[Deb]

You still get a beautiful baby!

Hi Deb,

So i wish i could report a lovely laboring at home birth while snacking on frozen grapes in the bath and an 8cm arrival at the hospital. Not so.

The Sunday before last i had a bad headache all day which concerned me as my BP had been slowly on the rise. The following day i went to see one of the midwives who shares practice with Moritz/Lee etc - i was 40 weeks and 5 days and after an exam, sweeping, etc she said "hold on you need to go to L and D this evening" loads of protein in urine, preeclampsia, all doctors concur. I went home, was a bit scared because of the dreaded pit but was still resolved to have a med-free and/or positive birth to the extent possible. Called my husband and doula, took a shower, ate dinner and gave my cat a huge portion of food and a big kiss.

As luck would have it - or mb fear! - i went into labor on my own in triage while we waited. I was thrilled. By the time i was admitted into triage i was having contractions every 2-4 mins, a min apart for well over an hour. However my BP was soaring now up to 170/150 and they were now calling it "severe pre-eclampsia" or just eclampsia.

I was on several IVs now - magnesium to prevent seizures/epilepsy (and potentially death i was told ;-)), antibiotics for GBS, a saline drip, a foley catheter eventually, and at last pitocin after they got around to it once i was 4.5 cm about 4 hours into labor.

They brought me to L and D all hooked up and i resisted the epi and insisted on laboring like this despite the BP concerns for a while. It went from uncomfortable to borderline awful but here is where all the PN yoga came in handy. I turned over on to all fours and stayed that way for 4 hours and found comfort in cobra and distraction from the burning in my triceps. The hands-on of my doula, husband and mom were also great additions as well as the visualization and breathing techniques as i was physically quite limited. And most importantly i felt educated and knew when to call mercy!

After hours of this, breaking my water and then an internal fetal monitor enter stage 2 of emergency - baby presenting face first chin up and was jammed and therefore i could not/would not move past 4.5. 5 hours later.

At this point they finally mentioned the "C" word. I was grateful for being at Roosevelt in that it took them 12 hours before they said it, grateful that i had read your blog and been to countless classes to know when it's a BS C vs a medicalnecessity and grateful for the quote from Francis that "a woman meets herself in pregnancy" because anyone can have a great experience when circumstances line up in your favor but when they don't and your strong and fight - in a good way - till it's not smart to do so anymore - well then at least I can say i didn't like the circumstances that landed in my lap but i liked the woman i met and felt i hung in there spiritually and physically with every challenge that presented itself.

So you know the rest of the story, emergency C was declared necessary and an hour later our beautiful baby girl Arabella Caroline Angerer was born, Dec 29th, 9:06 a.m, 7lbs and 13 oz.

And finally i feel great now - mentally and physically - only a week later and know it's partially attributable to a wonderful PN yoga practice throughout my pregnancy. And all that ab work will certianly come in handy as i look forward to recuperating.

Happy New Year!
Lori Mason