Birth Day Story

Where should I start?!?! Dr M was on call this weekend and came to see me late Saturday morning. I tried to convince her to check me but she all but laughed at me! If nothing was going on, then there was no need to check and 'stir things up'! I also joked with her about walking around to get things going..more laughing! I was able to talk her into lowering the dosage of my Pro-cardia, from 20mg to 10mg due to a racing heart and just uneasy feeling after about an hour.

So Sunday morning when I woke up feeling wet, and it was confirmed that my water was indeed ruptured, I thought for sure she was going to think I did something! But no I was good, following Drs orders and had spent the day in bed..like the last 32 days...

Back to my membranes (waters) being broken...I woke up feeling damp, more like a leaking than that 'gush' people talk about. And a bit crampy. I told my nurse when she came in to do vitals and she was able to do tests to confirm that it was indeed my water. Within 10 minutes, I was moved to L&D. Of course it's early and I can't get ahold of W! Fortunately my sister showed up quickly (she was supposed to be our photographer!)

After about two hours had passed I still wasn't contractiong regularly or strong enough so pitocin was started. I wasn't feeling any pain, but I knew it was coming (tried to convince myself it wasn't). The nurse was increasing the dosage every 20 minutes. By 12:30/1pm, I was in considerable amount of 'discomfort' or pain if you are my sister :). Dr M came in about this time to insert an intrauterine contraction monitor since the external monitor was not showing her what she wanted to see. This caused me a GREAT amount of serious pain. Before she started she asked about my desire for an epidural. I told her only if I hadn't progressed as then it would be turning into a long labor, not the short quick one we were all expecting! I hadn't progessed one iota. So here comes the epidural. Anesthesiology was there in about 5 minutes and had it in in about 20. Fast! and it worked fast. I was numb! Dr M continues again with the intrauterine monitor and also begins to insert a heart rate monitor on the baby...and this is where it goes crazy!

Very quickly, the nurse and Dr M are asking me to go to my side..then the other side..then back again. I hear Dr M say something about not to worry the baby's heart rate just dropped. Instantly (I swear I don't know where they came from) more and more people are in the room. And then I hear Dr M say 'I'm going to change'...and off I was whisked to the OR. Again I don't know how they did but there were about a hundred (ok maybe not that many) people already in there waiting to get this going. Dr Anesthesiologist is instantly pumping more meds through my epidural and 5 mintes later (this is literally..no joking) the baby was out. Turns out Charlie had his cord wrapped TWICE around his neck and when he started dropping into the birt canal, it put enough pressure ont he cord to put himin distress. W was in the process of getting on scrubs, but they were too fast for him..he missed the birth of his first born son :(.

Everything happend very quickly and it is still all a blur to me. Even though I only had an epidural, I feel like I was in a fog as to everything that was happening, especially the parts leading up to the OR. In the OR I was slightly freaking out and trying to keep it together at the same time...

Not sure exactly how long I was in the OR...they had to wait for an xray to be sure I was cleared out and that seemed to take for-ever! I know I was in recovery for a little while where I was able to see W again. Still numb from the chest down. I was in my Mother/baby unit room by 6:30..with a slight detour to see Charlie.

He is doing AWESOME!! They carried him out of the OR just swaddled..no IV, no oxygen and W got to hold him for a minute. He is still in NICU, but he is in a regular bassinet. Still no IV or breathing help. He is eating on his own and maintaining everything he needs to without assistance. We are hoping to have him in M/B tomorrow!! The Dr wanted atleast one more day to watch for apnea episodes. He hadn't had any yet, but bc of being a preemie, he wanted to continue to make sure.

My recovery is going great so far...tomorrow however may be a different story! I havn't had an real pain so far, but am starting to get sore. I was on the good stuff untli 11:45 this morning. I have been up an down all day back and forth to NICU. I did have a lot of vomiting last night but that subsided around 1 am. I am doing everything they need me to do to progress through recovery.

I will try to post pictures this weekend when I am home and maybe have more time. Right now, I am trying to pump for the baby, go see the baby, entertain a few guests..and basically do it all!! I for sure go home on Wednesday...we are hoping Charles comes home then too!