| Sep. 4th, 2008 @ 09:24 am Last post...the long version |
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Current Location: SWIC
Current Mood:  excited
Current Music: Computer lab chatter
Tuesday actually started off with us in the hospital around 7:30 am, getting Julie checked out for red show (instead of the pink it had been). We were there for about four hours, during which time it was determined that 1.) There wasn't an issue and 2.) There weren't any contractions of significance.
We were given the choice of going home, or breaking the water and getting this show on the road, so we went home. After stopping off to see Terry for lunch ("We deliver food, not babies!"), we stopped by the grocery store, and went home.
About 3pm, Julie noticed that there was definitely a bit more regularity to her contractions, but not enough intensity or frequency to justify a trip back to Anderson.
About 4:30 or so, the intensity picked up quite a bit. By 5pm, they were about seven minutes apart, and too intense for her to talk through, so we started heading towards Anderson, and called ahead to let them know. The nurses on duty told us to hold off until they were a little bit closer together, so we detoured to my parents' house, which is about half a mile from the hospital.
We timed contractions in their living room for a little while, but the contractions grew too intense for her to handle. We headed into the hospital about 6:05, and were immediately admitted.
She was able to handle the contractions for a short while by standing up with her hands on a table in front of her, but as soon as the fetal monitors were hooked up, that option was taken away. You know every Hollywood-style childbirth scene, where they pan out from the building where a mother is delivering, and have her screaming in voice-over? Yeah...it was like that. I have no doubt that everyone on our floor heard her.
We had asked for an epidural as soon as we got in, but the nurse anaesthesiologist was with another patient, and we had to wait.
By the time the nurse arrived, Julie needed a shot of Stadol to take enough edge off her pain for the nurse to begin to administer the epidural. The effect was quick and dramatic.
Within a few minutes of the epidural, Julie was able to sit and talk normally through her contractions, and either didn't notice or didn't feel a good number of them.
Unfortunately, one of the side effects of the epidural was a dramatic drop in our baby's heart rate. It dropped from 135-150 beats per minute, down to 60. I knew this was probably a bad thing, but didn't realize the extent until the nurses inverted Julie's bed (feet up, head low), and started rolling her side to side, while massaging the baby's scalp to try to stimulate her into a faster heartbeat.
After a few minutes of this, the nurses had Julie remove all the metal she was wearing, gave her oxygen, and had me change into scrubs, hairnet, and shoe covers, in case they would have to do an emergency c-section.
Finally, they gave her a shot to temporarily stop her contractions, to help relieve stress on the baby, and that did the trick.
While this did stabilize the baby, it also had the unfortunate side effect of delaying the labor. Our OB had her try to push, to see if we could jump-start it again, but to no avail.
Shortly afterwards, <lj user>Gabbycat</lj user>'s mother arrived (about 8:15), and we chatted while Julie alternately napped and joked about the total numbness below her waist. Jan joked that if the baby wasn't here by midnight, she'd leave us on our own for the rest of it.
About 10:30-11pm or so (all the times started running together about now), Julie's contractions started picking up again, and the birthing bed was set up again.
Some time after Julie started pushing, the baby's hair came into view, followed a few minutes later by the head. As soon as her face was clear, she started crying immediately, so the doctor suctioned her mouth. A few short minutes later, the rest of her was delivered, and one of the nurses announced that we had a girl, and let me cut the cord.
She had a full head of light brown hair, fully colored pink skin (not pale, purple, clammy, or 'cheesy', like many babies are born with), and was alert and active right from the start. As soon as she was cleaned off, the pediatric nurse who was taking her footprints called me over and stamped her footprint on my hand, telling me that "she's been marking all over mommy for months...now it's your turn."
I got to carry her over to Julie, and we held her while the doctor finished stitching up her tears.
We stayed down in the LDR (Labor, Delivery, Recovery) room until about 5am, before being discharged to a post-partum room upstairs.
And yes, I know...that jerk Colin forgot to bring pictures, once again.
Trust me when I say, though, that she's gorgeous. Obviously takes after her mother. :) |
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