Just so you know, this has all the details so read at your own discretion. But for me to remember, here it is.
On Wednesday I wasn't feeling so hot so I basically cancelled all my plans for the day. I slept and mostly laid around in bed all day. I was having a few contractions, but nothing consistent or very strong. The one productive thing I did do was help Brad make fajitas for dinner. Brad had a question about the fajita meat and was on the phone with his mom as we were sitting down to eat. I had just taken my second bite of fajita when I started to feel wet. At first it was just a little bit, but then it was increasing. Brad says that at this point my face was hilarious. I told Brad I thought my water was breaking and ran upstairs to the bathroom. I could hear Brad telling his mom that my water just broke and hanging up the phone. I didn't quite make it to the bathroom before it all came gushing out. As I was cleaning up I realized that this wasn't the nice, clear liquid they had talked about in child birth classes. This was brownish yellow brown, meaning the baby had pooped. I called my OB office around 5:30 pm and they said to come right in to the hospital. We were quite the sight to see running around trying to gather our last few things as I was starting to have some contractions.
But soon enough we were at the hospital. Brad dropped me off at the ER and I got checked in. By the time I was wheeled up to the PEC (basically the ER for preggos) Brad was up there meeting me. There were several other people in line to be seen, but they sent me right back to be evaluated. This is when I had another huge gush of liquid. They had to check that for sure my water had broken and it didn't take the nurse the usual sample for the slide for her determine that it really was amniotic fluid. They checked me and I was dilated to a 3. The previous week at my OB appointment I was almost a 2. A 3 is not officially "active" labor, but since my water had broken and there was baby poop in it they decided to induce me and get this baby here sooner than later. They said that even though the water breaking can start labor, it can also take days to really get going. Seeing as there is an increased risk for problems for me and baby by waiting, we were going to start right on the pitocin. The doctor took a guess and said that he thought this baby would be born in the late morning or early afternoon. Brad and I also took the time to make a few predictions of our own. Brad said he would be born at 4 am and would weight 6 lbs, 8 oz. I thought he would be born at 4 pm and his weight would be in the low 7s.
However, there wasn't enough rooms that night in Labor and Delivery. I was examined in the PEC at 7:00, told I would be admitted at 8:00, but didn't get to my room until 10:00. By that time I was having some decent contractions of my own. The anesthesiologist came by and had me sign the permission forms for the epidural so when the time came we wouldn't have to worry about paperwork. They got me settled in and by 10:30 I was in enough pain to ask for the epidural. Unfortunately, the anesthesiologist had 2 back to back c-sections right then. I didn't see him until 12:00. Next time, we're not waiting. Right before midnight they also decided to start me on the pitocin. So, not only did I have my own contractions, but they added to them with the pitocin. I was not happy at all. I was vomitting with a lot of the contractions and feeling very sick. I was in agony waiting for that epidural.
Originally I had some fears about having an epidural placed. It wasn't as easy and as pain free as they make it sound, but it was so worth the little bit of discomfort. The anesthesiologist became my favorite person of the night. The epidural was magic. I could feel the pressure, but none of the pain. He was also nice enough to wait during the contractions before doing anything.
After letting that work they decided to come in and check me at about 1:00. I had progressed to a 5. The doctors felt great about this. They had me lay back and try to get as much rest as I could. However, twenty minutes later I had the doctor back in because the baby's heart rate was dipping too much with my contractions. They did another check and I was at a 7. They decided to try changing my position to see if this would help baby's heart rate.
But after another twenty or so minutes (around 2 am) the doctors were back in. The position change hadn't really helped so they decided to put in a catheter and add back in amniotic fluid to help cushion the baby. This ended up really helping baby, but made me feel very light headed. My hearing started to go. For me, this means, I'm about to pass out. I let them know this and quickly they had the anesthesiologist and another doctor there. They took me off the epidural, which I was not happy about. They repositioned me and after a minute or two my hearing returned and thankful so did my epidural. While they were up there anyways, they did another check. They said I was an 8 or a 9. This baby was coming quick. They told me to rest up and they would be back in a couple hours to check me and see if baby would be ready to come.
It was about this time that Brad and I decided on our baby's full name. We had his first name picked out for months, but still had 4 options for his middle name. When it came down to it in that moment, we knew which one we liked most.
I could still feel the pressure of my contractions so I didn't really fall asleep except for maybe a half an hour to an hour. About 4 am the doctor came back in to check me. I could really feel baby down low already so I wasn't surprised when she said that I was a 10 and he was right there. It was time to push and this is when the entourage started showing up. My doctor was accompanied by a resident. I had two nurses who had been helping me all night. There was another doctor to help with the delivery. Since baby had pooped in utero, they had 3 pediatricians in the room to evaluate him as soon as he came out. There were someone else in there too (Brad said he counted 11 people including us), but I didn't really care about anyone except Brad, my doctor, and my wonderful nurse. I pushed for about 30 minutes (now I know why it's called labor.) Usually they do sets of three, for a count of ten. For the finale, I did a set of 5, for what seemed like extra long counts of 10. I had been closing my eyes while I was pushing, but someone (I can't even recall who) told me to look and sure enough Nathan David Packer was born. I remember thinking 1. he didn't look to bad for just coming out (I would even venture kind of cute) and 2. he had hair. They let Brad cut the cord and then took him to be evaluated in the corner of the room by the pediatricians. I was a little sad that they had to whisk him off and that I didn't get to immediately hold and just look at my baby. I could hear him crying in the corner and I was crying. Our little boy had made it. He was here. My eyes were focused on that little corner even though I couldn't see a thing with all the people surrounding little Nathan.
Which was a good thing. We had opted to have Nathan's cord blood publicly donated and so the doctors were drawing the blood from the cord right after Nathan was born. This was followed by the delivery of the placenta and then repairing two tears from delivery. The doctors told me that the one was a Level 2 tear and the other was a Level 1. I'm glad I didn't focus too much on this because it was not pleasant. But thank goodness for that epidural.
It took them an hour to evaluate Nathan. They did keep me updated with how he was doing. Nathan didn't swallow any of the baby poop in the amniotic fluid which was a good thing. The one scary thing was that one of his arms came out completely white when he was born. It must have been pinched on the way out. It took a long time for the color to return to his arm. They did weigh him at that time. He weighed 6 lbs, 10 oz. So, Brad won both of our bets.
Finally, I was able to hold my baby. He was perfect. He was so awake when I held him. His eyes are blue and they were so intent to see me and Brad. He really could tell who both of us were. It was so sweet. Here was our little miracle baby. He had made it. And he was ours and perfect and we love him beyond anything.
I do have to say that Brad was the most amazing support to me. He held me, comforted me, massaged me, did everything I asked him. He was amazing in what he had to say to me to keep me going. He was so excited during delivery. He kept saying "Oh wow,", "You're doing it!", "You're doing awesome," and "I love you" all the time. Once Nathan was born Brad kept me updated about what was happening to Nathan and would bring over his camera to show me pictures of our little boy that I couldn't see. He was wonderful. I couldn't ask for a better husband and he is the most amazing father to Nathan. Brad is absolutely smitten and he definitely has a way with that little boy. For all of this, I am so very grateful and blessed.
So for now, we are enjoying having our sweet little boy home with us. He's doing great and is such a wonderful baby. He's slept so peacefully and hardly cried. He's a good little eater (he actually gained weight while we were in the hospital.) And every so often he'll have that wonderful alert state where he will just look at us. I'm still recuperating and sore, but it's totally worth it to have our sweet little baby.
On Wednesday I wasn't feeling so hot so I basically cancelled all my plans for the day. I slept and mostly laid around in bed all day. I was having a few contractions, but nothing consistent or very strong. The one productive thing I did do was help Brad make fajitas for dinner. Brad had a question about the fajita meat and was on the phone with his mom as we were sitting down to eat. I had just taken my second bite of fajita when I started to feel wet. At first it was just a little bit, but then it was increasing. Brad says that at this point my face was hilarious. I told Brad I thought my water was breaking and ran upstairs to the bathroom. I could hear Brad telling his mom that my water just broke and hanging up the phone. I didn't quite make it to the bathroom before it all came gushing out. As I was cleaning up I realized that this wasn't the nice, clear liquid they had talked about in child birth classes. This was brownish yellow brown, meaning the baby had pooped. I called my OB office around 5:30 pm and they said to come right in to the hospital. We were quite the sight to see running around trying to gather our last few things as I was starting to have some contractions.
But soon enough we were at the hospital. Brad dropped me off at the ER and I got checked in. By the time I was wheeled up to the PEC (basically the ER for preggos) Brad was up there meeting me. There were several other people in line to be seen, but they sent me right back to be evaluated. This is when I had another huge gush of liquid. They had to check that for sure my water had broken and it didn't take the nurse the usual sample for the slide for her determine that it really was amniotic fluid. They checked me and I was dilated to a 3. The previous week at my OB appointment I was almost a 2. A 3 is not officially "active" labor, but since my water had broken and there was baby poop in it they decided to induce me and get this baby here sooner than later. They said that even though the water breaking can start labor, it can also take days to really get going. Seeing as there is an increased risk for problems for me and baby by waiting, we were going to start right on the pitocin. The doctor took a guess and said that he thought this baby would be born in the late morning or early afternoon. Brad and I also took the time to make a few predictions of our own. Brad said he would be born at 4 am and would weight 6 lbs, 8 oz. I thought he would be born at 4 pm and his weight would be in the low 7s.
However, there wasn't enough rooms that night in Labor and Delivery. I was examined in the PEC at 7:00, told I would be admitted at 8:00, but didn't get to my room until 10:00. By that time I was having some decent contractions of my own. The anesthesiologist came by and had me sign the permission forms for the epidural so when the time came we wouldn't have to worry about paperwork. They got me settled in and by 10:30 I was in enough pain to ask for the epidural. Unfortunately, the anesthesiologist had 2 back to back c-sections right then. I didn't see him until 12:00. Next time, we're not waiting. Right before midnight they also decided to start me on the pitocin. So, not only did I have my own contractions, but they added to them with the pitocin. I was not happy at all. I was vomitting with a lot of the contractions and feeling very sick. I was in agony waiting for that epidural.
Originally I had some fears about having an epidural placed. It wasn't as easy and as pain free as they make it sound, but it was so worth the little bit of discomfort. The anesthesiologist became my favorite person of the night. The epidural was magic. I could feel the pressure, but none of the pain. He was also nice enough to wait during the contractions before doing anything.
After letting that work they decided to come in and check me at about 1:00. I had progressed to a 5. The doctors felt great about this. They had me lay back and try to get as much rest as I could. However, twenty minutes later I had the doctor back in because the baby's heart rate was dipping too much with my contractions. They did another check and I was at a 7. They decided to try changing my position to see if this would help baby's heart rate.
But after another twenty or so minutes (around 2 am) the doctors were back in. The position change hadn't really helped so they decided to put in a catheter and add back in amniotic fluid to help cushion the baby. This ended up really helping baby, but made me feel very light headed. My hearing started to go. For me, this means, I'm about to pass out. I let them know this and quickly they had the anesthesiologist and another doctor there. They took me off the epidural, which I was not happy about. They repositioned me and after a minute or two my hearing returned and thankful so did my epidural. While they were up there anyways, they did another check. They said I was an 8 or a 9. This baby was coming quick. They told me to rest up and they would be back in a couple hours to check me and see if baby would be ready to come.
It was about this time that Brad and I decided on our baby's full name. We had his first name picked out for months, but still had 4 options for his middle name. When it came down to it in that moment, we knew which one we liked most.
I could still feel the pressure of my contractions so I didn't really fall asleep except for maybe a half an hour to an hour. About 4 am the doctor came back in to check me. I could really feel baby down low already so I wasn't surprised when she said that I was a 10 and he was right there. It was time to push and this is when the entourage started showing up. My doctor was accompanied by a resident. I had two nurses who had been helping me all night. There was another doctor to help with the delivery. Since baby had pooped in utero, they had 3 pediatricians in the room to evaluate him as soon as he came out. There were someone else in there too (Brad said he counted 11 people including us), but I didn't really care about anyone except Brad, my doctor, and my wonderful nurse. I pushed for about 30 minutes (now I know why it's called labor.) Usually they do sets of three, for a count of ten. For the finale, I did a set of 5, for what seemed like extra long counts of 10. I had been closing my eyes while I was pushing, but someone (I can't even recall who) told me to look and sure enough Nathan David Packer was born. I remember thinking 1. he didn't look to bad for just coming out (I would even venture kind of cute) and 2. he had hair. They let Brad cut the cord and then took him to be evaluated in the corner of the room by the pediatricians. I was a little sad that they had to whisk him off and that I didn't get to immediately hold and just look at my baby. I could hear him crying in the corner and I was crying. Our little boy had made it. He was here. My eyes were focused on that little corner even though I couldn't see a thing with all the people surrounding little Nathan.
Which was a good thing. We had opted to have Nathan's cord blood publicly donated and so the doctors were drawing the blood from the cord right after Nathan was born. This was followed by the delivery of the placenta and then repairing two tears from delivery. The doctors told me that the one was a Level 2 tear and the other was a Level 1. I'm glad I didn't focus too much on this because it was not pleasant. But thank goodness for that epidural.
It took them an hour to evaluate Nathan. They did keep me updated with how he was doing. Nathan didn't swallow any of the baby poop in the amniotic fluid which was a good thing. The one scary thing was that one of his arms came out completely white when he was born. It must have been pinched on the way out. It took a long time for the color to return to his arm. They did weigh him at that time. He weighed 6 lbs, 10 oz. So, Brad won both of our bets.
Finally, I was able to hold my baby. He was perfect. He was so awake when I held him. His eyes are blue and they were so intent to see me and Brad. He really could tell who both of us were. It was so sweet. Here was our little miracle baby. He had made it. And he was ours and perfect and we love him beyond anything.
I do have to say that Brad was the most amazing support to me. He held me, comforted me, massaged me, did everything I asked him. He was amazing in what he had to say to me to keep me going. He was so excited during delivery. He kept saying "Oh wow,", "You're doing it!", "You're doing awesome," and "I love you" all the time. Once Nathan was born Brad kept me updated about what was happening to Nathan and would bring over his camera to show me pictures of our little boy that I couldn't see. He was wonderful. I couldn't ask for a better husband and he is the most amazing father to Nathan. Brad is absolutely smitten and he definitely has a way with that little boy. For all of this, I am so very grateful and blessed.
So for now, we are enjoying having our sweet little boy home with us. He's doing great and is such a wonderful baby. He's slept so peacefully and hardly cried. He's a good little eater (he actually gained weight while we were in the hospital.) And every so often he'll have that wonderful alert state where he will just look at us. I'm still recuperating and sore, but it's totally worth it to have our sweet little baby.
2 comments:
Alisha, what a beautiful story. He is perfect and so so cute! His little red lips are adorable. You are such a great mommy and I bet you are just loving having him here finally! I may have teared up a little reading your story! I'm so glad he was okay from the fluid. Congrats again Alisha and Brad! Nathan, you have wonderful parents!
Thanks for sharing! I love the 3rd picture from the bottom. So cute! He has such a perfect face. Congrats to both of you.
P.S. What is it with fajitas? :) When my water broke I was about to make fajitas for dinner.
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