A Baby Story

Here I am, 2 weeks after baby Brody joined our family.  I've read birth stories before and always thought to myself that I wouldn't sit down and share mine because it was our story.  But this one is a little different.  Life had to stop and we had to bring baby into this world whether he was ready or not.

I went to my 39 week appointment (actually 38 weeks and 6 days) at 11:30am.  I had planned to get to my appointment, grab some lunch (Wendy's jr bacon cheeseburger to be exact!), and get back to work.  Hubby and I got in the room fairly quickly and I was excited because I was starving.  The nurse weighed me and checked my blood pressure like usual.  This time, we had a little different situation.  My BP was a little on the high side.  Well, doctor came in and finished out the appointment by having the nurse re-check my BP.  After she checked it, doctor came back in and said we are sending you up to the Babykind floor to be observed and have some labs drawn.  Okay, fine, I thought.  I called work and let them know I was going to be late because of this and headed upstairs.

We were put in a room, hooked up to a monitor, BP taken, labs drawn.  About an hour later, the charge nurse came in the room and said, Well, we are having a baby today or tomorrow.  I looked at hubby or support because I was in shock.  He asked the nurse what was wrong and she said labs came back abnormal and doctor wanted baby out but he would explain more when he came up.  I started crying and shaking because I was NOT ready for this (this is still hard to think about!). 

They put us in a labor and delivery room, gave me my lovely hospital gown, put me in bed and hooked up all the monitors.  At this point, I was scared and still in shock....and starving!  They brought me a lovely tray of a liquid diet and left me there for awhile before the doctor came in.  At this point, we had called and texted those few people we said we were going to inform.  The nurse came back to start my IV and about 6:30 the doctor finally came in.  In the meantime, my sister in law came to sit with us and hubby went home to shower and grab our bags.  When the doctor came in, he explained that I had preeclampsia and we had to get baby out for the safety of both of us.  He broke my water and they hooked me up to pitocin along with Magnesium Sulfate to help stabilize my BP.  There was no turning back now!

Still scared, I had no choice but to try to be brave.  I couldn't have done it without my hubby and sister in law there to keep me sane.  Things were progressing, contractions were coming.  I was even having contractions on my own and the pitocin was slowed...and then again increased...ugh!  All I wanted to do at this point was sleep.  I knew I needed it because we were on a long road.  I knew I couldn't have an epidural because my platelets were low again.  So my only option was to fight it without drugs or use Nubain.  I told myself that I didn't want to use the Nubain because I knew it had affects on baby, but I needed sleep.  I was having horrible back labor and couldn't sleep with that. 

Since my BP was so high, I wasn't supposed to be able to leave my bed except to use the bathroom.  But the nurse at that time was nice enough to bring me the exercise ball to sit on for awhile and let me sit in the rocker.  They also let me walk to another room to use the whirlpool tub.  The tub was my only relief and I sat in there as long as they let me.  Through all this, I was still a little in denial.  Contractions were coming and going and hubby was there by my side through it all.  Even though he woke up at 4:30am Wednesday morning for work and didn't get to sleep until Thursday night about 11:00pm. 

Morning came and went, even though I had no clue what time it was.  Sometime around 2:00, I was ready.  I was dilated to a 9 and needed to push.  My sister in law found the nurse and things started.  SIL was gathering her stuff to leave when I asked her to stay.  I knew that not only I needed her, but hubby did too. 

Things went on and the doctor came in.  We tried and tried and tried, but baby boy wasn't moving.  We found out that he was face up and that was causing problems.  Finally the doctor gave me 3 options.  I could keep trying, we could try the vacuum, or we could go in for a c-section.  Well, the c-section was our last option and I knew I couldn't keep going myself.  So we tried the vacuum.  After a few tears and concerns between hubby and I, we tried it.  This didn't work either.  The doctor was even frustrated and had already called the surgical team because he knew this wasn't going to work.  Finally, they were prepping me for my c-section.  Hubby lost it.  He wasn't going in the OR with me.  They said I couldn't have an epidural and I would have to be put under.  This scared hubby and he was done.  But they checked my platelets again and they came back normal and I was able to move forward with the epidural and quick surgery to get my son in the world.

At 4:52pm, Brody joined our family.  The team of doctors and nurses checked him over and let hubby cut the cord.  They wrapped him up and gave him to hubby.  I finally got to see him.  We shared some smiles and tears just looking at him.  But then I had to go to recovery and Brody still needed weighed and checked over again.  Hubby took him to the nursery where my parents and hubby's mom, sister and nieces were waiting to meet him. 

I was in recovery for about an hour before being taken to my room where daddy and baby were cuddling in the chair.  They got to spend some quality time getting to know each other.  What a special time for them.  Over the next 3 days, I recovered in my hospital bed and baby was taken care of by us and the nurses. 

Brody lost 1lb 3oz in the hospital and he was dehydrated.  We almost didn't get to go home on Sunday.  But I agreed to supplement feedings to get him hydrated and back up to his birth weight.   We had to bring him back to the hospital the next day to weigh him and check his bili because he was a little jaundice before we left. 

My BP was stable when we left and I had to make an appointment to get it rechecked later that week.  We are both healthy now and no worries about high BP or jaundice. 

This story really doesn't put what I went through into reality.  I can honestly say it was a long, exhausting few days, but I knew in the end baby boy was going to be here.  I don't remember having  whole lot of pain or going to hell and back before he was here.  I do know that I was the talk of the floor for a few days.  Even though there were 14 babies born in those 5 days.  The nurses all said I was one tough cookie and they wouldn't trade places with me.  I didn't realize what I had gone through until I started thinking about not having an epidural while they used the vacuum to try to get baby out.  Being so focused on the end result really helps with pain tolerance.  And I will never complain about those few days when I look at my little man! :)