Carrie's birth story

Her stats...

Carolyn Marie
September 7, 1994
1:31pm
8lbs 7oz

I found out I was pg when Luke was 10mos old. I was due on Labor Day (Sept 5th). I went to my OB's office for the first time when I was 10wks along. Unfortunately for me I was assigned to the OB from hell! She was only there for a year and for that I am THANKFUL! She micromanaged everything and drove me (and the lab ladies) crazy. My blood pressure was a little high at my first appointment but was fine most of the pregnancy until near the end. BUT because of that one high reading the OB insisted I had chronic hypertension...not pregnancy induced hypertension. I suggested maybe the inital high reading was due to nerves but was poo-poo'ed.

Due to her thinking of Chronic hypertension she had me doing lab work everytime I turned around. The lab ladies hated to see me coming since the OB ordered them to do EVERY test they could. According to the lab techs there was no need to do them all and she was the only dr that ever did that. I failed my 1 and 3hr GTT at 26wks and was put on a GD diet. My sugar numbers never went high while on the diet and monitoring it.

Starting at 34wks the dr decided weekly dr visits wasn't enough and I needed more monitoring. I had to do weekly NST and biophysical workups. My blood pressure started creeping up at 36wks. I decided to be crazy and camped in a tent with all the kids at our church's annual summer conference when I was 37wks. After a few days I had one of the nurses check my pressure because it didn't seem right. She got a reading off the roof. She told me to gather the kids and get home on the couch NOW! It helped a bit but was still a bit high at my next dr appt. The dr started really pushing the induction. I talked her out of it as long as I promised to put myself on bedrest.


Tuesday after Labor Day I had my next appt. It was early so that there was time to be admitted and an induction started. She examined me and told me I was 2cm and 50% effaced. I agreed to head to the hospital for an induction. It was about 1'ish when I was hooked up and the pit was started. Nothing happened all day. About 9pm Dr T (same OB who delivered Luke) came in and suggested we stop the pit for the night. She explained I was till thick and closed and hadn't progressed at all since being admitted. I was livid...thick and closed!?!?! I was told I was 2cm and 50% effaced! It was the only reason why I agreed to come here today.

Dr T responds with...that's ok I was told you were 3cm, 75% effaced and your blood pressure was high (it was fine!) Seems they'd told my regular OB that they were full and unless it was necessary they didn't have room for me. So it seems she told us what we wanted to hear. After doing the inital exam after admitting me, Dr T thought since I'd already had so many kids all I needed was a little pit. I replied with...if anyone had bothered to ask me (or tell me the truth) I'd have told them it was useless unless my cervix was ripe!

We decided to turn off the pit and do cervidil (or something similar) applications every 4hrs. What a pain. I had to lay flat in bed while we were doing it. I was allowed to get up to go to the bathroom and walk around for a few minutes before the next application. About 6am I felt my first contraction. :o) I'd sent Tom home after midnight to get some rest. I called Tom and told him to come up as soon as he could. It was the first day of school so he had to get the 3 oldest kids on the bus. BIL was staying with the kids who weren't in school.

The pit was hooked up about 9'ish and the contractions picked up quickly. We were all joking and taking bets whether the baby would be born before or after lunch. I picked after, Dr T picked before. Shortly after 1 the nurse was in checking things. She watched me through a contraction and said she was going to get the doctor. What an angel! By the time the dr got there I was feeling ready to push. They broke down the bed while I reported that I could feel the baby coming down. It was an uneventful, 2 small pushs delivery.