Sunday, July 7, 2013

Birth Story

James Ezekiel
Wednesday, April 17th, 2013
2:36am
19.5 inches long
7lbs 15oz


<<<<REWIND>>>>

Tuesday, April 16th 2013 4:45 am: I woke up rolled out of the bed at the Ramada that I laid in nervously all night, "Today is the day! I'm gonna be a mama!" Monday night, we booked a hotel room in Aberdeen because we had to be at the hospital at 5:45 the next morning for my induction. An induction that terrified me in EVERY sense of the word. What if he's not ready? What if it doesn't work? What if something goes wrong? 

I nervously got out of bed, and spent my last quiet morning curling my hair (If I was going to wear a hideous hospital gown and be stripped of every bit of dignity I have, I was going to AT LEAST look good while doing it!) Jimmy got up and packed up all our things and we hopped in the car and drove the 2 blocks to the hospital. 

Because It was so stinkin' early, we had to enter through the emergency room doors. We were lead up to our birthing suite and got settled while filling out paper work and getting all sorts of wristbands. (Did I mention I HATE bracelets?) so. annoying. 

Around 7 am, they finally got around to me, "here it goes!" We thought.
Wrong.
Because the hospital can only have a set number of "elective" births and because there were other's in labor before I arrived and finally because another woman came in just going into labor, they informed us that unless I was in labor naturally  we were going to have to go home and try again at a later date. SERIOUSLY? 
I don't think Jimmy had ever prayed so hard that I would go into labor, but It worked! I was in labor, all on my own, with NO drugs. SO THANKFUL! I have avoided the induction I was dreading!

At noon, my water was broke, meconium was discovered and so it began. (the pain that is!) I am not anti pharmaceuticals  by any means, but I wanted to give my best shot at no pain medication. I made it 4.5 hours. The hours flew by for me, but according to Jimmy, they were the longest 4 and a half hours of his life! I'm pretty sure the anesthesiologist was my favorite. His name was Leif. I don't know why I remember that, but I do! And I am thankful for him! :) My labor slowed so I was given Pitocin around 5:30 pm. My doctor said we should have a baby by 10:30pm and then told me to get some rest. REST? how do you expect me to just snooze away when I am going to be pushing a 7+ pound human out of my body?! HA! The nurses told me at about 1 am that I was ready to push. All of a sudden, I get nervous, anxious, happy, sad, scared, excited, overwhelmed, terrified, overjoyed. You name it, I felt it.

After an hour of pushing, we welcomed our beautiful baby boy into the world... and they whisked him away to the warmer to suction him out. I was waiting for "THAT cry" you know, the one as soon as they come, out they take their first breath and let out a noise similar to a large jungle cat? He let out a noise, It was a small noise, but a noise big enough to inhale the meconium. While he was over on the warmer, I just laid there... all by myself... not really knowing what was going on. All of a sudden we needed chest x-rays and monitors. Then we needed an EKG. Wait? an EKG? What's wrong with our son?! With a heart rate of 69, they start to worry. They informed me that I was not going to be able to feed him until they got things all figured out. We were not able to hold him for an hour and half after he was born. It was the longest hour and a half i've ever known. We were so thrilled when we were finally able to snuggle him!





He had to sleep in the nursery because they needed to run more tests on him and had to administer his IV medications. At 5:30am, our doctor walked in and woke us up with "We might need to fly him to Sioux Falls"... excuse me? How about a "Good morning?"..Jimmy quickly rolled over on the couch and she told us that the nursery was only level 2 and he would need to go there, we would know for sure shortly. 

By the grace of God, a pediatric cardiologist from Sioux Falls was IN ABERDEEN. It was not coincidence. I truly believe God was watching over our son. While he was borderline level 3, the Doctors from Sioux Falls and the ones with us in Aberdeen were able to communicate via video and phone to discuss his heart. The doctors in Sioux Falles were able to listen to James' heart from the nursery in Aberdeen, isn't technology amazing? Aside from his low heartrate, they thought James has a murmur, but discovered he had a PDA (Patent ductus arteriosus). It is a heart problem that affects some babies soon after birth. In PDA, abnormal blood flow occurs between two of the major arteries connected to the heart. Before babies are born, these arteries are connected by a blood vessel called the ductus arteriosus, a blood vessel that is vital to fetal blood circulation. Within minutes or up to a few days after birth, the ductus arteriosus closes. In some babies, however, the ductus arteriosus remains open (patent). The opening allows oxygen-rich blood from the aorta to mix with oxygen-poor blood from the pulmonary artery. This can strain the heart and increase blood pressure in the lung arteries.

The PDA was discovered simply because of the EKG's performed. A lot of babies have it, and it closes. They are not, however, monitored like James was, and since they found it, we had to have it checked out again. PDA aside, they were still a bit concerned about his low heart rate and kept him on a heart monitor 24 hours a day while we were in the hospital. 

Because I was not able to nurse him immediately, I pumped, which allowed Jimmy to feed him.


James LOVED his first bath, especially getting his hair washed.












We spend Wednesday, Thursday and Friday Morning cuddling and getting used to our baby boy.













On Friday, James was fit with a Holter monitor to record his heart for the first 48 hours we were home, and we were sent off. After a rough start, we brought home a perfectly healthy baby boy. We are so thankful for him, and for the wonderful care we received at the hospital. 

<3 Paige

1 comment:

  1. Congratulations on remaining strong and continuing to breastfeed even after all the initial problems. You should be proud. Your son is quite adorable too. :)

    ReplyDelete