Katielady
08-13-2007, 02:29 PM
Cash Elijah has finally arrived!!! Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts over the last few weeks, especially last week as I was laboring.
The story of his arrival is a bit wild, but I will try to keep things simple and as short as possible.
Wednesday August 8th, I began having very difficult/consistent contractions. By the end of my workday, I was exhausted and not really feeling like it would be much longer until I was in full blown labor. When I arrived home that evening, my husband took one look at me, grabbed the bag and headed toward the hospital with me in tow.
Monitors got strapped on and confirmed I was contracting every 6-7 minutes. Exam revealed that I was still at 4cm and about 50% effaced, quite a way to go yet.
Around 11pm, my husband noticed on the monitor that Cash’s heart rate was rather low. He was staying in the 95-105 range, but when he would move around any, it would accelerate some. So, Dr. ordered me to drink some OJ and eat a snack and see if that would help…it did. But at that time, I still had not progressed any farther. So, it was agreed that I would begin a Pitocin drip at 5am if nothing changed.
5am arrived all too soon, as did the AWFUL contractions that the Pitocin brought with it. After what seemed like days of contractions, I still had not progressed, so my doctor came in and broke my water. Within an hour, I was calling for the Epidural. I got that around 11:45am but within minutes, started feeling really dizzy and lightheaded. My BP had dropped from a consistent 118/75 range to 48/23. They lessoned the dosage I was receiving and my BP came back up within minutes.
A little after 1pm the nurse said I was up to 7cm. When my doctor came in at 2pm, I had not changed any more, so she manually stretched my cervix. Then a hop skip and a jump later, the doctor told me to “call in the troops” (who I wanted with me when I delivered). It had already been agreed that if my sister or mom were available and there, my husband would wait outside until the baby was safely delivered. (He may be a big guy, but he is a bit on the squeamish side). That was fine with me, so my mom joined the nurses as I pushed and 2 contractions and 6 strong pushes later, out came a beautiful healthy yet small baby boy!! Cash weighed in at 6 pounds and was 19 inches long. Much, much smaller than the doctor had predicted, but very healthy and with a great set of lungs!
As my husband went to watch them clean up Cash, the doctor kept working on me. I was bleeding much more than I should have, and by the look on my moms face and the nurses, it was pretty severe. A few shots later, and I was doing “normal” for post delivery, or so I thought. Within 2 hours though, I had called the nurse back in several times to help me “clean up”. I was still trying to get my “sea legs” back after having the Epidural, so it was nearly 6om before I got out of the bed to use the bathroom. I made it to the bathroom okay, but passed out while on the toilet. When they stood me up to move me to the wheelchair, I flooded the floor. Again, a few more shots and things seem to clear up.
I was very dizzy and weak still on Friday afternoon when we were suppose to be released, and soon found out why. When my doctor came in that afternoon to release me I thought, instead I was informed I would be getting 2-3 units of blood (if ok by me) and staying another night. My original blood count (prior to delivery) had been 11.3, that morning it was only 5.7. Normal is somewhere between 10-14. I got 2 units of blood Friday night, was released Saturday afternoon (blood count at 8.9) and here I am today at work!
We are all tired, but doing well. I will post pics under picture forum later today.
The story of his arrival is a bit wild, but I will try to keep things simple and as short as possible.
Wednesday August 8th, I began having very difficult/consistent contractions. By the end of my workday, I was exhausted and not really feeling like it would be much longer until I was in full blown labor. When I arrived home that evening, my husband took one look at me, grabbed the bag and headed toward the hospital with me in tow.
Monitors got strapped on and confirmed I was contracting every 6-7 minutes. Exam revealed that I was still at 4cm and about 50% effaced, quite a way to go yet.
Around 11pm, my husband noticed on the monitor that Cash’s heart rate was rather low. He was staying in the 95-105 range, but when he would move around any, it would accelerate some. So, Dr. ordered me to drink some OJ and eat a snack and see if that would help…it did. But at that time, I still had not progressed any farther. So, it was agreed that I would begin a Pitocin drip at 5am if nothing changed.
5am arrived all too soon, as did the AWFUL contractions that the Pitocin brought with it. After what seemed like days of contractions, I still had not progressed, so my doctor came in and broke my water. Within an hour, I was calling for the Epidural. I got that around 11:45am but within minutes, started feeling really dizzy and lightheaded. My BP had dropped from a consistent 118/75 range to 48/23. They lessoned the dosage I was receiving and my BP came back up within minutes.
A little after 1pm the nurse said I was up to 7cm. When my doctor came in at 2pm, I had not changed any more, so she manually stretched my cervix. Then a hop skip and a jump later, the doctor told me to “call in the troops” (who I wanted with me when I delivered). It had already been agreed that if my sister or mom were available and there, my husband would wait outside until the baby was safely delivered. (He may be a big guy, but he is a bit on the squeamish side). That was fine with me, so my mom joined the nurses as I pushed and 2 contractions and 6 strong pushes later, out came a beautiful healthy yet small baby boy!! Cash weighed in at 6 pounds and was 19 inches long. Much, much smaller than the doctor had predicted, but very healthy and with a great set of lungs!
As my husband went to watch them clean up Cash, the doctor kept working on me. I was bleeding much more than I should have, and by the look on my moms face and the nurses, it was pretty severe. A few shots later, and I was doing “normal” for post delivery, or so I thought. Within 2 hours though, I had called the nurse back in several times to help me “clean up”. I was still trying to get my “sea legs” back after having the Epidural, so it was nearly 6om before I got out of the bed to use the bathroom. I made it to the bathroom okay, but passed out while on the toilet. When they stood me up to move me to the wheelchair, I flooded the floor. Again, a few more shots and things seem to clear up.
I was very dizzy and weak still on Friday afternoon when we were suppose to be released, and soon found out why. When my doctor came in that afternoon to release me I thought, instead I was informed I would be getting 2-3 units of blood (if ok by me) and staying another night. My original blood count (prior to delivery) had been 11.3, that morning it was only 5.7. Normal is somewhere between 10-14. I got 2 units of blood Friday night, was released Saturday afternoon (blood count at 8.9) and here I am today at work!
We are all tired, but doing well. I will post pics under picture forum later today.