Hello Jessica,

I have some downtime and thought I would share my birth story with you and the KULA.
Ava Dorothy Landy was born on June 6, 2006 @ 8:16 PM. She is completely beautiful, healthy and a true joy to her parents/grandparents lives.

The road to her delivery was rough. I developed a pregnancy rash in my 37th week. I self diagnosed myself after doing some research on the internet. The rash is called PUPPPS (Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy). This is a most unpleasant rash with an incredible itch that's only cure is delivery of the placenta. Although this is most common in first pregnancies, it has been known to occur in subsequent pregnancies. This problem affects one in about 160 to 200 pregnancies. PUPPPS affects a lot of women and there isn't a cure and not much medical research done on the rash.

At first I thought it was a case of hives. It started with itchy small bumps on my stomach, and then it spread to my thighs, and arms (eventually to my tush). It was the most painful itchy rash I had ever experienced. The more I itched the more it spread. I went to my Dr. and she said that if it got any worse she would induce me in week 39. I sent my husband out to get me every anti-itch ointment on the market. The only thing that seemed to sooth me was Caladryl lotion and cold showers….I was truly miserable. I became homebound because I couldn't wear any clothes. Anything that touched my skin itched and made me cry. I begged my Dr. to see me on Monday, June 5th to reassess my situation. Once my Dr. saw me she immediately put me on a Fetal Monitor. The baby's heartbeat was strong and I was actually having mild contractions and my Dr. felt confident that the baby was ready to come into the world. After one look at the PUPPPS…she said she wanted to induce me right away. My husband and I were so relieved.

She told us we had an hour to get to the hospital. We ran home, got our bags and called our parents and headed off to the hospital. I grabbed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich…little did I know that would be my last full meal for the next 32 hours!

They put me on Pitocin immediately (because my cervix was already soft). My cervix was at 0 for the next 24 hours even after hours of being on Pitocin. I used the birthing ball; I walked the floors of the hospital etc. Nothing was working. I was hoping that a little gravitational pull would get things moving…nothing was happening. The nurse kept reminding me that they were basically getting labor going from nothing to a full on birth within 1-2 days and I needed to be patient.

Cedars Sinai hospital had these really wonderful popsicles that I was eating left and right (after a while all I could tolerate were ice chips). My Dr. came in the next morning and did an internal exam and decided that they should 'break my water'… I was all for it…they warned me that once the water was broken; that 'active labor' could come on very quickly. I opted to get my epidural before they broke my water due to the fact that I was already in so much pain with my rash and mild contractions.

Immediately after the epidural I had a reaction the narcotic in the shot… and my lower half became this huge ball of ITCH. Top that with the itch of the PUPPPS rash and I was beside myself. The Anesthesiologist came in and gave me a new drug to counteract the reaction to the epidural. Once I got that new drug; I immediately felt better. Breaking my water was an amazing experience. I felt just warm water flowing flowing flowing for what felt like hours. It was a really incredible sensation...

At hour 30 I hit 3 centimeters (finally)! The nurse kept reminding us that getting from 0-3 was the most difficult. Within an hour after that I was @ 10! We called our parents (who came down to LA the minute we said we were going to the hospital) and they came to wait in the delivery room. My Dr. had come in just around that point to check on me and ended up staying once I hit 10. The epidural had completely taken over my body but I was still able to feel pressure every time a contraction came on. For the next 2 hours; I pushed. It was just me, my husband, the Dr. and two nurses…the feeling in the room was relaxed and conversational. I didn't feel pain and I didn't feel rushed. When the baby came out; the Dr. had Walt (my husband) announce the sex. We had waited for this moment for 9.5 months…I was thrilled that we were having a baby girl.

Ava Dorothy Landy came into the world @ 8:16pm beautiful and perfect. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect gift. She was put on my chest immediately and nursed right away. She latched on like a champ!

The rash cleared up immediately after I delivered Ava….it was unbelievable. The nurses who cared for us in Labor & Delivery (Irina, Naomi, Agnes, and Bella) all made my 32 hours of labor a more 'bearable' experience. Each woman knew how to calm me down and give both my husband a ton of support. Today we actually went back to the Labor and Delivery center and brought personalized cards and chocolates to the nurses who gave us such amazing care.