Hi ladies! I hope you are all doing well. I am sure I have missed so much since last Sunday. How many outside babies have I missed?
So, here's the story...
Sunday 10-10-10, I went to L&D for a NST and an AFI. On Wednesday everything looked good, so I just assumed it would be the same on Sunday. After the Dr watched the monitor for about 45 minutes, she came in and said she wasn't thrilled with the NST. I was contracting every 5-7 minutes, but wasn't feeling anything. Baby showed little movement. She checked me and I was 3cm dilated. Did the u/s and my fluid was low (4). At that point she asked me if I was ready to have a baby and that she was calling my midwife to see if she agreed with induction. I started to cry thinking that my natural childbirth plan was just thrown out the window. WTF was my exact thought! I called Anthony right away, he got Olivia settled with my mom and came right to L&D. When he arrived, they started the pitocin. It was 11:15. Contractions were bearable. At 2:00, midwife broke my water and checked me (5 cm). Contractions getting stronger. At about 2:30, I puked and contractions started to suck. A little before 3:00, I was a mess. But I knew I was in transition and it was almost over. I breathed, and squatted with every awful, awful pain knowing it would soon be over and that each contrax meant my baby was moving down. A little after 3:00, I said I had to push. I laid sideways on the bed and pushed. It freakin' killed. After a couple pushes, baby's heartrate was dropping a bit, midwife said this is the push baby needs to come out! I pushed her out! It was the most amazing feeling I have ever experienced. Abigail Josephine was born at 3:13. So, I may not have had the complete natural labor and delivery, but it was perfect. I felt great afterwards and was up walking right away.
Now Abigail. She has been in the NICU since Sunday evening. At her bath a few hours after birth, the nurse noticed she was bluish grey. She asked if she could take her to nursery to observe. No sooner do they get to nursery and Abigail had a desaturation in her oxygen and required treatment. At that point, the NICU team was called and she was brought to NICU for observation. She had 3 more desats and they admitted her to the NICU. Her lungs looked good, but her red blood cell count was very high. That has since gone down. She hasn't had a desat in a couple of days, but now has a pretty bad case of jaundice and is sunbathing. So, it hasn't been anything too serious and I am blessed to be able to say that after seeing all of these babies with such health problems, but it is tough none-the-less. I was discharged without my baby. We live 45 minutes away, so we are now all staying at the Ronald McDonald House across the street from the hospital. Olivia wants to go to "her house with her family". I am exhausted and stressed beyond belief. Because of all this, I cannot get Abigail to latch. I am once again pumping although I said I never would again. We are hoping to be home by Sunday...we'll see.
So sorry this was so long, but I figured while i had the time (Abigail is sleeping and I am here waiting for the next feeding). I also apologize for spelling/grammar errors, as I've gotten about 20 hrs of sleep since Sunday...
Re: birth story...Finally and super long!
Congratulations once again! The experience does sound very stressful, and hopefully you will get to travel home soon! Thank goodness for RMH!
Don't beat yourself up over the not-as natural L&D that you expected- we are very fortunate to have technology on our side in situations like this. And kudos to you for the super push! That had to feel awesome!
Thoughts and prayers to your family and Abigail. Having a child in the NICU is so hard, but having to leave your baby there has got to be heart breaking. I hope that the Sunday date happens for you and that Olivia gets her wish to go home with her family! Take care!
Congratulations! I will be praying that Abigail is able to go home with you very soon.
Congrats on your sweet baby girl!
I'm sorry you had to leave without her. My son had to go to the nicu for similiar issues and I also had to leave without him. Feel free to email me if you need someone to talk to. My email is sillyolruby@yahoo.com He ended up staying for 7 days.
I also want to add that I delayed the cord clamping. Both high red blood cell count and jaundice are risks involved with delaying. I knew this going into it, but guess I really didn't think it would land us here. Although the (newer/younger) Dr's here say the benefits outweigh the risks, I am not so sure...
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I am so proud of you and I can't wait to see Abigail pictures (with her adorable big sis, of course!) Hoping your wee baby girl gets well soon so you can all go home & relax
Sorry to hear that you couldn't take your baby home right away and I hope that she gets better ASAP! T&P are with you.
On another note, Congratulations and how awesome that you were able to go natural for the most part even with the Pitocin. Can't wait to see pics!
Hey wife! I'm sorry it wasn't exactly as you planned, and I really hope Abigail starts to get better. We were in labor at the same time, but mine took like 100x longer!
Hope she gets to go home with you soon!
Congratulations again!! And I think you should be really proud of yourself for going natural after the induction - I understand that that is really difficult to do!
I am really glad to hear that everyone is healthy now and on the road to feeling good... I hope you get some rest soon!
i'm glad she's stable & i hope you guys can go home asap. congrats again!
look at the birds | bless this food
I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living my baby you'll be.
- Robert Munsch
11-15-08
12-1-10
Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry Abigail is in the NICU, I hope she is ready to go home on Sunday. You totally went natural, Pitocin isn't an epi. Congrats on getting to your goal!
I hope you are able to get some rest and finally get settled in as a family of 4 soon. Thinking of you.