Monday, August 15, 2011
Saturday, August 13, 2011
NICU Day #3: June 17th, 2011
Our little boy had finally picked up on the whole eating thing! Thank goodness! Not only had he picked up on it, but he took it very seriously! If his eyes were open, he made sure we knew that he wanted food in his belly! Even though Wes started off having obstacles, we were amazed at how fast he overcame each one. Chad would laugh at me, because anytime the slightest thing went wrong, I would be hysterical over it and then an hour later Wes had figured it out. You can call me a crazy mom, I know I am and I don't think I will stop being one anytime soon...or ever!
After cleaning up, Chad and I got to the NICU and I was so happy to see that Wes had the sweetest nurse EVER! Jill is such a wonderful nurse and her smiling face is just what this mommy needed to brighten her day! Jill gave us the wonderful news that Wes's blood culture was negative, so they would be discontinuing his antibiotics and since he had been eating so well, they were discontinuing his IV fluids as well! Finally no more IVs!!! The doctor came in and told us that as long as Wes continued to eat well, that he could go home with us tomorrow (Saturday, June 18th). We were SO happy to hear such fantastic news!! The only challenge was that I was having to be discharged that day (Friday). I absolutely refused to go home without my baby, so my plan was to stay in my room until midnight and then sleep in the NICU with Wes until he was discharged. Shortly after we came up with this plan the doctor came back into the room and said "nevermind, he can come down to your room now!" I could have kissed this man on his lips! The "new" plan was to let Wes come down to our room, and as long as the mother/baby unit did not need my room for a new patient, they would let us stay in the room until Wes was discharged on Saturday!!
Jill brought Wes to us around 2:00 pm. I can't tell you how amazing it was to hold our baby without wires, machines, and IV's! Shortly after he was brought to our room, the mother baby nurse came in to do a quick assessment on him. She thought he looked jaundiced, so she took him to the nursery to draw his bilirubin level. I told the doctor's I thought he looked jaundiced in the NICU, but they did a transcutaneous bili on him and said it was fine. The mother/baby nurse said it was high, so the doctor came into our room and said they were going to start him on a bili blanket. UGH! Can't my poor baby catch a break! Even though a bili blanket is no big deal, I was just sick of my poor baby being poked and prodded!
I would have to say that day #3 in the NICU was by far the BEST day, because it was DISCHARGE day! The rest of the day was spent in our room, holding our baby, taking tons of pictures, and visiting with family and friends! The next morning, poor Wes was circumcised and given his hepatitis B vaccine. He got his hospital pictures taken, we were given a bili blanket to go, and then it was FINALLY time to take our baby home! Even though it felt like an eternity, Wes's two and a half days in the NICU were very uneventful! There is nothing worse than not being able to have your baby with you after he is born, but he was so well taken care of and now it is all a distant memory!
Chad and I cannot find words to express our extreme gratitude to the the Bethesda North SCN staff and the Good Sam nurses who took such good care of Wes. Each and every one of them are angels on this earth and they made our nightmare so much more bearable! I can now say that I know what it is like to be in a NICU parent's shoes. I empathize with these parents and I truly believe this experience will better me as a nurse to the sick babies that I care for in the NICU. Thank you all from the very bottom of our hearts!! We would especially like to thank Johnni, Miranda, and Jill! I don't know what I would have done without you guys! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU a million times over!!
After cleaning up, Chad and I got to the NICU and I was so happy to see that Wes had the sweetest nurse EVER! Jill is such a wonderful nurse and her smiling face is just what this mommy needed to brighten her day! Jill gave us the wonderful news that Wes's blood culture was negative, so they would be discontinuing his antibiotics and since he had been eating so well, they were discontinuing his IV fluids as well! Finally no more IVs!!! The doctor came in and told us that as long as Wes continued to eat well, that he could go home with us tomorrow (Saturday, June 18th). We were SO happy to hear such fantastic news!! The only challenge was that I was having to be discharged that day (Friday). I absolutely refused to go home without my baby, so my plan was to stay in my room until midnight and then sleep in the NICU with Wes until he was discharged. Shortly after we came up with this plan the doctor came back into the room and said "nevermind, he can come down to your room now!" I could have kissed this man on his lips! The "new" plan was to let Wes come down to our room, and as long as the mother/baby unit did not need my room for a new patient, they would let us stay in the room until Wes was discharged on Saturday!!
Jill brought Wes to us around 2:00 pm. I can't tell you how amazing it was to hold our baby without wires, machines, and IV's! Shortly after he was brought to our room, the mother baby nurse came in to do a quick assessment on him. She thought he looked jaundiced, so she took him to the nursery to draw his bilirubin level. I told the doctor's I thought he looked jaundiced in the NICU, but they did a transcutaneous bili on him and said it was fine. The mother/baby nurse said it was high, so the doctor came into our room and said they were going to start him on a bili blanket. UGH! Can't my poor baby catch a break! Even though a bili blanket is no big deal, I was just sick of my poor baby being poked and prodded!
I would have to say that day #3 in the NICU was by far the BEST day, because it was DISCHARGE day! The rest of the day was spent in our room, holding our baby, taking tons of pictures, and visiting with family and friends! The next morning, poor Wes was circumcised and given his hepatitis B vaccine. He got his hospital pictures taken, we were given a bili blanket to go, and then it was FINALLY time to take our baby home! Even though it felt like an eternity, Wes's two and a half days in the NICU were very uneventful! There is nothing worse than not being able to have your baby with you after he is born, but he was so well taken care of and now it is all a distant memory!
Chad and I cannot find words to express our extreme gratitude to the the Bethesda North SCN staff and the Good Sam nurses who took such good care of Wes. Each and every one of them are angels on this earth and they made our nightmare so much more bearable! I can now say that I know what it is like to be in a NICU parent's shoes. I empathize with these parents and I truly believe this experience will better me as a nurse to the sick babies that I care for in the NICU. Thank you all from the very bottom of our hearts!! We would especially like to thank Johnni, Miranda, and Jill! I don't know what I would have done without you guys! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU a million times over!!
NICU Day #2- June 16th, 2011
Wes continued to progress throughout the night. His breathing was much slower this morning and the doctor's decided that if his breathing remained under 60 breaths per minute, that he could take a bottle. I had been pumping since shortly after delivery, but I was only getting very small amounts at this point. They would give Wes the breastmilk I was getting via a syringe and then they would offer him a bottle of formula after. He was not too interested in the bottle the first time it was offered to him. I met with a lactation consultant that afternoon, and she decided that he was awake enough to attempt breastfeeding for the first time. Wes started off doing well, but soon fell fast asleep as most 24 hour old babies do! I tried to give him the bottle instead but he was too sleepy, all he wanted to do was snuggle with mommy! Even though a part of me wanted to work with him since I had not been able to breastfeed him right away, the rest of me just wanted to hold him in my arms and cuddle. I didn't attempt to breastfeed him every time, because I knew that expended a lot of the energy that he needed to get better. He spent the rest of the day sleeping and showing little interest in the bottle. This made mommy and daddy sad because we knew they were not going to discontinue his IV and let him leave until he was eating well.
I spent the night in tears again! My poor nurses probably thought they were going to need to call for a psych evaluation! I was extremely tired, not eating or drinking enough, and emotionally drained. I tried to sleep that night, but getting up to pump and check on my little man kept me up most of the night. When I woke up the next morning, sure enough Chad was not in the room. When he came back from his morning visit with Wes, he told me that he took all of his bottles all night for Johnni! I guess it just took his favorite nurse to whip his hiney into gear! Now all we needed was to get rid of the IV and pray that his 48 hour blood culture was negative so they could discontinue his antibiotics and let him come down to mommy and daddy's room!!
Friday, August 12, 2011
NICU Day #1: June 15th, 2011
As stated in the previous post, our little man was admitted to the NICU between 3:30 and 4:00 am on June 15th. By 7:00 am his oxygen head hood was discontinued (THANK GOD!!!). He was still breathing rapidly and was receiving all of his nutrition from his IV. I had missed the doctor's rounds that morning, but thankfully Chad got to hear what they had to say. They were very pleased with his fast turn around, but did not want to start feeds on him until his breathing slowed down. The plan for the day was to let him rest and recover, continue with the IV fluids and antibiotics, and hopefully begin feeds the next day. We spent most of the day staring at him in his bed. We were DYING to hold him, but we both thought it was best for him to rest, so he could heal faster. To our surprise he was very alert most of the day. He looked around his room and made a lot of funny faces when mommy and daddy talked to him.
That morning, Chad and I both decided that today was the day that we MUST decide on a name. We had considered several names, but did not want to decide on one until we met him or her. Some people say that whatever name you choose (before delivery or after) will fit the baby. I completely disagree. We had a few names that we both liked, but when we looked at his sweet face, they just didn't fit. After some discussion, we both came to agree that our sweet boy looked like a Wesley. Wesley was always on our name list, but it was never at the top. There were at least 3 other names we were considering before Wes. We also loved Barrett and even considered it for a first name at one point during my pregnancy. Once we decided that his name was going to be Wesley, we just knew that Barrett was the perfect middle name. So approximately 8 hours after our son was born, he finally had a name: Wesley Barrett Clark!
The rest of the day I went from being extremely happy that he was doing so well, to bawling my eyes out because I just wanted to have my baby in my arms! I am sure Miranda and Johnni (his day/night nurses) thought I was a total mental case (I WAS!!!). I struggled to eat because I was so emotional and then I would make myself feel guilty for not eating, because I knew I needed to eat in order for my milk to come in. That night, my nurse had to give me some medicine because I was struggling with extreme anxiety. I tried my best to get rest and stay hydrated, but the only thing that was going to make me feel better was my baby! Even though I was an emotional wreck, I was so comforted knowing my Good Sam friends were taking such good care of our little boy. I knew they would care for him as if he were their own and they did. Chad and I are forever grateful to them. There are just no words to explain our extreme gratitude!
All in all, Day #1 in the NICU was a good one (or as good as it can be under the circumstances). Wes was a good boy all day and we prayed he would continue to progress!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Take Your Son to Work Day...
It's amazing that in a matter of minutes you can go from the happiest you have ever been in your life, to the saddest and most scared you have ever been. Combine those feelings with just delivering a baby and hormones that are all over the place and you have one distraught mommy. As many of you know, right after a baby is born, they take their first breath/scream. When our baby was born, he took his first deep breath, and as he did, he sucked in some fluid and meconium (poop) at the same time. He initially seemed to be okay as he kept screaming, so the nurse decided to let him stay on my chest for a few minutes. After some time, the nurse took him over to the radiant warmer and tried to suction out his belly and give him some chest PT. She noticed as she was doing his assessment, that he was starting to have difficulty breathing. She put a pulse oximeter on him to see how well he was oxygenating, and his oxygen saturations were in the low 80's (supposed to be in the high 90's-100). She gave him some oxygen in the delivery room and called the NICU to come evaluate him. As I sat in my hospital bed feeling completely helpless, in walked Johnni, a WONDERFUL nurse that used to work with me at Good Sam, before transferring to Bethesda North full time. When Johnni walked into the room, a feeling of relief came over me. Don't get me wrong, I was still terrified, but seeing a familiar face made what we were going through a tiny bit easier. She assessed our little boy and decided that he did indeed need to go with her to the NICU. We kissed our sweet boy and watched as she took him out of our room. I had to remain in my delivery room for two hours post delivery to make sure that I was stable enough to be transferred. As soon as the two hour mark hit, my nurse and Chad pushed me down to the NICU.
Bethesda North (where I delivered) is the "sister" hospital to Good Samaritan Hospital (where I work in the NICU). So even though I don't work in the NICU at Bethesda North, I still know most of the people that work there and I am familiar with their unit. Their NICU, called the Special Care Nursery, is a level II unit and is much smaller (12 private rooms) versus Good Sam's 60 bed Level III unit. Before entering the NICU, we were warned that our little boy was on oxygen (via head hood) and that he had an IV. As we scrubbed in, I couldn't help but sob. I hadn't even seen him yet, and the tears were streaming down my face. "How could this be happening to us?" Some people joked around and said that it's always the NICU nurse's whose babies go to the NICU, but at the time, I just could not see any humor in the situation. As I was pushed into his room, I felt as if my heart was being ripped from my chest. There lay our two hour old baby, breathing more than 120 breaths per minute, with a spaceship helmet over his head delivering oxygen, and an IV in his little arm. Johnni was telling us everything that they did: IV, labs, chest x-ray, etc. Chad and I both just starred at him. Even though I had seen this situation 100 times over, it is a completely different story when it is your own child. As scared as I was, I was familiar with the situation. My husband on the other hand, was beside himself. The look on his face as he starred at our son, was heart wrenching. I found myself comforting him and telling him that he was going to be okay. Johnni told us that the on call pediatrician had been called at home to come see him (keep in mind, this is still the middle of the night). I refused to be taken to my room until I saw him and spoke with him. It took him 30 minutes or so to get there, but when he did, he did a full assessment, looked at his labs and x-ray and told us that he was confident he was going to be okay. He said that he believed that he was having difficulty due to the fluid that he swallowed at delivery and that he should recover quickly. His chest x-ray was "fluffy" and his diagnosis was what they call TTN (transient tachypnea of the newborn, aka fast breathing). He wanted to start him on antibiotics just in case there was an infection of some sort (pneumonia). We stayed in the NICU for a while until my nurse said that I needed to be taken to my postpartum room before shift change. We said goodbye to our little boy and went down to my room.
The night shift nurse did a quick assessment on me and got me out of bed to use the bathroom. She told me I needed to try and eat so she could give me some pain meds. She left the room to get my meds and when she came back, I was in the bed sobbing so hard I could hardly breath. She tried to comfort me, but there was nothing she could say to make me feel better. I took some pain medication and tried to rest so I could get back to the NICU as soon as possible. I guess I must have drifted off, because the next time I opened my eyes, Chad was no longer in the room. After about 10 minutes, he walks into the room with a smile on his face. I said "did you go see our boy?" and he just said "of course I did!" He gave me the wonderful news that he was already off of his oxygen and was wide awake looking around his room. He told me that Johnni said he looked SO much better and that she would be back that night.
In order to keep this post from getting any longer, I will break our NICU stay into several posts. Now that I am able to make light of our situation, I joke and say that my sweet boy just wanted to see what Mommy did for a living, so he turned his "birth" day into "take your son to work day" :)
Bethesda North (where I delivered) is the "sister" hospital to Good Samaritan Hospital (where I work in the NICU). So even though I don't work in the NICU at Bethesda North, I still know most of the people that work there and I am familiar with their unit. Their NICU, called the Special Care Nursery, is a level II unit and is much smaller (12 private rooms) versus Good Sam's 60 bed Level III unit. Before entering the NICU, we were warned that our little boy was on oxygen (via head hood) and that he had an IV. As we scrubbed in, I couldn't help but sob. I hadn't even seen him yet, and the tears were streaming down my face. "How could this be happening to us?" Some people joked around and said that it's always the NICU nurse's whose babies go to the NICU, but at the time, I just could not see any humor in the situation. As I was pushed into his room, I felt as if my heart was being ripped from my chest. There lay our two hour old baby, breathing more than 120 breaths per minute, with a spaceship helmet over his head delivering oxygen, and an IV in his little arm. Johnni was telling us everything that they did: IV, labs, chest x-ray, etc. Chad and I both just starred at him. Even though I had seen this situation 100 times over, it is a completely different story when it is your own child. As scared as I was, I was familiar with the situation. My husband on the other hand, was beside himself. The look on his face as he starred at our son, was heart wrenching. I found myself comforting him and telling him that he was going to be okay. Johnni told us that the on call pediatrician had been called at home to come see him (keep in mind, this is still the middle of the night). I refused to be taken to my room until I saw him and spoke with him. It took him 30 minutes or so to get there, but when he did, he did a full assessment, looked at his labs and x-ray and told us that he was confident he was going to be okay. He said that he believed that he was having difficulty due to the fluid that he swallowed at delivery and that he should recover quickly. His chest x-ray was "fluffy" and his diagnosis was what they call TTN (transient tachypnea of the newborn, aka fast breathing). He wanted to start him on antibiotics just in case there was an infection of some sort (pneumonia). We stayed in the NICU for a while until my nurse said that I needed to be taken to my postpartum room before shift change. We said goodbye to our little boy and went down to my room.
The night shift nurse did a quick assessment on me and got me out of bed to use the bathroom. She told me I needed to try and eat so she could give me some pain meds. She left the room to get my meds and when she came back, I was in the bed sobbing so hard I could hardly breath. She tried to comfort me, but there was nothing she could say to make me feel better. I took some pain medication and tried to rest so I could get back to the NICU as soon as possible. I guess I must have drifted off, because the next time I opened my eyes, Chad was no longer in the room. After about 10 minutes, he walks into the room with a smile on his face. I said "did you go see our boy?" and he just said "of course I did!" He gave me the wonderful news that he was already off of his oxygen and was wide awake looking around his room. He told me that Johnni said he looked SO much better and that she would be back that night.
In order to keep this post from getting any longer, I will break our NICU stay into several posts. Now that I am able to make light of our situation, I joke and say that my sweet boy just wanted to see what Mommy did for a living, so he turned his "birth" day into "take your son to work day" :)
Friday, August 5, 2011
June 14th, 2011
Where to begin...
As many of you know, June 14th was my actual due date. I believe I read somewhere that only 5% of babies come on their actual due date, so when June 14th approached, I didn't think much of it. It was a sunny Tuesday. I woke up early because we had a 9:30 am doctor's appointment. I showered and made sure I had my bags packed in case the doctor was going to send us to the hospital. I had been having braxton hicks contractions, but they were painless and irregular. I had lost part of my mucous plug on Monday (gross) and right before my appointment on Tuesday I had what they refer to as my "bloody show" (gross again). I thought to myself, "there is just no way this baby is coming today." We got to my doctor's appointment and had a non-stress test as well as a biophysical profile before meeting with the doctor. Both tests looked perfect minus a slightly lower amniotic fluid index. If you all remember, my fluid was already on the low side, so I was told that if it continued to drop, we could be looking at an induction. She checked my cervix and to my surprise I was still only 1 cm dilated. As she was telling me how dilated I was, without a moment's hesitation she stripped my membranes (aka WORST PAIN EVER). I had no idea she was doing it, so I nearly leapt off the table and Chad had a look on his face like "what the hell did she just do to you?!" She told us that if we wanted to be "granola" and try to let things happen on their own, then she was comfortable letting us wait another week, or we could go ahead with an induction since my fluid level was indeed lower. Chad and I decided we did not want to take any chances, so we scheduled an induction for 4:00 am Wednesday morning. I scheduled it for this time because the nurse midwife that I wanted to deliver me was on call and the Good Sam nurse practitioners were at B. North (where I was delivering) until 11:00 pm Wednesday night, so I figured I would deliver before they left for the night (just in case they needed to come back for the delivery...I know I'm a crazy NICU nurse). So we left our appointment and couldn't believe that in less than 24 hours, we would be gearing up to have this baby!
We ran a few errands and then decided to go home and rest since we had to be up extremely early to get to the hospital by 4:00 am. I was a little crampy after my appointment, but I associated it with what the doctor had done to me that morning. I also had a decent amount of bleeding every time I went to the bathroom (she told me to expect this). When we got home from running errands, we decided to lay down since we knew we wouldn't be able to sleep that night. I laid down between 3:00 and 4:00 pm and was up at 5:00 pm with more cramping. I began to time my contractions. To my surprise, they were coming every 6 minutes or so. Again I thought to myself, "no way is this baby coming on it's due date!" Within an hour the pain had intensified, so I called my doctor and she told me she thought I was in early labor and that I could stay home as long as I wanted. I decided to take a shower and see how I felt after. By the time I was done showering, I was having to stop what I was doing to get through the contractions, this was around 7:30-8:00 pm. I told Chad that I was ready to go to the hospital. On the way to the hospital the contractions were even stronger and about 4-5 minutes apart. I prayed that when I got to the hospital they would not send me home! We had to park in the emergency room parking lot, because the front doors to the hospital had closed for the day. It seemed like we walked for an hour before we finally got to the triage desk. I was asked to sign some papers and by this time I could hardly write the pain was so intense. We were finally sent to our labor and delivery room and I was asked to change into a gown. Now the contractions were 1-2 minutes apart and I was doubled over in pain. My nurse checked me and I was 2 cm dilated. I was in so much pain I begged for my epidural. She called my doctor and they gave the okay to give it to me. I was laying in the bed for what seems like forever turning my head from side to side begging for the pain to stop. Chad and my nurse were standing on either side of me just having casual conversation. Then, my dear husband takes one look at me and decides he knows exactly what to say to make me feel better...are you ready for this? He asks me if I want him to take his shirt off. Even though I was in more pain than I had ever been in my life, I couldn't help but laugh at him. I wanted to hug him and punch him at the same time. He thought he was pretty funny. Finally, the anesthesiologist walks into the room. They prep me and she says to my nurse "are you sure she is not further along than 2 cm?" It doesn't take her to long to get the epidural in and while the pain had lessened, it was certainly not gone. She stayed in the room for a while before deciding to give me another dose of medicine to help with the pain. About 15-20 minutes later I was finally pain free!! My family had arrived by this time and we were all just hanging out in my L&D room. About an hour after I got my epidural, around 11:00 pm or so, the resident came in to break my water. When she broke my water, she said I was about 3 cm. My family asked my nurse when she thought I would deliver and she said she thought I would deliver before she left in the morning around 7:00 am. She checked me again an hour later (around midnight) and I had gone from 3 to 6 cm. She then said she thought I would deliver by 4 am due to my fast progress. Chad decided to squeeze in a nap at this time. My dad had gone home to get some sleep, and my mom, aunt, and grandma had gone down to the cafeteria to get food. As soon as they all left, she checked me again (1:00 am) and what do you know...10 cm! I didn't believe her when she told me! I just got to the hospital a couple hours ago and you are telling me I am ready to push? I thought most first time mom's were in labor for days! I woke Chad up, called my dad to come back to the hospital (he had just gotten home from the hospital) and I tried to call my mom down in the cafeteria, but she had left her phone in my room. I asked if we could wait until they got back before I started to push. My mom and Chad were my support team as I began to push. I will never forget pushing, with the Reds game on in the background, my mom by my shoulder and Chad at my side. We were all joking between contractions. My epidural had worn off enough that I could feel pressure and move my legs, but no pain whatsoever. I couldn't believe that I was about to meet my baby and that I was actually enjoying being in labor! Never in a million years did I think that labor would be pain free much less enjoyable. I pushed for an hour before my doctor arrived. When she got there, I looked at her and told her that whatever she did to me at my appointment that morning worked!! She just smiled and said that our baby was coming on his/her own terms not on someone else's! Boy was she right! 30 minutes later our baby BOY was brought into this world on June 15th, 2011 at 2:52 am. When he first came out, no one announced what the sex was. We were all crying and just so happy to see this beautiful baby! Several seconds later I said out loud "wait...what is it?" She lifted up the umbilical cord and said 'IT'S A BOY!!" I thought that it was too funny that for a moment we were so overwhelmed with joy that we forgot that we didn't know what the sex of our baby was. That moment, with Chad by my side, and my new son on my chest was the best moment in my life. If I could freeze that time I would live in that moment forever. After spending a few minutes with our baby boy, they took him to weigh him and get him cleaned up. Chad never left his side. It was amazing to me that within seconds he became this incredibly overprotective and loving father. I told Chad in his father's day card that the moment our son was born and I saw the two of them together, was the moment I fell in love with him all over again. I can't describe the feeling. At the time, we still had not picked a name, so we will just say that Baby Boy Clark weighed in at 6 lbs 9.8 oz and 20 inches long! Our long and lean baby! We all held him for a while before the nurse had to take him due to some breathing difficulty (I will get into that in a different post). So even though this post is extremely long, my labor was in fact short! My nurse joked that when we have our second baby, we should head for the hospital immediately! I guess all we needed to do is threaten an induction (and strip some membranes) to get the ball rolling! While the pain was intense at the beginning, I would not change a thing! My labor was fast, easy (after the epidural of course), and so enjoyable! He may have not been born on his EXACT due date, but he sure came close!
As many of you know, June 14th was my actual due date. I believe I read somewhere that only 5% of babies come on their actual due date, so when June 14th approached, I didn't think much of it. It was a sunny Tuesday. I woke up early because we had a 9:30 am doctor's appointment. I showered and made sure I had my bags packed in case the doctor was going to send us to the hospital. I had been having braxton hicks contractions, but they were painless and irregular. I had lost part of my mucous plug on Monday (gross) and right before my appointment on Tuesday I had what they refer to as my "bloody show" (gross again). I thought to myself, "there is just no way this baby is coming today." We got to my doctor's appointment and had a non-stress test as well as a biophysical profile before meeting with the doctor. Both tests looked perfect minus a slightly lower amniotic fluid index. If you all remember, my fluid was already on the low side, so I was told that if it continued to drop, we could be looking at an induction. She checked my cervix and to my surprise I was still only 1 cm dilated. As she was telling me how dilated I was, without a moment's hesitation she stripped my membranes (aka WORST PAIN EVER). I had no idea she was doing it, so I nearly leapt off the table and Chad had a look on his face like "what the hell did she just do to you?!" She told us that if we wanted to be "granola" and try to let things happen on their own, then she was comfortable letting us wait another week, or we could go ahead with an induction since my fluid level was indeed lower. Chad and I decided we did not want to take any chances, so we scheduled an induction for 4:00 am Wednesday morning. I scheduled it for this time because the nurse midwife that I wanted to deliver me was on call and the Good Sam nurse practitioners were at B. North (where I was delivering) until 11:00 pm Wednesday night, so I figured I would deliver before they left for the night (just in case they needed to come back for the delivery...I know I'm a crazy NICU nurse). So we left our appointment and couldn't believe that in less than 24 hours, we would be gearing up to have this baby!
We ran a few errands and then decided to go home and rest since we had to be up extremely early to get to the hospital by 4:00 am. I was a little crampy after my appointment, but I associated it with what the doctor had done to me that morning. I also had a decent amount of bleeding every time I went to the bathroom (she told me to expect this). When we got home from running errands, we decided to lay down since we knew we wouldn't be able to sleep that night. I laid down between 3:00 and 4:00 pm and was up at 5:00 pm with more cramping. I began to time my contractions. To my surprise, they were coming every 6 minutes or so. Again I thought to myself, "no way is this baby coming on it's due date!" Within an hour the pain had intensified, so I called my doctor and she told me she thought I was in early labor and that I could stay home as long as I wanted. I decided to take a shower and see how I felt after. By the time I was done showering, I was having to stop what I was doing to get through the contractions, this was around 7:30-8:00 pm. I told Chad that I was ready to go to the hospital. On the way to the hospital the contractions were even stronger and about 4-5 minutes apart. I prayed that when I got to the hospital they would not send me home! We had to park in the emergency room parking lot, because the front doors to the hospital had closed for the day. It seemed like we walked for an hour before we finally got to the triage desk. I was asked to sign some papers and by this time I could hardly write the pain was so intense. We were finally sent to our labor and delivery room and I was asked to change into a gown. Now the contractions were 1-2 minutes apart and I was doubled over in pain. My nurse checked me and I was 2 cm dilated. I was in so much pain I begged for my epidural. She called my doctor and they gave the okay to give it to me. I was laying in the bed for what seems like forever turning my head from side to side begging for the pain to stop. Chad and my nurse were standing on either side of me just having casual conversation. Then, my dear husband takes one look at me and decides he knows exactly what to say to make me feel better...are you ready for this? He asks me if I want him to take his shirt off. Even though I was in more pain than I had ever been in my life, I couldn't help but laugh at him. I wanted to hug him and punch him at the same time. He thought he was pretty funny. Finally, the anesthesiologist walks into the room. They prep me and she says to my nurse "are you sure she is not further along than 2 cm?" It doesn't take her to long to get the epidural in and while the pain had lessened, it was certainly not gone. She stayed in the room for a while before deciding to give me another dose of medicine to help with the pain. About 15-20 minutes later I was finally pain free!! My family had arrived by this time and we were all just hanging out in my L&D room. About an hour after I got my epidural, around 11:00 pm or so, the resident came in to break my water. When she broke my water, she said I was about 3 cm. My family asked my nurse when she thought I would deliver and she said she thought I would deliver before she left in the morning around 7:00 am. She checked me again an hour later (around midnight) and I had gone from 3 to 6 cm. She then said she thought I would deliver by 4 am due to my fast progress. Chad decided to squeeze in a nap at this time. My dad had gone home to get some sleep, and my mom, aunt, and grandma had gone down to the cafeteria to get food. As soon as they all left, she checked me again (1:00 am) and what do you know...10 cm! I didn't believe her when she told me! I just got to the hospital a couple hours ago and you are telling me I am ready to push? I thought most first time mom's were in labor for days! I woke Chad up, called my dad to come back to the hospital (he had just gotten home from the hospital) and I tried to call my mom down in the cafeteria, but she had left her phone in my room. I asked if we could wait until they got back before I started to push. My mom and Chad were my support team as I began to push. I will never forget pushing, with the Reds game on in the background, my mom by my shoulder and Chad at my side. We were all joking between contractions. My epidural had worn off enough that I could feel pressure and move my legs, but no pain whatsoever. I couldn't believe that I was about to meet my baby and that I was actually enjoying being in labor! Never in a million years did I think that labor would be pain free much less enjoyable. I pushed for an hour before my doctor arrived. When she got there, I looked at her and told her that whatever she did to me at my appointment that morning worked!! She just smiled and said that our baby was coming on his/her own terms not on someone else's! Boy was she right! 30 minutes later our baby BOY was brought into this world on June 15th, 2011 at 2:52 am. When he first came out, no one announced what the sex was. We were all crying and just so happy to see this beautiful baby! Several seconds later I said out loud "wait...what is it?" She lifted up the umbilical cord and said 'IT'S A BOY!!" I thought that it was too funny that for a moment we were so overwhelmed with joy that we forgot that we didn't know what the sex of our baby was. That moment, with Chad by my side, and my new son on my chest was the best moment in my life. If I could freeze that time I would live in that moment forever. After spending a few minutes with our baby boy, they took him to weigh him and get him cleaned up. Chad never left his side. It was amazing to me that within seconds he became this incredibly overprotective and loving father. I told Chad in his father's day card that the moment our son was born and I saw the two of them together, was the moment I fell in love with him all over again. I can't describe the feeling. At the time, we still had not picked a name, so we will just say that Baby Boy Clark weighed in at 6 lbs 9.8 oz and 20 inches long! Our long and lean baby! We all held him for a while before the nurse had to take him due to some breathing difficulty (I will get into that in a different post). So even though this post is extremely long, my labor was in fact short! My nurse joked that when we have our second baby, we should head for the hospital immediately! I guess all we needed to do is threaten an induction (and strip some membranes) to get the ball rolling! While the pain was intense at the beginning, I would not change a thing! My labor was fast, easy (after the epidural of course), and so enjoyable! He may have not been born on his EXACT due date, but he sure came close!
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