Logan's Birth Story - Not quite what we expected...

manna1212 · May 2014

Short Version: Logan Robert was born 5/17 at 4:26 am. He weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce and was 21 inches long.

Long Version: I had consistently joked around that Logan could come anytime after 2:00 on the 16th, as that is when my maternity leave started. On my way home from work at 2:30 my water broke in my car! I was one of those lucky ones whose water breaking is like what you see in the movies. I called the doctors office and they told me to go right in. I got home and finished packing my bag, all the while walking around the house with a towel between my legs because the water just kept coming. My husband and I then headed to the hospital. When we got there and got hooked up I was having some small contractions. I had not had any prior to my water breaking. They decided to monitor me for a bit and my dh and I walked to halls. A few hours later, the contacting were still pretty mild and they were spreading out more. Becuase of this, the decision was made to start petocin to help move the labor along as they did not want me going 24 hours past my water breaking.

My body responsed quickly to the petocin! My contractions picked up fast and got pretty close quickly! When the pain really picked up I tried the tub and an IV pain med. I didn't like the tub as I felt too hot. I hated the IV drug. DH had told the nurse that my body is extremely sensitive to pain meds, yet she decided to give me a decent dose. I felt incredibly dizzy and out of it for a bit which I couldn't stand. I got out of the tub quickly and with the contractions being so close together due to the petocin, I asked for the epidural at 6 cm. The epidural was the best decision I made! The pressure from the contractions was still pretty strong, but much more manageable. When it came to push, I pushed for 40 minutes. Baby's head and shoulders were a bit big so I had an episiotomy. When he came out we were able to do skin to skin for awhile.

The next day is when things started to become concerning. We noticed that he was consistently vomiting and would not eat. He also had not had a bowel movement in 24 hours. He was also incredibly calm and borderline lethargic. Our nurse was amazing and really went to bat for him to get the doctors to check him out a bit. The pediatrician also saw some discouraging signs and had him taken to the nursery to run some tests. The nurse practitioner from the special care nursery (hospital did not have a nicu) came out and told us that they had a concerning x-Ray and it showed a bowel obstruction. She told us that we would have to transfer hospitals to go to a nicu as a pediatric surgeon needed to perform a procedure. Luckily I was 2 days pp and was able to be discharged to go with him. We were transferred to a hospital 1.5 hours away which is known for its pediatric care.

When we got to the hospital, we were told that tests would be completed in the morning. It was incredibly stressful seeing him hooked up to machines and having to leave him there. We stayed at a house for parents about 5 minutes away. The next morning when we went back, we were given the diagnosis that he has a small left colon. Apparently this is a side effect of gestational diabetes. I was completely diet controlled my entire pregnancy. The doctors said it didn't matter how well controlled I was, sometimes it just happens. We were told that his colon was not allowing his meconium to pass which is what caused the blockage. We were told that his colon will grow and should not be a problem moving forward. Eventually with the procedure, he started passing the meconium and producing bowel movements.

We were in the nicu for 5 days to make sure everything was okay. It was stressful, but the staff at the hospital were great! We came home this week and have been slowly adjusting to life with a newborn! It has been such a relief not being in the hospital! The experience is not what we expected, but we love out little guy