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From: Ellen
Email: theopps@hwy16.com
Category: Induction/Pitocin
Date: 23 Jul 2001
My labour started at 10pm Jan 30, 2001 and was very mild at first so I didn't go in until 3am whaen the contractions were 4 min apart and about 60 sec long. When I arrived at the hospital the nurse on duty checked me and said I was 5cm dialated. I asked about the Dr and she said that she wouldn't be in til morning rounds at 9-10am unless birth was imminent. I was doing ok and the contractions were getting a bit stronger. When the Dr finally checked me at 10 am I was 7cm and she wanted to break my water. I said no as I wanted a natural birth as possible and was feeling good and the babe was ok. By 1pm I was still 7cm and the babys head had moved to a transverse position from a posterior position, so I kept on my hands and knees to encourange him to turn all the way. By 2 pm the Dr was insistent about rupturing the membrane, so I gave in. She was just about to open the "knitting needle" when my water spontanously ruptured. Yay! Good timing. By 5pm I was only a bit more dialated so they wanted to start pit. I didn't want it but I hadn't done my research because I didn't want it at all. So when my Dr ( who had booked a ski trip that weekend) became insistent, I didn't have the tools to protest much. Had she given me informed consent and told me of the associated risks and probable effects I would have firmly refused. At first the pit seemed to have no effect except to make the contractions irregular. It made them 3 min apart and before they were 60 sec apart. Then they upped it and whoa nelly! Yowch! They started going 6 MINUTES long and 30-60 seconds long--after 2 hours of the drip. By this time the walking epidural had worn off and the only stuff I would take was nitrous oxide (laughing gas) to take the edge off. I sucked that back hard. By 12 mid night I was 9.5 cm dialated but the baby could not decend into the birth canal because he was still transverse--how could he turn with those contractions pushing on his poor little head? They turned off the pit but the contractions remained the same. I was tired so the Dr said Section and I was too tired to say no, but I was very disappointed. They transferred me to the gurney (no more gas OWWW!) to go to OR and gave me a spinal--it was so odd to be buck naked and handled by all these men and women--surreal. I was well frozen and felt that I didn't exist below the neck--decapitated. They rushed around and my husband said they reefed on him hard because he was so lodged in the birth canal sideways. Then, when they whipped him out my uterus tore--and I lost 1.6 litres of blood. I could hear a quiet panic and I got really cold and shivery. That was from the cold fluids they were pumping into me really fast. My BP remained ok though and my hemoglobin remained good because I had made sure I had it high before in case of blood loss. The baby's APGAR was 8-10-10. But I didn't get to see him til they stitched up my uterus and various other body parts, and I was in recovery. My question is can a baby turn after getting pit going and 6 min long contractions? Wouldn't walking around have sped up labour instead of pit and being tied to a monitor? Would my uterus have torn without the pit?
Just for the record, all information posted here are personal experiences/stories. There are no Doctors/Nurses answering questions on the board. This board is for sharing stories so we can learn from each other! If you have any problems with the board, please email me at Angela4KP1@comcast.net