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"Children are a gift from the Lord;
they are a reward from Him" (Psalm 127:3)
Now that Eli is a week old, I thought it was time for me to write out his birth story before I forget some of the details. I am pretty sure labor started on Wednesday, September 24th during the day. I had some minor cramping throughout the day but I never thought it was the start of labor. I kept telling myself it was just the baby dropping, because it felt uncomfortable but not like pain in any way. Jered got home from work on Weds. and we ate dinner and took the dogs on a walk. After we got back from dinner the low pains started to pick up a bit more, but I still did not think it was the beginning of labor.
We probably went to bed around 10:00 pm on Weds. and I remember telling Jered as I got into bed that I was worried that I was not going to get any sleep because of this pain I was having - ha! Well, needless to say I did not sleep at all Weds. night. At first I was walking up every hour because of the pain and the need to go to the bathroom. As the night progressed the pain started to come more often. By the time the contractions were 8-9 minutes apart I new that I was in labor. This was probably around 3:30 - 4:00 a.m.
I decided to let Jered sleep, because I knew that I would need him to be well rested to help me get through the rest of the day. So I walked around the house, and decided to take a shower. Things picked up as I was in the shower and so I then decided I should take a bath - at 5:00 a.m. in the morning! The warm water was very soothing, but by this point I was super uncomfortable sitting or laying down. When I got out of the tub I told Jered that he had to get up (it was 6:00 a.m. at this point) and so he took a shower, walked the dogs and then started to pack everything up to put in the car.
I was in pain at this point. They tell you in childbirth class that contractions should be 5 minutes apart and 30-45 seconds in long before you go to Labor & Delivery. Well mine were never like that, they were more like 2-3 minutes apart and 20-30 seconds long, but they were nasty! They came on so strong that I was forced to do that crazy breathing that I thought I would never do. So at 8:00 am Jered called my doctor's office and they told us to go on to the hospital.
At this point I was terrified of getting in the car. I knew that sitting in the car while I had contractions was going to be absolute hell...and I was right! We had to drive about 20 minutes to the vet to drop off the dogs at the kennel. (Side note - I had made reservations for the dogs to be boarded 9/25-9/27 just because 9/25 was my due date and thank God it all worked out). While Jered took the dogs inside to be dropped off, I was leaning on the car in the parking lot in agony. One of the vet techs came up to me and asked if I was okay, and I explained to her I was in labor. She felt so bad that she went inside and helped Jered expedite the drop off.
The 15 minute ride from the vet to the hospital was so bad because now the labor pains were in my lower back and so intense. I told Jered just to park in the structure and that I would walk into the hospital (instead of him dropping me off at the door) because I wanted to walk to help move things along. I was so afraid that I would get to the hospital and only be like 2 cm dilated or something and that they would send me home. The pain was so bad that I was panicking that I did not know what I would do if they did not admit me.
We got to the 3rd floor Labor & Delivery unit and immediately went to Triage. When I told the nurses to please admit me and not send me home, they were saying they were pretty sure they wouldn't because they could tell how much pain I was in. I quickly left a urine sample, put on a gown and they Dr. Cook (the doctor on call) checked me. I told her to "Shut up!" when she said I was 5 cm dilated and 100% effaced; I could not even belief it!! While she was checking me my water broke and that's when things started to get interesting.
Immediately after my water broke Eli's heart rate dropped from about 145 to around 90. Dr. Cook had to insert her hand inside of me and rub his head to keep the rate from going any lower. All of the sudden there were approximately 10 nurses/medical staff around me in triage and they told me to get on all fours. They immediately put in an I.V., took blood, etc. I heard someone say "emergency c-section" and then the next thing I know a man is asking me to see my teeth because they are going to have to put me under general anesthesia to immediately get the baby out. I was freaking out and pleading with them not to put me to sleep. When he told me that they had to in order to save my baby I think I went into shock.
The next thing I know they are running down the hallway with me on the stretcher to the operating room. As soon as we got to the operating room Dr. Marichal (my OB) was there. He wasn't on call, but when we found out about Eli's FH I had asked him if he would deliver me even if he was not on call. Thank God for him, because when he got there he took over rubbing the baby's head and called out to everyone in the operating room to hold off on the general anesthesia because the heart rate was stabilizing. During this time I am being pocked and prodded and asked to sign a million consent forms. Jered is not allowed in and I am terrified. Keep in mind that I am still having severe contractions with NO PAIN MEDICATION!!!
Finally, my doctor made the call to go ahead and insert the epidural; I was 9 cm dilated when they did this. After the epidural was inserted I could still pressure and move my legs but the pain was gone. I was immediately 10 cm dilated after the epidural took effect. Dr. Marichal told me that he was going to give me a chance to push the baby out, but that I had to do it fast. I gave two pushes with all that I had and got the baby past my tail bone, but then his heart rate dropped again. Dr. Marichal gave the call that they were going to do the c-section.
As they were prepping me for surgery I was still in complete shock. I was so worried that I was going to feel them cut me because I could still move my legs. The nurse anesthetist gave me more medication and my legs were completely numb. After they made the first incision Jered was allowed to come in and sit on the right side of my head. It was such a relief to finally see him. It seemed like it took them maybe 5 minutes to get Eli out. He was born at 10:26 a.m. (remember we got to the hospital at 9:00 a.m.). Dr. Marichal announced that he was a boy and that his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck tightly two times - the reason for the drop in his heart rate!
He didn't cry at first and they didn't show him to me over the curtain (I see them do that a lot on birthing shows on TV). Jered went over to him and I started to panic. I must have said something and Dr. Marichal reassured me that he was okay and that he looked really good. At some point too Dr. Marichal said that his right leg looked good and that you could hardly even notice that something was wrong.
Here's were things get really foggy - I think Jered then came back to me and told me that Eli was okay, but just having some trouble breathing. I think I had heard Eli cry before this point, but when Jered was back by me we both heard him cry and it was the most amazing thing I have ever heard. I think I asked Jered if he had four toes on his right foot and Jered told me yes, but that it looked really good. A sweet nurse came to hold my hand I started to lose it. I asked her about Eli's hands and his left leg and she said would go check and let me know. She came back and told me they looked fine.
Jered left and came back holding our son. I could barely see him and desperately wanted to hold my baby, so the nurse anesthetist told Jered to lay him by my chin. He got to be there for 5 seconds and I gave him a quick kiss before Jered quickly left to go with him to the nursery. It seemed like forever for the doctors to close my incision, but it is all really blurry at this point. I think I was in my recovery room by 11:30 a.m.or so and Jered got to my room about two hours after I had gotten there.
He told me that Eli had to be taken to the NICU and put underneath an oxygen tent because he was having trouble breathing. I was devastate. Shortly after Jered got there the NICU doctor, Dr. Morris came in to talk to us about Eli. He said that he was doing good and that because of the c-section and the cord being wrapped around his neck so tightly he had a lot of fluid in his lungs and that was what was making it hard for him to breathe. He said that they did a chest x-ray and that Eli's heart and lungs looked great. He said they were doing some blood work to rule out pnemonia and that he would probably be in the NICU until Friday. I lost it at this point. After everything we had been through, now I couldn't see or hold my baby until tomorrow - are you kidding me?
At around 5pm I was well enough to get in a wheel chair and Jered and a nurse took me to the NICU to see my baby. When we got there he was no longer underneath the oxygen tent and the nurse was getting ready to give him a bath!!! I got to hold him for the first time and then Jered helped the nurse give him a bath. I tried to feed him for the first time right in the middle of the NICU and then we were able to take him back to my hospital room. He stayed with us that night and has been with us ever since :)
He was circumcised and given his Hep B vaccine Friday morning, so due to a very traumatic first two days of life he didn't really eat for the first 48 hours of life. Things are going really well now, but he lost a lot of weight and so now we are just feeding like crazy hoping he gains back his birth weight by the time he is two weeks old.
Dr. Marichal told me that he was very happy with his decision to do the c-section. He said that I could have totally delivered vaginally, but seeing how tight the cord was around Eli's neck, he said it would have been very bad for the baby. He said we are so lucky that we got to the hospital before my water broke. If my water had broken at home or in the car, he is certain the results would have been tragic.
I am still a bit in shock as to how Eli was born. Flashes of it will come to me and I'll just break down thinking about how our story could have really had a terrible ending. Words cannot describe how thankful we are that he is here and is healthy and perfect. A friend at work gave me a quilted sign that says, "Elijah - Blessed by Angels" and it couldn't be more true.
We probably went to bed around 10:00 pm on Weds. and I remember telling Jered as I got into bed that I was worried that I was not going to get any sleep because of this pain I was having - ha! Well, needless to say I did not sleep at all Weds. night. At first I was walking up every hour because of the pain and the need to go to the bathroom. As the night progressed the pain started to come more often. By the time the contractions were 8-9 minutes apart I new that I was in labor. This was probably around 3:30 - 4:00 a.m.
I decided to let Jered sleep, because I knew that I would need him to be well rested to help me get through the rest of the day. So I walked around the house, and decided to take a shower. Things picked up as I was in the shower and so I then decided I should take a bath - at 5:00 a.m. in the morning! The warm water was very soothing, but by this point I was super uncomfortable sitting or laying down. When I got out of the tub I told Jered that he had to get up (it was 6:00 a.m. at this point) and so he took a shower, walked the dogs and then started to pack everything up to put in the car.
I was in pain at this point. They tell you in childbirth class that contractions should be 5 minutes apart and 30-45 seconds in long before you go to Labor & Delivery. Well mine were never like that, they were more like 2-3 minutes apart and 20-30 seconds long, but they were nasty! They came on so strong that I was forced to do that crazy breathing that I thought I would never do. So at 8:00 am Jered called my doctor's office and they told us to go on to the hospital.
At this point I was terrified of getting in the car. I knew that sitting in the car while I had contractions was going to be absolute hell...and I was right! We had to drive about 20 minutes to the vet to drop off the dogs at the kennel. (Side note - I had made reservations for the dogs to be boarded 9/25-9/27 just because 9/25 was my due date and thank God it all worked out). While Jered took the dogs inside to be dropped off, I was leaning on the car in the parking lot in agony. One of the vet techs came up to me and asked if I was okay, and I explained to her I was in labor. She felt so bad that she went inside and helped Jered expedite the drop off.
The 15 minute ride from the vet to the hospital was so bad because now the labor pains were in my lower back and so intense. I told Jered just to park in the structure and that I would walk into the hospital (instead of him dropping me off at the door) because I wanted to walk to help move things along. I was so afraid that I would get to the hospital and only be like 2 cm dilated or something and that they would send me home. The pain was so bad that I was panicking that I did not know what I would do if they did not admit me.
We got to the 3rd floor Labor & Delivery unit and immediately went to Triage. When I told the nurses to please admit me and not send me home, they were saying they were pretty sure they wouldn't because they could tell how much pain I was in. I quickly left a urine sample, put on a gown and they Dr. Cook (the doctor on call) checked me. I told her to "Shut up!" when she said I was 5 cm dilated and 100% effaced; I could not even belief it!! While she was checking me my water broke and that's when things started to get interesting.
Immediately after my water broke Eli's heart rate dropped from about 145 to around 90. Dr. Cook had to insert her hand inside of me and rub his head to keep the rate from going any lower. All of the sudden there were approximately 10 nurses/medical staff around me in triage and they told me to get on all fours. They immediately put in an I.V., took blood, etc. I heard someone say "emergency c-section" and then the next thing I know a man is asking me to see my teeth because they are going to have to put me under general anesthesia to immediately get the baby out. I was freaking out and pleading with them not to put me to sleep. When he told me that they had to in order to save my baby I think I went into shock.
The next thing I know they are running down the hallway with me on the stretcher to the operating room. As soon as we got to the operating room Dr. Marichal (my OB) was there. He wasn't on call, but when we found out about Eli's FH I had asked him if he would deliver me even if he was not on call. Thank God for him, because when he got there he took over rubbing the baby's head and called out to everyone in the operating room to hold off on the general anesthesia because the heart rate was stabilizing. During this time I am being pocked and prodded and asked to sign a million consent forms. Jered is not allowed in and I am terrified. Keep in mind that I am still having severe contractions with NO PAIN MEDICATION!!!
Finally, my doctor made the call to go ahead and insert the epidural; I was 9 cm dilated when they did this. After the epidural was inserted I could still pressure and move my legs but the pain was gone. I was immediately 10 cm dilated after the epidural took effect. Dr. Marichal told me that he was going to give me a chance to push the baby out, but that I had to do it fast. I gave two pushes with all that I had and got the baby past my tail bone, but then his heart rate dropped again. Dr. Marichal gave the call that they were going to do the c-section.
As they were prepping me for surgery I was still in complete shock. I was so worried that I was going to feel them cut me because I could still move my legs. The nurse anesthetist gave me more medication and my legs were completely numb. After they made the first incision Jered was allowed to come in and sit on the right side of my head. It was such a relief to finally see him. It seemed like it took them maybe 5 minutes to get Eli out. He was born at 10:26 a.m. (remember we got to the hospital at 9:00 a.m.). Dr. Marichal announced that he was a boy and that his umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck tightly two times - the reason for the drop in his heart rate!
He didn't cry at first and they didn't show him to me over the curtain (I see them do that a lot on birthing shows on TV). Jered went over to him and I started to panic. I must have said something and Dr. Marichal reassured me that he was okay and that he looked really good. At some point too Dr. Marichal said that his right leg looked good and that you could hardly even notice that something was wrong.
Here's were things get really foggy - I think Jered then came back to me and told me that Eli was okay, but just having some trouble breathing. I think I had heard Eli cry before this point, but when Jered was back by me we both heard him cry and it was the most amazing thing I have ever heard. I think I asked Jered if he had four toes on his right foot and Jered told me yes, but that it looked really good. A sweet nurse came to hold my hand I started to lose it. I asked her about Eli's hands and his left leg and she said would go check and let me know. She came back and told me they looked fine.
Jered left and came back holding our son. I could barely see him and desperately wanted to hold my baby, so the nurse anesthetist told Jered to lay him by my chin. He got to be there for 5 seconds and I gave him a quick kiss before Jered quickly left to go with him to the nursery. It seemed like forever for the doctors to close my incision, but it is all really blurry at this point. I think I was in my recovery room by 11:30 a.m.or so and Jered got to my room about two hours after I had gotten there.
He told me that Eli had to be taken to the NICU and put underneath an oxygen tent because he was having trouble breathing. I was devastate. Shortly after Jered got there the NICU doctor, Dr. Morris came in to talk to us about Eli. He said that he was doing good and that because of the c-section and the cord being wrapped around his neck so tightly he had a lot of fluid in his lungs and that was what was making it hard for him to breathe. He said that they did a chest x-ray and that Eli's heart and lungs looked great. He said they were doing some blood work to rule out pnemonia and that he would probably be in the NICU until Friday. I lost it at this point. After everything we had been through, now I couldn't see or hold my baby until tomorrow - are you kidding me?
At around 5pm I was well enough to get in a wheel chair and Jered and a nurse took me to the NICU to see my baby. When we got there he was no longer underneath the oxygen tent and the nurse was getting ready to give him a bath!!! I got to hold him for the first time and then Jered helped the nurse give him a bath. I tried to feed him for the first time right in the middle of the NICU and then we were able to take him back to my hospital room. He stayed with us that night and has been with us ever since :)
He was circumcised and given his Hep B vaccine Friday morning, so due to a very traumatic first two days of life he didn't really eat for the first 48 hours of life. Things are going really well now, but he lost a lot of weight and so now we are just feeding like crazy hoping he gains back his birth weight by the time he is two weeks old.
Dr. Marichal told me that he was very happy with his decision to do the c-section. He said that I could have totally delivered vaginally, but seeing how tight the cord was around Eli's neck, he said it would have been very bad for the baby. He said we are so lucky that we got to the hospital before my water broke. If my water had broken at home or in the car, he is certain the results would have been tragic.
I am still a bit in shock as to how Eli was born. Flashes of it will come to me and I'll just break down thinking about how our story could have really had a terrible ending. Words cannot describe how thankful we are that he is here and is healthy and perfect. A friend at work gave me a quilted sign that says, "Elijah - Blessed by Angels" and it couldn't be more true.
WOW!It is amazing how everything happens when it needs to (most of the time) Praise God for the staff at the hospital and their quick response to the situation. What a blessing Eli is. I am interested in your ortho appointment, see all that worrying Kristina:),
ReplyDeleteLady, you made me cry.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy for you.
Your son is a little angel
Besos a Jeredsito
Wow Kristina it sounds like a scene out of ER(my favourite TV show!) C sections are scary at the best of times let alone an emergency one. I am so pleased that Eli has arrived safely and that you are both at home. Make sure you rest and enjoy your baby!
ReplyDelete