Baby A's Birth Story

Let me preface with saying this is (once again) a long birth story. I just can't help myself!


Read at your leisure and peril (may contain TMI).



The Birth

At 12:01 am, Friday, April 23rd (2010), I woke up to Baby R creeping into my room. I decided to make a bathroom trip and then put him back in his bed (thank you Supernanny!). As I sat down, I felt a pop and I immediately knew my water was broken.


My first thought was, "Damn you [insert ST's name]!" My ST was in Chicago last week for training/business trip. We'd talked about the possibility of me going into labor and how we (meaning me!) would manage that.


As I'm trying to decide how to proceed, Baby R insists that I get up b/c he has to use the toilet. Um, okay...and you won't believe this, but I did relinquish the throne to my son. Please note that I did this under duress b/c I didn't want to clean up his mess :)


So, I managed to get dressed, call my ST, and send out a frantic text msg to all friends in the area. I figured if one of them could watch my kids I could drive myself to the hospital.

No one answered my call, so I decided to call a neighbor directly. She answered and said she and her husband would be over soon. Thanks V!


V watched my babies while her husband took me to the hospital. Keep in mind that Baby R was out of his mind at this point and kept saying, "No, Mommy! You can't leave until Daddy gets here!" Traumatic moment for all involved.


I got to the hospital, and by this time my contractions were about 3 mins apart. The OB on call, Dr. B, decided that we would go ahead with a c-section and not wait for my ST to arrive. She did however, allow me to put my cell on speakerphone so my ST could hear everything during the delivery. Alternately a good and bad idea!


As they wheeled me in to surgery, I peppered them with all the details of my first two births. I was scared shi*tless that the spinal wouldn't work. The ane and his assistant were very nice and everyone kept saying, "We won't cut you until we are sure you are numb. We promise!"


At one point, I think I became a true nutcase and screamed, "Please, I'm begging you. Just knock me out. I can't do this!" I laugh about this now, but at the time I was freaking out. I couldn't believe I was doing this alone and w/o my ST. Plus, I thought I'd have 4 more days until our scheduled c-section. WTF!


After they and I were assured that I was numb, the surgery began. It lasted much longer than my other two, and I will forever be appreciative to the nurse who held my hand and kept updating me with details of the surgery. She was great and later on I was able to tell her so.


When they pulled down the curtain and showed me BabyA, I was so excited. He was perfect! And he looked right at me.




They cleaned him up and brought him next to my head. He was a little fussy but immediately quieted as I spoke to him. This is a baby after my heart. My other two were definitely daddy's boys. This baby responds to my voice and touch and makes my heart melt.


He was 8 lbs 6 0z, and 20 3/4 inches long.


Eventually hubby had to get off the phone and they finished the surgery. One of the weirdest sounds you will hear in the operating room - the sound of the air-powered stapler used to close you up. See, I told you TMI.


My ST arrived @ 3:30AM, and was able to join me in the recovery room. We then moved to my hospital room and cuddled with our new baby. We also looked at each other and said, "Uh, what do we name him???"


On Sunday afternoon, Baby A and I were able to go home. However, before going home I told the doctor on-call and the nurses that my incision didn't look or feel right. It just looked completely different from my previous two. And I was in a lot more pain than before. They all assured me that this was normal. Ha!


Quick note to say that both boys immediately loved Baby A. They hugged and kissed him and wouldn't stop touching him. So thankful that my big boys are so loving!


Tuesday
Took Baby A to the hospital to have his bilirubin levels checked. They were a little high prior to checking out, so we were checking again.


I also made an appt with Dr. OB to get his opinion on my incision. He immediately ripped off the tape holding my incision together (staples were removed prior to leaving the hospital) and started poking around. He said my incision wasn't healing the way it should; I was healing from the outside-in vs. inside-out. Apparently, this is a big no-no and would never heal if I didn't take care of it. That means that every day for the next two weeks (or more) my ST needs to "dress" my incision...twice a day.

I cannot tell you how disturbing this is for me. I HATE IT!!!!!


Enough said on that.

Tuesday 5:30 PM
Received a phone call from the lab @ the hospital. Baby A's bili levels were at 19.5. He was considered high-risk at this point and we were told to get to the hospital immediately.


Baby R started crying. I think he was a little traumatized by everything and really just needed us to get back to our routine. Luckily, our friends from Chicago were there to watch the boys. They arrived the day of Baby A's birth and stepped in to save the day!


So, from Tuesday night until Thursday night we were in the hospital with Baby A. They put him under 4 phototherapy lights and over the course of those three days we were able to get his levels down to 10.4 before leaving the hospital.


We go back on Saturday to check his levels but everything should be good-to-go.


At this point, I'm just glad to be home. I hope this stupid incision heals soon, and I'm ready to be a family of five :)


Now...what do I make for dinner tonight?

Cardio update & Baby R's Birth Story

G/morning!

Update on cardio appt - Yesterday, Dr. Cardio's office called to let me know my results:

• Echocardiogram - clean! Yeah!
• Heart monitor results - my heart rate recorded 140 bpm. This is "cause for concern" but not "alarming." Please note that I'm using the nurse's words. Apparently, 150 is when they become alarmed.

Basically, she said they would be putting me on some meds, but since I'm due to give birth next Tuesday they are going to hold off. Works for me!

Okay, since I'm getting closer to Baby #3s arrival, I wanted to share birth stories of my first two babies.

CAUTION: The following post may contain TMI. Plus, it is a really, really, really long story. I wanted to give all the details though :)

Baby R's Birth Story
In November of 2006, I woke up @7AM; four days prior to my due date. I woke up to a feeling that my water was breaking. I had my sweet-tart (hereby to be referred to as ST) push me out of bed (literally) and confirmed that I was in labor.

ST was so excited. He ran around, getting my bag ready, getting dressed, and telling me to get out of the bathroom! I was so afraid to stand up from the toilet. My water was just gushing out...I had no idea what to do. Ugh!

After dressing, we got in the car and drove the 5 mins to the hospital. Labor & Delivery confirmed that my water had broken (litmus test) and we were put into our private room. This is the room where we would deliver and also where we would stay for the duration of our hosp visit.

Right around 8AM, my contractions started and were pretty consistent. The doc put me on pitocin to ensure that I would deliver the baby before he left for the day @5PM. Gotta love docs!

The pitocin made things so much more intense. Plus, my ST decided to start joking around and talking during my contractions. Apparently, this was a no-no for me. No talking during contractions! I was basically hateful. At one point, during a really bad contraction, my ST was trying to talk and be funny and the nurse looked at him and said, "I think your wife said you needed to be quiet." Awesome!

Around 11AM, I received an epidural (dilated at 4cm). It took them 3 tries to get the epidural in (first time hit a nerve, 2nd time hit a blood vessel). My ST has this on video. I can barely watch it.

I was feeling great from 11AM until around 2PM. I also ate 10 popsicles during this time (cherry and banana - big mistake considering how sick I felt from them later).

That's when the epidural basically wore off. From 2PM until 4PM, I basically thought Baby R had taken a wrong turn somewhere and decided to come out of my behind :) I know, TMI!!!!

Around 4PM, I started pushing. I pushed until around 5:30 and then Baby R's heart rate started to drop dramatically. The doc decided that I needed a c-section to get the baby out, and I was whisked off to surgery; after signing about a million forms.

Keep in mind that during this time, every time I had a contraction, I was pulling my knees up to my chest and pushing on my own. It just made me feel better.

When they wheeled me into the surgery room, they tied my legs down. I was screaming b/c the contractions were awful and I was basically tied down (by then, my arms were also tied down).

I remember a flurry of activity and the anesthesiologist introducing himself. Then, I remember crazy, crazy pain. The kind where I truly felt myself leave my body. It was as if my brain couldn't handle the pain and I just needed to get away from it. They were cutting into my abdomen. I heard the anestesiologist say, "Is this really necessary?"

I was telling them where I was hurting and then they held up Baby R. He was all black eyes, and pink hands and feet...and screaming. So beautiful! I wanted to hold him, I wanted to count his fingers and toes, everything.

Then, I don't remember anything until I woke up in recovery. My throat was sore and I wanted a drink of water or an ice chip. They told me I couldn't have anything in recovery and I'd need to wait until I got back to my room.

When, they wheeled me back to my room I kept asking my ST, "Why weren't you in the room? Where's the baby?"

He said that they didn't let him in b/c I was screaming and they couldn't get my pain under control. Apparently, they are worried that the husbands will go beserk when their wives are like this during the surgery. Poor ST!

My friend, EE, was there when they brought Baby R in. She'd been watching him for me in the nursery b/c I had a phobia about someone stealing him. I have the best girlfriends.

When I met this little boy, he was so adorable. He started nursing right away and I just fell in love with him. My ST and I fell in love instantly :)

The next morning, the anesthesiologist came in to check on me. I asked him what happened, and he said that b/c they had to take the baby so quickly (it went from urgent to an emergency c-section b/c of Baby R's continued heart rate decrease) they didn't have time to ensure that I would be numb. When I was screaming they decided to give me a sedative to knock me out.

So, there ya have it. Baby R's birth story. Lots of details and TMI...but so glad I recorded it. I don't think I've ever given anyone all of these details.