When the nurse checked me Saturday morning, I had dilated to about a 1. In my mind, that didn't sound like a lot of progress. My dad arrived at the hospital quite early to see how things were going. Soon after he arrived, Linda, Jen, and Missy came back. They brought Mike something to eat, which was really nice. I was only allowed a "liquids" diet, which consisted of one slice of toast, juice, jello, broth, and a Popsicle.
When the doctor came in mid-morning to check on me, he said I was dilated to 2. That was a little progress, but he said delivery was still a ways off. The nursing staff kept the pain somewhat under control by continuing to give me the Nubane. This made me extremely drowsy and I was able to rest some.
We got quite a shock at one point mid-morning when the doctor came in and said due to the large number of people being admitted into Labor and Delivery, they might need to transfer us to the Alexandria or Fargo hospital! Talk about a pregnant lady panicking!! I was about to have a baby and now they want to move me to another hospital!!!!! Well, as the afternoon went on, a couple of the other ladies had their babies, which cleared out some room in labor and delivery and this allowed me to stay!! Thank goodness for that!
At 1:00 the doctor came back in and said he was going to break my water. I was super scared of this, because I heard that this procedure was painful. It actually wasn't too bad. Awkward, but not overly painful. After doing this, he also noted that due to the chance of infection, after the breaking of the water, delivery would have to be within 12 hours. This was the first time we got somewhat of a timetable.
Later that afternoon, the nurse and doctor said that once I was dilated to 4, I could have an epidural. I came into the hospital with an open mind--not necessarily knowing if I would request an epidural or not. Well, call me a wimp if you must, but YES--I wanted one and felt like I NEEDED one!! However, it took what seemed like FOREVER to get to that magic number 4! Around 4:00, it happened--I reached the "4" and they called the anesthesiologist to come in! When thinking of the entire labor, I definitely feel like that time right around the epidural was the most painful. I had to sit SO still while he was putting it in, but THAT is extremely hard to do when you are in such pain. Mike also had to leave the room for this procedure, so that made it even worse. Anyways, once he got the epidural working, within ten minutes, I was feeling relief and it was WONDERFUL!! I could actually rest in comfort and I don't regret getting that epidural one bit. It is definitely a strange feeling. The best way to describe it was like your foot fell asleep---only it wasn't just your foot--it was your entire lower half of the body. I could still move my legs, but they were tingly and numb. After placing the epidural, the nurse said that we could no longer have visitors. She requested that I slept, because I would need all my strength for pushing. That is exactly what I did. I slept until about 8:00.
Around that time, they checked my dilation again and I was not progressing at the pace they were looking for; therefore, the nurse gave me some Pitocin. This was supposed to speed up contractions and increase dilation. Thankfully, I couldn't feel these contractions and continued to rest. Around 8:30, the doctor came in again to check on me. At this point, I had spiked a small temperature, so they were giving me antibiotics to combat the temperature. My dilation did not increase and my contractions had slowed down and were next to nothing. In addition to this, Baby's heart rate had also increased. They didn't want to see the heart rate above 160 and his heart rate was right around that number. Taking into account all of these things and the fact that we had been in the hospital for nearly 24 hours, the doctor suggested c-section. He said it was not an emergency and we could wait to see what happened over the next few hours, but he didn't believe much would change.
There was really no hesitation for us--we wanted to be done and have this baby. We agreed right away to the c-section and for the first time since we were admitted, things finally seemed to progress quickly. The first thing the doctor did was explain the risks of c-section. Talk about terrifying me--he began by saying, "the most serious risk, much like any surgery, is death!!" Yep, the tears started flowing at that point!! I'm very thankful for the work Dr. Pettit did, but he is a very blunt doctor and his bedside manor just isn't like what I saw with Dr. Norgard. Within the half hour, they had me prepped for surgery. Funny side note--since Mike would be in the operating room with me, he had to be wearing surgical scrubs...well, there must not be too many 2XL doctors in Fergus, because they had some difficulties finding scrubs for him to wear. They manged to put a couple different ones together and it worked out.
By 9:00 I was being wheeled into the operating room. I knew this was for the best and I was SO ready to get my baby out, but I was SO scared. I had never had a surgery before! To make things worse, Mike had to wait outside until they were ready to the begin the operation. All I can say is thank goodness for the anesthesiologist. When everything else and everyone else seemed to be chaotically running around me and prepping for surgery, he was the one who explained everything that was happening. He was extremely comforting and I am so thankful that he was there. Mike got to come back in as they were making the first incision. I'm amazed how quickly the doctor worked. I'm also amazed that I really couldn't feel a thing (thankfully)!! All I felt was some tugging and pressure.
The doctors and nurses were talking throughout the operation, but I remember one thing in particular that the doctor said..."we have a baby in here!" He also said something like, "he's a big guy!" Apparently he was so tucked in my tummy that they actually had to use the vacuum tool to help him out. I had no idea they used those with c-sections, but apparently they do.
Soon after those statements, I heard what I had been waiting to hear for nine months--the crying of our son! They immediately showed him to us and then brought him over to the little cart to get him cleaned off, weighed, etc. Moments later, they brought him back over and Mike got to hold him and I got to touch him. There is no way to possibly explain that moment. My baby was here and healthy! The tears flowed and suddenly the nine months of pregnancy and labor ickiness and discomfort melted away. Riley Alexander was beautiful and I was SO thankful! Riley was born at 9:30 p.m. weighing 9 lbs 5 oz and 23 inches long! He was HEALTHY!
After giving us a few minutes to admire our baby, they said that Mike would go with Riley and the nurses to the nursery while the doctors finished sewing me back up. I would have to be in recovery for about an hour. I didn't like this part, because I wanted to be with my baby and I hated to be left alone without Mike there, but I was happy that Mike could go with Riley. Of course I gave him strict instructions---TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES!!!! Mike wasn't the only one there to see Riley get his first bath, etc. I didn't know at the time, but many of our family members were there to witness his first minutes of life as well!
While the doctors were putting me back together, the anesthesiologist asked if I wanted some morphine for the pain after the epidural wore off. My gut reaction was NO, because I remember my mom saying how awful morphine was when she got her thyroid removed. The doctor said that most people have it and that the side effects were nausea and itching. Well, at the time I wasn't overly concerned about itching, but I definitely didn't want to be puking. However, after more explanation, I agreed, so he gave me some morphine through the epidural line. Later that night, I regretted this decision....I didn't have nausea, but I certainly had the itching and it was NOT fun.
After spending some time in recovery, finally the nurse said that I was able to go back to my room and see my baby! As they wheeled me out of the elevator, the first person I saw was Maggie! I had no idea how many family members were still at the hospital, but knowing our tight knit family, I assumed most of the family was there! The nurse pulled my bed up to the nursery window so I could see little Riley! Again, I was nothing short of amazed.
Next, I saw several of my family members coming down the hall--Dad, Dick, Linda, Jen, Kyle, Maggie, Madalyn, Missy, Oath, Baby, and Tracey were all there. They were asked to stay in the waiting room until I had a chance to hold my baby in my room. Moments after I got into my room, they brought Riley in and I was able to hold him for the very first time! I always heard that you fall in love with your baby immediately--well, it's true! Instantaneously I was SO in love and SO happy to be a mommy! He was a miracle and I was so thankful that God had given me such a precious gift!
Within a few minutes, our family began coming in a few at a time. The nurse noted that the visits should be short. Everyone was so happy and excited that Riley was finally here with us!
After briefly visiting with everyone, our visitors left and the nurse suggested to take Riley back to the nursery so we could get some much needed rest. I didn't want to let my baby go, BUT I definitely needed rest. It had been a LONG, LONG 24 hours. I can't say that I got much rest that night. That morphine side effect of itching struck me hard!! I could not sleep, because I was so unbelievably itchy! Around 3 a.m., the nurse gave me some Benedryl to help with the itching, but it didn't help much at all. Around 6 a.m. she gave me some Nubane and that did help the itching and made me sleep for about 3 hours.
Even though I didn't get much rest, I was very ready to start our first day with little Riley Alexander--my precious baby boy!
No comments:
Post a Comment