Peterson decides to “Let them be for the day” – over the phone.
We called Amy (our doula {Greek word for “coach”}) sometime after 10am. Her husband left work to come take care of their kids so she could come to the hospital. (thank you)
-She brought food (and a mocha for Daniel) Gatorade and protein powder for Heidi.
Later in the afternoon Heidi got in to the Jacuzzi tub in our room. Her sister washed her hair. She felt much better after being awake about 36 hrs now.
Late afternoon / evening contractions slow and almost stop. We are at another decision point. Prayer felt totally like talking to a wall. It was like everything ended (this was after a 2nd Jacuzzi dip * the warm water does tend to lighten and slow contractions) We’d except the cervadil, we’d been completely natural to this point.
Our option was to begin using Pitocin. Upside: control contractions & they would be stronger. Downside: Heidi must be on a fetal monitor while on Pitocin. Contractions are known to be more intense, and more painful. Usually Pitocin leads to an epidural… which could lead to a “failure to progress” and consequently an emergent c-section.
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