Looking Back...April 13-16

Julie, one of the nurses transported me to Room 7 in Labor and Delivery. I'm proud (?) to say that out of 9 rooms in Labor and Delivery, I have occupied 4 of them during my various visits and stays. (It might be 5...I can't remember which room I was in when I fell on the ice back in January.) Needless to say, they know me quite well there now.

The plan was to have the nurses start me on Pitocin by 8pm (Sunday) and my doctor would be in to break my water between 8-9pm. We learned that my doctor had 2 other women in labor that night which was not expected, so she didn't get a chance to see me until almost 10pm. She broke my water, which in my opinion was pretty disgusting. "Things" were cleaned up and she said to sit back and wait for the Pitocin to take effect. Mom rubbed my feet for a while to relax me (aren't moms the greatest?). Chris and I let her know that it was okay for her to go home and get some sleep, so she took off around 11pm. I made sure to call Laura when I knew she'd be on her layover in Vegas. I let her know that I had been induced but that she would be home in time. Although by "close" we were talking hours, not days or weeks like we'd thought.

Dawn wanted to visit me so she drove down after work. She arrived around midnight just as I was asking for something for the pain...an IV was administered (I don't recall what was in the IV). Chris stepped outside to let Dawn in, and by the time he came back with her, I was pretty wasted from the medication. Chris was quite surprised at the difference in my demeanor as he'd only been gone a few minutes. I remember visiting with Chris and Dawn, and offering them some of my medication because "it feels freakin' weird!". However, it was doing nothing for the pain, only making me extremely drowsy.

I'm not sure how long it was before I asked for an epidural...maybe that was around 1am. The anesthesiologist arrived shortly thereafter and Dawn left to sit in the waiting room. (This section is a little hazy for me so Chris is helping to fill in the blanks.) Apparently the anesthesiologist was concerned about my level of consciousness so he asked several questions to gain an assessment of where I was at. I was so out of it that I'd nod off in the middle of my answer. He measured the amount of oxygen in my blood and it was at 87 which is low. They put me on oxygen (the nasal hose kind) but I wasn't breathing through my nose much. The level only rose to 93 so they put a mask on me, and the level went back to the high 90s. A blood test was ordered but the wrong work was done, so they had to draw more blood and wait for another test. Apparently they wanted to see my platelet count, which came back a little low but okay, so the anesthesiologist went ahead with the epidural. However by this time (a couple hours after his initial assessment) I had so much IV fluid in my system that my body was swelling. Apparently they had to cut my hospital bracelet off because it was too tight. The anesthesiologist was having a difficult time fnding the appropriate place to stick the needle and had to use ultrasound to locate his landmarks. Chris said they made him sit down at this point...he was pretty upset watching the whole process. Anyway I do remember being poked in the back several times. I don't know how many times they need to poke you for an epidural but I remember about 5 or 6. Chris says he missed a few times. I remember feeling an electric current running through my spine which was rather painful. Once he was finished, they laid me back down and I was expecting to go through the rest of my labor pain-free. The next contraction hit like a ton of bricks and I remember asking when the meds would go into effect. I don't know if anyone even anwered me...I felt like no one could hear me. The next few contractions hurt equally as bad and Chris said the nurse was asking me if it was pressure or pain and I said "pain". They called the anesthesiologist back in and he made some adjustments. Without having a full understanding of what was going on, I have to wonder if he purposefully didn't increase the meds because of all the other crap in my system. Who knows...Regardless, he was interested in my health and well-being and I was not in good shape. I'd rather feel the pains of childbirth than be dead or something :)

Once he left, it was back to more contractions for me. The nurses had me lay in a couple different positions including one where I was on my right side with my left knee bent and propped up. It was rather uncomfortable and I said something about it but they wanted me to stay that way. Chris said the nurses stepped out for a few minutes at that point and it was just he and I. A couple more contractions came and went, and suddenly I felt this overwhelming need to push. Chris poked his head out into the hallway and told the nurses, who rushed back in to take a look at me. They positioned me on my back and said "yep it looks like we're having a baby!". The process of pushing began. Chris says this is where I became very quiet. The nurse was telling me what to do but I was focused on Chris. He was repeating what she was saying and I remember just focusing on his words and instructions...he did a wonderful job and his voice was very soothing. I think I worked on pushing for about 30 minutes and my doctor was called in. She had me push through a couple more contractions and I remember asking her "am I going to tear?" She replied "now Mandy, I don't think that's something you need to be worrying about right now. Let's get this baby out". I said "no, the reason I'm asking is because I can freakin' feel EVERYTHING and I wanna know how bad it's going to hurt!" I pushed a couple more times and at 5:47am Chris and I saw our son for the first time. Surprisingly, Chris is the one who broke down at the sight of our baby boy. Normally I'm the emotional one but I think I was too exhausted to cry. One of the nurses asked if the baby had a name and Chris said "Owen". I was surprised, because we still had not officially come up with a name. We'd brainstormed for months but had yet to come up with something we both liked. I liked Owen best but Chris didn't care for it much. I asked him "are you sure? I didn't think you liked that name" and Chris said "it's grown on me". Richard is Chris' middle name so that part was easy.

Owen was placed on my chest so I could see and touch my new baby for a few minutes. He was very quiet and it took him a minute or two after birth to make his first cries. It was the most precious, tiny sound I've ever heard. The nurses then took him to be cleaned, weighed and measured (7.1 lb, 20 in).

When babies are born at Good Sam, they play "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" which can be heard throughout the Labor and Delivery Unit. They had Chris activate the music before going to find our families. Our parents and my sister came in and this part is rather hazy for me. I remember lots of tears and hugs, and Owen was being passsed around for everyone to hold. I watched Laura and Chris hug each other and remember how thankful I was that she was able to make it home from the Caribbean in time (with an hour to spare). At some point Owen was taken to the nursery to be warmed up because his temperature was a little low. Thank goodness this was the only issue that we faced, considering he was 3 weeks early. I was moved back to the post-partum unit to rest and recover. I don't know where our families were but I'm guessing they went home to get some sleep. Chris and I crashed out for a few hours. I remember someone poking their head in and asking if it was okay to give Owen some formula since I was too tired to nurse him, and I said yes.

I believe we woke up around 11am and I remember thinking "wow did I really give birth this morning?" Owen was brought in shortly thereafter and Chris and I were left alone to bond with our baby. Much of Monday (and even Tuesday) is a blur to me but I remember a lot of nurses attending to me, as well as a hearing specialist, pediatrician, lactation consultant, and photographer. Our cell phones were ringing off the hook and we were having a hard time keeping up with the calls. Several people stopped to visit as well.

My doctor stopped by on Tuesday to check on me and to say I could go home that afternoon. I was ready to jump for joy, but she came back 10 minutes later to say "nevermind, you were pre-term and I forgot..he needs to stay at least one more night". UGH. I should have seen that one coming, with my recent luck. I honestly thought she was kidding for a moment but realized that she was serious. So rather than start packing, I sent Chris home to get some much-needed food and rest. My mom came to hang out for several hours and I had a few visitors pop in and out.
Chris returned later that evening and Mickey, one of the nurses, lent us a movie to watch.

The next morning (Wednesday) Dr. Mitchell stopped by to tell us that we could leave! They were finishing up paperwork so we had to wait around for a couple more hours. We packed up and said good-bye to the staff, who had become my second family. While I was thrilled to be going home, I admit that it was hard to leave the hospital. The nurses were amazing and worked so hard to make sure that we were comfortable and well-cared for. I come from a family of nurses and my mom has always taught me to have a great deal of respect for them. (In fact, my big request to Chris was "when I'm in labor, don't let me yell/swear at a nurse"...I didn't!) So leaving was a little difficult, but I know I can always stop in and say hello.

So all in all...looking back I had a good experience. I could be mad about the IV wiping me out, or upset about the epidural, or I could continue to complain about spending a week in the hospital. But in the grand scheme of things, those issues don't matter. What matters is that I came home with a beautiful baby boy that I have waited a long time for. He's healthy and happy and Chris and I love him so much. That's what is important.