Bryn Alicea
July 8, 2020
Tuesday, February 18
Because of some symptoms that I'd had over the weekend, my doctor decided to check for dilation at my 33 week appointment. She said I was 1-2cm and starting to thin out. She said it was unusual that early, but she'd keep an eye on it. I was told to take it easy and to try not to worry, especially since I hadn't noticed any real contractions yet.
That night, I’d had enough time to think about what I’d
been told at the doctor’s office and had some concerns. I sent a message
through the patient portal with a few questions. I wanted to know if I should
have steroid shots for the baby’s lungs or if we should do a fetal fibronectin
test.
The next morning, a nurse called me. She said that a FFN
test was only valid before a cervical check so that’s probably why it wasn’t
offered to me. She also said that they didn’t do steroid shots for the baby’s
lungs after 32 or 33 weeks in their office (I can’t remember which), but she
said that just me worrying about the baby coming early was producing chemicals
that would help her lungs to mature quicker.
I was later told that this wasn’t accurate information,
so I’m not sure why I was told these things. I did eventually end up getting the steroid shots.
Saturday, February
29
In hindsight, this day was a little crazy. I had a
tearing/ripping sensation in my upper right abdomen all day. That evening, we
decided to go out to eat.
A sweet older lady stopped me while I was putting Remy
into her high chair and said, “you’re waiting until May to have that baby,
right?” I told her hopefully April. She replied that she hoped it was warmer by
then. It was bitterly cold that evening.
We went home and did our regular nightly routine. Remy
got a bath, we Face-timed my mom. Remy danced her little heart out to merengue
music. I told my mom about how I’d been
hurting and she told me to call my doctor if I was concerned. We put Remy to
bed, and I researched my pain a little bit.
Sunday, March 1
34 weeks, 6 days.
I woke up Sunday morning and still hurt the same as the night before. It was just before 8am, so I called my OB office's on-call number. I spoke with the nurse and told her what was going on, and she paged the doctor. While I waited for a call back, I went upstairs and got ready just in case I needed to head out. Rog made me some breakfast, and I sat with Remy while we both ate.
About 20 minutes later, the on-call doctor called me back and after talking for a few minutes, she told me to come straight in to get checked out. Rog and I decided that I'd drive myself and he would stay home with Remy. Chances were good that I'd be back home before lunch. I promised to keep him updated and kissed them both goodbye.
I arrived at the hospital around 9:15am, and they called me right back to triage. A nurse took some blood and they ran a few tests. My vitals looked great and they hooked me up to the monitors. Baby's heartrate was in the 140s, and I didn't appear to be contracting. I told my nurse that I'd been 1-2cm dilated two weeks prior.
A resident and a med student came in to see me. They did a quick ultrasound to make sure baby was head down. It was about five seconds long and I didn't even get to see the screen. The resident said, "Oh yep, there she is! Beautiful brain!" and it was over.
They did an exam and some swabs to rule out infection. The resident told me I was 3cm dilated and 50% effaced, so I'd progressed a little since my last check at 33 weeks.
Soon after, I was told that none of my tests looked concerning under a microscope and they were going to go speak with my OB office's on-call doctor and see what her opinion was. All of my labs came back fine-- I wasn't preeclamptic.
So now I was being kept in triage for an entirely different reason than why I came into the hospital in the first place.
By now it was about 10:40am, and I relayed the information to Rog. We both felt that it all seemed like good news.
I didn't see anyone again until around noon when a new nurse named Alex came in. She told me that I was going to get another cervical check in about five minutes and if there hadn't been any change, I could go home. She also said that since I was having premature dilation, they were going to give me a steroid shot for the baby's lungs. I'd have to go into my doctor's office the next day for a second dose.
The resident and her med student came back in and did another cervical check.
I was now 4cm dilated. They said that they would go speak with my OB group's on-call doctor again and see if she wanted to keep me longer or not. They told me that I didn't seem to be in labor because I wasn't contracting, but things were definitely happening.
I talked to my sister, Taryn, on the phone and she was getting ready for her indoor soccer game at 1pm. She said she'd come be with Remy if we needed her and to just give her a call.
By now it was 12:30, and Rog decided he was going to shower and get dressed. He was getting anxious and wanted to come be with me while we waited to hear what the next step was going to be.
At 1:00, just before Taryn's game started, I called her and asked her to come stay with Remy so that Rog could come be with me. I called my mom and told her what was going on, just to give her a heads up in case we needed her to come stay overnight with Remy.
At 1:20, I got word that they were keeping me overnight. Rog and I decided to ask my mom to come up so that he could be at the hospital with me. Thankfully I had already packed our hospital bag, so Rog just threw my phone charger in it and he was ready to come to me. Taryn and her boyfriend, Brian, were at our house ASAP, and Brian stayed with Remy while Taryn drove Rog to the hospital. He arrived just before 2pm while I was getting another vitals check from my nurse.
Because of allergies, I was put on a Vancomycin IV as a precaution since my Group B Strep results hadn't come back yet. We mostly just hung out for a few hours. Rog went to the cafeteria and brought me back some food... I'm not sure what we were doing to pass the time.
Around 5:00, I got another cervical check from the OB resident. She asked me if I was sure I wasn't contracting, and I told her that I wasn't having any pain. Although in hindsight, I had a terrible backache all day. I thought it was from the triage bed, but now I'm not sure. The resident told me I was still a 4, which was a relief to hear, and they got me ready to be moved to the postpartum wing for the night. My mom arrived at the hospital right around this time and came back to see me for a bit before heading back to our house to spend the evening with Remy.
Around 7pm, I started feeling pretty terrible. I started having really intense abdominal cramps so we called my nurse and told her. Cramps were coming every 7-10 minutes, and were lasting around 60 seconds. I could hardly breathe through them. My nurse gave me some Tylenol and some Zofran through my IV because I felt really nauseous.
A new OB resident came in and I told her how I was feeling. I explained that with my first baby, I had all back labor. I'd never felt a contraction in my abdomen, so I didn't know what that felt like. She said that what I was describing sounded just like contractions. She did a (really painful) cervical check and said that I was 4.5cm, 80% effaced, and -1 station. Another nurse poked her head into the room and said, "We're going to move our friend back to triage."
As I was wheeled back to triage, I told Alex (the nurse I'd had most of the day over there) that I was back and didn't last long on the postpartum unit. They hooked me back up to the monitors and my contractions seemed to subside. I had a few very, very minor ones that the monitors picked up, but nothing like I was having in my room.
Monday, March 2
Nurse shift change came and we got a new nurse named Janet. She was incredible. She made sure that I was super comfortable, letting me lay on my side, rolling up blankets to support my back. We just loved her. I was in triage for a while again, and around 12:30am, I had yet another cervical check by the new resident-- again, super painful experience. She said I was still 4.5cm and 80% effaced, but now I was +1 station, so the baby had moved down a bit.
The doctors talked about moving me into a delivery room, but then decided that the room I'd been in on the postpartum side was really close to L&D, so they felt okay with me returning to the same room. I finally got to see my OB group's on-call doctor, as she'd been in surgery all day. She said she was glad that nothing had come of my upper right quadrant pain (LOLOL remember that??), and I wasn't preeclamptic, but what had been going on all day was concerning and she felt more comfortable keeping me overnight.
So we got moved back to our room on the postpartum side and got a little sleep. We got to see a new doctor from my OB practice's sister group around 9am, and he said he wanted to keep me another day and night. He said that the silent dilation was concerning, but he didn't want any more cervical checks. He didn't seem thrilled that the residents had checked me five times the day before. He said that checks can be irritating for your body and cause things to progress.
I remember him telling me that he was happy the baby was a girl. He said girls just tend to fight a little bit harder, which I thought was funny because that's what the doctors told me when Remy was born, too.
I think he was convinced that something had to happen. My water was going to break or contractions were going to start. This was bizarre.
I got my second steroid shot for the baby's lungs around noon and was feeling okay most of the day until around 5pm. I started having really intense back pain. It wasn't contraction-like, but it was very painful. We called my nurse and she sent the new resident in to chat with me. I was crying, and she asked if I was crying from the pain or because I was emotionally overwhelmed. I told her from the pain-- I was sure it was the pain. She told me that it sounded positional, like the baby was maybe putting pressure on my tailbone and making me uncomfortable. She said I could get some Tylenol.
An hour later, I still hadn't gotten my Tylenol, and Rog was massaging my back in the spot where it hurt and that seemed to really help. My nurse peaked her head into the room and asked what the resident had said because no orders had come through for me. I told her I was supposed to get some Tylenol but hadn't gotten any yet. She left and came back three minutes later with my Tylenol. She said she'd had to call the resident again. She also brought me some heat packs to hold on back. Between the heat and the massaging, I felt a little better.
Tuesday, March 3
The night was long with the back pain I was having, but I got to see the same resident again around 6:45am. She said that she thought I'd get to go home that day, and an attending would be in to see me later that morning. We got ready to head down to the breakfast buffet around 7:30, but I crumpled in pain. I was sitting on the floor with my head in a chair and Rog called my nurse. She was able to get me another order for Tylenol and some more heat packs. Rog massaged my back for a bit and I finally felt like I could go down to breakfast.
Around 10:30 the new on-call doctor for my OB practice came in to see me. We collectively decided to do one more gentle check before being sent home. I was afraid that I was going to keep progressing and wanted to know for sure before we left. She said I was still 4.5cm, and everything seemed to be the same. I told her that I had an appointment with my doctor the next morning, and she was happy about that.
We waited on my discharge papers and got to go home on restrictions. I wasn't allowed to exercise or lift Remy. I had to promise to rest. They told me that if I had a contraction or started leaking fluid to run, not walk, back to the hospital. Rog decided to take off of work for the rest of the week.
Saturday, March 22
37 weeks, 6 days! I never dreamed that I'd make it this far.
Around 6pm, I told Rog that I wasn't sure I'd felt the baby move that day. I decided to drink some apple juice and go upstairs and sit in the shower and just really focus on her movements. I was fairly certain that I'd just been distracted by Remy and hadn't noticed her moving.
I started counting her kicks around 6:40pm. I really massaged and rubbed my belly to try to stimulate her. Rog told me that Remy was asleep at 7:15, so he carried her upstairs. I stayed in the bath until 7:40. A whole hour and no movements. I debated calling the on-call doctor, but I knew they'd want me to come into triage and be checked, and with COVID-19 being so new and scary, I wanted to make sure that the exposure risk was worth it, and I wasn't just catching baby girl during her naptime.
I got out of the bath and drank some ice water. I laid on my left side. Slowly, sluggishly, we made it to ten movements in the next hour. But it was so out of character for her. We sat there and talked for a while and watched her move some more, all while debating what I should do. Around 10pm, Remy woke up so Rog went in and laid with her. We continued to text and he looked up some information on kick counts.
Just before 11pm, I walked to the bathroom and felt and heard the louded "pop." It sounded like when your hip pops-- almost hollow. I gasped and was afraid that it was the baby's back or something. I was afraid that I'd hurt her. I went back to bed and noticed I was leaking some fluid. I told Rog that I was probably going to have to go in. At 11:15, I had my first back contraction.
I texted Taryn and asked if she could come be with Remy. I called the on-call nurse with my OB group and was waiting for a call back. I told Taryn to wait until I heard back. My contractions were getting intense, and were never less than two minutes apart. They were lasting between 45 and 65 seconds. At 11:30, before I heard back from my OB, I told Taryn to please come.
Things got real. I could hardly get dressed. Rog put our bags in the car. I couldn't put on my shoes, but Rog told me to just get in the car. I texted Taryn to hurry at 11:51, and she arrived about thirty seconds later. We were waiting in the garage with the dogs so that they wouldn't wake up Remy. I waved to her as she walked by and Rog and I left. I had another very intense contraction as we were backing out of the driveway.
As we were merging onto the highway, the on-call doctor finally called me back. I couldn't talk to her, so Rog had to. She said that we could go to the ER entrance if we felt like things were moving really quickly, and we hung up.
I told Rog that I was afraid I was going to have a baby in the car. Contractions were on top of each other and I wasn't getting a break. I was trying really hard to focus on not pushing. Suddenly I told Rog that I didn't think I could wait any longer, and he told me not to push. I couldn't stop myself anymore-- I had to.
One push and her head was out, another half a push and her body was out. So fast. It was terrifying. I was begging her to breathe and rubbing her back. I didn't have a bulb syringe. I didn't have a blanket.
She cried. I was so relieved. I don't know why, but I looked at the clock. 12:01. Her birthday was March 23.
We arrived at the hospital at 12:06. We pulled into the ER bay and Rog ran inside. I sat in the car with the baby and I just remember she was done crying by then. I had her skin-to-skin trying to keep her warm.
Suddenly, there were about 15 people running out of the hospital toward our car. They all looked like they'd been handed the keys to Christmas. They were pumped.
They opened my door, told me that they were going to stimulate the baby, and started rubbing her with a blanket. She cried again.
"Look at those APGAR scores!" Someone exclaimed.
I told them that she'd been crying before we arrived. They asked what time she was born, and I was so glad that I looked. We might not know her birthday otherwise. As they were drying her off and asking questions, I looked up at Rog who was standing at the front of the car. He gave me a thumbs up and I gave one back. We were okay.
"I'm Krista, and I'm your nurse," a kind face said. She was young with waist-length curly hair. She clamped the umbilical cord and made the cut and they lifted the baby away from me. Someone held her while I was helped to the stretcher waiting next to the car door.
Once I was on the stretcher, they gave me back the baby so that she could be skin-to-skin, and covered us both up. They started to push us inside and Rog had to take the car to be parked. I remember that they wheeled us through the hallways and eventually into an elevator, asking questions the whole way. I told them that my labor was only 45 minutes.
"Is baby a boy or a girl?" someone asked.
"Well, she's supposed to be a girl," I joked. "I haven't even looked yet."
The OB resident asked something else, and I just remember telling him that Rog was begging me not to push at one point. He laughed and responded, "Yeah, it doesn't really work that way."
Finally we were upstairs in a delivery room and they helped me into the bed. My nurse helped me get undressed and covered me with a heated blanket. A peds team was working on the baby under a warmer, and told me that I did a great job because her temperature was perfect. I finally met the OB from my group that we had spoken to on the phone on the way to the hospital.
Someone asked if I had wanted an epidural for the delivery. I told them that I was seriously considering it this time around and the whole room went, "Awww."
Rog found his way to our room while my nurse was starting my IV.
Someone from the peds team told me that the baby's face was really bruised because of her quick entrance. From what I could see across the room, I thought she looked like Remy. At some point while he was standing over the warmer, they let Rog trim the umbilical cord. He later called it a "consolation cut."
"Does the baby have a name?" Krista asked.
"Pretty sure she's going to be Bryn," I responded. "Unless she doesn't look like a Bryn."
I looked over to Rog who was still standing over the baby in the warmer. "Does she look like a Bryn?"
"She does," he said, giving me a gentle smile.
Eventually, Bryn was weighed and measured, and they finally brought her back to me. It was surreal. As if a preterm hospital stay and a global pandemic weren't dramatic enough, this girl decided to be born in the car. And yes, I'm on her birth certificate as the deliverer ;)
Oh my sweet Baby Bryn. I'll never ever get over this day.
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