On Sunday at 7:00 pm I checked into the hospital to prep for an induction the following day. I was already having a number of contractions so we had to wait for the nurse to speak to the doctor before being administered Cervidil. The doctor gave the go ahead around 9:30 pm and I was given the drug. Things were finally moving in the right direction!
After being given Cervidil, I was told that I'd have to wait 2 entire hours before going to the bathroom! Oh boy! Not an easy task for a 39+ week pregnant woman! I somehow made it the 2 hours! Phew! At 11:45 pm I was lying wide awake in my bed, so the nurse suggested and I agreed to some meds to help me fall asleep.
Monday morning at 6:40 am I woke up with painful contractions. The morning also came with a new nurse whose personality was less than desirable - what great timing! At 8:00 am I decided to take a shower so down the hall we walked to the one shower/bathtub they have. (The accommodations at United are a bit behind the times!) Feeling a bit better and refreshed, we headed back to our room. This is where things really started going downhill...
At 8:30 am, the nurse came in to get my IV started. Her first attempt she got the needle into my vein and...POP! My vein blew. The nurse with all her social skills blamed me because I was "too tense". She claimed she NEVER misses so of course it must be my fault. She tried one more time and POP! By this point she was pretty annoyed and said she was going to find someone else to put in my IV. During all the stress my water broke! Yikes! The nurse made me lie there soaking wet until they could get the IV in 1 1/2 hours later! Eventually the IV specialist (this person puts in IVs all day long every day) came in with an ultrasound machine to assist with the IV insertion. After 4 failed attempts by the specialist, my doctor came in and gave the OK to use smaller tubing (which the nurse of course did not agree with). I guess the blood thinner I had been taking was causing my veins to blow. It took 7 attempts but I finally had a functioning IV! Thank the Lord! With a functioning IV, they quickly administered nubain (something I thought I would never get, but so glad I did!) to help with the pain.
At 10:30 am, I was finally able to get up, use the restroom, and put on some dry clothes. During the process, the nurse asked Shane to cut off the belly band I was wearing which holds the baby's heart rate monitor and my contraction monitor on my stomach. Shane cut off the band and soon after I noticed something dripping on my arm. What was going on now?? Shane had cut threw my IV tubing!! (Although scary at the time, we love to laugh about this now!)
At 11:00 am, the anesthesiologist came in to administer the epidural. Having a needle put into my spine was freaking me out, especially after having such a horrible time with my IV. This of course ended in another berating from the nurse which just made things worse. The anesthesiologist was great though and the epidural was put in place with no complications!!
Around that time, my wonderful doctor stopped by to check in on us. She was supposed to be off that day, but rearranged her schedule to make sure she could be there to deliver our baby - something that is pretty unheard of these days! She said to hold off on the pitocin since I was having a ton of contractions on my own.
At 11:45 am, I was only at 2 cm, so they started a small dose of pitocin to get things moving along. I started having really strong contractions, but due to the epidural, I couldn't feel a thing! Then things really took a turn for the worse..
At 12:15 pm, Cole's heart rate began to drop and my doctor was called in. I was still at only 2 cm and my doctor said it would take too long and be too hard on Cole to continue. So the pitocin was turned off and an anesthesiologist was called in to prep me for a c-section. Since my first IV was put in with a smaller than standard tubing, I had to have yet another IV put in! I wasn't sure how many attempts it was going to take, but luckily they decided to put it into a larger vein where my elbow bends, not a great placement for an IV, but after one attempt it was in. Thank goodness!
Soon after the anesthesiologist left, I got a horrible case of the shivers. I just couldn't stop shaking! This of course did not please my nurse who demanded that I relax. Relax? With my baby's heart rate dropping. Yeah right! At 1:10 pm Shane was told to wait in our room and I was wheeled to the OR. As they were pushing my bed through the door, the door got stuck on the arm of the bed. I tried to help them open the door since it was right next to me - big mistake! The nurse was NOT happy with me...
Then it was off to the operating room. I had never read the info about having a c-section in my What to Expect When Expecting book - what was I thinking! I had never had surgery before and the fact that I was going to be cut open while awake was pretty terrifying! Luckily Shane was finally able to come sit by my side. After the anesthesiologist asked for what seemed like the 20th time "Does this feel cold?" and I was finally able to say "no". Phew!
At 1:37 pm, Cole was tugged out of my belly! Even with the c-section, they had some trouble pulling Cole out and had to make the incision bigger and then use a vacuum. He was sure a big boy! Shane was watching as he was born and looked down at me with a huge smile and exclaimed "It's a boy!!!" The nurses quickly cleaned him off, checked him out, and placed into Shane's arms our little miracle. Shane placed him on my chest, but due to the drugs I had been given, I wasn't able to hold him just yet.
It was an amazing feeling to finally put a face to the little one who had been squirming around in my belly for such a long time. I felt like I barely had had a chance to look at him and they were whisking him (and Shane) away to the nursery while they finished stitching me up. Luckily the anesthesiologist soon gave me more drugs that knocked me out pretty good.
While in the nursery, the nurse did a thorough check of our little boy...
The next chunk of time is pretty much a blur. I remember waking up in what they call the recovery room with the nasty nurse. After lying there for what seemed like forever I finally asked her, "Where's my baby?" She said Shane and the baby were in the nursery and I'd have to wait for them while Cole was being checked out by the nurse. I waited a few more minutes, knowing she'd be getting irritated with me and then finally asked, "How long will they be?" She said I just needed to be patient and they'd be here soon. (Later I found out that Shane and Cole were being told they had to wait to see me since I was recovering from surgery.)
The wait was excruciating! I was just going to ask her again when the door opened and in Shane rolled a bassinet with our tiny boy inside! Then Shane placed our son in my arms for the very first time! He was so tiny and yet so big considering that 7 lbs of baby had just been pulled out of me!
Soon it was off to our new room to get settled in with our newest member of the family...
Cole is the perfect little angel - except for when it comes to eating and sleeping during the night! Neither of which he does happily. 
Since Cole had lost 9% of his birth weight, it was our job to get his weight back up. But how do you force a newborn to eat? It's not easy, especially with our Cole. Whether it's breastfeeding, cup feeding, finger feeding or bottle feeding, if he's done eating, he is DONE!
And he sure lets you know he's done eating by clamping his jaw shut and sucking in his bottom lip. There's no getting any food through there!!
We spent the next several days in our room attempting to get used to the eating and sleeping habits of a newborn. Not an easy task! Especially when I could barely move due to the surgery. Luckily the nurses we had from this point forward were fantastic! They were extremely helpful, kind and thoughtful. It was a wonderful change! My doctor and Cole's pediatrician were rock stars, checking in on us frequently and answering any and all questions that we had. We were definitely in good hands!After a couple days, Owen came to the hospital to meet his brother for the very first time. On his first visit when he saw his mama laying in the hospital bed, he broke out in tears. Poor little guy! So we quickly pulled out the toy truck from Cole to his big brother Owen. Owen quickly got over his sadness and got to work playing with his new toy. Owen wasn't sure what to think of Cole. At first he wasn't too interested in touching him, but preferred looking at him from a comfortable distance.
But then Pa asked Owen if he wanted to see Cole's feet and give them a tickle (or a "tic" as Owen says). And of course Owen just could not pass up the chance to tickle Cole's tiny feet...
What a good big brother our little O is!
Late Friday afternoon we were released from the hospital. My mom and brother brought Owen to the hospital so that we could head home as a family of 4! Cole got all dressed up in his sweater and corduroy pants for the ride home. He's such a tiny peanut that even the newborn size was too big for him...
We loaded him up in the car seat and off we headed as a family of four...
Since getting home, things have been, well... crazy! With an active toddler who these days barely sleeps and is always bouncing off the walls and with a newborn who wakes up every 2 to 3 hours wanting to eat, we barely have a minute to ourselves. Luckily my mom has been able to stay with us and take care of Owen as we figure out how to care for a newborn. She has been a lifesaver! And Owen has been a champ. He has been having so much fun with Grandma, it's going to hit him (and us!) hard when she leaves at the end of the month. I continue to feel better each day and look forward to being able to once again drive and carry Owen (per doctor's orders, I can't drive for 2 weeks or carry anything heavier than 15 pounds for 6 weeks!)
It has been quite the long road for our family the last several months, but now that Cole is finally here, we know just how lucky we are. God has blessed us with two wonderful boys. There is no doubt in our minds that miracles happen...just look at these faces...
No comments:
Post a Comment