EmJay's Birth Story

EmJay’s Birth Story - Mariah’s Perspective (Will add Jeremiah's perspective later)

Pre-Birth:

At 32 weeks pregnant the baby was measuring very small. She had measured small the whole time, but now had dropped below the 2nd percentile. Dr. Kilby wanted to start monitoring her closer to make sure there weren’t any big issues causing her to be SGA. Twice a week I would go to have her checked. Once a week I would go into the office for a non-stress test and 3 days later I would go into Dr. Barber’s office (in the hospital complex) to have a non-stress test and a more in-depth ultrasound done. Every appointment was similar - my blood pressure was on the low side, my fluid was a little low, and the baby was small. Everything else seemed to be doing well. The placenta and flow to the baby all looked good, I just needed to drink more water and eat well. 

At 36 weeks, Dr. Barber measured her again. She was even smaller for her gestational age in every aspect. She measured at 4lbs 9oz. Dr. Barber recommended an induction as soon as possible. I knew for a while that an induction was a possibility. I never really thought I would have one and felt pretty unprepared. My Doula, Christine, and Dr. Barber had done a good job of explaining things to me though. I was also thrilled to find out that Dr. Kilby didn’t like starting inductions with Pitocin and his C-section rate was one of the lowest out there. A few days later (Friday) I went in to see Dr. Kilby and discuss these results. He also recommended an induction ASAP. Providence was completely booked, but Alaska Regional Hospital had an appointment on Sunday available. “How about Sunday at 8am?”. I wonder how shocked I looked…. 2 days!? Just 2 days ago, Jeremiah finished his Chinese testing and Debi and Keri both left. It had been a crazy month and I was looking forward to having at least some time to get the house ready and spend time with Enoch. “Okay….” So the rest of that day we speedily cleaned the house, bought anything we needed, and tried to prepare. On Saturday, we tried to make sure we were packed and ready, but mostly focused on Enoch and having a special day with him. 

Fun Day with Enoch

Sunday July 28 (36 weeks 6 days gestation)

Luckily Debi was able to fly in Saturday night to take care of Enoch. He was asleep when we left in the morning. Our appointment was at 8am. It was so strange to me to not go into labor naturally… I didn’t really know how to feel besides being a little anxious. We brought games, movies, and snacks knowing that it could take a while, especially on misoprostol. After getting all checked in, changed, and checked (no surprise I was not dilated at all), I was given the first dose of misoprostol. Luckily, it didn't taste like anything other than water. The plan was to get the miso every few hours until things started to change. If I was stuck around 1cm they could use the foley bulb, but if I got closer to 3cm they could break my water and keep things going to avoid pitocin. Dr. Kilby said it wasn’t uncommon for the miso to take 12-24 hours to do anything. 

We played some games, I was brought meals, we watched movies, and just tried to pass time. I attempted to nap, but couldn’t really sleep. Jeremiah got a little nap in though, so that was good. It turned out that Christine, my doula, had a client in the room next door, so she also came to check on me every once in a while. Unfortunately, my strep B culture test had not come in before the weekend so I had to be hooked up to get continuous antibiotics. Every few hours the IV would start to sting and someone had to fix it. 

By the afternoon, I was starting to feel some small contractions. They gradually got more intense, but I was able to move around and breathe through them. It felt like she was OP (sunny-side up) still… so we attempted a few things to get her to flip. I was so afraid of having the same back labor that I had with Enoch. Christine showed us some things we could do to try to flip her, and they ended up helping quite a bit. By dinner time, the contractions were pretty regular. Around 18:30, I was checked and was at 1cm! The nurses told me it was a big deal to have dilated at all and that it should go a bit quicker from now on. We were given word that Dr. Kilby would come in at about 20:30 to check me and decide what to do next - likely break my waters. 

So we continued to pass time. I listened to some meditations and tried to sleep. I sat on a ball and did what I could to help my body. The nurses were all so amazing and helpful. Christine’s other client delivered later that evening so she came in to check on me. She asked if I wanted her to stay nearby or if she could go home to shower… I expected things to still take a bit, so I told her she could leave. She planned to come back shortly anyway. 

20:30 rolled around and Dr. Kilby came in. I was kind of expecting to discuss options. Maybe if I was doing so well on the miso they wouldn’t need to break my waters? I wasn’t sure if I wanted him to and for it to go possibly really fast, or if I could just keep chugging along the way we were. What I didn’t know was that he had planned to break my waters the same time he was checking me (as long as I had dilated more). He announced that I was 3cm and then broke my waters. The nurse kept making sure I didn’t want an epidural since it would likely go fast after this. The nurse asked me if I wanted the epidural and at the same moment I started to feel a contraction that seemed to never end. 

The monitors started to go crazy… her heart rate dropped and wasn’t rising. I kept thinking something would just magically happen. With Enoch, I just had to change position until they used amnioinfusion. I had rolled onto my left side and Dr. Kilby said he was going to check to make sure the cord wasn’t dropping out. It wasn’t… but he kept his hand there and it was extremely uncomfortable and painful. On top of that the nurse said she was going to give me a shot in the leg to stop the never ending contraction. She kept calling for another nurse (Kelsie) and that she needed her in the room asap. I knew they were preparing to take me to the OR, but I wasn’t really processing everything. Within minutes (it seemed like) They started wheeling my bed out and telling Jeremiah that he couldn’t come in since I had to be put under. I mostly kept my eyes closed. I don’t remember anything being painful, besides Dr. Kilby checking to make sure the cord wasn’t falling out. As I was wheeled over I started to cry and pray that our baby would be okay. It was the first time I started to realize that maybe things wouldn’t be okay. I’m usually good at just thinking things will always be fine. Even when Enoch’s heart rate dropped a lot, I always knew we would be okay. This time, that hope was getting smaller and I was scared.

The OR was bright and cold. I kept my eyes clothes and breathed just taking an occasional peek at what was going on. They rolled me from my bed onto another bed and laid me on my back. The nurses were running around crazy. Something about getting the anesthesiologist (Dawn) and other medical things going on. At some point I started to have these uncontrollable shakes in my legs. I felt cold. I peeked out and Dr. Kilby was suddenly dressed up for an operation, but just stood there looking at me so calmly as I cried a bit. For a moment it was like it was just he and I in the room, but it wasn’t awkward… Just a calm observance. 

“Wait…” he announced. And the whole room fell silent. I felt a little exposed with little clothing on and everyone suddenly looking over at Dr. Kilby and I. I heard the monitor… her heart rate went back up.

She was okay. 

They ordered an amnioinfusion. I wondered how rare it was for someone to have amnioinfusion done twice. I heard someone ask if Jeremiah could come in. He asked if he could come until the anesthesia was given. Soon he was there by me to hold my hand as I continued to shake uncontrollably. They administered the amnioinfusion and it seemed like everything would be okay. Dr. Kilby didn’t want to do a C-section. 

Dawn (the anesthesiologist) arrived somewhere in the madness. I signed for an epidural… who knew if something would happen again. After all of that, I thought I deserved to not feel the amnioinfusion or anything else. Everyone told me she was the best around too. After I had the epidural and everything settled, they moved me back onto my old bed. Right as I entered the hallway I saw Christine’s shocked face. 

“Hi friend!” She said with a shocked smile. I said “Hi” back, almost laughing through the smile she gave me. I was happy to see her, but a little disappointed she missed all that action.

I was finally back in my room with a nice blanket. My nurse started to get me all hooked up again. Christine was in shock. She told me it’s unheard of for someone to go into the OR and then be taken out into L&D. She told me before that Dr. Kilby’s C-section rate is one of the lowest out there, and now I definitely believe that. She said he’s probably the only OB that would ever do that. 

Once I was settled, Dr. Kilby checked me. After all of that crazy madness I was dilated to 6 cm. Probably due to that never ending contraction after my waters broke...BUT she moved to a -4 station. Everything must’ve scared her a little bit. My nurse said that the shot they gave me stopped my contractions all together. Dr. Kilby said they would have to start me on a little bit of pitocin. They would start really low and slowly increase it until I was dilating. 

It was about 1am at this point and we all decided to rest. Christine stayed by and helped with anything so Jeremiah could rest too. I think I was checked shortly after 2am and I was really close. She dropped back down and I was around 8-9cm. By 3am I was ready and she was born at 3:20am. 

The first thing I saw was her tiny foot. I think the first thing I said was, “Her feet are so tiny!” They laid her on my belly and then I heard some little gasps…. “A true knot!”. Of course, this little stinker had a true knot in her cord. Christine said it was the first time she had seen one. That could have been part of the reason she was small and part of the reason her heart rate dropped. Once the cord was cut I had her on my chest. Christine took some photos for us and we admired how amazing and tiny she was. I was able to feed her a bit while the nurses and doctors did everything they needed to. 

Then it was time to weigh her… the moment everyone was waiting for (haha). 4lbs 9oz… exactly how she measured in the ultrasound. Dr. Kilby joked that he would tell Dr. Barber that he was off by a few grams. She was 4lbs 9oz and 16.75in long. 

In the morning we got to move to a mother baby room with a king bed. Enoch and Debi were able to visit that evening. Enoch was definitely having a hard time with us being gone. We stayed in the hospital for a few days. She was struggling with keeping her temperature up and her blood sugar, but she ended up being fine and not needing any time in the nicu.