Birth story – Having a Baby During a Pandemic

Phew! It has been FOREVER since I updated you guys on my pregnancy. It’s also a far different world today than it was the last time I posted. For starters the world is dealing with a pandemic – but you didn’t have to be reminded of that. It’s everywhere we look. On the news, social media, and on the faces of everyone in public. Face masks are the new must-have accessory, and scoring name brand toilet paper is like winning the lotto. Bizarre.

So what’s been happening over here? For starters I gave birth during a worldwide pandemic. My second daughter, and third child, Hailey Elizabeth was born on April 3rd at 5:03AM. My labor was fast and furious, and in many ways totally different than my previous two labors. Since I kept you guys in the loop during my pregnancy, I figured it was finally time to write my birth story.

BIRTH STORY – WELCOMING BABY #3

As many of you know, this pregnancy was very much prayed for. Even though we were over the moon about expecting again, there was still a lot of anxiety and emotions wrapped up in it. I talked about my coping mechanisms in my pregnancy after loss post, but the truth is I never truly felt safe. I worried up until the day I delivered, and then one month before my due date the most unexpected thing happened. COVID-19. Who in the world ever thought that we’d see a time where we are literally terrified to leave our house. On top of the normal worries about delivery, I now had to deal with a pandemic. Just wonderful.

In the weeks leading up to my labor there were daily changes to hospital protocols. There were reports of support persons being banned, of pregnant women being denied care, and stories of moms being separated from their infants. I was terrified to get a cold. To amp up my anxiety even more, I went over my due date. With each passing day I feared more and more that my husband would not be allowed in the hospital with me. I was an anxious mess.

APRIL 2ND

I was 40 weeks and 2 days pregnant when my OB had me come in for a non-stress test or NST. Going to the doctor at that time was such a surreal experience. They only scheduled a few patients at a time (no spouses were allowed in), and never had more than 1 person in the waiting room. All the nursing staff wore masks, and you were required to get your temperature taken before entering the office. It felt like the apocalypse.

Even worse, I had to sit in a room for 20+ minutes to monitor my babies movements. I was so anxious even being in the office, and out of my house, that my blood pressure was higher than usual. But I managed to do some deep breathing and get through the test. Once I was done, my OB looked at the results and noticed I was actively contracting every 5-7 minutes. Since I was overdue, and my BP was high, she decided to send me to the hospital for delivery. YAY!

LABOR & DELIVERY

I was instructed to arrive at Labor & Delivery around 6pm, about 3 hours after I left my appointment. My nerves were all over the place on the way there. I had so many thoughts running through my head. Would labor be easy? Was I truly safe from this virus? What if something happened during labor? These thoughts are all normal, but the fact that I had to worry about labor and Covid was overwhelming.

We pulled into the parking garage a few minutes before 6pm, and made our way into the hospital. Thankfully the ER was on the opposite side, but it was still freaky knowing there was so many sick from Covid so close to where we were. Once we got to the front desk my husband and I had to answer a list of questions about our health (Covid related), our temperatures were taken, and we were given face masks – which were to be worn at all times. We then made our way up to L&D.

THE WAIT BEGAN…

Silly me thought checking in would be seamless and easy. Instead I was greeted by a nurse who informed me that the delivery floor was full and they had no available beds. Even though my doctor had called in ahead of time, and the hospital told me to come at 6pm. Not exactly what a 40+2 week mama wants to hear. I was told my only options were to sit and wait for a bed, or go home and come back when I was in active labor.

At this point I was contracting every so often, but I was not in any pain. Still, the thought of going home and coming back sounded dreadful. So we decided to wait. The nurse told me two moms were at 9cm, so I shouldn’t be in the waiting area long. However, I knew better and told my husband we would probably be there much longer. Having been through this twice before, I knew that you’re not just whisked away to recovery after you deliver. It takes hours to be transferred…and I was right. We waited for a bed from 6pm to MIDNIGHT. I was so close to leaving the hospital, but thank goodness we stayed. Also, we were the only ones in the waiting room (it was just outside the L&D doors), so I never felt scared or exposed to germs while sitting and waiting.

APRIL 3RD

By the time I was taken back to my room, checked in, and hooked up to the IV it was around 12:30am. My OB came in to check me, and said I was 3cm and 80% effaced. Pretty awesome since the day before I was only 1cm. They quickly started me on Pitocin, and around 2:15AM I started to feel my first contractions – and let me tell you nothing prepares you for contractions. Even though this was my third rodeo, those babies HURT. To make it worse, my husband decided to take a nap and snore while the nurses kept coming in to check on me. Men 😆

Around 3:30am I couldn’t take the pain anymore, and requested an epidural. I’m not one to write up a birth plan, but I knew going into each labor that I absolutely wanted the epidural. I’ve had three, and each one went smooth. I was numb on both sides, still felt pressure to push, and never had any pain afterwards. So if you ask me, they are 100% worth it!

Usually husbands are not allowed to stay in the room for the epidural placement, but since he wasn’t allowed to leave the room, they told him to stand in the bathroom until they were done. During all of this we were also not allowed to take off our masks, and both myself and my husband had to have our temperatures taken every few hours. I honestly didn’t notice the mask after a while, but it’s something to keep in mind if you’re currently expecting.

FAST & FURIOUS

I warned my OB that my labors are fast, and let me tell you I did not disappoint. When the epidural went in around 4AM I was 5cm. Just a half hour later I was at 8cm. The only issue was I tested positive for the pesky Group B Strep this go around. I had it with my first, but not my second, so I knew they like you to have at least a few doses of antibiotics before delivery. I believe I got 1 dose before pushing. Not terrible, but not ideal.

About 15 minutes later, at 4:45AM, I was 10cm (only 45 min after my epidural went in). Thank goodness I didn’t go home! My water still hadn’t broke, so it was ruptured for me, and I began to push. After 15 minutes of pushing, our tiny but mighty baby girl was born. She was 3 days overdue, but only 5lb8oz. My babies aren’t big (all three less than 7lbs), but she was our tiniest baby by far. They laid her on my chest, and we got to hear the best sound in the world – her first cry. After all my losses, and years of depression thinking I’d never have another successful pregnancy, here she was. Ten perfect fingers and toes. She was truly the miracle we so longed for.

And yes, I had to wear the mask while pushing. They let me take it off briefly for the photo above, but I had to immediately put it back on.

RECOVERY

Post delivery was pretty typical. My epidural was disconnected, my catheter removed, and nurses came in to run tests on the baby. Everything looked great, so a few hours later (around 7am) I was transferred to recovery. Once in our recovery room things were a bit different than my other deliveries.

For starters my husband was not allowed to leave the room…ever. Usually they can roam around, go to the pantry for snacks, have food delivered to the front desk. This time we were in total lockdown in our rooms. We still had to wear our masks at all times, though I got so frustrated with it that I started to take it off. Most nurses understood, but a few were sticklers and made me put it back on while they were in the room.

Another major change is that guests were not allowed. The only person allowed to be in the room was your support person, and that’s it. No other family, no other kids, and sadly no newborn photographers. I absolutely love the hospital photos from my first two, so not having those this time really broke my heart. I’m not sure how things are now, since my labor was already 3 months ago, but I’d bring a camera in case you want to take your own photos. I actually had my DSLR, but never got around to photos thanks to a lovely complication I developed postpartum.

UNEXPECTED COMPLICATION

I gave birth at 5am, and around 11pm that night I started to feel a little funny. My anxiety was through the roof, and my heart wouldn’t stop pounding. I kept thinking it was just because we were in a hospital during a pandemic (and I later learned Hailey was born on the WORST day for cases the state has seen). But something seemed off. I immediately worried about my blood pressure. It was a little high during my check up the day before, and slightly elevated all throughout labor. My pressures were very good up until the day before, but I did have BP complications during my first pregnancy, so I was no stranger to it.

Sure enough, when the nurse came around at 2am to check my vitals it was slightly high. Nothing alarming, but still I couldn’t shake the anxious feeling I had. I tried to chalk it up to stress and extreme lack of sleep. In the two days we were in hospital I got about three 40 minute blocks of sleep. It’s amazing what women can do. We can endure labor and delivery, and then have zero sleep afterwards.

As the night went on, I started to have panic attacks. Every time I heard the BP machine being wheeled down the hallway my heart would race uncontrollably. I tried to do breathing techniques, but I could not stop the anxiety. As the nurses came around every few hours to check my vitals, my pressures were higher and higher each time. I quickly realized my racing heart and feeling off was not anxiety, but my blood pressure continuing to rise.

NOT GOING HOME

Due to the pandemic they were releasing mamas about 24 hours post delivery. I was so excited to get the hell out of the hospital, and into my own bed. I kept thinking my anxiety would go down if only I was home and away from the constant reminder of Covid. Only I wasn’t going anywhere. Right as my nurse was going to start my discharge paperwork my blood pressure was taken and it was shockingly high. We’re talking 185/110 high. I freaking knew it.

You want to talk about frustration. Try being in a hospital with a newborn during a global pandemic, and being told you can’t go home because you’re not well. Ugh. The nurses started me on blood pressure meds immediately, and I was monitored very closely over the next 24hrs. Sadly my pressures remained all over the place. Some of them were in the normal but slightly high range, while some were extremely elevated. I also had an odd side effect from the medication that made my scalp feel tingly and itchy.

I braced myself for another night in the hospital, and prayed my numbers would go down enough to be released.

APRIL 5TH – GOING HOME!

Despite Hailey’s small size, she was a champ at regulating her sugars and latched on right away for nursing. She was incredibly easy when it came to sleeping and eating, so it was really me that had to get healthy postpartum. My blood pressure was still pretty high when I was released (160/90). But, thankfully they let me go home. I was instructed to take medication twice a day, and monitor my pressures before and after each dose. Seemed easy enough. Only my pressures continued to sky rocket at home. A few days after my release, I got a 171/103 reading, so I called the hospital and was told to up my meds. This song and dance continued for about 2 weeks. My pressures would be high, so they would up my dose. I started on just 200mg at the hospital, and within 12ish days I was upped to 800mg.

Then about 2.5 weeks after delivery my pressures were suddenly very low. My doctors were adamant that I not take any medication if my top number was below 120. So, I began to skip morning and afternoon doses, only needing one dose at night. Within a few days even my night time readings were too low for meds. So my specialist decided I no longer needed medication. My high blood pressure disappeared about as fast as it came on. I was astonished. But my doctor told me that it’s actually quite common to see temporary spikes in BP postpartum. Apparently all the fluids they pump you up with in the hospital are full of sodium, which can cause blood pressure issues. Who knew.

POSTPARTUM CARE

One of the worst recovery issues for me this time around, and warning this is TMI (but really this entire post is so who cares lol). I developed horrible postnatal hemorrhoids that made going number two a real pain in the ass – literally. Ladies, when the nurses at the hospital give you stool softeners, TAKE THEM! Oh my gosh, I had pain and bleeding from hemorrhoids for over two months postpartum. When you push during labor, the OB and nurses are all yelling “push like you’re pooping.” All that bearing down can really inflame that area, so don’t be surprised when your butt hurts postpartum. I don’t think enough women talk about that lovely after effect.

In terms of tearing, I only had a first degree. But, it was my third time so it was my scar tissue that tore. It was tender for sure, but thankfully nothing a little Dermoplast couldn’t sooth. For all my first time mamas, the peri bottle will be your BFF. Another amazing trick I learned is to get the Always Discreets undies. They are really comfy! I put an Always thin pad inside, and it was SO much better than the crappy mesh undies they give you at the hospital. If only I had known about this for my first two recoveries.

Lastly, because of a clotting gene, I have to take Lovenox for 6 weeks postpartum. Lovenox is an injectable blood thinner that has to be inserted into the belly, and it HURTS. The needle itself is small and if inserted right is painless, but the medicine burns and it left me with bruises all over my abdomen. There are women who have to take it their entire pregnancy, so I am thankful I only needed it for a short while.

3 MONTHS POSTPARTUM

They call the first 12-weeks postpartum the “4th trimester.” It’s a time when mama and baby are getting adjusted to all the changes. You’re a hormonal mess, and the baby is cranky and fussy. Basically, it’s a hot mess express. But, we managed to get through those long nights and here I am 3 months postpartum. My hair is starting to fall out, and my skin is super dry thanks to nursing hormones, but recovery wise it was not bad. Aside for my short stint with high BP, this was one of my easier recoveries. I stopped bleeding about 4 weeks postpartum, and although Hailey sleeps 7+ hours at night I have not gotten my period back yet. Fingers crossed that doesn’t return any time soon.

**EDIT- I wrote this in early July, but never got a chance to post. I actually wound up getting my period a few weeks later. The same thing happened postpartum with my son. If you go more than 5+ hours between nursing, you’re more likely to get your period back early. My kids just love sleep too much, so I’m never able to enjoy a year+ menses free. Sigh, oh well! I suppose the sleep is worth it 😉

You can learn more about the fourth trimester here.

TO ALL THE MAMAS TO BE…

Before I end this post, I want to give all you mamas to be a few words of encouragement. This is a crazy time right now. I know so many of you are scared to give birth during COVID, but please know that you will be okay. This virus is unlike anything we have ever seen, but labor and delivery units are taking great care to ensure moms and babies are safe. I live in New Jersey, one of the hardest hit states, and I still felt safe in labor and delivery. It’s really scary, I’m definitely not denying that, but you’ll get through it. So take a deep breath, and know that as soon as you see your little ones face, all your fears will melt away. Unless of course you develop severe postpartum anxiety and high BP like I did 😆

But for real, you’re going to rock this!