Some how life always has a way of slowing you down, but never has this
been more true than this last year. Here
I am 6 months later with the long overdue introduction of our gorgeous rainbow!
Our precious Izabella Luna was born on April 18th at 1:26 am! My induction began on April 16th at 8am and
moved very, very slowly since I was trying to do as little Pitocin as
possible. I talked my OB
in to allowing me to be induced with only the folly bulb and no additional
medication because I didn’t want to be tied to an IV pole or relive the
memories that came along with the device.
It became evident that wasn't going to work by late Monday night, but
they gave me until morning to continue to try other methods to dilate my
cervix. So my husband and I walked the
halls ALL NIGHT LONG! I tried
homeopathies, foot massages, squats and dancing, but I just didn't have the
energy to keep it up for very long.
The progress I had made with the folly bulb never progressed further,
so they ended up having to break my waters Tuesday afternoon and begin the
Pitocin drip. Unfortunately once my
waters were broken she began dropping quickly, but as Sprout dropped she
rotated her head so she was facing my left thigh, and the further she dropped
the more significant the pain became. By
late Tuesday evening the pain was so bad that I couldn't lay on my side with
out excruciating sharp pains. After a
few hours of trying everything under the sun to manage the pain without any
relief, the urge to push became incredibly strong. I had been laboring for nearly 36 hours, but
my cervix was stagnating around 6 - 7cm, so my OB ,
Doula, and nurse were all telling me not to push. Sprout, on the other hand, had other ideas
and the more I tried not to push the worse the pain became!
At this point the OB began making
noises about me possibly needing a c-section due to Sprout's head presentation,
my exhaustion and the lack of progression - I was terribly upset!! I really wanted to have Sprout as naturally
as possible with a vaginal birth, but my body didn't seem to want to
cooperate. The urge to push had become
completely uncontrollable and my emotions erupted! I knew I wasn't dialed enough (according to
my OB and nurse), but my body and Sprout were
saying, “PUSH!” Each time I pushed a little
I mentally broke down more and more because I started feeling like I was, once
again, failing my babies! My body wasn't cooperating properly and I was risking my second daughter by allowing my body
to push when I knew I shouldn't!
Luckily we had an incredible birth team by our side! Sprout’s team consisted of two Baby Loss
Mommas; our awesome Doula and a wonderful supporter who leads our Prenatal Loss
Support Group with a background as a Labor & Delivery nurse for 25+ years,
as well as a great nurse who also took care of me the night before and after
Stella's birth. These women helped me
through my entire labor, comforting, listening, supporting, encouraging me and
helping me ask the important questions so I could feel in control and know
everything that could be done was being done.
With out them during those extremely difficult hours with the OB talking
about c-sections, the physical and emotional pain overwhelming me and the lack
of progress I think I would have regretfully thrown in the towel and allowed
the OB to do what ever she felt best. We
feel truly blessed to have had such a fantastic team help safely bring Izabella
in to the World!
With all the information available to us we finally decided to go with
an epidural (something I thought I would never do!) around 10:30 pm on April 17th,
which was Stella’s original due date back in 2010. It brought immediate relief and the plan was
for me to relax and rest for about an hour and see what kind of changes had
been made before continuing laboring. I
wasn't looking for a way out of the pain, just needed a break, both emotionally
and physically. As soon as the epidural
was on board my OB checked me and suddenly I
had dilated all the way to a 10 and was ready to begin pushing! She asked if I wanted to go a head and rest like
previously planned and I responded, "No way! I'd like for this baby to be born
today!" The OB
left the room to get ready and said she would be back in 15 minutes so we could
begin, but while she was gone my BP dropped dangerously and that along with the
contractions was making Sprout's heart rate jump. I'm still kind of unclear, and so is my
husband, exactly what all took place during this time, but he told me
afterwards he seriously thought I might die and was worried about our little
girl, too! The Anesthesiologist came
back and began rapidly working with my nurse.
We later learned she gave me a dose of epinephrine to increasing my BP
and heart rate, but that also negatively affected Sprout so there was some
tension going on and a lot of intense monitoring. My OB came
back in to learn of this situation and expressed her desire to go ahead and
deliver as quickly as possible and then address my BP issues once my baby was
safe, but the Anesthesiologist wasn't willing to risk my condition by
postponing my treatment. We spent
another 45 minutes with them tracking my BP and Izabella's heart rate before
they felt I was in the clear and we could begin pushing. Once I finally was cleared to begin pushing
it really didn't seem like it took too terribly long for Izabella to be
delivered and her placed directly on my chest for the much anticipated kangaroo
time! After her nuzzling around my
chest, being wiped down and her cord stopped pulsing Trey got to cut the cord
and she began nursing like a little champ!
We came home from the hospital on a Friday evening and began to learn
more about each other and get on a schedule.
Luckily my Mom spent the weekend at our house and took care of laundry,
making us food and allowed us to nap in between feedings. After a few sleepless nights Izabella started
adjusting and we learned a few tricks to help her sleep better. Thankfully this pattern has continued and wasn't
just some fluke - Momma loves her sleep!
The love, joy and happiness Izabella has brought back to our lives is
greater than words could possibly describe!
After loosing Stella I never thought I would be able to laugh or smile
again with out it being faked, but Iza keeps me smiling and laughing like I couldn't have imagined. While Stella
will always be our first born and will be loved and missed forever, her baby
sister has patched and stitched my shattered heart. Izabella is a true blessing in our lives and
a gift from the brightest stars above!
"'Rainbow Babies' is the understanding that the beauty of a rainbow does not negate the ravages of the storm. When a rainbow appears, it doesn’t mean the storm never happened or that the family is not still dealing with its aftermath. What it means is that something beautiful and full of light has appeared in the midst of the darkness and clouds. Storm clouds may still hover but the rainbow provides a counterbalance of color, energy and hope." ~ Anonymous
