I'm Alive! My Birth Story

Wow, I can't believe how quickly the days have gone by. This first week has been a blur, but I am falling more and more in love with my little monkey as each day passes. I've been MIA b/c I'm trying to catch a few winks of sleep here and there. I'll be back to updating (with some cute pictures) soon!

For now, here's my birth story. It didn't go as I had planned, but I wouldn't change it:

Tuesday morning I went in for my weekly BPP and NST. The BPP showed my fluid levels were at 5. Last week, they were at 7.9. The tech called my doctor and instead of doing the NST, she just sent me right over to L&D to be monitored. I was hooked up by 9:45 and things looked okay-baby was moving, heart rate was good, and my contractions were there, but not too drastic. My blood pressure was pretty normal as well. A couple hours later, they came in to draw some blood, and I passed out (twice!), causing both heart rates to drop. Things got back to normal quickly, though, so no one was too concerned. Jordan showed up around lunch, and the doctor on call came in to tell us that he was going to let us go. He wanted me to call my doctor and let her know I had been in L&D but all was well. I let him know that my doctor was the one who actually sent me to L&D, and he said to sit tight while he called her. My doctor got there about an hour later and said she had talked to the high risk doctor and they both agreed that it was time for the baby to come out! Jordan and I just sat there...shocked. I was not expecting that!! So, it was time to have a baby...

Dr. H let me get something to eat and then said they would start the cervadil around 4. Around 3:45, they measured me (1 cm dilated), inserted the cervadil, and let me be. It was a rough night b/c the heart rate monitor kept losing the baby. They had to come in and adjust it practically every 15 minutes. Around 3 am, the doctor came in and wanted to get the cervadil out even though it was about an hour early. I was having contractions one on top of the other (not really strong or painful ones, though) and it was causing stress to the baby. Once that was removed, they checked and I was still just 1 cm. The doc decided she was going to try and stretch me to 2--and let me tell you, that was THE MOST PAINFUL thing I have ever experienced. They started the pitocin drip around 5 am, and my contractions started coming a little stronger. By the next check, I was still 2 cm, and they decided to insert some catheter with a balloon on the end to help move it along. The first time it came right out, so I got to experience that fun twice! I guess it worked b/c by the next check, I was 4 cm. At this point, they broke my water and also inserted a catheter that lays next to the baby and could get a more accurate heart rate. Around noon, my contractions were so strong and were back to back. It was HARD. I tried to stick it out, but I finally decided that I wanted to go ahead and get the epidural. The anesthesiologist came shortly after, but at the same time, the doctor came in to check me b/c the catheter was picking up my heart rate, not the baby's. They decided to put a tocometer on his scalp for the best reading. Suddenly, Hamp's heart rate dropped drastically and mine skyrocketed. They had me quickly get on all fours, gave me oxygen, stopped the pitocin, and gave me a shot of terb (?-not 100% on the name. It was to help my uterus relax). Things calmed down after a few minutes (that seemed like forever!), and I was able to finally get the epidural. At this point (12:15ish) I was 6 cm, but the baby was still pretty high, so she sat me straight up to let gravity do it’s thing. My doctor had to leave and would be back from 3 to 6. She guessed that I would be delivering sometime in the late afternoon/early evening.

Obviously the epi made me and the baby relax so much because a resident came in around 1 to check me again, and I was 10 cm with an anterior lip. They said I was close, but it could be another little while. After about 15 minutes, I asked my nurse if I had the uncontrollable urge to have a bowel movement if that meant I was close to pushing. She said yes and did I think they should check me again. Most definitely! At this point I was ready to go, and everything was set up pretty quickly. I started pushing at 1:34 pm. It was really much easier than I had anticipated (NOT easy, but easier!). My nurse was a great coach, and the baby moved with every single push. After 31 minutes of pushing, Hampton was here at 2:05 pm! It was such a surreal feeling. Jordan and I were in love!

When he came out, he wasn’t crying and I saw the cord wrapped around his neck, which freaked me out, but he did reach up and grab the clamp on his cord and fought with the doctor to let go. At that point, I knew he was okay. He was taken to the other side of the room to get cleaned up while I waited to deliver the placenta. I was getting more and more nervous b/c more and more people kept coming in the room, and all they would tell me is that he was fine. It sure didn’t seem that way! We were finally told that he had fluid in his lungs and was breathing very heavy. It was taking all his strength to suck in, so they took him to the NICU. It was heartbreaking that the first real look I got of him was with an oxygen mask covering his sweet little face.
At this point, I had finally delivered the placenta and was getting examined. Turns out I had two tiny tears on both sides, but I didn’t even have to get stitches! After getting cleaned up and letting the feeling return to my legs (I only pushed the button once, so it wasn’t too bad!), I was carted off to my post-partum room and was FINALLY able to see my baby around 8:30 that night.

Hampton was able to leave the NICU after about 24 hours. They took the CPAP off Thursday morning, fed him twice and he did well. It was great to have him in our room finally. He stayed with us the next night, and then had to be put under the lights for jaundice. The hospital does not have a nursery, but we had them take him to the “watch room” that night b/c his apnea pad kept going off and he kept pulling off his “shades.” I knew I wouldn’t get a wink of sleep with all the alarms going off and worrying about his little eyes being open under the lights. He came out from under the lights on Sunday morning, and we were discharged that evening. It was a l-o-n-g few days, but I am glad that they took the time to make sure he was okay. Now that we’re home, he’s still jaundice, but I let him spend some time in the swing by the window for a little while each day and it seems to be helping. After being given 2 bottles first thing, and my milk not being in, it was a struggle to get him to latch. We worked with a lactation specialist for a couple of days, and she gave me some good advice. Eating has gotten much better, and he is latching well. I don’t think he feeds long enough right now (about 10-maybe 15 min on each side), but we’ll work on that. Other than that, things are going well! Though sleep deprived, we are having a wonderful time being parents!!