Happy Birthday to Baby Will
On Monday, 1/21, Paul had the day off for Martin Luther King Day. We ran some errands took the kids to a bouncy party, and hung out with Mamie. Kate and jack both went to bed pretty early.
Around 9:30 I started having contractions, but I had been having some many Braxton hicks that I didn't get too excited. Around 10:30 I told Paul about them, but still wasn't too sure. By 11, 11:30 I had decided they were real, but only 10-12 minutes apart. I decided to call my docs when they got a little closer. I couldn't sleep so got up and finished packing my bag, straightened up the house a bit, and rested with scout.
Just after 12am on 1/22 I woke Paul up and asked him to take me to the hospital. The contractions were getting closer together, around 9 minutes, and Dr. Martin had said to go around 8-9 minutes.
I barely had any contractions on the way to the hospital, and then they seemed to get further apart, it was cold and snowing, and the roads hadn't been plowed very well. Paul drove carefully and it was an uneventful drive.
When we got to the hospital around 12:30 or so, we were shown to a triage room where they hooked me up to the monitors (baby and contractions) and asked a bunch of questions for my history. I was at a 3, even though the contractions were still only 10 or so minutes apart. But then all of a sudden the baby had a decell, and they were making me move from side to side lying down, then had me get up on my hands and knees to try to make baby happy. Let me tell you, that is a little tricky on a small triage bed! I looked up, and there were suddenly 5 nurses in our room and two of them were trying to start an IV. Unfortunately they missed my vein and pumped a ton of fluid under my skin. Then spent a few minutes trying to fix it. After that the baby's heart rate stabilized, and they were able to take enough time to get the IV right. They called Dr. Martin, and he said all was ok, but I think that the decell had them all rattled. They might have been thinking about sending me home before that since contractions were far apart, but not after the decell.
So, over to a Labor and Delivery room we were sent around 1:30am, and spent the next two hours on the bed. After the 'incident' I was denied all beverages, ice, movement... I was a prisoner in my bed. So we dimmed all the lights and tried to rest. Paul was able to fall asleep, but my contractions were becoming more and more painful and closer together. It was hard to manage the pain, because all I could do was grab on to my bed rail, and not move around at all.
Around 3:00 I decided I had had enough, and was very frustrated. Our nurse didn't think the baby would be born before her shift was up at 7, and said I wasn't even in active labor. But with the pain getting very intense, I decided to ask for an epidural. I had been scared that if there was a problem and I needed a c-section, they would have to put me out under general anesthesia. This would eliminate this scare, and make me more comfortable! So the nurse checked me (now a 5) called Dr. Martin, and got the anesthesiologist to come down. By 3:30 when the epidural was done, I was already at a 7, and decided to rest since the pain was now tolerable. Dr. Martin came to check on me, and broke my water, which helped baby to descend a bit further.
With the epidural, I could still feel each contraction and pressure, but not the pain. So again we dimmed the lights and rested. I was supposed to call our nurse when I could feel pressure all the time, not just at contractions. I was starting to feel it, and decided to wait one more contraction to call. But at the next one, the pain was the most intense thing I had ever felt, and I started screaming at Paul to press the call button. He was asleep in the dark, and he is colorblind, so it was a bit hard for him to find the red button :). Theresa came in and realized I was ready to push. I wanted her to change the epidural; she said I had to push... so we started pushing without Dr. Martin. He came in a few minutes later and they got everything set up to deliver the baby. The pain was simply amazing, I think mainly because I had been so calm, and instantly the pain was there without warning. I kept yelling, 'get the baby out' when I wasn't focused on pushing. I think I pushed for about 7 or 8 contractions, maybe a half hour or so, but it is a bit of a blur. Baby started having more decells, so Dr. Martin decided he wanted to get baby out right away, so used the vacuum on one contraction, and baby will was born at 4:44am on Tuesday, January 22, 2008! Will had the cord wrapped around his neck twice and his arm once (which explained the decells). Aside from a few bruises from the fast delivery, he is perfect and a wonderful addition to our family. Happy Birthday, Will!
On Monday, 1/21, Paul had the day off for Martin Luther King Day. We ran some errands took the kids to a bouncy party, and hung out with Mamie. Kate and jack both went to bed pretty early.
Around 9:30 I started having contractions, but I had been having some many Braxton hicks that I didn't get too excited. Around 10:30 I told Paul about them, but still wasn't too sure. By 11, 11:30 I had decided they were real, but only 10-12 minutes apart. I decided to call my docs when they got a little closer. I couldn't sleep so got up and finished packing my bag, straightened up the house a bit, and rested with scout.
Just after 12am on 1/22 I woke Paul up and asked him to take me to the hospital. The contractions were getting closer together, around 9 minutes, and Dr. Martin had said to go around 8-9 minutes.
I barely had any contractions on the way to the hospital, and then they seemed to get further apart, it was cold and snowing, and the roads hadn't been plowed very well. Paul drove carefully and it was an uneventful drive.
When we got to the hospital around 12:30 or so, we were shown to a triage room where they hooked me up to the monitors (baby and contractions) and asked a bunch of questions for my history. I was at a 3, even though the contractions were still only 10 or so minutes apart. But then all of a sudden the baby had a decell, and they were making me move from side to side lying down, then had me get up on my hands and knees to try to make baby happy. Let me tell you, that is a little tricky on a small triage bed! I looked up, and there were suddenly 5 nurses in our room and two of them were trying to start an IV. Unfortunately they missed my vein and pumped a ton of fluid under my skin. Then spent a few minutes trying to fix it. After that the baby's heart rate stabilized, and they were able to take enough time to get the IV right. They called Dr. Martin, and he said all was ok, but I think that the decell had them all rattled. They might have been thinking about sending me home before that since contractions were far apart, but not after the decell.
So, over to a Labor and Delivery room we were sent around 1:30am, and spent the next two hours on the bed. After the 'incident' I was denied all beverages, ice, movement... I was a prisoner in my bed. So we dimmed all the lights and tried to rest. Paul was able to fall asleep, but my contractions were becoming more and more painful and closer together. It was hard to manage the pain, because all I could do was grab on to my bed rail, and not move around at all.
Around 3:00 I decided I had had enough, and was very frustrated. Our nurse didn't think the baby would be born before her shift was up at 7, and said I wasn't even in active labor. But with the pain getting very intense, I decided to ask for an epidural. I had been scared that if there was a problem and I needed a c-section, they would have to put me out under general anesthesia. This would eliminate this scare, and make me more comfortable! So the nurse checked me (now a 5) called Dr. Martin, and got the anesthesiologist to come down. By 3:30 when the epidural was done, I was already at a 7, and decided to rest since the pain was now tolerable. Dr. Martin came to check on me, and broke my water, which helped baby to descend a bit further.
With the epidural, I could still feel each contraction and pressure, but not the pain. So again we dimmed the lights and rested. I was supposed to call our nurse when I could feel pressure all the time, not just at contractions. I was starting to feel it, and decided to wait one more contraction to call. But at the next one, the pain was the most intense thing I had ever felt, and I started screaming at Paul to press the call button. He was asleep in the dark, and he is colorblind, so it was a bit hard for him to find the red button :). Theresa came in and realized I was ready to push. I wanted her to change the epidural; she said I had to push... so we started pushing without Dr. Martin. He came in a few minutes later and they got everything set up to deliver the baby. The pain was simply amazing, I think mainly because I had been so calm, and instantly the pain was there without warning. I kept yelling, 'get the baby out' when I wasn't focused on pushing. I think I pushed for about 7 or 8 contractions, maybe a half hour or so, but it is a bit of a blur. Baby started having more decells, so Dr. Martin decided he wanted to get baby out right away, so used the vacuum on one contraction, and baby will was born at 4:44am on Tuesday, January 22, 2008! Will had the cord wrapped around his neck twice and his arm once (which explained the decells). Aside from a few bruises from the fast delivery, he is perfect and a wonderful addition to our family. Happy Birthday, Will!
Comments