Sophie's Birth Story

Before I forget the details, here's the story of how beautiful little Sophie joined this world.

Since Owen was born at 34 weeks, my doctor warned me that he would watch my pregnancy a little closer than normal, especially in the latter stages. Starting at 24 weeks, every 2 weeks I had a Fetal Fibronectin test done. FFN is the "glue" that holds the baby in the womb. In a normal pregnancy, the mother leaks out the fluid near the end of the pregnancy. If you have a negative FFN test, you statistically have less than a 1% chance of going into labor in the next two weeks. With a positive test it's more like 13%. On Friday, May 28th I got a call that I had a positive FFN test. TWO DAYS before I was supposed to leave for a week long vacation in Carlsbad with my family. I was devastated. I was really looking forward to the trip as a last hurrah before the baby came, and I had started to talk it up with Owen so he was excited too. Plus, with the vagueness of the test (13%??), it was hard to stifle the thoughts of just taking the risk and going on the trip anyway. But my doctor sent me to the hospital to make sure I wasn't having contractions, which I wasn't. Both my doctor and everyone at the hospital recommended that I didn't travel, so I didn't.

My next FFN test was negative, so I had thoughts again of travelling. My parents were going to San Diego for the 4th of July, so I was hoping everything would be negative until then so I could also go. Fortunately I was able to go, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing my brother's family and enjoying the cool weather. A couple of days after we returned home, however, I woke up with a lower backache that would not allow me to sleep. I knew that was a sign of pre-term labor, so I called the after hours # for my doctor, and they said I should go to the hospital, so that's what I did (at something like 4am). I was having contractions, although at the time I couldn't recognize them as such. Over the course of the weekend they tried a few medications to stop the contractions, and on Monday sent me home with Terbutaline in pill form. They also gave me steroid shots that would help the baby's lungs in case she was born soon. My doctor said he wasn't putting me on strict bed rest (he said bed rest doesn't really prevent pre-term labor), but that I should pretend I have the flu - take it easy, no house work, but if I needed to make a quick run to the store, that was ok. So I did take it easy, but was still able to do some more training for work (part time from home), and enjoyed time with Owen, especially in the pool.

I was now able to recognize when I was having a contraction, so when I noticed a few in a row, I was supposed to lay down and monitor them. That's exactly what I was doing a week and a half later at around 6:45pm when I felt a pop like a cork and several gushes of water. I exclaimed, "Oh, shoot!! My water just broke!". Owen got a big kick out of that and like a true two year old started running around laughing saying "Oh shoot! Oh shoot!". It's a good thing a slightly different version didn't come out of my mouth! :-)

We then knew we had to get to the hospital, and that I wouldn't be coming home with a baby still in my belly. We didn't know if they would try and stop me from going into labor or not. I was at 32 weeks; with Owen, my water broke at 34 and they induced me because I wasn't having contractions. We drove to the hospital and Nana met us there to pick up Owen. At the hospital they gave me a larger dose of Terbutaline, but said that if that doesn't do the trick they wouldn't stop me from having the baby. They measured my cervix and said I was only dilated about 1 cm. The contractions continued, but were not painful, so at about 10pm I sent Keith home to get some rest and to get the camera (yep, the 2nd big event of our lives and we forgot the camera!). We really didn't think the birth would happen that night. But as I lay in a triage room mostly by myself (the nurses came by occasionally) the contractions got stronger and stronger. I was half a sleep when there were no contractions, so I really didn't have any sense of time or how many contractions I was having. I knew they were getting stronger, but I was able to lessen the pain with visualisation and controlled breathing. As long as I was on the beach watching the waves, I could handle the pain. It was actually quite interesting how well that worked. I think even the nurse didn't believe the monitors (or me when I said the pain was at an 8) because I probably just looked sleepy and not in pain. So it was a surprise to all of us when she checked my cervix at ~3:30am and I was 6cm dilated. I called Keith to get back to the hospital quickly, and they moved me to a birthing room.

They asked if I wanted an epidural and I said yes. I was tempted to say no and try more of the visualization, but I knew it would be a lot harder with all of the lights on and people around. I'm glad I went ahead with the epidural, as I was able to relax and actually enjoy the experience. Plus I was able to listen to the NICU nurse practitioner who came in to tell us what to expect having a baby at 32 weeks. Keith arrived shortly after I got the epidural, at around 4am.

Shortly after the NP left, I vomited (which is what I did with Owen). The nurse took this as a cue to check my cervix again, and not surprisingly, I was fully dilated and she could feel the head already. They quickly got the doctor on call in and all of the nurses in to take care of the baby. Even though he wasn't my OB, I had already met and really liked the doctor on call, Dr. Yosavich (sp?).

Once everyone was ready they told me to go ahead and push. Keith made some kind of comment about not messing up on the timing this time, alluding to Owen, where I pushed for 45 minutes, and he kept telling me, "You're almost there!" the ENTIRE time. This birth was a bit different, to put it lightly. I pushed once and the doctor told me to stop so he could do an episiotomy. I pushed two more times and out she slipped!! Total time from first push to birth: 1 minute! Time of birth: 5:15am.

The nurses cleaned her up and checked her out while the doctor stitched me up. They said she looked great. Dr. Y had earlier explained that he'd be happy if she was 4 lbs at this age - she weighed in at 5 lbs 1 oz!! They let me hold her for a couple of minutes, and then they took her over to the NICU.

From LGA Arrives!

In Owen news, tonight before bed, Owen and Daddy spent several minutes making fake toots at one another. Owen would lift his leg and try and make a sound through his lips (copying Daddy). He thought it was histerical, which, of course, it was. Can't wait until Sophie gets home so I'm not outnumbered by guys. :-)