Peyton Ann was born 2/6/13 at 6:00pm. She was 8 lbs 2 oz and 20" long.
Throughout the pregnancy, my A1C's were consistently in the 5's and overall control was excellent. My perinatologist said I was his best patient. Insulin needs skyrocketed to 150-200 units a day via my Ping pump. I used a cgm too until I lost the transmitter (preggo brain??).
I was scheduled for induction at 39 1/2 weeks based on my having Type 1 diabetes. The OB put in a cervical balloon last Tuesday afternoon for cervical ripening and I went in to the hospital to start the induction at 7 am Wednesday.
The balloon managed to progress me to 3cm dilated, -3 station, and 25% effaced. They started pitocin and broke my water around 830am. From 830am to 5pm I only dilated to 4cm, despite strong regular contractions 1-2 min apart.
I elected to have a C-section, based on my failure to progress. This was a tough decision since I was dead set against delivering this way. I knew that if I decided to try to labor some more, I would probably just wind up having a c-section anyway and put my baby at risk. Her head was already starting to swell from the pressure. OB thought that baby may be too big to fit also, putting me at risk for a shoulder dystocia or other problem.
Turns out that my pelvis was not large enough and baby's head was too big to fit. It was turned a bit, which made things worse. Her head put so much pressure on my bladder that I had blood in my urine until the next morning.
Overall, the c-section went well. It was a strange feeling and a bit unsettling to feel them pull the baby out and then stitch me back together. The baby did great, getting a 9/9 on both Apgars. She latched well right away too. Her initial blood glucose level was 41, then 45 after breast feeding. I elected to supplement her at this time with 10cc formula, which then brought her up to 72.
The next morning, she was a bit sleepy and having trouble feeding well. The RN wanted to supplement her again, but I had gotten her sugar back up overnight breastfeeding alone and I wanted to limit the amount of formula she would have. I saw a lactation consultant who was helping me out, but baby was too tired to suck or latch.
Our pediatrician elected to play it safe and send baby to the NICU to get some IV sugar water (D10W). I was absolutely devastated, blaming myself for not supplementing her with formula earlier.
Looking back, it probably would not have mattered much if I had given her formula. She was having trouble regulating her own insulin levels either way. I have a hard time understanding how this happened since my control throughout the pregnancy was so good and 117mg/dl was my highest BG number all day while I was in labor.
After two nights in the NICU, we got the ok to start weaning her off of the IV fluids. By Saturday night she was weaned off, kept for 6 hours to monitor her levels without the IV, and then brought back to my room around 11pm. Sunday morning we were discharged and we have not had any problems with feeding since. Throughout the stay in the NICU, I breastfed her every 3 hours and gave her 10-15ml of formula supplement since my milk was not in yet. This was A LOT of work and tough since moving around so much after a c-section can be painful. A few times I stayed in the NICU too long and would miss a dose or two of pain meds and then have to be wheeled back to our room by my husband.
She lost a bit of weight as expected, but has leveled off, which is really great. She is a bit jaundiced, but not at any level requiring concern or treatment. Overall, she is a perfectly healthy baby girl and I am so thankful to have her. I beat myself up a lot over her NICU stay. It was very difficult to see her in pain with IVs, wires everywhere, and so many heel pricks. The nurses there were great in helping me deal with her stay and gave me and my husband a lot of credit for our involvement in her care.
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