Nash's Birth Story

My experience was not your typical labor and delivery experience. I had been extremely discouraged because I had already passed my due date. I was so ready to meet our sweet baby boy and I was so uncomfortable. Pregnancy is rough, especially at the very end. I couldn’t sleep well and I was up about every hour to pee. I just wanted to not be pregnant anymore. On May 1st, two days passed my due date, I woke up around 3 AM in extreme pain. They felt like menstrual cramps to me, just menstrual cramps that were about 100 times worse than normal ones. I didn’t think I was in labor because I thought they were just cramps, which I had a little on and off towards the end of my pregnancy. I started timing them because they were coming and going. I realized that I had each contraction for a minute about three to five minutes apart. I still was not really sure if I was actually in labor. I had heard that if you get up and walked around and you still felt the pain that you were actually in labor, so that’s what I did. I got out of bed and started walking around. I still was having the pain as often as I did when I was in bed. Then after about an hour Dallin woke up from me walking around and sitting up in bed. I was crying at this point because I was in so much pain so Dallin started to Google if I was actually having contractions. After a little bit of research he told me that so many other women’s contractions felt like menstrual cramps as well. Then after another hour, so I had been having contractions at this point for a minute three to five minutes apart for two hours, I went to wake my mom up. I told her what was going on and I had a contraction while I was talking to her and I could no longer talk, I just had to breathe. My mom felt my stomach when I was having the contraction and was like yep that is a contraction, you are definitely in labor! Then we all started to get ready to go the hospital. We probably got to the hospital around 5:30 in the morning. They took me to monitor me and to check to see if I was going to be admitted. They first had me pee in a cup and then they hooked me up to the monitors to measure baby’s heartbeat and my contractions. They asked me what the pain was on a scale of 1-10 and I said 10 because I had never been in so much pain in my life. Then they checked me and I was only 1 ½ centimeters dilated. That was SO discouraging. My last doctor’s appointment that was five days before I was 1 centimeter dilated so it was frustrating because I was in sooo much pain and only progressed ½ a centimeter. Then I figured they would send me home even though my doctor told me that if I had contractions for a minute five minutes apart for an hour to come to the hospital and they had been three to five minutes apart for almost three hours at this point. Then it seemed like they were just stalling. Dallin and I were waiting there for so long. It seemed like they were trying to keep me longer to see if I would progress more while I was there so they didn’t have to send me home since I was in so much pain. Then like an hour or so later they came back and said that even if I wasn’t in labor they would be admitting me because I had preeclampsia. They tested my urine and the protein in my urine was about 1,000 over what it should be...yikes! My blood pressure was also high. I had had no symptoms up to this point of preeclampsia. No swelling, headaches, my blood pressure wasn’t high, etc. I had had a little bit of protein in my urine at my 36 week check up but my doctor said it was not enough to worry about it and they would just monitor it the next few appointments, and then I didn’t have protein in my urine the next three appointments. Then once I knew I was going to be admitted I asked them when I was going to be able to get my epidural. They told me that in the meantime they could give me another drug for the pain. The nurse told me that for some people it takes the pain away and others it just kind of takes the edge off and you can sleep in between contractions but you’ll still feel the pain, and that’s what happened to me. I still felt every single contraction and felt all the pain, but I was able to sleep in between contractions which was awesome, but because of that I kept thinking my contractions were just one continuous contraction because I didn’t realize that I was falling asleep in between contractions. They had to give me magnesium through my IV to prevent me from having seizures. This was terrible because magnesium relaxes your muscles, which then made my contractions slow down. Because of this they had to give me pitocin. Through my whole labor the nurse would ask me to squeeze her fingers and for me to stick my tongue out at her and she would check my reflexes to make sure I was not getting magnesium poisoning. The magnesium made me feel horrible. Then an hour or so later my doctor came in and sat down next to me and grabbed my hand. She told me that they found some other complications when testing my blood. I had something called HELLP Syndrome. HELLP Syndrome stands for hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count. It is a life-threatening pregnancy complication usually considered to be a complication or variation of preeclampsia. My liver and also my kidneys were not working properly. HELLP Syndrome is extremely serious. People die from this. A normal platelet count is 150,000 to 450,000. When they first checked mine it was 80,000, then it was 60,000, then it was 52,000, and because of this my doctor told me I could not get an epidural. Also since I had a low platelet count, if I ended up needing a C-section they would have had to put me completely under and Dallin wouldn’t be able to be in the room. She let me know that they had platelets ready for me just in case I needed them. When she told me this I was on the pain killer and the magnesium so I wasn’t myself. I knew that’s what she said and I felt like crying, but all I could do was say okay, but in my mind I was dying. I could not believe I was going to have to continue feeling these painful contractions and deliver this baby with no epidural. I never in my mind thought that I would not be able to get an epidural. I felt the contractions where I would feel menstrual cramps and also in my lower back. The contractions in my lower back literally felt like someone was constantly stabbing me. It was the worst pain ever, which I found out later this could have been due to my kidneys not working right. They ended up having to put a catheter in because I would no longer be able to get up to pee. I was crying on and off the whole day because of all the pain I was feeling. I didn’t know how much more I could take. I got to a point that I almost told them that I wanted a C-section because I couldn’t take the pain anymore. I laugh now that when I first got to the hospital I told them my pain was a 10 because now I’m wondering if that pain was even like a 1 or 2 compared to what I ended up feeling. I didn’t know what to do with my body when I was having my contractions. My body would just move all over the place thinking that me moving would help the pain go away. I also was on oxygen the whole time because I wasn’t breathing well. The nurse and Dallin kept having to tell me to breathe because I would stop breathing and then the baby’s heartbeat would drop. I finally got to 9 centimeters and then I wasn’t really progressing, so the nurse had me roll over to my left side to try to move things along. This made the contractions SO much worse. I started to feel like I was going to throw up so they gave me one of those weird long bags they have for people to throw up in. This might be TMI but when I was on my side and had a contraction I wasn’t sure if I was going to throw up, have a bowel movement, or push the baby out. Luckily none of this stuff actually happened. I kept moving my oxygen mask because I thought I was going to throw up and then the nurse would tell me to put the mask back on, I was like you want me to throw up in my oxygen mask? So I just kept the mask off until the feeling passed. I didn’t throw up, but I would dry heave during almost every contraction. My mom just sat there and rubbed my back. When I wasn’t dry heaving during the contractions, I was like grunting and unintentionally pushing. I literally could not control what my body was doing, it was so weird. And then if that wasn’t bad enough, my nurse made me roll over to my right side, so then I experienced the same things all over again on the right side. The nurse told me that everything that was happening to my body, like the dry heaving, was helping me progress. She told me if I were to actually throw up that would help too. I ended up being 9 centimeters for about an hour and half. The doctor came in and broke my water when I was 9 centimeters. She wanted to wait until the last moment possible so I wouldn’t be in more pain. When I was at 10 centimeters they decided to put an IV in my right arm, which was so frustrating. I just wanted to push the baby out, but they had to put the IV in for steroids to help my platelets. They put one IV in and it wasn’t working, so then they had to put another one in. Then when they ended up taking the first IV out of my arm it was kinked inside my arm. No wonder it didn’t work...

The nurse had me push a few times before the doctor came in to move things along. My mom and the nurse were able to see the baby’s head at this point and Dallin just stood up by my head. I had my legs on the stirrups and I also held my legs as I pushed. Then the doctor came in and I only pushed a few more times before Nash actually came out, but when I started to push my contractions got further apart, which was so frustrating because you push during your contractions. After some pushes the doctor asked me if I wanted to tear or if I wanted her to cut me. I was like I don’t know! Then she told me that if she cut me that the baby would most likely come out on the next push. Then without hesitation I said cut me! I wanted that baby out. Then during the next push his head came out and I screamed OW!! And then they told me to lay back and relax for a bit before my next contraction to push the shoulders out, which was hard to do because it is extremely painful having just pushed a head out and still having the rest of the body still inside of me. Then I was about to start to push the shoulders out and he came out all on his own. Seeing Nash for the first time was the most amazing thing! I could not help but cry! He was beautiful and absolutely perfect! They put him up on my stomach and then Dallin cut his cord. Then they put him on my chest and it was amazing.

Apparently they had told my mom and Dallin that they were expecting the baby to come out blue and not breathing. They didn’t tell me this though so I didn’t know this until after he was born, which I’m glad because that would have scared me for no reason. They had a team ready to take him once he was born in case he came out not breathing, but he came out screaming and so healthy! We also found out later that they took my placenta to get biopsied to make sure everything was okay with that. He screamed for a while after he was born and I didn’t even mind it. I was just SO happy to finally have this sweet baby boy in my arms. I was so glad to have Dallin and my mom in the delivery room. They were both so amazing.

After having Nash, they had me on the magnesium for another 24 hours, so I was on bedrest for two days. The longer I was on the magnesium the harder it was for me to move. It got to a point where I could barely reach for things and move my legs. They had these things on both of my legs that were to keep my circulation going. They also had the blood pressure cuff on me the whole time I was in the hospital to check my blood pressure about every 15 minutes to an hour. I was a little nervous about the catheter, but then I loved it. I loved not having to get up every hour to pee like I was having to do when I was pregnant. They told me they didn’t know how long I would be in the hospital and it could be multiple days. They thought I would at least be in the hospital for three days, which meant that Nash would have been discharged before I was. I was just so happy that I was the one with all the problems and Nash was healthy. The nurses kept telling me that the baby was feeling what I was feeling, which made me so sad, and they called him a mag baby, which they call babies when their moms have been on magnesium during labor. All I wanted to do after I had Nash was sleep. I was so tired from the labor and delivery and from all the drugs I was on. The first meal I had after having Nash was enchiladas and it was the most delicious thing. When I got to my new room after having Nash I barely got into bed and then slept for a few hours. Dallin was amazing during this whole thing. Since I couldn’t get out of bed Dallin had to change every diaper in the hospital. He also had to get up and bring Nash to me every time he cried. I ended up being able to get discharged when Nash did because the doctor on call said I still wasn’t doing well but she thought that I was only going to get better so there was no need to stay any longer.

Nash actually didn’t have a name for almost 24 hours. We had three names going into the hospital, Nash, Nixon, and Brooks. We knew his middle name was going to be James but couldn’t agree on a name. Dallin wanted Nash and I wanted Nixon, but then a few days before having him we both came up with Brooks. We thought we would know when we saw him what his name should be but we didn’t know. We wanted to wait to name him though until some of the drugs had worn off since I wasn’t myself. Dallin told me that I could pick the name after I gave birth, and even though I went into the hospital wanting his name to be Nixon we ended up choosing Nash because we both felt good about it.

I feel extremely blessed with how everything ended up turning out. I am healthy again and we have a healthy baby. I am in the clear from all the problems I had during and after my labor and delivery. I am so grateful for my doctor and nurses who were so on top of things. If it weren’t for them I might not be here today.

I haven’t been able to look too much into HELLP Syndrome because it scares me. The things that have happened to other women could have happened to me. I am so lucky that I am alive and healthy. Here’s a really sad story of a woman who died from HELLP syndrome if you want to read. Get the tissues ready!

https://www.propublica.org/article/die-in-childbirth-maternal-death-rate-health-care-system?utm_campaign=weekly-newsletter&utm_source=pardot&utm_medium=email

On a happier note here are some pictures from the day Nash was born!

One of our amazing nurses who helped deliver Nash