This pregnancy started off rocky and ended with a bang! This was the roughest labor but easiest delivery of our 4 kids. My husband and I had waffled back and forth on our decision to induce 2 days prior to our due date. We were not inducing for medical reasons so much as to ensure the doctor we trusted would be the one to deliver our son. After how this delivery went though, we are beyond thankful that we listened to our doctor and allowed the early induction.
Delivery day:
We arrived at the hospital a few minutes late. We had taken our time and just enjoyed the drive. We laughed, talked, worried and tried to envision how the day would unfold. After check in it felt so chaotic and nothing like the calm feeling we had during the Professor's labor. They were sort of rushing to get us checked in and settled before the shift change. There were 2-4 nurses bustling around, attaching monitors and doing the iv and asking all those questions. Eventually we were settled and they came in around 7:45 to start the Pitocin. Almost immediately I began feeling small contractions. They were quite regular too. However, due to my anterior placenta they could not keep the baby on the monitor. Literally every 15 minutes or so the alarms would start going off and they'd spend another 5 minutes trying to get him on the monitor. At one point I had to shimmy myself into this very tight, very uncomfy band to try and keep the monitors extra tight. It worked.....a little. The alarms were going off only once every 30 minutes or so now.
The contractions continued and were getting more noticeable but when they checked me around 11:30 I was still only at a 3 and about 70% effaced. My husband and I started fretting and worrying that this little man just was not ready to arrive. Around 12:30 my doctor came in and broke my water. At that point she said "We have merconium." My heart sunk. I had never envisioned hearing that. Then she went on to say there was a lot of it. They were worried about what he may have been exposed to. They placed the internal monitor and my contractions picked up at a rapid pace. By 1 I was having trouble talking, or even thinking, through them. But I was hesitant to get the epidural since my progress had been so slow. However, I decided to go for it since typically my labors have gone quickly after my water has been broken. I got the epidural and it was a very easy one. Right afterwards a nurse comes rushing in and tells us that the doctor called and was not happy with the baby's heartrate on the monitor. I was put on oxygen and flipped to my left side. By this point I was in tears. I was scared and really worried about what would happen. Things seemed to settle down and we sent my sister-in-law after some lunch for my husband. We figured the baby would arrive by 4:30 or so and I wanted to make sure he did not pass out from lack of food. A few minutes til 3 the nurse came in and noticed I had the shakes. She cleared the room and did a cervical check Immediately she called the doctor. The nurse then calls in the teams and everything was moving so quickly. We were complete and ready to meet our little guy. At 3 the doctor zoomed in. We were introduced to the respiratory specialist and pediatrician who were standing by in case he had trouble breathing and we were briefed on the fact that he would be whisked away as soon as he was out. Around 3:05 I was told to push. At 3:07 he flew out! It was so fast we could barely process it. He was whisked away and they pumped 8 cc's of merconium from his belly. Thankfully he did not have any in his lungs. After he was pumped and breathing good (about 10 minutes) he was weighed and measured. He was exactly 9 pounds and exactly 21 inches. Then we finally got to hold him. He was so calm and sweet and we just fell in love with him. My husband and I enjoyed our skin to skin time and relished the calm after what had felt like a rocky labor. We brought in the siblings and introduced them. They all loved him but the Hippie was completely smitten by him. She seems to think he is her baby. The rest of the family got to meet him and hold him and love on him too.
Shortly after we thought we were calming down the pediatrician came in and informed us that in addition to the hole in his heart they were hearing a loud murmur and that we might have to get a transfer to the Children's Hospital. That was so terrifying. To make a long story short, there was no problem with his heart and we just follow up with his cardiologist in January. We did have to stay two nights due to his heart, merconium and having a higher birth weight. On Friday at lunch time my husband and the kids came and picked us up....in the middle of a huge snow storm.
Our little man certainly came into our lives with a bang! We are thrilled to have him here and are all falling in love with him more each day.
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