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Monday, March 13, 2006

Birth Story (long)

Raymond and I arrived at OU Health Sciences Center around 11:45 p.m. on March 7, 2006. We went up to the 4th floor and went through the admission process. That took about 20 minutes or so. I was assigned to birthing suite #4 on the high risk OB ward.

It took a good while to get everything set up and to meet the doctor on call. They were satisfied with my cervix information obtained on Monday so they did not do a physical exam at that time. On Monday, I was 2 cm. dilated and 70% effaced.

Pitocin was finally started around 1:45 a.m. at 4 mg/hour. It was steadily upped throughout the night. I was feeling ok; the contractions started almost immediately and were one on top of another with no leading up to the pain. Just bam, bam, bam. But I was doing ok. They gave me some stadol for pain early in the morning and that made me feel pretty darn good. It really took the edge off of the pain and I was seeing about 6 of everything.

My nurse checked me before shift change so the next nurse would know where things stood. No problem with the exam, no pain at all. Still about a 2-3 cm. dilation and 70% effacement, not much progress and this was around 6:30 in the morning. Pitocin was upped some more, I’m not sure to what but it ended up at 22 mg/hour.

My new nurse came on duty; she was not nearly as nice, personable or caring as my other one. She seemed impatient with me. Dr. S***** came in around 9:00ish.

He was there to break my water. After it was done, I could tell that I had a ton of fluid, much more than with Elizabeth. I was just to 3 cm. and 80%.

I decided at that point to have a c-section. Raymond had been out in the lobby throughout all of this and came back to me a sobbing mess. I could not stop crying and everyone attributed that to just being in labor and Drew’s problems. I then told him I wanted a c-section as I was getting the feeling that I was being treated badly because I wouldn’t do what the medical professionals wanted me to (have a c-section). Amazingly, I was treated much better after deciding on a c-section.

I told the nurse my decision and one was scheduled for 11 a.m.

I was so disappointed to have requested a c-section; I’m even more upset now because I think it might have harmed Drew’s lungs. I know it didn’t help that he didn’t get the benefit of the fluid being squeezed out of them.

My nurse checked me right before going to the OR. I was only at 4 cm. and 80% effacement after about 9 ¼ hours on high doses of pitocin.

I was wheeled into the OR while Raymond was left to suit up in the birthing suite. Things were running behind, it was about 11:15 a.m. when I finally made it in there and then just had to wait. There had to have been 15-20 medical people in there for me and Drew. Dr. S***** even had another doctor assisting him with the actual section. Finally, around 11:30 a.m., the spinal was administered and they began to cut. Raymond was brought in the room after the initial incision. I don’t remember much of what happened after that point, I was exhausted.

I remember hearing one doctor say, “That’s the most perfect umbilical cord I’ve ever seen,” and Dr. S**** saying, “The head really is big.” I then heard the best sound in the world, Drew let out 2 or 3 weak cries. He was then intubated and there were no more cries from him. I could not see him. Raymond told me he was purple. I heard, “Color apgar of 1 at 1 minute,” and that’s when I lost it and started crying.

They got Drew fairly stable and rushed him out of the room, talking to Raymond at the same time. I felt so helpless, just laying there being stitched up and not able to do anything. They have one NICU in the hospital I gave birth in but it is not the one Drew needed to be in. They took him up there for his initial assessment before med-flighting him across the way to Children’s Hospital.

The doctors spent about 45 minutes stitching me up and did a very good job. By the time they were done and I was being wheeled back into my room, feeling was coming back and I was hurting very bad.

Raymond went out to talk to the family. Meanwhile, I was alone in my room just sobbing. The med-flight nurse and Drew’s NICU nurse wheeled Drew in before transferring him to Children’s (around 1:30 p.m.) so that I could see him. That was unexpected for me. He was just so beautiful. I reached in the incubator and touched his hand. He uncurled his fingers for me. When I told him that I loved him, he turned his head as best as he could to me and slightly opened his eyes. And then he was gone.

I was transferred to a room on the 10th floor where I resided the rest of my stay. I would go back and forth from the hospital I gave birth in to Children’s several times a day in order to see Drew.

Anyway, that’s the birth story itself and I haven’t even started to write out the rest of what’s happened since then.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't be disappointed for having a c-section. Although going through the birth canal does 'ring them out' it also can cause stress on the lungs that he might not have been able to handle. What a wonderful mom you are, you were willing to sacrifice your own body to help your son!

Anonymous said...

Jana, Please don't feel that you were wrong in your decision, you did what you felt was necessary at the time! You are an extremely loving and devoted mother to your new baby Drew! And he knows it!! Just keep on fighting, and we're all here behind you, praying for all the best!! ((((HUGS))))