Before Baby Jake was born Chris and I had been preparing ourselves for a 'natural' birth. I had read a lot of books, we had taken a hypnobirthing class and we were practicing all the techniques we learned nearly everyday. I was trying to do everything right so we could get this little guy here with as little modern medicine as possible, however we still wanted the birth in a hospital just in case.
On the day of my 39 week doctor appointment, I did the usual sign in things. I peed in a cup and had my weight and blood pressure taken. I was really upset because the first thing I saw was that in one week I had gained FIVE POUNDS. How was that possible?! Then the doctor came in and said that he wanted to measure my blood pressure the old fashioned way because it was reading "kind of high." After he took it he tells me that my blood pressure is for sure on the high side and I had protein in my urine and I needed to go home and be "a couch potato." All fine except I had so many things I wanted to get done before the baby arrived. I made an appointment for a few days out and left the office and called Chris crying and he of course came home and decided that he would try to work from home as much as possible.
On my next appointment (April 11th) I made Chris come with me because I had a feeling as I was getting ready that morning that we were going to be having this baby that day. (they only had very early appointments left that short of notice so Chris and I had to wake up earlier than usual and of course I had gotten no sleep that night worrying about my doctors appointment the next day.) We went to the doctor and I peed in the cup measured my weight (which didn't change) and had my blood pressure measured. The doctor came in again and said that he wanted to check my blood pressure the old fashioned way because it was measuring high again. This time it was really high (151/95) and the protein in my urine was 5x worse than it was 3 days earlier. The doctor sat down and said:
"We need to have this baby today. You will need to leave here and get your things and go to the hospital. I will call ahead and let them know you are coming. When you get there we are going to have them run some more blood work to make sure that your liver is ok, if it comes back normal than we will induce you, however if it comes back abnormal, then we will have to do a c-section right away so there is no harm to you and the baby. You're not dilated and your not effaced and the baby hasn't dropped so if we do induce you it will probably be about a 20 hour labor."
Chris and I got to the car and I started bawling! I asked Chris if on our way home from the doctor we could stop by my parents and ask my dad to help Chris give me a blessing before we went to the hospital. We ran there then ran home and I grabbed the baby bag and my bag (which I fortunately had packed a few days before), we grabbed the dog and all her things and Chris threw together a bag while I tried to stuff my face before we were admitted into the hospital and couldn't eat. We dropped the dog off at daycare and told them that we would pick her up in a few days because it was "baby having time."
Part II: The Hospital
We got to the hospital and all checked in at 10am and then the nurses showed us our room and came in and got my blood for the tests. We heard back in a few minutes and they said that my liver results were normal and our doctor ordered that I be started. They gave Magnesium Sulfate, so that I wouldn't have seizures during my labor and Pitocin to start my labor, plus my regular IV bag. So that was all in one arm, and on the other arm, I had to be hooked up to a blood pressure monitor constantly so they could make sure my blood pressure didn't get worse. Then with the Pitocin I had to be hooked up to belly monitors to make sure that Jakey's heart rate was normal and my body was responding to the drugs. PLUS they kept having to give me anti-nausea medication through my IV's because the Mag was making me crazy sick. So I wasn't going ANYWHERE. I was pretty much strapped down. I was still trying for as much of a natural birth as I could and opted out of getting an epidural.
Chris and I were working on all of our techniques that we had learned but it was really hard for me to get relaxed because every 30 minutes the nurses would have to come in and check my blood pressure reading, Jake's heart monitor, my oxygen and reflexes because of all the drugs I was on. So every 30 minutes I would be disturbed for about 5-10 minutes and then Chris and I would have to start over again. At about 1am I couldn't take it anymore, I couldn't move and I couldn't get relaxed and all I wanted was for Chris to hold me because I was so tired and hungry and just couldn't keep it up anymore. I told Chris that I wanted the epidural after all and hopefully I would be able to get some sleep. The nurse came in and we told her that we wanted the drugs and she had a doctor come in right away and do it for me. It helped a little but then Jake's heart rate was doing weird things and I had to lay down in awkward positions to keep him active and be on oxygen so I wasn't able to get any sleep.
My doctor came in at about 5am and broke my water and that's when everyone realized that although I was progressing, Jake wasn't and was still really high in my pelvis and wasn't dropping. After a few hours of watching his heart rate (which was not indicating that he was labor, and looked more like he was sleeping) they checked me again and found that since Jake's head wasn't engaged with my cervix it was starting to swell and close back up. It was then that they decided that I was going to have to have a c-section after all (only 21 hours later).
Part III: The Birth
After the decision was made, they prepped me and wheeled me into the operating room at 8:00am. Chris was able to come in with me and hold me hand. I was fully awake, they just numbed the pain and all I could feel was "pressure." From what Chris said (since I couldn't see) the doctors were having a really hard time getting Jake out even with the c-section and one of the doctors ended up grabbing him by the leg and pulling him out that way. From my point of view it felt like a wrestler was body slamming me in the stomach, which wasn't the most pleasant feeling in the world.
He was born at 8:11am April 12th, 6lbs 13oz, 20 inches long.
Once they got Jake out I told Chris to stay with him because I didn't want Jake to be born and not know where he was and be scared, so I wanted Chris to stay with him and talk to him. After Chris left they stitched me up and wheeled me into a recovery room. Once in there my pain meds wore off and it felt like someone lit my stomach on fire. I was trying to tell the nurse but she just told me that my epidural was on its way from the pharmacy and should be there soon. The nurse left and I was by myself for a few minutes and I started to get really upset because I hadn't been able to meet my little baby yet, I hadn't even seen him and barely even got to hear him cry. So of course I started bawling, this is when Chris was in my room with me and was on the phone and a nurse in training was in the room. Chris got after the nurses and told them to get my pain meds now and once those were there he was off again to go check on the babe. After a few minutes they wheeled me into my postpartum room and I was really worried because they took me without Chris and I didn't know if he would be able to find me, but he did because he is amazing.
When I got to my room my new nurse was there waiting for me and she and the CNA were able to help me into my new bed and the nurse started to talk to me to make sure I knew what was going on. All she said was "I was told that you haven't been able to meet your baby yet." I immediately started to bawl again. It's not fair to go through all that not even be able to hold or see your little guy. Meanwhile Chris was running back and forth between the two of us to make sure that we were both ok and would take pictures of Jake and come back and show me.
This is when we realized the problems with Jake. Because I was on Magnesium for so long it was passed to him and when he came out he was extremely lethargic in the pictures he is just flopped and has no control of his limbs. When he was born he scored a 1 on the APGAR test because he didn't have any vitals. He then started to breathe and 5 minutes later scored a 6. He was in the transition care for a long time while they were trying to decide if he needed to go to the NICU because his blood glucose was so low, and they wanted to give him an IV, but to get an IV he had to be in the NICU. Chris and I then decided that for his best health that we should have him go to the NICU and get the help that he needed, however this meant that it would be even longer before I got to meet him, because he wouldn't be able to come to me, I would have to go to him, and I wasn't allowed to go see him until I had feeling back in my legs and was able to get into a wheelchair. Once they got him in the NICU they got him an IV (in the top of his head) and put him on oxygen. I finally got to meet Jake at 4:00pm that afternoon.
The first time I met Jake
After that we dealt with trying to get his blood glucose high enough to get the IV out of his head and his oxygen high enough to get the tubes out of his nose for the next 4 days while we were at the hospital. By the end of our stay he was able to get off the IV but was back on oxygen and they decided to let us take him home on oxygen, so Chris and I had to take an infant CPR class and take a training on the devices we were given. We finally got to have him to ourselves after 4 whole days of drama! It was the best day ever!!
Going home outfit. The picture is dark because it's during "quiet time" in the NICU
Even though Chris and I got the exact opposite of everything that we had originally planned, I am so incredibly grateful we got such a perfect little boy. I can't believe that his little guy is mine! I am so grateful for the plan of salvation and not only do I get to spend all of my earthly life with him but I get to spend eternity with him.
First picture at his new home!
