Quinn's Birth Story

It has officially been one week since Quinn was born! And, what a week it has been...

Last Monday I went into the hospital for my induction around 8:30 am. By the time they got me checked in, monitored Quinn, and re-checked my preeclampsia it was 10:30 am. The urine test came back again confirming that my preeclampsia was severe enough to warrant an induction. I started the day 3 centimeters dilated, Quinn in a -3 position (too far up), and the effacement percentage varied based on who checked me (anywhere from 50%-80%). They assured me that they would be as conservative as possible with the pitocin, and they were.

When the induction began at 10:30 am, I spent an hour on the smallest dosage with no pain. Then at 11:30 am they increased the pitocin by one more dosage, and this time I only experienced slight cramping. At 12:30 pm my doctor broke my water (I was 3 centimeters dilated still) and that's when things really started progressing. Within an hour I was having to breathe through my contractions, and within two hours I made the decision to have an epidural. My decision was based on the fact that I still had a long day ahead of me, and I wanted to enjoy my birthing experience as much as possible. I am so glad I had the epidural!

I was fairly comfortable for the majority of the afternoon, after my 3:00 pm epidural. By 4:00 pm I was 6 centimeters dilated. I was thrilled to be making progress! The next time I was checked was around 6:00 pm and I was 8 centimeters dilated (finally progressing about a centimeter an hour). By this time my epidural was not providing me with pain relief on my right-hand side, both in the front and in my back. I was having to breathe through my contractions again and was feeling pretty miserable. My anesthesiologist came back and adjusted the placement of my epidural and the dosage, and this helped for another couple of hours.

I continued to progress about one centimeter an hour and by 8 pm I was between 9-10 centimeters dilated (they called it an anterior lip). They let me wait another hour to fully dilate, and this hour was pretty painful again. At 9 pm my doctor came in, and the nurse said that I was fully dilated. They said that the epidural should mask the pain, but that I should still be able to feel pressure. Well, for me it was the opposite. I felt extreme pain, but was not feeling pressure. This made me worry that I would not be able to push effectively.

At this time, my doctor suggested that I simply try a few practice pushes just to see if my concerns were true. She was trying to console me, saying that often times pushing masks any pain that patients feel. I agreed to try. I was so ready to meet my son! So, I tried to push with the peak of my contractions a few times, and they just never had me stop. I only had Pat, my nurse, and doctor in the room with me, and this was perfect. We were chatting in between contractions, Pat telling the nurse and doctor about our love story. They were clearly trying to distract me, and I appreciated this because it worked! I pushed for 53 minutes, and at 9:57 pm Quinn was born. It was amazing, and I couldn't believe he was finally here! I was in so much shock that I didn't even notice that he wasn't crying immediately. Once he started crying I noticed the sighs of relief in the room and asked everyone what the worry was. At this time they informed me of their concerns, but that he was sounding great.

They did have a NICU nurse come and check on Quinn for awhile to make sure that he was getting all of the fluid out of his lungs. There was concern for about half an hour that me might have to spend the night in the NICU, but thankfully, this was not necessary.

At 10:25 pm Pat called my parents, Jamie, and Ritchie who were patiently waiting in the waiting room. When they left at 9 pm they didn't know that I would begin pushing minutes later. However, they figured it out when we didn't call back for an hour and a half!

Quinn weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces and was 19 1/4 inches long. He is absolutely perfect!

Pat and I have been so blessed by Quinn. People have always told me that you can't imagine the love you feel for a child until you are a parent yourself. I couldn't agree more. We have only had him in our life for one short week, but he is our everything!

More to come on what else has been happening in our lives this week...