Daniel's Birth Story- Part II

So continuing on from the last post.....

Overnight I had another dose of the Cervadil and they monitored me off and on every two hours, so it wasn't exactly restful.   The nurse did take pity on me and offered me some crackers, peanut butter and apple juice.  I was thankful to have it because I thought I was in for a really long day and I couldn't imagine how hungry I was going to be (given that I was already hungry just from being there overnight).

I woke Jesse up at about 5 am to watch the sunrise with me (did I mention the room had an amazing view of the mountains?)  We hung out together for a while.  Contractions were starting to get stronger but they weren't unbearable.  We started a game of cribbage (which I was re-teaching Jesse how to play after not playing it for a long time- because I'm a bad loser ;) ).  We were also listening to some music. We had a Pandora station going on the Iphones that was soundtrack music.  At one point Jesse had the march from Star Wars playing and was making jokes about having them play that as they were moving us from the Delivery Room to recovery- gotta love my husband's sense of humor.  My parents got there

Right in the middle of the game the Nurse shift change happened at 7 am. Our new nurse was named Sara.  She was a very nice lady (seemed really young) but she did a great job.  We were sitting there and the contractions starting getting more intense and closer together.  I couldn't concentrate on the cribbage game anymore.  All the sudden I had to throw up and I was regretting those crackers and peanut butter.  Jesse was great- he held my hair and got me a cool rag to put on my neck.  At that point I was contemplating the Epidural because it was just so painful!  When I threw up again I told the nurse that I wanted the Epidural!  She called the Anesthesiologist and while we were waiting she checked me.  I was at 5 cm- so there was progress being made :)  I was excited about that but hoping the Epidural would make things a little more bearable.  While all this was going on I kept feeling like my water had broken (like maybe a little trickle of something).  I got up to go to the bathroom and there was some pinkish fluid.  When the nurse checked it hadn't broken.  When the Anesthesiologist got there I threw up again- bleh!  He got the consent ready for me to sign (I hate to say this but I didn't read it before I signed- that makes me crazy!)  After that we needed to get me positioned to have the Epidural put in.  I stood up and my water broke all over the floor, the nurse's shoes, pants etc....It was way more fluid than I would have imagined!  It took a lot of towels to mop up- Ew!  It made me glad it happened there though and not in my car or at work like I was afraid of.  The one towel I had on the seat of my car wouldn't have cut it :)   After that Epidural went in and things were better almost immediately.

After all of  that I was relegated to the bed and they had to put in a catheter- not a pleasant experience....but necessary I suppose.  The contractions were getting harder and closer together.  The nurse started acting concerned because they were so strong and so close together.  The Dr had changed over night now to a man as well.  He seemed nice enough although generally I prefer to have women Drs.  At this point the contractions were really strong and the Epidural wasn't getting all of the pain anymore- I had one muscle in my back that hurt a lot!  Jesse rubbed my back and held my hand, but I was still in a lot of pain.  The Anesthesiologist came back a couple of times to adjust the medication but it still didn't cut it.

The other Dr sudden came into the room and was watching the monitors really closely.  The decided they needed to put in an internal monitor for both me and Daniel.  After the monitor went in they were able to get a better read on how strong the contractions actually were and how Daniel was tolerating everything.  After monitring for a little while they noticed that the contractions were making Daniel's heart rate decrease- ALOT  and they weren't giving him much time in between to recover.  After that they decided they would put back some of the fluid I had lost (Saline) back into my Uterus to give him a little bit of cushion to tolerate the contractions better.  After a few minutes of monitoring after that, Daniel's heart rate was still decreasing to almost below 60 with each contraction.  The Dr. looked at me and said that we should start discussing the possibility of a C-section.  Although it scared me and it wasn't what I had wanted I thought we needed to do it, just because it was becoming really scary.  They went ahead and had me sign consents for everything- again no chance to read anything and that drives me nuts but what could I do?

In the next several minutes they had Jesse putting on scrubs and they were doing a lot of stuff to get me transfered to the operating room.  Kathy (my Step-Mom) held my hand the whole time.  I was starting to cry because I was so scared....I didn't want surgery- this wasn't what I wanted...but I couldn't see another choice.  They rolled me out of the room and all I could think was where is Jesse?  Why am I going down the hall without Jesse?

We went into the Operating room and they transferred me to the table- which was a really strange sensation.  I had never been in the hospital before and now I was going to have major surgery!  I was really nervous.   When they finally got everything started Jesse was allowed to come into the room and sit on a stool next to me.  He had his phone with him and he showed me pictures of our pets and talked to me.  I was so glad he was there.

Then sudden we heard the most beautiful sound- Daniel's cry :)  I started crying and Jesse started crying....he was here finally!  Jesse went over to the warming table and was with him.  I couldn't see very well what was happening because the drape was in the way.  Somewhere in there Jesse left with the baby when they took him to the other room and cleaned him up.

The Anthesiologist told me I should try and get some sleep while they finished up the surgery.  He made a joke that I probably wouldn't be getting much sleep for the next 4 or 5 years so I should enjoy this little nap :)  He was a pretty nice guy and it made the waiting and uncertainty a little easier.   They finally finsihed the surgery and moved me over to a bed.  That was a little uncomfortable because I had no feeling but felt like I was going to fall.....very weird.

I was in recovery and finally got to hold Daniel and see Jesse again.  It was a perfect time.  We tried breast feeding and Daniel did ok with it.  I remember it being so peaceful which made me happy.

Anyway, that's my story.  Here's some pictures.  We were in the hospital until Wednesday and then went home....there will be plenty of posts to follow and hopefully they won't take me nearly as long to get up as this one :)