38 week appointment continued...

This will be a detailed description of the labor and delivery.  I will put an astrict at the detailed part in case you would not care to read.

On Friday the 20th of April I went back to the Dr. for my NST (non-stress test).  I was very excited to go in because I hadn't been feeling Phoebe move much and I was excited to get to hear her and have her move like crazy from being "squished" by the monitors.  Elliana came with me to the appointment because right after my appointment we were going on a field trip with her school to Thanksgiving Point, to go to the Dinosaur Museum.

The NST didn't go well...Phoebe wasn't having a good "peak", meaning her heart rate was jumping as frequently or as high as they wanted it to.  She still wasn't moving much even after them pushing fluids and snacks on me.  They consulted with the Dr and decided to do an Ultrasound just to check everything out.  Again...not good.  My fluid levels had dropped in a week, from being 14+ to on Wednesday the 18th being 9+ to Friday being barely over 5.  Anything above 5 is considered a reasonable amount of fluid, but I was losing fluid and pretty fast.  It was determined that I had a small tear in the sac of water.  After the ultrasound they wanted me to meet with the Dr.  I of course called Tom and told him I was fine and would just keep him posted.  I am SO glad that he decided I was not fine and came to be with me.

After waiting about an hour to meet with the Dr we talked to him and it was decided that one of two things must happen.  I be put in the hospital on complete bed rest with 24 hour monitoring to watch the leak and keep an eye/ear on Phoebe's heart, or 2, try to VERY slowly induce me so I could still attempt my VBAC.

Tom and I both felt very strongly that we need to try and slowly induce me.  The hospital where I delivered has some funny rules and since I was trying to have a VBAC.  My Dr. must be at the hospital during the WHOLE process.  He had to do another induction and wasn't able to have me go straight to the hospital.  We decided to go get Elliana (my wonderful Aunt Stephanie had come and taken her to her field trip) and get some lunch.  We were just pulling in to my cousins house to have lunch with Ty and Laura and their girls when we got "the call".  We needed to get to the hospital.  A huge thanks to Ty and Laura for ALL of their help during our hospital stay.

We left Elliana with Ty and Laura and went straight to the hospital, it's about 1 p.m.  Remember, I had my appointment first thing this morning, at 8:30, I had an apple for breakfast and have not eaten again.  Tom would not stop on our way to the hospital to get me something to eat.  :(  I'm STARVING at this point.

We get to the hospital and I'm staying this time, the next time I leave the hospital will be with my baby, I'm SO excited!

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The Dr comes in to insert my fully catheter balloon that is going to soften my cervix and help it to dilate.  That is inserted at 2 p.m.  I decided to try and rest while I make Tom go home to get my pillow!  :)  Remember I was just going in for a routine check-up.  Tom gets back and nothing has really changed, I was at a 1 1/2 when they insert the balloon.  At about 5 p.m. I'm getting pretty uncomfortable,  but of course the Dr has gone to grab dinner.  He comes back to check on me about 6 and told me that the balloon needs to stay til about 7 or so.  He came back just before 8 and took out the balloon.  MAN alive that was a killer!  It was still pretty inflated and very uncomfortable coming out!  He checked me after taking the balloon out and I was dilated to a 5.  I was able to get my epidural at this point, OH the wonderful relief!  He told me to rest and he'd be back to check me later.

My parents came from Idaho Falls and stopped to get Elliana to keep her for the night.  They stopped by the hospital to say good night at about 11 p.m., the Dr had been in to check me and I was a 5 1/2.

I continued to try and sleep but I was pretty uncomfortable.  Tom however had no problem sleeping.  I got put on pitocin at about 8:30 by the way.  They had to do it VERY slowly because they didn't want to rupture my uterus because of the previous C-section.  Every time they would get the pit up past a certain level, Phoebe would starting having a hard time keeping her heart rate up.  At about 2 a.m. the nurse checked me and I was still a 5+.  I waited....and prayed a lot, I really wanted to have my VBAC and it wasn't looking very good.  I was devastated, this is something I wanted SO bad.

At 5 a.m. I was really uncomfortable and called the nurse....she checked me again and said I was still a 5. And that if I didn't change pretty drastically that she thought the Dr. was going to call me failure to progress and take the baby VIA C.  She expected the Dr to come to my room about 6 a.m.  I woke Tom at this point, scared, and very worried.  At 6 on the nose my amazing Dr came in.  He said lets check you...I'm exhausted at this point....so tired, STARVING and very pregnant.  I've been in labor all afternoon Friday and all through the night.  He gets this funny grin on his face and says, "well, let's call you a 8."  I said, Dr. Parker that's not funny, I've been in labor all night.  He replies "with that last contraction, you're a 9.  Let's get anesthesia back in to refill her epidural and have a baby."  I was shocked and SO overjoyed, it was going to work, I was going to be able to have my VBAC!

At 7:00 a.m. on Saturday April 21st, I was a 10.  I started pushing at 7:10 and Phoebe Kate Duncan was born at 7:52 a.m.  Delivered by her dad Thomas Alan Duncan.  Phoebe was born 6 lbs 11 oz and was 19 inches long (a shrimp in this family).  It was a wonderful experience to have Tom be able to deliver and a moment we will never forget.

*******done with the tmi details for those who didn't want to read them.

When Phoebe was born, she didn't cry, she was more grunting, it was a bit scary.  My parents rushed to the hospital with Elliana which I am SO grateful for, Elliana got to hold her sister for a few precious moments before it was decided that Phoebe needed to be evaluated at the NICU.  Note, her sats her AWESOME, her oxygen was at 98, she just wasn't crying.  Even after her first bath, her shots and her PKU test, no crying.  As a mom I was a bit freaked out.  Tom went to the NICU with Phoebe and I was moved to a Women's Center room.  My family went to the waiting room for a bit while I was checked out by the nurse to make sure everything was as it should be.  This is when everything changed...

Tom came to my room, he was hysterical, even distraught.  I knew then that something was wrong, what I didn't know...I then learned, that my baby was sick.  Phoebe was going to have to stay in the NICU.  I thought to myself and even asked Heavenly Father why me...I already had a NICU baby, isn't one hard enough, what do I need to learn Lord.  PLEASE let my baby be safe.

The NICU doctors thought that Phoebe had an infection, they were running tests on the placenta, they were sure I had given her the infection.  That's a terrible feeling to have as a mother to know that you got your baby sick, while you're trying to help her grow and develop.  Phoebe also had fluid in her lungs.  She was put immediately on a CPAP to open her lungs and antibiotics to fight off the infection.  See the next post for pictures and more details...