Miss Lillian was born

I was admitted into the hospital around 10am Oct. 7th to be induced since my blood pressure was high and has been climbing; we have been watching it closely to make sure it didn't turn into pre-eclampsia (a condition where my kidneys would begin to fail and spill protein into my body). I was 37 weeks and 4 days. Induction took a long time to start, while waiting they monitored me and the baby to see if I was having any contractions on my own. I had an epidural placed and ready to go while we waited (the guy messed up 4 times!) They finally started me on a drip to start labor around 2pm; however, they only upped the dose every 2-3 hrs so I didn't start having contractions till around midnight or 1am. I figured it would be a long night, when the contractions finally started they came on quick and hard at about 2-3 min apart; they checked me and said I was only between 2 and 2 1/2 centimeters. I tried my Hypnobabies and focused on relaxing until I couldn't take the pressure in my back anymore, they started my epidural and I rested till about 3am. Once my contractions were regular they turned off the induction medicine. By 3cm I noticed a very strong pressure and it was starting to feel like I needed to push, they checked me again and said I was only 4cm. From this point on I realize how difficult it is to communicate with people who don't speak English regularly! I kept saying I felt like pushing and that I had a lot of pressure. Eventually Lillian's heart rate kept fluctuating greatly and I'm sure my blood pressure was high just based on the amount of times they took it. I tried to convince them I needed to push for maybe an hr, they even stopped my epidural thinking that is what was causing Lillian's distress. Based on the amount of people in the room I thought we were going to go in for an emergency c-section, they did everything trying to make her heart rate stabilize. One of the on call doctors finally decided to strip my membranes and break my water. Again, contraction after contraction I begged them to let me push... turns out my bag of water was causing me to not dilate because I went from 4cm to 10 in about an hr to an hr and a half. Unfortunately, since things progressed so quickly after that my doctor was not there; something I was a bit surprised at since they were practically prepping me for a c-section just a short time prior. Once they let me push I could have had her out in 4 pushes but that didn't happen.... Korea does not have malpractice insurance so no one is willing to be liable if you are not their patient. I pushed 3 times and her head was practically out! I was forced to breath through contractions for the next 20-30 min while they kept pushing her head back in trying to wait for my doctor!!!!! My body literally kept trying to push her out. Although I swore I wouldn't be one of those women who scream during labor, I unfortunately was. I don't think it would have been that way if they would have just delivered her when she was ready to come out instead of waiting for my doctor. They tried to say if I pushed I'd tear but after doing that for so long I now know they were just trying to stall. My doctor arrived and in one final push she was out....she arrived at 5:45am. She is small and weighed 5 lbs 7 oz. and 18 inches long!

Greg was in the room for most of the labor and for initial pushing until I was told to stop. He was able to see her little head beginning to crown. Unfortunately he was kicked out of the room after they the bed ready to deliver; I didn't know this until after. He said he was told to wait in the hall and they'd call him in when he could cut the umbilical cord. I was quite exhausted after and tried to just sleep as much as I could. The lab work they began prepping me for the c-section revealed my kidneys and liver were not functioning properly.... so turns out I probably did have pre-eclampsia; however, it was never caught by the random urine samples they were doing. Since delivery my kidneys and liver are improving daily, my blood pressure is also slowly normalizing again; however, they prescribed me medication to ensure it stays low. Lillian has been on formula although we are trying breastfeeding. The Pediatrician felt she was smaller than other babies born at the same gestation. So far we have tried breastfeeding one day but she lost too much weight and I'm not producing enough of anything yet to help her gain the extra weight the pediatrician would like to see on her. We only had to stay in the hospital for 2 days after delivery and she was able to room in with Greg and I during the day. She is quite a calm and quiet baby, my difficulty so far has been trying to keep her awake during her feedings but I know with practice she will get better and start growing more.