Here's a quick update on what happened since my post at 27 weeks.
At week 30 I was diagnosed with mild preeclampsia.
My doc was cautious and had me do two 24 hour urine catch tests to see how things were going.
I skipped directly from my once a month doctor visits to weekly visits.
Our baby was also measuring big so we went for an ultrasound at 32 weeks.
It was confirmed, he was bigger than expected for the coordinating week but everything looked great and were asked to come back in at 36 weeks to see how big his was then (incase I needed a C-Section).
Week 32 we also started non stress tests (NST) to make sure baby was doing great.
The first NST went great. We weren't as fortunate with subsequent NST's.
At 33 weeks my doc had me get a steroid shot to help mature our son's lungs incase we delivered early.
The next two NST's sent us into labor and delivery for further monitoring.
Both times our son ended up doing just fine and we were sent home.
And this is where my birth story will begin.
On November 6th I went into my regular scheduled doctor appointment.
Everything went well at this appointment. The NST was responsive and baby was doing great!
My blood pressure wasn't too high and I only had traces of proteins in my urine.
I was given a slip to schedule another ultrasound to see how big our baby was.
The doctor told me that we would discuss delivery options at my next appointment.
We lef the doctor's office that day feeling great and we were getting anxious knowing that our baby would be coming into the world soon.
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| The day before Bosston was born. |
I called and scheduled the ultrasound on our way home and was able to get in the next day.
We left our house at about 12:30 on the 7th to head to the hospital for the ultrasound.
The office was running a bit behind and we were getting antsy.
We finally got in and got to see our baby.
He was measuring in at approximately 7lbs. 13oz.
There was a bit of a worry though...
As the ultrasound tech was monitoring the heart rate, there was a deceleration.
The doctor was concerned a bit and had us move over to another room for yet another NST.
My blood pressure was REALLY high and after a good 30 minutes of monitoring wasn't dropping.
I was told that I needed to go down to labor and delivery for further monitoring again.
I wasn't allowed to walk down the hallway to the elevator either. I had to be in a wheelchair.
We were a bit frustrated at this point. Another day and the same stuff. It consumed a whole day.
We got check in at labor and delivery and I got changed and hooked up to the machines.
My doctor was actually there at that time and stopped in to see how I was doing.
She had said that it she had seen this happen before with the NST done up at ultrasound.
We were all sure I would be going home shortly.
After waiting for at least 2 hours for blood work to be completed we were more than ready to go home.
I needed to use the bathroom so I checked with the nurse before unplugging from the machines.
She left the room and I went into the bathroom.
As I stood up from the toilet to go back to the bed there was a gush of water. I was shocked.
I went back to the bed and told James that I thought my water just broke.
We paged the nurse desk and told them and expected to see our nurse quickly.
10 minutes passed and the nurse still hadn't come in so James got up and went to find someone.
When the nurse came in she showed me that she had our discharge papers in her hand.
They were minutes away from sending us home but since my water broke, we were staying!
She told me that in all the years she has worked labor and delivery, she had never seen this happen.
It was confirmed, my water had in fact broke around 6:00PM. I was 2cm dilated and 80% effaced.
It was time for a shift change. The new nurse, Dennise, came in to meet us and get things going.
My doctor said that I could let things start on their own or they could start me on pitocin.
I was told that after your water breaks, there's a greater risk for infection so I opted for the pitocin.
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| Panorama of me in bed in Labor and Delivery |
At this point James headed home to get our hospital bag.
We weren't expecting a visit to labor and delivery so we didn't bring the bag with us this time.
I think James was a bit frantic/excited. He was kind of afraid that he would miss something.
He made it back before I really even noticed he was gone. I had contractions occupying my mind.
Things got crazy from here.
My nurse was called into another delivery so I had a different nurse start the pitocin.
They started it off at a 1, the lowest amount they could give me, just to see how it worked.
Not long after I was in a pretty constant pain.
The monitor wasn't really picking up the contractions like I thought they would.
It honestly felt like I had no break to recoup between contractions. It was one directly on top of another.
Nobody ever told me that contractions can cause vomiting...
I got the urge to puke and had to reach for a cup at my bedside before I lost it on the floor.
After that I made sure I had something to puke into (it happened a handful of times before delivery).
I made it about 2 hours before I asked the nurse if she could give me something for the pain.
I was given some phentynol through my IV.
It sucked. I still felt most of the pain but my head was in another place.
I didn't necessarily want an epidural so I was trying to put it off as long as possible.
I was told that an epidural makes your legs feel like it does after getting numbed at the dentist.
I absolutely HATE that feeling so I was somewhat afraid to have that feeling in my legs.
I caved in after about 3 or 4 hours and asked for the epidural though.
So between 9:00PM and 10:00PM I was fairly pain free.
The insertion of the epidural wasn't bad at all.
While the anesthesiologist was doing it though, the nurse asked James if he was going to be OK.
Apparently I was stuck at least half a dozen times before he got it in the right place. I didn't notice.
James said it was a pretty gross to watch. Good thing it didn't phase me!
The rest of the night kind of flew by for me from this point.
I was at a 3 when I got the epidural and they kicked up the pitocin to a 3.
At about 11:00PM the baby's heart rate started to drop.
We had 3 different nurse we hadn't seen yet rush in. James and I were both scared.
They turned off the pitocin, put me on oxygen and made me switch sides that I was laying on.
The baby's heart rate recovered quickly and they checked me again.
The nurse said I was at a 5 and then a 7 saying that I was "melting away" and to get the doc there.
James and I were hopeful that the end was near!
The nurses left the pitocin off (slowing things down again) and left the room.
We had a nurse come in to check on us 30 minutes later and said that the doc was 10 minutes out.
They had someone come in and set up everything that they'd need for delivery.
James asked tons of questions about everything and got a description on everything they set up.
I wanted to listen more but I was still on the oxygen and couldn't hear too well.
After about 2 more hours our original nurse came back in to check on us.
She said that the doc hadn't been called yet but they'd call when we were about ready to push.
We were frustrated because we thought we would have had our baby by this point.
Dennise turned the pitocin back on and told me to page the desk when I felt the need to push.
I don't think it was quite 10 minutes after that when I felt the need to push.
We paged for our nurse and she came in after a few minutes.
She checked me and sure enough, I was 10cm and 100% effaced and ready to push.
She started prepping for delivery and said that my doc was now only about 10 minutes out.
After she got some stuff situated she said that we'd start pushing with the next contraction.
This was around 2:30AM. Not too much longer and we'd be parents!
Since the monitor wasn't picking up contractions well, I told them when I felt the need to push.
The epidural was pretty effective on the pain but still left me with the ability to move my legs and feel enough of the pressure to know what to do.
The nurse told me that I was such a great pusher and that it wouldn't be too long before our baby came!
After the first several pushes I was feeling like I wasn't going to be able to finish.
Then with the next push I was able to see the top of my baby's head.
My doctor showed up right about then too and told how great I was doing.
Seeing how close we were to being done gave me the extra energy to keep going.
After a few more pushes our little guy's head was out. The hard part was done!
After about 45 minutes of pushing, our beautiful baby boy, Bosston Jameason Bell was born at 3:16AM weighing in at 7 pounds 6 ounces and 19.5 inches long.
He was immediately put on my belly while daddy cut the umbilical cord.
He was whisked off to be weighed and measured while I got stitched up.
I had some internal 2nd degree tears but nothing too bad.
I kind of giggled because my doc said that it would "burn like the dickens to pee".
Little did I know until the following day that she wasn't joking!
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| Welcome to the world! |
I sat there and watched James as he watched them clean up his son.
You could see how much he already loved his son just by watching.
I finally got to hold my baby boy again. It is such a surreal moment I was overwhelmed with emotions. I was overjoyed and so grateful for my two boys.
Not too long after, we were moved to our room and our journey into parenthood began.
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| Daddy snapping pictures |
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| Getting cleaned up and tagged |
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| Holding my son |
We love our little man so much and couldn't be happier parents.
I feel that this experience has brought new light to the relationship James and I have.
I see how much he loves his son and loves me and I'm forever grateful to have that.
I feel like I'm the luckiest girl to be able to share my life with someone who loves us so much.
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| Little Hand |
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| Little Foot |
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| My sweet baby boy |
A powerful article, good job!
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