The following is the best I could come up with in terms of what happened during S's birth. I'm pretty sure I may have misremembered details.
I've never made a birth story type post. Mainly because the whole thing is rather hazy for me and I don't have a ton of the details. But here is what I do know.
Sammy's birth was induced on December 12, 2012 starting approximately 8am in the morning due to unexplainable gestational hypertension. I was 39 weeks pregnant.
I woke up early the morning of Sammy's birth full of nerves and excitement. We arrived at the hospital around 7:30am and the nurse (who was amazing) introduced herself. I was hooked up to the iv talked with the doctor and the induction began. I was not as far along as they originally thought I was even dilated to 1 or thinned at all. So I was starting from nothing. My doctor had told me as long as everything progressed smoothly I could labor up to 36 hours. Things were slow most of the day. When the contractions started it was back labor. I broke down mid-afternoon and I had an epidural between the back labor and the pain of being stretched from 2-3 I knew I was not going to make it through drug free.
Once my epidural kicked in I was perfectly fine. Mom watched the contraction monitor and said I was giggling through contractions (I texted with Kimberly all day and played on facebook). She had noticed some fluctuation in Sammy's heart rate but because no one seemed concerned about it nothing was done.
At 7 was the nurses shift change at 7:10 my doctor, my day nurse, and the incoming night nurse came in for a check and the change over talk. It was during this time that the doctor broke my water. Right after they noticed Sammy's heart rate. It was dipping into the 60s and 70s. They put an oxygen mask on me and had me roll to one side and then the other. It didn't work in fact his heart rate dipped even further. I was told to roll onto my knees and I did his heart rate spiked to 117 (I saw that one) and immediately fell down to around 60.
At that time I was in tears and terrified. Brett was in the room and mom was just coming back in. Dr. Hurt had the nurses call the OR and the nurses desk to tell them to cancel the planned C-section that they had an emergency coming in. They covered my backside and ran me out of my l&d room at 7:18pm. I remember looking up and seeing Brett being left behind we were running that fast. My understanding is mom gathered our stuff and went to wait in the waiting room and Brett was scrubbed up and waiting to come into the OR.
Once in the OR they started prepping me (shaving etc) when Dr. Hurt said there wasn't time for that. The anesthesiologist introduced himself. The next thing I knew Dr. Hurt was pinching my stomach testing my numbness. I was able to feel her pinching and because of the amount of fetal distress Sammy was under she elected to have me totally put under rather than take any time to do anything with the epidural. The last thing I remember is my nurse holding my hand and crying as I lost conscious.
The next thing I knew I was coming around as they were pulling out the breathing tube. I got sick and started fighting. The nurses held me down and I blacked out again.
The next time I woke up I was in recovery and they were massaging my belly to help with the air/gas stuck in it. I remember reaching for my baby belly, asking for Brett, and then asking for mom when they told me Brett was with the baby. They sent someone out to get mom and gave me some ice chips.
Mom came in and a little bit later so did Brett. Brett held my hand and I vaguely remember him telling me that Sammy was perfect and had a head full of hair and that it was big and even the nurse had commented on how large his head was. They took Sammy back to the nursery and Brett went with him.
Mom stayed with me and went with me to the room I was in (c-sections got the bigger rooms). My nurse came in and helped me get cleaned up and in bed. And put those leg massagers on me. I dozed off waiting on Sammy and Brett and woke up in a total panic when they started massaging my legs. Like screaming, crying, and thrashing about. The nurses decided it was a bigger risk to my health to leave them on.
Eventually Sammy was brought to the room and I was able to hold him.
Sammy was born on a Wednesday and I was home by Friday evening.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Saturday, November 24, 2012
36 weeks and counting
It has been a month exactly since I did a post - wow how time is flying.
I can't remember if I posted about my hospital stay at 31 weeks if not here is a recap I ended up being really dizzy, short of breath, with a headache, and a few other things and called my clinic. Went in and my bp was 160/100 or something like that. I was sent to the hospital for monitoring and ended up spending the night. After a 24 hour urine collection and several blood tests they were unable to determine the cause of the bp raise and upped my medication.
At 35 weeks at my NST I came in and again I had highish blood pressure with a reading of 125/90 and then 140/100. Again I was sent to the hospital and 6 vials of blood and some monitoring later once again they could find no cause for the raise and I was sent up with higher dosage of medication.
Yesterday, at my second of my twice weekly NSTs my starting bp was 179/100 and so I was again hooked up for more BP monitoring and they took 8 vials of blood. My bp came down and the blood work all came back fine. So with no answers to the reason behind my higher blood pressure (and ultimately an average of 122/63) I was sent home to do a third 24 hour urine collection.
I am so frustrated by this blood pressure problem because there is no clear cut answer as to *what* is causing it (other than being pregnant). There is no rhyme or reason to the foods I eat and my bp (example yesterday all I had within the hours before the NST was some chocolate to wake up baby boy so he would move for the heart rate spikes and I had that high starting bp on Tuesday I had coffee and a chicken biscuit from McDonalds and my bp was 125/75). I don't have pre-e. There is nothing that anyone can point at and say this - this is what we need to adjust so that you can feel normal again.
And I'm looking forward to feeling normal again. Right now I can only be on my feet for 10-15 minutes before I get dizzy and my vision blurs. It isn't fun. If there was something I could do I'd be all over it. But it looks like all we can do is wait for baby boy to make his appearance. Overall, I love being pregnant I love feeling Sammy move and kick and grow. But I'm ready for this to be over so I can go back to being a normal person in regards to how I'm able to live my life.
Speaking of Samuel in the last 3 weeks or so he has started this fun game of not behaving during our NSTs. Example on the 15th of this month (November) we were hooked up and Sammy was moving but his heart rate was not going up. In fact it pretty much stayed on the baseline for over an hour. The blood pressure changes we did have went the wrong way. He actually had readings in 80s that last for several minutes. Finally after what felt like eternity his heart rate went back up and he was back to normal. The next NST (this past Tuesday) he was pretty baseline but did give a few 10-12 point heart rate jumps. Yesterday he was the perfect little man.
So here we are just over 36 weeks along and waiting to see when the boy will come. We are nervous and excited and ready to hold our little man in or arms. Brett actually told me the other day that he is about ready for it. It is going to be such a life changer but we are ready.
Me as of this morning with a nice round belly. We had family visiting for Thanksgiving and baby boy refused to move.
After they left he started stretching and wiggling and continued to do so non-stop through yesterday evening. It was actually the best part of my day sitting in the car before my NST watching my tummy stretch.
We aren't doing much for the boy for Christmas this year (having him is his gift lol) but we are doing a few small things and one of those is a book that I actually ended up having to order from Amazon because for some strange reason B&N didn't have it. Anyway Love You Forever is the book. I remember my mom reading it to my brothers and I can't wait to read it to my own son.
At 35 weeks at my NST I came in and again I had highish blood pressure with a reading of 125/90 and then 140/100. Again I was sent to the hospital and 6 vials of blood and some monitoring later once again they could find no cause for the raise and I was sent up with higher dosage of medication.
Yesterday, at my second of my twice weekly NSTs my starting bp was 179/100 and so I was again hooked up for more BP monitoring and they took 8 vials of blood. My bp came down and the blood work all came back fine. So with no answers to the reason behind my higher blood pressure (and ultimately an average of 122/63) I was sent home to do a third 24 hour urine collection.
I am so frustrated by this blood pressure problem because there is no clear cut answer as to *what* is causing it (other than being pregnant). There is no rhyme or reason to the foods I eat and my bp (example yesterday all I had within the hours before the NST was some chocolate to wake up baby boy so he would move for the heart rate spikes and I had that high starting bp on Tuesday I had coffee and a chicken biscuit from McDonalds and my bp was 125/75). I don't have pre-e. There is nothing that anyone can point at and say this - this is what we need to adjust so that you can feel normal again.
And I'm looking forward to feeling normal again. Right now I can only be on my feet for 10-15 minutes before I get dizzy and my vision blurs. It isn't fun. If there was something I could do I'd be all over it. But it looks like all we can do is wait for baby boy to make his appearance. Overall, I love being pregnant I love feeling Sammy move and kick and grow. But I'm ready for this to be over so I can go back to being a normal person in regards to how I'm able to live my life.
Speaking of Samuel in the last 3 weeks or so he has started this fun game of not behaving during our NSTs. Example on the 15th of this month (November) we were hooked up and Sammy was moving but his heart rate was not going up. In fact it pretty much stayed on the baseline for over an hour. The blood pressure changes we did have went the wrong way. He actually had readings in 80s that last for several minutes. Finally after what felt like eternity his heart rate went back up and he was back to normal. The next NST (this past Tuesday) he was pretty baseline but did give a few 10-12 point heart rate jumps. Yesterday he was the perfect little man.
So here we are just over 36 weeks along and waiting to see when the boy will come. We are nervous and excited and ready to hold our little man in or arms. Brett actually told me the other day that he is about ready for it. It is going to be such a life changer but we are ready.
We aren't doing much for the boy for Christmas this year (having him is his gift lol) but we are doing a few small things and one of those is a book that I actually ended up having to order from Amazon because for some strange reason B&N didn't have it. Anyway Love You Forever is the book. I remember my mom reading it to my brothers and I can't wait to read it to my own son.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
32 weeks//hospital tour
I didn't post about this last week but my blood pressure spiked a week ago today - to the point that I was actually admitted into labor and delivery for overnight monitoring. After my overnight stay and some lab work my blood pressure medication was raised and I was told that I had just slipped under an official pre-e diagnosis. Hopefully, we can avoid that diagnosis all together.
There was one point a few hours after taking my medication that I really feared Sammy might be making his appearance last week. My bp was insanely high (roughly 180/90) and that was after medication was supposed to bring it down. I was hooked back up to the fetal monitor and the bp monitor and thankfully the next 2 readings over the next 40 minutes it fell first to about 140/70 and then into 120s/60s. I was sent home Thursday night.
I slept most of Friday and off and on Saturday and Sunday with my mom coming in Sunday evening to give us a hand around the house. It has been great having her here and I feel more relaxed now that things are back under control. As a side note I've not had to do laundry in the last week - which is probably for the best since that is the task I was in the middle of when I ended up calling my doctors office.
Today I am happy to report that I have reached 32 weeks pregnant with a growing active baby boy inside of me.
This morning I have my first official NST at my clinic followed by my 32 week obgyn appointment. I have a few questions to ask even though I know some of them are impossible to answer.
Last night B and I toured the hospital that I will be delivering at and I am super excited about it. For one I had the chance to experience the amazing care they give last week during my unexpected overnight visit and yesterday were able to see and hear the whole process. The actual delivery rooms are really good sized (about the size of my living room actually) and they are set up so that I can have up to 4 people with me (though it will only be my mom if she wants and Brett who has no choice :P). But the best part for me is this. After Sammy is born he will be placed on my lap for a few minutes before he is weighed, measured, wiped down, and wrapped up in the room within my sight the whole time. After that, as long as there is no medical emergency, I get an hour plus of immediate bonding time. No shots or anything will happen during that hour for the boy. I'll be able to hold him and even breastfeed for the first time within minutes of delivering him. While I'm doing that they will be cleaning me up and doing whatever needs to be done before moving us from the l&d side of the floor to the women/infant side of the floor. Once over there unless we decide otherwise Sammy will be in the room with us the whole time. I will be in the hospital for 2 nights unless we need a c-section in which case it will be 3 nights. And Sam and I will have the same nurse that takes care of us both.
I can't believe we had our tour last night it makes everything a little more real.
Other than that it has been a pretty quiet week. (Thankfully!) My mom helped me pick out a few of the things that we didn't have for the boy and now except for a few wants (a swing for example) we are ready. I feel like a hoarder with my wipes, we have diapers that will hopefully last until he is in cloth. We have clothes, bottles, a pump for me, 2 car-seat bases, and lots of other things. Now we are waiting on the boy. I know I still have some time but last week was scary and we decided we wanted to be ready for whatever. In fact in the next week or so I'll actually be packing my hospital bag just so it is ready for whatever may come.
There was one point a few hours after taking my medication that I really feared Sammy might be making his appearance last week. My bp was insanely high (roughly 180/90) and that was after medication was supposed to bring it down. I was hooked back up to the fetal monitor and the bp monitor and thankfully the next 2 readings over the next 40 minutes it fell first to about 140/70 and then into 120s/60s. I was sent home Thursday night.
I slept most of Friday and off and on Saturday and Sunday with my mom coming in Sunday evening to give us a hand around the house. It has been great having her here and I feel more relaxed now that things are back under control. As a side note I've not had to do laundry in the last week - which is probably for the best since that is the task I was in the middle of when I ended up calling my doctors office.
Today I am happy to report that I have reached 32 weeks pregnant with a growing active baby boy inside of me.
This morning I have my first official NST at my clinic followed by my 32 week obgyn appointment. I have a few questions to ask even though I know some of them are impossible to answer.
Last night B and I toured the hospital that I will be delivering at and I am super excited about it. For one I had the chance to experience the amazing care they give last week during my unexpected overnight visit and yesterday were able to see and hear the whole process. The actual delivery rooms are really good sized (about the size of my living room actually) and they are set up so that I can have up to 4 people with me (though it will only be my mom if she wants and Brett who has no choice :P). But the best part for me is this. After Sammy is born he will be placed on my lap for a few minutes before he is weighed, measured, wiped down, and wrapped up in the room within my sight the whole time. After that, as long as there is no medical emergency, I get an hour plus of immediate bonding time. No shots or anything will happen during that hour for the boy. I'll be able to hold him and even breastfeed for the first time within minutes of delivering him. While I'm doing that they will be cleaning me up and doing whatever needs to be done before moving us from the l&d side of the floor to the women/infant side of the floor. Once over there unless we decide otherwise Sammy will be in the room with us the whole time. I will be in the hospital for 2 nights unless we need a c-section in which case it will be 3 nights. And Sam and I will have the same nurse that takes care of us both.
I can't believe we had our tour last night it makes everything a little more real.
Other than that it has been a pretty quiet week. (Thankfully!) My mom helped me pick out a few of the things that we didn't have for the boy and now except for a few wants (a swing for example) we are ready. I feel like a hoarder with my wipes, we have diapers that will hopefully last until he is in cloth. We have clothes, bottles, a pump for me, 2 car-seat bases, and lots of other things. Now we are waiting on the boy. I know I still have some time but last week was scary and we decided we wanted to be ready for whatever. In fact in the next week or so I'll actually be packing my hospital bag just so it is ready for whatever may come.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
30 weeks
So for those that missed the post (on facebook) yesterday baby boy has already attempted to give me my first heart-attack (and may have given me my first gray hair) by hiding from the nurse when she was searching for his heartbeat AND napping at the same time. The lack of heartbeat and movement proved to be a very long 5 minutes for me but everything is fine now and I'm happy to say when the doctor found his heartbeat it was strong (and loud) and that he has been moving around since I woke up at 7am.
Nothing new was really learned yesterday other than if Sam keeps growing like he is and my bp stays around what it is now (which is high for normal people but apparently acceptable for me) that I could actually go all the way to term with him but (no later) and that would be decided over the next 7-10 weeks depending on what the NSTS say, my ultrasound(s), and my blood pressure. Basically, no one knows if I am having a December baby or a November baby and I'm starting to feel that one downside to this clinic is too many doctors. I think next baby if I am lucky enough I want a smaller practice where I only see 2 or 3 doctors opposed to 6-10.
I did set up some appointments and next week is my last week without an appointment until Sam gets here.
October 23rd we tour the hospital
October 24th I have my first NSTS and a regular OB appointment
October 26th I have an ultrasound at 9am and then a NSTS at 12
October 27th breastfeeding class and baby care class at the hospital
October 30th I have an NSTS
November 1 I have an NSTS and an OB appointment.
November 6 the Booties on the Ground baby shower
I do need to schedule 34 weeks on but the checkout line was getting long and I was getting evil glares so I stopped after 33 weeks. But this will basically be the trend 2NST and an OB appointment until delivery. With the chance of a 36 week ultrasound as well.
Nothing new was really learned yesterday other than if Sam keeps growing like he is and my bp stays around what it is now (which is high for normal people but apparently acceptable for me) that I could actually go all the way to term with him but (no later) and that would be decided over the next 7-10 weeks depending on what the NSTS say, my ultrasound(s), and my blood pressure. Basically, no one knows if I am having a December baby or a November baby and I'm starting to feel that one downside to this clinic is too many doctors. I think next baby if I am lucky enough I want a smaller practice where I only see 2 or 3 doctors opposed to 6-10.
I did set up some appointments and next week is my last week without an appointment until Sam gets here.
October 23rd we tour the hospital
October 24th I have my first NSTS and a regular OB appointment
October 26th I have an ultrasound at 9am and then a NSTS at 12
October 27th breastfeeding class and baby care class at the hospital
October 30th I have an NSTS
November 1 I have an NSTS and an OB appointment.
November 6 the Booties on the Ground baby shower
I do need to schedule 34 weeks on but the checkout line was getting long and I was getting evil glares so I stopped after 33 weeks. But this will basically be the trend 2NST and an OB appointment until delivery. With the chance of a 36 week ultrasound as well.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
28 weeks
Holy cow! 28 weeks pregnant today! That means we've successful completed the first and second trimesters and are tackling the third and final trimester. I spent about an hour and a half at the doctors office today and it was crammed full of good information.
- Today was my glucose test (*fingers crossed so hard I passed*) it really wasn't that bad just overly sweet and you have to drink it pretty fast. Actually, the worst part of that whole thing was waiting to be called back after having had 3 bottles of water and the glucose this morning. And my sugar hyped son discovering my bladder. Thankfully, I was called back before anything embarrassing could happen.
- I also received my TDaP today, found out I've gained (according the doctor's scale) 9 pounds so far, and was given a ton of information about when I should and should not page the doctor in the last trimester. I also got a basic run down on contractions <--- which I'm so not ready to think about. And I'm supposed to start kick counts (which was different than anything I've heard/read before I'm looking for 5 or more kicks in an hour if that doesn't happen a tall glass of cold water and another hour and if still no kicks call the doctor).
- My blood pressure was slightly elevated today - overall the nurse practitioner was okay with where it was but it was higher than it had been being. They are also okay with my weight gain (I like my scale better according to my scale yes I've gained 9 pounds but they weren't new pounds they were 9 pounds I'd lost in the first trimester).
- I measured right at 28 weeks (tape measure) and Sam's heartrate was right on track she didn't tell me what it was and I didn't think to ask.
- I found out I will be having two more ultrasounds one in the next 3-4 weeks and one around 36 weeks (Thanksgiving week). In 4 weeks (32 weeks) I start my twice weekly NSTS basically they strap a monitor to my belly and keep an eye on Sam's heartrate.
- And back to the holy cow because seriously I'm on the final swing of things now. I have 2 weeks appoints at 30 and 32 weeks and I'm not certain if at that point I start my weekly appointments or not. It won't be much longer and we will be welcoming baby boy into the world.
- Today was my glucose test (*fingers crossed so hard I passed*) it really wasn't that bad just overly sweet and you have to drink it pretty fast. Actually, the worst part of that whole thing was waiting to be called back after having had 3 bottles of water and the glucose this morning. And my sugar hyped son discovering my bladder. Thankfully, I was called back before anything embarrassing could happen.
- I also received my TDaP today, found out I've gained (according the doctor's scale) 9 pounds so far, and was given a ton of information about when I should and should not page the doctor in the last trimester. I also got a basic run down on contractions <--- which I'm so not ready to think about. And I'm supposed to start kick counts (which was different than anything I've heard/read before I'm looking for 5 or more kicks in an hour if that doesn't happen a tall glass of cold water and another hour and if still no kicks call the doctor).
- My blood pressure was slightly elevated today - overall the nurse practitioner was okay with where it was but it was higher than it had been being. They are also okay with my weight gain (I like my scale better according to my scale yes I've gained 9 pounds but they weren't new pounds they were 9 pounds I'd lost in the first trimester).
- I measured right at 28 weeks (tape measure) and Sam's heartrate was right on track she didn't tell me what it was and I didn't think to ask.
- I found out I will be having two more ultrasounds one in the next 3-4 weeks and one around 36 weeks (Thanksgiving week). In 4 weeks (32 weeks) I start my twice weekly NSTS basically they strap a monitor to my belly and keep an eye on Sam's heartrate.
- And back to the holy cow because seriously I'm on the final swing of things now. I have 2 weeks appoints at 30 and 32 weeks and I'm not certain if at that point I start my weekly appointments or not. It won't be much longer and we will be welcoming baby boy into the world.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Baby stuff
I can't believe October is nearly here! Next month we plan on filling in the gaps of things we are missing for Sam. At BRU today I was given some coupons including $8 off the pampers sensitive skin newborn swaddlers so we will get a pack of those and we were given 2 20% off coupons for 1 item in the store we are leaning towards getting a bouncy chair there and possibly the second base for the car seat or a breast pump. I don't really plan on using a pump unless I need to leave Sam with Brett for an extended period of time so I'll probably get a manual.
I think this is what we are as far as needs for baby stuff
- second car seat base (Graco SnugRide Infant) - 1 or 2 baby gates with doors (seems like it would be a want but with two dogs on the stairs we need a way to make sure they don't trip us especially going downstairs)Our wants list
- breast pump (manual) - wipes (sensitive skin) - newborn sensitive skin diapers - toiletry items (baby wash, butt cream etc) - a kit like this but it also includes a basic monitor I know there is stuff in there we may not need but there is a lot of good stuff in there too and it is a great price. I think the one with the monitor is about $10 more. - a tummy mat
- a bouncer and/or swing - a moby wrap (though I'm not totally sold on it) - another cover for my boppyI'm sure there are things I'm forgetting but this is what came to mind as I was sitting here. We have
- clothing - food (boobs) - cloth diapers for roughly 8lbs+ - a pack-n-play - a cradle for the office (B's request) - a glider - crib/mattress/changing tableDoes anything pop out at you of things that we may need or want especially for the newborn phase?
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Just some thoughts
Can you believe that tomorrow I will be 27 weeks pregnant and that it has been roughly 19 weeks since we announced that we are going to have a baby? I can't believe that it has been that long and that baby boy has gone from a tiny little peanut that we first shared an ultrasound of to a baby boy weighing over 2 pounds with a name. I can't believe how quickly we are approaching Sam's arrival to the world outside of mommy's womb.
We are pretty much ready for him. Sam has his bed, he has clothes, the food is covered, and a few odds and ends have been purchased. Sammy does need some newborn diapers since I have no desire to adjust to a newborn and try to keep up with cloth diapers all at one time. We could use wipes...lots and lots of wipes. And then there are those odds and ends which are needed but sure would be handy - like a swing or a bouncer. But other than that we are ready and waiting.
Well I say we are ready truth be told I don't think we are actually ready but how does one really prepare themselves for something so life changing? We think about it, we talk about it, and we plan. Friends share stories, comments, and tips but something tells me that this is one of those life events that no matter how hard you try you are never completely prepared for it until you are knee deep in diapers and spit up. We are excited. We are happy. And to be completely truthful scared out of our ever-loving minds.
I see time flying by starting well now. I have my big 28 week appointment a week from tomorrow and then I go back 2 weeks later at 30 weeks. Two weeks after that I start my twice weekly appointments (yay high risk designation). Ready or not - Sam will be here before we know it.
We are pretty much ready for him. Sam has his bed, he has clothes, the food is covered, and a few odds and ends have been purchased. Sammy does need some newborn diapers since I have no desire to adjust to a newborn and try to keep up with cloth diapers all at one time. We could use wipes...lots and lots of wipes. And then there are those odds and ends which are needed but sure would be handy - like a swing or a bouncer. But other than that we are ready and waiting.
Well I say we are ready truth be told I don't think we are actually ready but how does one really prepare themselves for something so life changing? We think about it, we talk about it, and we plan. Friends share stories, comments, and tips but something tells me that this is one of those life events that no matter how hard you try you are never completely prepared for it until you are knee deep in diapers and spit up. We are excited. We are happy. And to be completely truthful scared out of our ever-loving minds.
I see time flying by starting well now. I have my big 28 week appointment a week from tomorrow and then I go back 2 weeks later at 30 weeks. Two weeks after that I start my twice weekly appointments (yay high risk designation). Ready or not - Sam will be here before we know it.