Quinn’s Birth Story

So here it is, my first baby’s birth story. I delivered at 41+2. The birth wasn’t dramatic, it was fast, it was with a totally unplanned way, it was totally different than I expected, it was the best decision, it was painless and I had our Baby-Boy in my arms three hours after entering the delivery room.

Let’s just say, I never expected to have my baby-boy in my arms only three hours after we got to the delivery room. And let’s just say – you can not plan a birth, not one minute of it. You can have your ideal birth in mind but it can develop totally different than you expected. Just like with Quinn.

In my case, I was scheduled for an inducement, seeing Quinn didn’t even think about leaving his one-room apartment and entering the big world. I had no labor signs at all so, in my case, inducing was the only way to go.

On April 1st 2015 my bubby and I left home at around 06:15 in the morning, we grabbed some breakfast (white coffee and a pretzel) and headed to the hospital. We went to the delivery room but left all my bags in the car. I was of the mind that the induction will take at least 6-12 hours until it kicks in (if I’m lucky, if not I would have to wait one whole day), so there’d be lots of time to still get my bags.

My bubby and I were feeling good, he was a bit nervous but which soon-to-be-daddy wouldn’t be. I was totally calm and mentally ready for a 30-hour birth, I just felt good and ready.

So, we headed to the delivery room and arrived at around 07:30. Luckily it was very quite that day, not a lot of births going on and the midwives were in a good mood 🙂 We went through my documents and then I was put on the CTG at around 07:45. A few minutes later one midwife checked me and decided we need to induce vaginal with a pill. The same diagnosis like the days before.

My attending OB came in right after 08:00 and explained to us the procedure of this induction way. That it can kick in quite fast or that it also can take a day and that I have to come back to the delivery room for a CTG check every 1,5 hours. I would get one pill in the morning and one six hours later, and if no contractions occur we’d pause during the night and go on the next day.
My boyfriend and I prepared ourselves for long walks, waiting and sudden contractions.

My OB left the delivery room and said he’d be back soon so that we can start with the induction. At around 08:45, the CTG machine made some noise. I told my boyfriend that the midwives will come in and change the paper, that same thing happened to me a few days before. Yet, the noise this time was a bit louder but I didn’t think of anything bad. The midwife came and checked the sensors and asked me to hold them and push them against my belly so that you can really hear the heartbeat of the baby.

I did so but a few minutes later the machine made that same noise. My boyfriend thought that it’s not recording the baby’s heartbeat but only mine, seeing it was down to around 60.
Now it hit me that it’s probably not the paper which needs to be changed but that’s something going on with the baby, me or the machine. The midwife came back into the room and so did the gynecologist of the hospital, seeing my OB was on ward rounds. She introduced herself, I looked at the paper of the CTG and was happy because I saw a contraction. I asked her if I just had a contraction and she said yes, a very light one which I didn’t even feel and which is not even close to a birth contraction.
Then she explained to us why the machine made that signal, that it was a warning signal because our baby boy’s heartbeat sank not only during the peak of the contraction but also after. She defined the fetal distress as a late deceleration.

She also said that doctors and midwives are not fond of seeing something like that on the CTG and she will make an ultrasound of the baby to see if everything is ok.
She left the room and I mentioned to my bubby, that just a few days earlier I read an article of why the c-section rate is so high in Germany and it’s because of the CTG and what it tells us about the baby.

And that’s the first time it hit me – I might be getting a c-section! I said to my boyfriend “I think I might be getting a c-section…. and I’m ok with it…”

At around 09:00 the hospital OB came back and did an ultrasound of Quinn, my placenta, the amniotic fluid and the blood circulation of the umbilical cord. All was fine, yet the placenta was quite calcified and the amniotic fluid was quite less, but still enough. You could tell that it’s time for the baby to come out.

The OB talked with my attending OB about the results and told us that neither the doctors nor the midwives will induce a woman with a CTG result as mine. Once you induce, there’s no way of stopping and if such a little contraction already results in such a bad heartbeat of the baby, then there’s no way they will force me getting harder contractions and risking the baby’s life.

The only alternative would be a c-secion and that my attending OB could operate me within the next hour. And I said ok right away, I didn’t even think about it, I just said yes, do it, the only thing I care for is getting my baby healthy and safe!

I did ask the doctor if we could wait for another contraction to see if it just was false alarm but she said she’d really rather not. Of course, as the mother, you can always say no to the birth method the doctors prefer but really, the only thing you think of in a situation like that is the life of your baby.

So, at 09:10, after I got informed about all the risks of a c-section and how it works, I signed all the documents for the cesarean, the doctor said we’ll make it within the next hour and I will see my baby very soon (which made me happy). I had to change into a sexy hospital gown, a midwife came in to shave my private area and then I hopped onto a big bed with big tires. Everybody in the delivery room explained to my boyfriend that he could stay by my side the whole time and what he has to expect.

While my boyfriend and I waited to get rolled to the operation room, one little tear dropped out of my eye due to the fact that I would not have a vaginal birth. Yet I was so ready for this operation and I was calm and even put my boyfriend’s mind at ease, telling him that the most scary things about operations are all the machines and the sterile clothes.

At 10:00 I got rolled into the operation room while my boyfriend was changing into “operation-room-friendly” sterile clothes. At 10:10 I got the spinal anaesthesia (this was actually the thing I was scared of the most) and I didn’t hardly feel anything, a little sting, the cold fluid and that was it.

I got sprayed with something which seemed like ice-spray, once on my arm and once on my belly to see when the anesthesia started to work and at 10:22 my attending OB made the cut. I felt them push and pull and do things in my belly, I heard them suck away the amniotic fluid (and I thought this sounds like at the dentist) and at 10:25 our son Quinn was born and I heard him cry – the best feeling ever and my happy tears came.

I heard my OB saying he’s got the umbilical cord around his neck twice and it was cut right away.

The nurses showed me our baby and then my boyfriend went with Quinn and the nurses to do all the checks and after a few less minutes, I got our baby put on my chest. I actually thought that would be the moment I’ll burst into tears but nothing – I held him on my chest and just was happy to have him close to me.

I felt the doctors moving my organs, felt the pressure (no pain of course) but still, after about two minutes my circulation left me, I felt quite bad and like vomiting (I thought OMG I can’t vomit now when my whole belly is open – you have worries like that), my boyfriend said I turned totally white. The nurse asked me how I’m doing and I told her that my circulation is leaving me so she gave me some medicine into the infusion and from one second to another I was feeling good again and enjoying our baby-boy.

My OB removed the placenta and scraped out my uterus. He performed the c-section using the Misgav Ladach method, meaning ripping – not cutting. After the doctors were done, Quinn and I were rolled into the anesthetic recovery room where we had to stay for two hours. My boyfriend was there too.

And that’s the first time Quinn wanted his food and I started nursing 🙂 It was a great feeling and nursing Quinn works just great. Right from the first moment on, and I was really really happy mommy! I also got my first painkillers and continued taking painkillers three to four days, every five hours 600mg. No problem at all as long as you feed the baby the colostrum and also after.

So, I actually did have a painless birth, just the two days after the c-section were quite painful but thanks to painkillers and thanks to my body for recovering so fast.
I stayed in the hospital for five nights and left one day after Easter.

I am very happy I got the c-section and that Quinn is healthy and happy, especially because my biggest fear of giving birth was the umbilical cord around the baby’s neck!