Nash Ryan~ A Birth Story

*Lengthy. Detailed. Birth documentary-esque post ahead.
That is sure to entertain.
Just sayin'...

I left off last week after my appointment.

I was five days overdue at that point, and had just came home from an ultrasound that revealed little amniotic fluid left, and possible meconium or vernix inside the sac {per my OB you can't tell what it is on an ultrasound. But regardless, it doesn't matter if you expose the baby to it for three seconds or six days, if it is meconium, you will have to have a good suction upon delivery}

So.

The next morning, Friday, I went to my last OB appointment.

Just me and the three babes.

Early.

And we made it. No problem. On time even.

{My Sweet had a really full schedule planned that day, with an appointment that happened to be at the exact same time.}

I finally got to be seen at almost 9:20am.

{my appointment was scheduled for 8:45am}

Upon examination my OB asked me what I wanted to do. And immediately, I said I wanted to be induced. That same day if possible.

I explained how yesterday revealed meconium/vernix, that my non stress test showed I had contractions, but they were not productive, and that I was still only 2cm. I clearly needed a little push.

And what better time than now?

Like right now.

She obliged. And called the on call physician to verify induction would be fine for today.

GREEN LIGHT! GO!

And that was it.

I had picked my delivery date.

Again.

I hurried home.

{after a Dunkin Donuts run for pre promised donuts and an iced tea}

Gathered the mostly packed labor bag, video camera, photo camera, baby bag with the baby book and newborn outfits, my overnight bag with a change of clothes for My Sweet and some PJ's.

While clammering to nail down childcare for my kids, and talking to my mom, my sister, and my Sweet I then packed the kids some things in an overnight bag.

Soon after, my sister in law came and loaded us all up to drive me to the hospital, where I would meet my Sweet at the entrance.

I was giddy.

Full of excitement.

And ready to do this!!

I got wheeled up to L&D and was admitted to room 2203 at 11:30am.

A stocky little nurse came in and said to put on the oversized gown that was laying on the end of the freshly covered bed. 

Bottoms off. {Duh.}

I smiled at my Sweet. 

This was really happening. We were going to have another baby!

I nestled into the bed, pulling the blanket up over my mint colored toes.

12:00pm~ A nurse came in and started my IV.

I did pretty good considering I hate IV's. Especially when they are in the hand, or in this case the forearm. Yuck!

12:10pm~ My Nurse Christa introduces herself, and administers Cervadil to help ripen my cervix. I am 4cm.

{4cm?!}

I just went to the doctor yesterday and she said I was 2cm! 

Did I just start induction for no reason?! 

Was my body on it's way to going into labor on it's own?

Not that it matters now, but I probably should have asked my OB to check at my appointment that morning.

Although, I was already set {mentally} on induction, I may have waited to see if something would have happened over the weekend, had I known I was 4cm.

1:05pm~ Oxytocin is started via the IV. 

And while I was having some contractions on my own, they were not uncomfortable, barely noticeable, and basically unproductive.

My Sweet leaves to go get some lunch, and some shoes. Yes. I said shoes.

Whilst packing the bags earlier I forgot to also bring my Sweet some shoes to change into. Which wouldn't have been a problem, but he didn't feel comfortable walking around the hospital in the Snoozie fleece slippers I did pack him, or the wingtip dress shoes he was wearing from being at work earlier... with shorts.

So I surf the Web while he is gone, and even update my Facebook account a little.

The Pit {Oxytocin} is making me start to really feel the forced contractions, so I tell my nurse that I would like to have the Epidural before things get too out of control.

My Sweet returns. And even brought me a Turtle candy for after delivery.

2:40pm~ Epidural is administered. My cervix is 5cm.

I have gotten an epidural every labor. Holding out the longest with my first born.

Every time I get one, I am slumped over a bedside table with pillows and come up in a mess of tears.

This time though, I didn't get a bedside table.

Slumped forward, breathing through contractions, I took that long needle in my back, like a CHAMPION.

I even surprised myself.

2:50pm~ Catheter is inserted. And she breaks my bulging bag of water with her fingers.

It is clear!!

Must have been vernix afterall.

{Another moment, I slightly regretted my decision to be induced.}

Cervix is 7cm.

Whoa!!!

That was FAST!

{We are going to have this baby before dinner!!}

I literally went form 5 to 7cm in a matter of ten minutes!

And, Nash... wasn't happy about it.

3:20pm~ Nash is having major decelerations in his heart rate. He managed to get down to 42 beats per minute at one point! And as a previous Nursing student who went through OB {and loved it}, I knew that was not good. At. All.

{Another moment I was regretting being induced.}

3:25pm~ I am administered Brethane via a Subcutaneous injection in my arm after my nurse decided that my uterus just wasn't letting up after I switched from laying on my left side to my right side. The Oxytocin is stopped. My nurse, and another nurse are now in my room. I am given an Oxygen mask to put over my face. I am starting to feel extremely tired. 

Like it is hard to keep my eyes open, kind of tired.

3:45pm~ My contractions have slowed. But now my Blood Pressure won't stay in a normal range and is dipping into the 66/33 range for the second time in a one minute reading sequence. My Nurse touches my shoulder and asks if I am okay as I lay on my right side with eyes now closed.

I tell her I am really tired.

Duh.

I am about to shut the lights out, of course I am tired.

She tells me my blood pressure is getting low, so they are going to give me some Epinepherine to bring it up.

I am trying to stay calm. Breathing in and out with the oxygen mask on, slow and deep breaths. Concentrating on getting things under control in my mind.

I know that 66/33 is dangerously low.

Like low enough, with the earlier decelerations in Nash's heart rates to have nearly been wheeled into the OR for an emergency C section, low.

3:50pm~ Epinepherine is administered. My blood pressure levels are better. And then, they drop again.

3:55pm~ My Anesthesiologist is back in my room, and is checking the Epidural medicine levels. Decides to slow them.

I am given another bolus of Epinepherine.

I start to recoop from the drop in blood pressure, but still feel very tired.

I am told that when my water was broke it augmented the epidural medicine and that is why I had the sudden drop in blood pressure. They said they usually see complications from an Epidural within ten or twenty minutes of receiving the Epidural, not usually an hour later... 

but all seems to be better. For me, and Nash.

I am left to just relax for a bit.

My Sweet and I are caught up in chatting and laughing about some silly MTV dating disaster show where they set up people on fake dates with obnoxious partners and see how long they can hold out, to win money.

Which is hilarious to me {not the show} because I remember watching the same show when I was laboring with Nadie.

4:45pm~ Oxytocin is restarted.

My Sweet and I are still watching TV, and feel like lazy bums. He is antsy, and feels like he isn't doing anything, and I have been sitting in the same bed for hours now. It is driving me crazy that we are almost at dinnertime {respectively} and still no baby.

5:50pm~ I am starting to feel my contractions again. And remember that they had turned down my Epidural medicine. I am a 3 or 4 {out of 10} on the pain scale at this point.

My day nurse leaves for the day at 6pm, because she had a dinner party that night.

6:00pm~ In comes my new Nurse, Bethanny. She is shorter. Stocky. Has moussed shoulder length curly hair. And a tattoo on her left wrist.

Already I don't like her.

Her smile reminds me of a smirk. Like someone just said something funny outside in the hallway that she wasn't supposed to tell, kind of smirk.

And my Sweet feels the same way.

We just kind of looked at each other.

My intuition tells me I should ask for a new nurse right then. But, I am tired. Ready to just get on with the show. And instead, I bite my tongue.

6:30pm~ My contractions are becoming strong. I can feel them in my belly and my back. Like I am wearing some sort of contraction belt. I power through each one at a 7 or 8 level of pain. I hold on to the bed rails and push my arms straight to lift myself off the bed with each one. My Nurse is alerted to give something for pain.

6:45pm~ A bolus is given through my IV. I am still powering through each contraction by breathing and holding the rails of the bed. My Sweet is at my side telling me to just breathe. My nurse watches at the foot of the bed, as I work through yet anotherv painful cramp.

7:00pm~ My nurse comes in again to see if the bolus has helped.

It hasn't.

I am still at the same pain level. And they are coming every minute and lasting 20-30 seconds at full magnitude before tapering off. Another bolus is given via my IV. I move into a Semi- Fowlers sitting position {the head of the bed is at a 45 degree angle} as opposed to the way I was sitting before {bed broken with feet lowered, sitting up}.

7:25pm~ My Anesthesiologist is back in my room and gives me yet another bolus via my Epidural line. My pain is still the same.

7:45pm~ Finally feeling relief from my contractions. My nurse checks my cervix. I am 9cm!!

All those Pit contractions were worth it!!

I am going to be pushing soon!

Or so I thought.

My nurse informs me I also have a thick anterior lip that still needs to thin out, but asks if I would prefer to have the female or male  on call physician deliver.

I opt for the female, and she goes out of the room.

7:55pm~ I am resting on my back. Feel so tired, but my contractions are not really a problem anymore, so I am relaxed.

8:10pm~ I talk to my Sweet about being uncomfortable. My ribs hurt. Like the muscles between them are strained. I ask him to help me turn on my left side, since my lower half is heavy again with numbness.

8:15pm~ My nurse comes in. Asks if I need anything.

{Nope! Just a baby!!}

I ask her about the anterior lip. 

She said it was thick, and that she wasn't going to check me again yet.

8:20pm~ I am resting on my left. My Sweet is watching some ridiculous videos show on MTV now, and laughing. Asking me randomly if I saw that?

{No. I am not watching. I did not just see that. Mine eyes... are closed. But, I'm not sleeping.}

8:45pm~ I hear my nurse come in. She tears the strip of paper from the machine. 

Asks my Sweet if he needs anything, and then leaves the room.

I open my eyes right after she closes the door, and my Sweet and I joke about her asking him if he needs anything. 

What??

8:50pm~ I move from my left side. I am uncomfortable.

I lay back on my back and can feel Nash high up in my abdomen.

I push down on my belly, so as to push him out of my ribs.

I immediately feel nauseous. 

Throwing up during labor is very normal for me. 

I have done it with all of them.

It is the subconcious way my body deals with extreme pain, epidural or not.

8:54pm~ I ask my Sweet for a vomit pan.

He is by my side rubbing shoulders, as I start spitting.

My mouth is watering like crazy.

I know it's coming.

8:55pm~ And then, it does.

Just come.

I am sitting up slightly, crouched forward.

And, ralphing.

I hate when my Sweet sees me like that. Vulnerable. Helpless. And ralphing... ew.

8:55pm~ I feel a 'pop' down under. And then, another.

8:56pm~ My Sweet pulls the blanket on the bed back, and we see Nash laying on the bed!

Say what {?!!!!} just happened?!

My Sweet runs into the hallway and tells the nurses sitting at the nurse's station, :"The baby is HERE!!!"

Indeed. He was.

8:57pm~ Four nurses come running in my room and grab Nash sans gloves. One clamps the cord, while the other cuts it. My nurse finally arrives and is rubbing Nash dry under the warmer.

All I can do is look at My Sweet who is now a very light color in the face.

The doctor enters and takes over. Drawing blood from the cord so they can send it to lab to have it typed.

I start crying.

Crying because Nash is just fine.

He is a healthy 8 pounds and 6 ounces.

22 inches long.

With Apgars of 9 and 9.

Perfect.

Crying because of what just happened.

{What did just happen?!}

Aside from the obvious, I was in shock.

From the event of how it happened, not from what had just happened.

Crying because... it's finally over.

The long forty week and six days pregnancy was over.

And we now had this beautiful baby boy to snuggle and love.

I am dressed. Made to be comfortable at best, and we are left to drink in our new baby.

We are skin to skin. And he cries softly for just a few more minutes before he is just silent looking through his ointment glazed eyes into mine.

His daddy holds him a while, before getting on the phone to announce his arrival and stats.

9:35pm~ My other littles came up to the hospital to meet their new brother.

It was a lovely little hour that we all shared. 

Meeting and greeting.

Hugging.

Giving kisses.

And then they left to spend the night with their beloved cousins.

My Sweet and I finally got settled into our postpartum room at almost 1am.

I fed my little monkey and tapered off to sleep.

Feeling blessed beyond any sort of measure for yet another healthy delivery.

Oh, poop!

Today's appointment was not exactly what I was hoping for.

Luckily, my Sweet met me there after an early morning appointment, which made having Nadie shriek through my Non Stress Test a little less... stressful.

Anyways.

The ultrasound revealed that my amniotic fluid levels are pretty low.

And there were these black masses or pockets that filled up any empty space that was left.

What's that you say, ultrasound tech?

Oh... poop!

That's right.

My dear boy has already passed meconium.

In the bag.

And was practicing his breathing already. Diaphragm moving in and out.

Our first son, Nolan also passed meconium in the bag, and we had to have the Respiratory team in the delivery room to suction him pretty good. He was grunting and having retractions for a good two hours after delivery.

But thankfully, he did not develop a respiratory infection or pneumonia.

So.

I went to the exam room after all that and waited to see what the Nurse Practitioner thought while they hooked me up to a Non Stress Test machine {which he passed without any decelerations in his heart rate as I had mild contractions}, and because they couldn't get a hold of my OB, they asked the on call doctor to evaluate the ultrasound findings.

I was prepared to call my mom and tell her we would be dropping the littles off in the next couple hours, because we were going to be induced today.

But the on call doctor said, there was little worry in letting me wait until next week.

{whew! I felt slightly better.}

I say next week because my OB only induces on Tuesdays.

I would likely come in Monday night to have some meds administered to soften my cervix, since it was also revealed today that I am still 2cm, and he is still sitting high.

She did not say he was ballotable.

So maybe he is a -2 station or something.

But still pretty firm, and not really dilated.

Regardless.

I am scheduled to see my OB in the morning.

Early.

{I'll let you know how that goes with all three littles! I see donut bribery already in the future.}

 I am looking for a vote of confidence that it is a-okay to wait. 

And if I don't feel it... this momma will be headed to a delivery room tomorrow. 

Eager to finally post the outcome, with a schedule of approximate delivery.

Pray for us.

Especially Nash, given the findings.

I will update as soon as possible.

Hanging on... by a thread

I called this morning to ask about the convenience or probability of scheduling an induction for the same day after my appointment on Friday {since it is early morning}, and I got bumped to an appointment tomorrow instead.

{yeah! I will take it!}

I will be having a complete biophysical profile done via ultrasound to determine most importantly, the amniotic fluid levels, the heart rate during movement, and the blood vessels in the cord.

 

Then, I will be having a post ultrasound check up with yet another Nurse Practitioner since my doctor isn't in on Thursday's.

But, given the results... including whether or not I have dilated past 2cm at this point, we are going to decide a game plan for Friday.

Yes. This Friday.

 {induction? YES.}

I am frustrated.

You can tell I am frustrated.

 

 

I keep trying to get into a mental state where I can imagine myself going into labor, since a lot of times, your mind is the only thing holding you back.

I imagine that I am having contractions, and I have been having contractions actually... since Sunday.

Not so much today though.

They are sporadic. And very much like Braxton Hicks.

They don't last but 30-35 seconds and are spaced a good ten minutes apart or more when they are present.

 

 

 

I have tried doing acupressure points on my hands and feet, as indicated in the {many} you-tube videos I have watched to make sure I am doing it right.

I have been walking up and down the stairs.

Moving furniture. Okay just a sofa table and Nash's dresser. But still.

I have swept the house.

I have been sitting on the floor in an Indian style formation, feet touching... knees out.

We actually had a dance party in the basement yesterday while Nadie napped, because I had seen a post about "dancing the baby out" to start labor.

I have used my husband.

We rode around on a bouncing, bumping boat.

I have eaten spicy food.

I know there are a lot of women out there that would just tell you to wait it out.

Believe me, I have heard them.

 

But let me try and put into words how it feels to be where I am.

A deadline for something such as a birth, is something very exciting to look forward to. 

Kind of like a huge vacation that you have had planned for a year.

You look forward to it.

And as the days get closer, you anticipate how things will go, what you will do, what you will see, ect.

 Then, the day comes when you are supposed to leave for said vacation.

And instead of leaving, your plane is no where to be found. And worse yet, they aren't sure there is going to be a plane to get you there any time soon.

And that you are just going to have to wait.

Meanwhile, all your hopes for this well planned "vacation"... are crumbling.

{realize that I am not actually comparing a birth to a vacation here}

 

But, this is where I am.

Crumbling.

Crumbling into a state of surrender.

Surrender to the fact that I am just one of those women that need that nudge from medical advances {in the form of a liquid medication to induce contractions} to get my labor going.

 

I am less confident every day that passes, that going into labor is something I will experience on my own.

Especially since my contractions won't even happen on more of a pattern yet for a longer period of time.

 

Anyways.

Just wanted to update again.

And will of course put forth the "agenda" after my appointment tomorrow.

 

Until then...

 

 

 

Cold FORTY!

So.

As mentioned, we {the kids and my Sweet!} went to the doctor this afternoon.

I had excitement written all over my face as I paid the last bill upon check in.

We made it!

We were finally at the end.

{Or, so I thought}

Of course there is a BIG bill still to come, but I was more talking about the end of this pregnancy.

 

I was very much looking forward to finally giving my Sweet that call. Even though he was present at the appt today...

The one where I scare him into racing home from work calmly let him know that my contractions are five minutes apart.

 That the bags we have had packed for going on two weeks now, can finally go in the car.

That the kids are finally going to get to see what their brother looks like.

And, if he has dark hair like they did, or red this time like me.

That we can finally bring home our newest bundle and start to transition into a family of six.

That I can wear something other than knit.

 You know... thee end.

But after weigh in, and a check up by my favorite nurse practitioner today... I am feeling no closer to the end, than I did two weeks ago. {sigh}

She was much more personal with me than my OB.

And I really liked that part.

I did not like that she shot my idea of birthing my little horse anytime soon.

She let me in on the fact that I was still 2cm.

And that he was ballotable.

{WHAT?!}

You mean this kid still has room to bounce around?!!!!

{meanwhile, my knit pants and shirts are becoming less forgiving}

Disappointment set in.

The idea of yet another induction hit me like a ton of bricks.

My hopes were sunk.

I no longer had that smile I came into the office with.

Don't get me wrong, there are perks to induction.

1. You can schedule it.

2. You can prepare mentally for it.

3. You have control of PICKING your kids birthday.

4. You can make arrangements for caregivers of the other children.

5. You can start the pit and get an epidural at the same time if you want to.

But, this time around I had my mind set on something different.

Besides going into labor on my own, I wanted Nash to pick his birthday.

{I know. I am weird.}

Lots of things surround the decision to induce this time. Including the aforementioned, my Sweet's birthday is this next Monday.

We could induce on that day.

We have talked about how it would be neat to share the same birthday {as father and son}.

There are a lot of shared birthdays already in our families.

I actually share mine with my brother. Fourteen years apart.

And while none of our other children share theirs with anyone on either side, and my husband has had the entire month to himself until now... I am just not sure if choosing to have the same birthday for them is the right thing to do.

But thankfully, we probably have the whole week to decide.

Anyways.

Here are the latest STATS:

Weeks: 40!!!

 Gender: BOY!!
Position: Head down and NOT engaged.
Dilated: 2cm.
Aversions: Same as they have been...
Cravings: Ice.

 Complaints: Did you read above?
Heartburn: Of course. I even bought MORE Tums the other day when I realized we were going to be overdue.

Weight: 170. Some of the good news I got today was that I at least maintained my weight from last week.

 Gain: 40 pounds.
Name: Nash Ryan

 

Belly pic:

 

 

I am scheduled to see my doctor on Friday of this week.

Induction will be discussed.

And probably scheduled.

It is my mindset in the last days of pregnancy to lean towards what is going to be easiest.

I have been induced three times.

Please pray for me.

Mostly for patience.

But also, that I would do what is good and right.

For our family.

For Nash.

For myself.

Until then...