Birth Story: Part 2

This is Part 2 of Lila's birth story. Read Part 1 first!

So.. after multiple issues with Lila's heart rate, the doctor said we had to have a c-section. She gave me the news while Neil was out of the room.

Apparently when Neil was in the cafeteria eating breakfast, he got a bad feeling and rushed back up to the room. Well, he returned to a nurse handing him his scrubs and hat for surgery. I think he probably felt as scared and overwhelmed as I did. I remember him reassuring me that it would be okay, and that we would meet Lila soon.

The rest is really fuzzy, but they wheeled me into the OR, redosed my epidural, put my arms straight out at my sides and started with the c-section. Neil was right there telling me everything was okay, and the midwife from the OB practice was reassuring me as well and telling me what was happening.

I couldn’t tell when they were cutting me, but I could tell when they were pulling her out. I felt crazy pressure and tugging. Then, at 10:13 AM she was out! They didn’t show me her right away like they do on a Baby Story. I actually didn’t see her until about 10 minutes after she was born. Anyway, right as they got her out, everyone in the room started going crazy about how tangled she was in her cord. Apparently it was completely wrapped around her: multiple times around the neck, body and through the legs. They unwrapped her and took her to the table to get her cleaned up.



Lila scored an 8, then a 9 on her Apgar test and I finally heard her cry! It was an amazing feeling knowing she was here and okay. Neil kept me updated on what they were doing and how she looked. They were still stitching me up and everything so I couldn’t see Lila. Neil was taking photos and video the whole time, thankfully. I remember him telling me the height and weight and that she had hair! I was shocked about that.

Finally, I got to see my baby girl. It was an amazing moment to see Neil holding her and to finally look at her face. I really did love her instantly.



We were in the hospital for 3 nights, which was no fun, but I needed the recovery time and it was really helpful to have the help of the nurses and lactation consultants. I felt pretty crappy after the surgery. I had so much fluid pumped into me and I was swollen and sore. The first day or so I still had a catheter, an IV and these compression things on my legs. The first night they made me sit up in a chair for a ½ an hour and that was really hard! Neil was amazing through the whole thing. He literally changed every diaper and did everything for Lila and for me for the first few days. He helped me get to the bathroom and shower for the first time after surgery. He was incredible!

Now, a month later, I’m feeling really good. I can drive, go up and down stairs and I’ve been going on daily walks with Lila in the stroller. My recovery has been great. My incision is healing well, and I can honestly say it is less of a concern to me than my stretch marks!

Sometimes I feel a little robbed of my birth experience and a bit jealous of other ladies who were able to deliver naturally. But on the other hand, I’m really glad I didn’t have to push her out and recover from that and possibly have a harder time with a vaginal birth. My doctor said for the next child I will definitely be able to have a vaginal birth if I want, but honestly, I might have another c-section since it’s what I know and it really wasn’t that terrible, all in all.

The most important thing is my sweet daughter arrived safely and is perfect and healthy! We love her so much and I couldn’t imagine life without her.

Birth Story: Part 1

On Tuesday February 22, I had a Dr. appt in the afternoon and had my membranes swept (not sure if this put me into labor or not). I was still only about 1 cm dilated and 40% effaced and I scheduled an induction for that Friday. After the appt. I felt crampy for the rest of the day, but still went to dinner with my friend Kristen and then to Kroger to grab some milk and other necessities. Neil got home from class around 10, and my contractions started shortly after that.

They started off pretty far apart, but over the next few hours got closer and closer. We timed them on a contraction app on my phone, we got in bed at midnight but shortly after that got back up when we realized they weren’t stopping. The contractions hurt! They were about a minute and a half long and mostly in my back. We packed our bags with some last minute items and headed to the hospital around 2:45am. We called our parents to let them know what was going on and that they should probably start making their way to the hospital (a 2-hour drive).

When we got to the hospital I was put in a triage room and put on monitors and I was still only one centimeter! I was so bummed that I was there so early and wished Neil would’ve let me labor longer at home. They admitted me and put us in a delivery room.


Mid-contraction in the triage room!

The rest of the labor is pretty hazy as far as details and times go, but I’ve tried to have my parents and Neil fill in the blanks.

I labored until 6am or so with no problems. My contractions were getting stronger and stronger but still not terrible. My parents arrived and things seemed pretty routine. Then it got crazy.

My regular nurse left the room and said she’d be back shortly. A few minutes later 2 nurses I’d never seen rushed in and started frantically checking things and flipping me from side to side. Soon about 15 people were in the room. No one was telling me what was happening. They threw an oxygen mask on my face and I overheard things like “low fetal heart tones” and “not recovering” and “c-section”. I was absolutely scared out of my mind and was so afraid for Lila. Finally after flipping me almost on to my belly her heart rate recovered after quite a few minutes of her heart rate being well under 100, apparently as low as 50.

After she finally recovered, the doctor came over and explained what happened and that Lila was probably just laying on the umbilical cord or squeezing it, and that she should be okay.

Then it happened again. This time the doctor and nurses rushed in, threw my legs apart and broke my water. Then they put an internal monitor in, that attaches to the baby’s head to get a more accurate heart rate reading. The pain of my contractions was a lot more intense after breaking my water. They got Lila to recover again but it seemed to take longer this time for her to get better. I was still only 2 cm, but the doctor recommended getting my epidural placed just in case they did have to do a c-section. I hadn’t planned to get an epi until 4 or 5 cm so I could move around in early labor, but since they broke my water and with the internal monitor getting out of the bed wasn’t an option anyway.

I got the epidural. It took the anesthesiologist 3 tries to place it, but once it was in everything was fine. I was so nervous about the epidural, I was shaking so bad. But after it was placed it was really pretty easy. The epi took away the pain of the contractions pretty well, but I had to pee really bad and with each contraction my bladder was killing me! After practically begging, they finally gave me a catheter. Never thought I’d be looking forward to that!

At some point later that morning, the midwife came in and checked me and I’d progressed to almost a 5. I was so happy that I was progressing! But, the celebration was short lived when Lila’s heart rate again dropped down. After she finally recovered, the doctor came to my bedside and said that she needed to do a c-section. Neil was not in the room then, apparently he was in the cafeteria eating pancakes...

To be continued!

Our baby girl

We had our beautiful baby girl this morning 2/23/11 at 10:13am. She weighed 7lbs 15oz. and she was 20 inches long.

Lila Caroline Miller welcome to the world – finally!