Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Baby H: PRH Birth Story pt 2

Miss part one? Go here.

We finally made it to the check in desk in labor and delivery and I started filling out the little bit of paperwork and immediately got another contraction. I couldn't talk or stand still, was trying to concentrate on my breathing while gripping the edge of the counter. I'm not sure what the reasoning was (a slow night on L&D, a nurse with a good eye for someone in active labor, etc etc) but we were able to completely skip the triage room and got put directly into a labor room which I was so thankful for. On our short walk to our room we made sure to mentioned that I for sure wanted an epidural and to get the process started on that because of what a disaster it was with Mark trying to get one in a hurry. We also explained to my nurse that my first labor was under 7 hours and it was seeming like this one was taking the fast track as well.

Once in the room I was given a gown to which I immediately started changing into, before my nurse even walked out of the room. I think this was a sign to her that things were moving quickly! I finally got into bed to be hooked up to the monitors and she checked me for the first time. I'll never forget what she said, "Well... hmm, if I round DOWN then you're at a 9 and a half. I can only feel the tiniest bit of cervix in one place" Holy crap! Again, for the second time, I had progressed completely on my own.

At this point it seemed like word of my speedy delivery (and current progress) spread quickly because everyone started working at rapid pace. A nurse came in to start setting up the labor cart. My nurse drew my blood and hooked up my IV. She put a Stat order on my CBC because we couldn't start the epidural until the results were back and even called down to the lab to make sure they saw the order. The anesthesiologist came in and was brought up to speed about my history and everything going on and started my consent paperwork before the labs were done. Between the two of them things got taken care of so quickly and for that I'm so thankful. The anesthesiologist already had me draped and sterile before the results were in so that once she got the go-ahead (and I finished my contraction) she could boogie. Once I gave her the okay to start, she worked so quickly even saying she felt like she was holding her breath she was moving so fast. She gave me a bolus of meds through the catheter instead of immediately hooking up the pump system because that would take longer and I needed some relief. Two boluses later things were starting to change from pain to pressure and I gave a huge sigh of relief. In terms of timing, the orders for my labs were placed at 8:20pm and my epidural was finished by 8:50pm.
My contractions at this point were coming basically on top of each other and baby boy wasn't really liking them. So I was told to lay on one side to see if that helped which thankfully it did. A few contractions later and I was having the insane urge to push (which by the way blows my mind that the body just does that all on its own!) so we decided to do a few practice pushes. Two contractions and four pushes with J and my nurse and we decided to wait so we weren't catching a baby without a doc there. The on-call doc had been notified I was there and at this point the next step for me would be to break my water so she was called. J likes to say that she's a magic doc because she broke my water from the doorway when in reality my water broke on its own thanks to one really big contraction just as she was walking in. She introduced herself to J and I and started getting dressed. A nurse warned her that we hadn't done much pushing yet so she might not want to totally gown up yet so she told me to do one set of pushes with the next contraction so she could see what we were working with. Well one contraction with three pushes later and baby boy was here!

Patrick was born at 2116 on April 16th, 2016. Just under three hours after leaving his daddy's surprise party and 15 days early. We like to think he just wanted to join in on the fun! And I don't blame him.
This time around my new baby boy was placed directly on my chest and it was such a magical experience. I got to lay eyes on him, wrap my arms around him the moment he was born, stroke his hair and soft skin. It was so redeeming for me. And the coolest part of it all for this med school momma? I got to cut his cord! The nurses worked to dry him off and get a diaper on him while he hung out with his momma. In fact they didn't take him at all until after we had gotten our first feed in.
His APGAR scores were 9's and they told us he weighed 6#3oz and was 18.5 inches long. Unfortunately there was a bit of a mix-up with his birth weight and we don't actually know what he was at birth. When they did his 24hr check for jaundice, etc they weighed him a second time and he was 6#8oz which didn't make any sense. There was no way he gained weight in his first day. It turns out the scale in our original room was off. On discharge day he weighed 6#5oz so they estimate he was somewhere between 6# 10-12oz. For baby book purposes we're going with 6#10oz as his birth weight but it's strange to not really know.
We stayed in the hospital two nights until Monday afternoon and it was such a different hospital stay than with Mark. The first time around it felt like we were constantly getting help from the staff, nurses, docs, lactation consultants, etc. But this time it felt like we were just hanging out by ourselves with our new baby boy. Whether this is because Patrick is an easier baby or we had the experience under our belts already I'm not sure but it almost felt like a vacation. We snuggled in bed, watched movies, fed around the clock and watched the snow continue to fall outside. Both grandmas made multiple appearances to see the newest addition and most special of all was Mark coming to meet his baby brother. It's a moment I'll never forget even if Mark was more interested in baby brother's duck and the snacks in the diaper bag!
We were cleared for discharge around noon on Monday so after ordering one last meal from the hospital and doing one more round of checks from both our doctors we were headed home. The transition to a family of four has going fantastically so far and we are so thankful for our littlest boy. Thanks for making me a momma for the second time, Patrick Reece. I love you past the moon!

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