Kayla's Birth of Mylah Rose
Tuesday, May 1, 2012 at 10:04AM This birth story was used by permission from Kayla's blog.
http://lahhsweet.wordpress.com/
Labor + Delivery
August 6, 2011, my daughter was welcomed to the world.
Beautiful, healthy, blonde hair-blue eye baby girl.
But the experience goes much deeper than that.
extremely deeper.
32weeks along
The morning of August 2, 2012 I had the usual doctors appointment at my ob/gyn. My doctor checked my blood pressure, weight, measured my stomach and of course checked to make sure the baby was going good. My baby’s heart rate was normal, she was kicking and moving like crazy, and overall seemed to be fabulous. I expressed concern about some contractions I had been having, asking her if it could be “braxton hicks” (braxton hicks contractions are painless contractions of the muscles of the uterus that continue throughout pregnancy with increasing frequency). I explained how extremely painful they had become and how when I was at the store I’d have to sit down wherever I was until the contraction had passed. My doctor had told me not to worry about the contractions because I was showing no signs of preterm labor. Unless I was getting four contractions in one hour, there was no reason to call the hospital. She also suggested that I lay down with my feet up and drink 32oz of water for one hour whenever I get a contraction. I left feeling relieved and went on without a worry for the rest of my day.
That evening I was watching Shark Week and relaxing on my recliner. My dog looked strangely ill. He wasn’t able to eat or walk, so I snuggled him up in a blanket and laid beside him on the living room floor. After a couple hours of cuddles with my pup I went to bed. I had had a dream about sharks (figures, I had been watching shark week the last couple days). In my dream I had been swimming away from a shark that was the size of titanic. He was trying to eat me for dinner because my pregnant stomach was enormous. The shark was not about to give up and of course I was not about to be eaten!
At 2:00am on August 3, 2012 I woke up from my nightmare right before the shark closed his jaws. My pants were soaking wet. I figured I peed in my sleep, so I changed my pants and went to smell my sheets. The bed sheets had no smell and were only slightly damp. I then came to the conclusion that I was sweating heavily from the nightmare and tried to fall back asleep. Out of no where the thought came to my mind that maybe my water had broke while I was asleep. I immediately got on my phone and started researching “how to know if your water is broken”. Most of the websites were useless, however there was this one site that said to lay down for 15 minutes and then stand up, if water gushes out when you stand up your water is more than likely broken. I did that. My was in-fact water was broken. I woke up my mom, she said we better go to the hospital. I threw together a bag with an extra set of pjs and a tooth brush. We left for the hospital a quarter till 4:00am.
When I arrived at the hospital they had me fill out some paperwork and admitted me. I wasn’t sure what to expect, all I really wanted was to go back home so I could sleep. They put an IV in my arm. I questioned the nurse about it, asking what that meant. She said, “If you ever get an IV at the hospital it means you’ll most likely be here for awhile” “Great!” I said sarcastically. The doctor came in to speak with me. She was foreign and it was nearly impossible to understand her. I told her I had thought my water had broken. She didn’t believe me for one minute. She asked me where my wet clothes were, I told her I had changed. Obviously I wasn’t going to leave my house soaked in pregnancy fluids, this doctor was clearly out of her mind. She ordered a test that would tell if the fluid that was being released was amniotic fluid or not. Thirty minutes later she checked me. This doctor didn’t know how to be gentle. She nearly jammed the metal vagina opener thing straight up there! I screamed and started crying. She kept yelling at me telling me to relax, all I wanted to tell her was to eff-off. Once she was done she just left the room without saying one word. I still think that doctor should be fired to this day.
One hour later the amniotic fluid test came back positive, I was right. The doctor said they were going to try to keep me pregnant. She went on to tell me I’d be in there for two or more weeks on bed rest. I demanded a c-section but she said “the baby needs more time to cook.” They put me on magnesium to attempt to stop my labor and put a catheter in so I wouldn’t have to get up to use the bathroom. At that time I was not dilating and had contractions I wasn’t even aware I was having. The “mag” made me feel gross. I was dizzy, loopy, and extremely sweaty. I continued watching shark week for the rest of the day.
The next day (August 4, 2012) felt a little bit better. My butt had gone numb and I had excruciating pain in my lower back. The level of boredom kept raising higher and higher. Around noon my nurse came in and I told her about the pain in my back. She gave me some pain medicine in my IV and decided to check my cervix to see if I had been dilating. She was stunned to find out the the magnesium was doing the opposite of what it should’ve been doing, it was making me dilate. I was dilated 3cm at that time and the nurse was seriously worried. The doctor was notified and advised to increase the dose of the magnesium and monitor me closely. Later that day the doctor came in to see how I was doing. I was relieved to see a different doctor this time. She told me that in a couple of hours they were going to check to see if I was still dilating. In my mind I was hoping my labor hadn’t stopped. I was beyond ready for this pregnancy to be over and my baby to come out of me.
Seven o’clock at night rolled around and a nurse came in to check me. I was now 4cm dilated, which made it clear my labor was not stopping. My nurse called the doctor in the room, I saw nothing but concerned faces surrounding me. The doctor stated that she was taking me off the magnesium. She was going to let nature take its course, even if it meant having a premature baby. Inside I was filled with joy. The moment I had been waiting for was finally here. Once the doctor left the nurse’s attitude changed. She was also filled with joy. “We are going to have a baby tonight!” she said excitingly. It didn’t fully register in my mind that I was about to have a baby, but I went along with it anyway.
I watched the clock for a few hours, my nerves were going crazy. The clock hit 10pm and the nurse came knocking at the door. Again, totally excited, she asked me if I had been feeling anything. When I said no she had a confused look on her face. She glanced over at the monitor to find that my contractions had nearly stopped completely. She then checked my cervix, I hadn’t dilated at all since I had stopped the magnesium. The nurse was still hopeful though, saying that the baby would come by the morning. I was in doubt. A couple hours later I called the nurses station begging them for food. They kept saying that since I was in labor I wasn’t allowed to eat. I hadn’t eaten since the night of August 2, I was starving. They gave me a couple containers of jello and showed my mom where the free ice machine was. For the rest of the night I chowed down while I waited. The waiting game didn’t end that night, baby didn’t decide to come out.
In the morning a nurse came in to give me some information on premature babies. They predicted that my daughter would need special assistance with breathing so she would be in the nursery for awhile. I didn’t think much of it at the time, I had a gut feeling my daughter was going to breathe just fine. A doctor that specialized in preterm babies came in to further explain what the nurse was talking about. This doctor was all around a great guy. He had white hair and an amazingly positive attitude. He stated that she might be in the nursery for anywhere from three to six weeks, maybe even seven or eight if needed. It began to sink in that my daughter might have some problems. He advised me that their baby nursery was only a level 3, which meant that they weren’t used to having thirty-three week preemie babies in there. He assured me that he would make sure my baby was well taken care of no matter what. The doctor ordered an ultra sound to see how big baby was. Thankfully the ultrasound tech was fast because once that thing hit my belly the back-labor started up again. The ultra sound computer estimated my daughter was about 4pounds 5ounces. Thats when I became deathly afraid for my child. I started to feel shame and guilt. I felt somehow it was my fault she was about to come out unready to take on the world.
Around one o’clock that afternoon we were told some very disappointing news. An ambulance was coming to transfer to me different hospital that was located one hour south from where I lived. I argued them, I asked why, I demanded I stay right where I was. The nurse tried everything that she could to convince her boss to let me stay. But it wasn’t in her control, just as it certainly wasn’t in mine. My mom got all of my stuff together. She tried to reassure me that everything was going to be alright and that I could get through this. I cried the entire two hours while I waited for the paramedics to arrive.
The paramedics arrived three o’clock on the dot. I was nervous and shaky. They loaded me onto the gerny very carefully. I felt embarrassed. Yeah, I was a fifteen year old girl in labor, but I had also smelt seriously bad and hadn’t shaved my legs in awhile (hahaha). My mom half-hugged me goodbye. Shehad to go home to feed our pets before she headed down to meet me at the hospital. The ambulance ride was insanely bumpy. I started to feel severe contractions when we hit the freeway. I was literally bouncing up n’ down, they had to add extra straps to make sure I was tied down good enough. I was playing on my phone the whole car ride. The guys kept looking at me with a funny look at read “seriously? how is she just chillin on her cell phone right now?” I guess they figured it was a somewhat serious event. I made some simple small talk but they weren’t very talkative.
Once we got to the other hospital, they unloaded me from the ambulance. My eyes were blinded by the light, it was clear to me that I had been trapped inside dim rooms for far too long. Part of me wanted to ask them to let me to enjoy the fresh air for just one minute, but I knew they were going to say no so I didn’t even bother asking. People were looking wide eyed at me as they rolled me through the hospital. Its not everyday that a teenager is seen pregnant being rolled through a hospital on a gurney, Im sure it looked like a big emergency. It took twenty minutes for the paramedics to finally deliver me to my new room. They said they never had to take anyone to Labor&Delivery before. Of course, with a girl like me, there is always a 1st time for everything!
My new delivery room reminded me of a shoe box; small, dark, intimidating. Nothing like the last room at all. I didn’t even have a window to look out. I was sure this was my new prison. Nurses rushed in to bother me with a million questions. They knew I was on my way but clearly had no details on what was going on. I immediately said “its no real emergency, Ive been in labor since August 3 at 2am in the morning” “Did your water break??!” one lady said with concern. “Yup” I said highly annoyed. She nurse had a terrified look on her face.
“We need to get the baby out as soon as possible. You’re at high risk for an infection that could kill both you and the baby. I don’t understand why the child is still inside you at this point. Your life is in danger and we will be having this baby tonight, tomorrow morning at the latest”
Less than ten minutes later the doctor popped in the door . It was a male doctor, middle aged, and extremely funny! He assured me that he was going to take good care of me and that my baby was coming out tonight, if she wanted to or not. I felt as though I had finally met my hero. I had been imprisoned in hospitals for days, I finally could picture my name printed on the exit door.
I was put on pitocin a little while later (medication taken through IV to speed up the process of labor, also known as “inducing labor”) and told that it would take a little time to kick in. I was incredibly thankful because my mom hadn’t even made it to the hospital yet. The room was silent, all I could hear was the sound of medical machines. In all honesty, I felt like death was near. I watched the IV tube as the medicine dripped slowly into the tube, and fell into a deep sleep.
I woke up to the sound of my mom, “I’m here! – oh! sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” It had already been two hours since they induced me. Already 9:00pm. Nothing had happened so far; no cramping and no pain at all. The nurse came in and couldn’t believe I hadn’t had hardly any decent contractions. She upped the dose of the pitocin and said she would be back later.
I didn’t know what it was like to be “bored” until I sat in a hospital for days on bed rest waiting… & waiting…
It was 11:00pm and I started to feel the cramps. Nothing too intense, but nothing I could ignore. By 1:00am the pain got to the point that I couldn’t open my eyes and didn’t want to hear any noise. I was holding back the screams along with the tears. By 2:00am my body was trembling from the pain. Violently shaking, my body had gone into shock.
The nurse checked on me and couldn’t believe her eyes. She offered some pain medicine but I insisted I could handle it. She asked me what I was feeling, I stated that I had to go #2. She disagreed and said that I had to push. I insisted, “Its definitely not a baby, I have to go to the bathroom.” [I hadn't gone to the bathroom in four days at that point!] She checked my cervix and said I was still only at a 5/6, I still had halfway to go. She offered me a pan for my #2, but I refused. I begged her to help me out of bed. I was desperate to get out of that hospital bed. She finally agreed although she probably thought I was insane. My body was shaking so bad I wasn’t able to stand on my own. I nearly wiped out a couple of times on the way. I was assisted to the bathroom with my medicine tower (IV medicine holder thing) and then it hit me; I was going to die. I was no longer able to walk on my own, and I then discovered I wasn’t able to bend my legs to sit on the toilet. Still (being stubborn) I refused the pan and did my #2 business half-way standing. Once I finished my business, I was eager to get back in bed. I then realized thats where I belonged. My body was under too much stress to even function normally.
I didn’t get an option this time. I was getting an epidural no matter how much I thought I could handle it “a little bit longer.” They ordered it and said all my pain would disappear and that I would feel much better once it was here. The special team of medical people came in. I had to sit up and sit still while they put a plastic port in my back. It was nearly impossible to hold still so two nurses had to firmly hold me in place. After placing the port in, they put a sheet of tape on my back. This tape was the size of my entire back, if not a little bit bigger. It felt awkward but they told me it would be worth it. I was given a button; this button would release more medicine every time I pressed it, but it would only work once every ten minutes. Being the alcoholic/addict that I am, I pressed the button every ten minutes even if I didn’t need it. I was fearful the pain would come back.
I was finally in peace. The epidural was the best thing the hospital could have made me do. I passed out for the rest of the night and didn’t wake up until 6:00am.
By that time, I was 8cm dilated which meant it was almost time to have this baby. The words I had been waiting to hear. They told me to go back to sleep and they’d come wake me in an hour or so.
Two hours later they checked me again. This time they didn’t have a measurement on how dilated my cervix was because the baby was already on her way down the canal. I couldn’t believe it and all the sudden I just wasn’t ready. “Cant we wait like one hour so I can take this all in, Im really not ready to have her yet. Please?” I said full of fear. Of course my request was denied and the team of delivery people were already on their way over.
There was at least 12 people in the room. My legs were spread wide open. Uncomfortable isn’t even enough to describe how I felt. It was myself, my mom, three nurses, one delivery doctor, and then a whole group of specialists from the NICU. I just tried my best to ignore the fact that they were all watching my cha-cha.
My epidural was dosed so high, I didn’t even feel a thing. “Here comes a contraction, you feel the pressure?” -asked the nurse… “Oh yeah, totally, huh” I replied, lying threw my teeth. I didn’t feel no pressure! I had no idea what she was talking about. Better for me though, I didn’t want to feel a baby coming out of me, psh who would?! I watched the screen to see when my contractions were coming on, once I saw it show up on the monitor I said, “here comes one!” haha, I was sneaky.
I pushed for about 15 minutes tops. I was laughing and cracking jokes in-between pushes. Honestly, my delivery could’ve been a scene in a comedy. It was painless, no screaming, no nothing! Positive energy, thats all I felt.
beauty just born
Mylah Rose
August 6, 2011, 9:22 am
premature at about 33 weeks
5 pounds 4 ounces, 21 1/2 inches
blonde hair, blue eyes
<3
indescribable moment...
I held her in disbelief. I couldn’t believe I created her. My brain couldn’t fully comprehend what had just happened. I saw love, I saw joy, I saw hope, I saw God; I saw my daughter. A blessing in disguise. God had given me the greatest gift of all.
I only got to hold her for about two minutes. She was taken from me and rushed to the “Special Care Nursery” (also known as NICU, a place where premature babies stay to get the care that they may need). All I wanted was to be with her. I had waited so long to be with her.
I asked if I could go in the nursery since they had already cleaned me up. They said I was free to go whenever I wanted. So I asked for assistance to help me up. I was still in just my hospital gown so I asked my mom to get my clothing ready. I went to stand, and then fell straight to the ground. The nurse had to help me back into the bed. I was then placed on “fall risk” until further notice. That meant that I couldn’t go see my beautiful darling until they thought I was capable of getting up and into a wheel chair.
I was broken hearted.
I had just given birth to my beautiful baby girl
and I wasn’t even allowed to go see her.
Kayla Hurley’s Labor and Delivery story.
written by: Kayla Hurley
Please follow Kayla's blog to learn more about the life of a teen mother.
http://lahhsweet.wordpress.com/
Tags: birth, birth stories, birth stories on demand, teen pregnancy, teen mother, 16 and pregnant, teenmom, PROM, premature rupture of membranes, epidural, birth stories with pictures, premature birth
