Now, on to the adventures.
Let's start back on Friday, March 8, 2013. By MY calculations, this should have been my due date. Instead, it was just another check up at the doctor, where I found out I'd gained four pounds in one week (I only gained 20 the entire pregnancy) and my blood pressure was high. There was also some protein in my urine, so all signs pointed toward pre-eclampsia. My doctor basically told me to rest over the weekend, collect my urine for 24 hours starting on Sunday, and come back in on Monday morning. Well, you don't really need to tell a woman at 38 weeks pregnant to relax, so I did just that. The most stressful thing that weekend was the then #2 IUvs #7 Michigan game, which IU won, 72-71. Other than that, nothing much happened. I was supposed to be starting my spring break the next day, so I was looking forward to some final relaxation time before the baby came to stay.
My plans were foiled.
Now, most baby classes say "The odds of your water breaking on it's own are actually low." I think the statistic is that only about 15-20% of women's water breaks on its own. Most women have contractions for awhile, then the practitioner breaks their water. Not in this case. They also tell you that once your water breaks, the baby should be delivered fairly quickly to prevent any kind of infection. Again, not in my case.
So, I go to bed at my normal time (10p.m.) on Sunday, March 10th. I wake up at 2:30 a.m. and of course, I need to go to the bathroom. Now, this isn't just a struggle because I've got a huge belly in the way, I also have to go down to the fridge for my "urine jug." Only, when I go to stand up out of bed, I'm suddenly wet. At first, I really did think I peed my pants... But it wouldn't stop. I scurry into the bathroom and realize my water broke. I'm sitting on the toilet thinking, "What the heck...?" I hadn't had any contractions at all yet. Then I see my lovely husband's hand reach through the cracked open door with my urine jug for me. How sweet! Except, I call to him and say, "I don't think I'll need that." Door flies open, in rushes husband. I say, "My water broke." He says, "Are you sure?" I say, "Go follow the water trail from our bed..." He says, "What do we do?" I don't know. Still no contractions. Still nothing. We waited a little while, but probably a bit after 3 a.m. we call the doctor. You can tell the poor guy has been up and is exhausted. He tells us the contractions will probably start, but if they don't, go into the hospital around 6:00 a.m. Kevin and I try to clean things up, put the finishing touches on our hospital bags, and try to sleep a bit longer. I don't think it worked for either one of us.
Either way, we both got back up around 6:15 a.m. Got some things together, fed the dogs, ate a little for breakfast, and headed to the hospital. We park, get our stuff, and I waddle up to the L&D wing. They were expecting us, thankfully, so we got into a room quickly. Did some paperwork, answered some questions, got hooked up to the contraction monitors, BP monitors, and got an IV started (I tested positive for Strep B). The entire time, I'm waiting for the pain of contractions. But really, I'm just laying on the bed, leaking fluid. At this point, our nurse Jenn and the tech kept an eye on things, but they all expected the contractions to start sometime soon, too. Dr. Leis was the doctor on call, and she came by for her first real check at 10:00 a.m. (7.5 hours after my water broke).
Guess what!? I was only dilated to 1cm. Started the Pitocin at 10:00 a.m. to get things moving. I'd heard horror stories about this drug, so I was a bit nervous. Because I was on Pitocin, because my water broke, because I hadn't yet had any contractions, I went ahead and got the epidural at about 11:45 a.m. Another reason I got it? The anesthesiologist, Dr. Brown, was heading home, which was about 30 minutes away. She couldn't guarantee she'd be back or free when/if contractions started and I REAALLY wanted it. And actually? Because I wasn't having contractions, it didn't hurt a bit going in. The epidural was one thing I dreaded, but I was able to relax, and it was a piece of cake.
So now I'm going numb from the waist down, but I still hadn't had any contractions really. Second check by Dr. Leis came at 1:00 p.m. and I was still at 1cm. At 1:30p.m. they inserted the catheter and IUPC (intrauterine pressure catheter) to REALLY measure any contractions. Between about 1:30p.m and 5:30 p.m. things were slow going. I did have several contractions, but nothing bad because I couldn't really feel them much. Third check at 5:45p.m. and I was now up to 5cm and 90% effaced, at -2 station. He was FINALLY starting to make some progress and get ready for his appearance! At this point, it had been over 15 hours since my water had broken and 6 hours since I'd gotten the epidural.
The fourth check with Dr. Leis came at about 7:30 p.m. (Poor Dr. Leis had been at the hospital all day, as long as us, and had already performed several c-sections and deliveries). During this check, still at station -2 but up to 7.5cm dilated. Unfortunately at this point, the contractions got worse, and the pitocin and epidural meds were increased.
Next check (#5) at 9:45p.m. Still at 7.5 cm but now at station 0, meaning baby was finally getting closer and closer to being in position for delivery.
Sixth check at 11:00 p.m. Up to 9cm!! However, we also had a mini (major?) panic at this point because out of no where, I threw up several times. I'd felt a bit queasy, but that could be blamed on the meds, being overtired, and having been in the hospital bed, unable to move much, for almost 12 hours. However, when I actually threw up, I had just enough time to say to Kevin, "Pan," meaning I needed the pan NOW. While I'm getting sick and crying because it's miserable, Dr. Leis and several nurses came rushing in. Next thing I know, I'm being checked all over and have an oxygen mask on. To say I was a bit freaked out is an understatement. THANKFULLY, it was determined that while laying on my side, having contractions, something was causing my BP to go way up and baby's heart beat to go down. I sat with the oxygen mask for a bit, laid flat on my back, and things went back to normal.
Well, FINALLY during the 7th check at 12:30 a.m. (22 hours after my water broke). I was at 10cm, and it was time to push! Unfortunately again, during the pushing, baby's heartbeat would decelerate, and I had to have the oxygen mask on again. Dr. Leis performed an episiotomy, which helped get him out. After what seemed like forever and the most intense pressure/pain I've ever experienced, I felt a HUGE rush of relief, and out comes baby! At 1:42 a.m. I was able to FINALLY meet Noah Christopher Humbard. It was unbelievable.
Unfortunately, I was so exhausted from everything, I didn't feel comfortable holding for too long. Daddy cut the cord, Noah was taking to get cleaned up, and I was being "repaired." While they're doing the repair work, I mention that I can actually feel a lot of what's going on, as in I could feel the needle while they were stitching. More epidural meds helped take that pain away. Another issue came up though. While they're doing the repairs, I'm losing more blood, instead of stopping. They take OUT the stitches, look for the source of the bleeding, and then stitch things up again. And of course, as they're cleaning up, they can't find one of the sponges they used. They're looking everywhere, on and around the table, but ultimately find the sponge still inside me... Thank goodness they found it... Little did I know, I'd lost so much blood they were close to giving me a transfusion. No wonder I was even more exhausted than imaginable.
SO at close to 3:00 a.m. both sets of grandparents were finally allowed to come in and meet their adorable little grandbaby! All four fell in love at first sight, same as Kevin and me. Eventually, we were transferred to the room we'd spend the next few days in. It was difficult because Noah wouldn't eat much and wasn't really sleeping much either, so our first few days in the hospital were a bit rough. It didn't help that Kevin and I finally met Noah after being up for over 24 hours... We found out that Noah was a bit jaundice, but we were able to leave on Thursday, March 14th, and had multiple doctor's visits in the next few days. Over that weekend, Noah had to use a bili-light because of his jaundice, but we had a lot of help at home to help with our adjusting and recovering.
THANKFULLY, Noah cause a bunch of trouble on his way into this world, but since then, he's been an absolute blessing to our family. Crazily enough, I'd do it all over again!
No comments:
Post a Comment