Where to begin? Jack is almost a week old, which is CRAZY to me. A week ago from today the chaos started. I was 37 weeks and 3 days. I went to the Dr that Tuesday and they said i was not making much change, which made us all laugh, because now that this baby could come, he was content to stay in there as long as he could. So they told me they would see me next week, have a NST like usual and see what happens. I went on my way, wondering if i was ever going to have this baby.. Wednesday Jared and i got the last little things ready for Jack and we both thought hopefully next week would be the week.
Thursday the 5th, i had a follow up appointment with the cardiologist. I have to meet with one while i am pregnant due to a heart condition i am born with. My heart had began to beat pretty fast but it had most of the pregnancy. However, when i was at the cardiologist my HR was in the 135-140 while sitting in the chair. That is a quite higher than usual. The cardiologist was not a fan of how fast my heart was and after some tests and evaluation he decided the best thing for me was an early induction. The medication they can give to slow the HR crosses the placenta so if i got this medication, jack would get it also and we did not want to put him in danger. The cardiologist sent an email to my OB (i guess this is how they communicate outside of the hospital), he told me i needed to follow up with my OB and to take a letter he had for me to my OB. I did not think i would have been induced that day, but the Cardiologist said he wanted me to talk to my OB before my next appointment on Tuesday with them. So i got in my car and headed over to my OB office (which is right down the street from the cardiologist).. I talked with the nurse taking walk ins, she got one of the Drs in the office. He came and talked to me, listened to my racing heart, talked to my cardiologist, checked me to see if i had any changes (which of course i did not) and told me he would be right back.. 5 minutes later he came back in the room and told me labor and delivery had a cardiac room ready for me and i was to go over to be induced as soon as i could. I was in shock. Jared was home sick, so i called him and told him to jump in the shower and to start getting ready. I called my parents in St George and told them to head on up. We were all in a little shock to say the least. The OB did tell me it was going to be a slow induction, i would be on heart monitors the whole time, i was to get an epidural early, and probably not be allowed to push ( recommendations from the cardiologist). I just said Uh huh, ok, and said i would head over to the hospital. it was all so surreal at this point. I figured i would go to the cardiologist and all would be fine, i would go a week over my due date and be induced and that was that.
Once Jared and i got to the hospital around 2 PM, I met with one of the OB's from the Dr's office (there are like 10 of them) and he gave me the game plan. Told me they hoped i would have the baby by the following night. They started the Cervadil to ripen the cervix. Jared and i just hung out, feeling over whelmed and not sure what to do. I sent Jared to go run some errands, i took a nap, and we just waited. My parents got there around 8 that night. My dad took Jared to dinner and so my mom and i hung out in the room, talking and laughing and being just what i needed. Around 3 AM i was to the point where they could start the pitocin. This is the point they said i needed to have the epidural if i had not yet. So the CRNA was called and the epidural was started. I was so nervous, but i knew i was in good hands as i recognized the CRNA as i have seen him at work before. So the epidural was started, now remember i was on a heart monitor being montiored by the ICU, i had the stork bytes on, and an IV going, along with the Pitocin being started. I was connected to all sorts of monitors. Well after the epidural was started, my heart rate was going up. I felt my heart racing, and all i could think about were the complications i remebered from nursing school. I started getting really light headed and sick. My blood pressure was going in the toilet and my HR was trying to compensate by going to the 150-160's and higher.. After a nice 2L bolus of Iv fluids, and some adjustments on the epidural i started coming down on the HR and going up on the BP. the nurse was in my room for a couple hours trying to keep me in balance. i got really sleepy after all this happened and i do not remember much, but i know it was scary for me and my mom and Jared. I am so glad i had such a great nurse who took care of me. After shift change the following morning i got a nurse who i knew from previous visits to L&D and was so glad she would be with me for the Day. She was AMAZING!! they had to stop the pitocin because Jack did not like it and his HR would drop with the contractions. So it was stopped and started again on the lowest dose. We played the game of turning up the pitocin slowly, watching Jacks HR, watching my HR (which stayed in the 90's till i moved and then would go to 120-130), and trying to get me to dilate and efface more. We played this game till 5PM. Now we wanted to deliver before 6 that night. The dr that was on was AMAZING as well. He is the king of using forceps and since i was not going to be able to push or only to push a little, forceps were a must that needed to be used. We prayed and hoped that i could deliver before this Dr left off of his shift. it was a day of emotions, i was happy, sad, scared, tired, and so much more. I had amazing family there with me. The blessing i got from my husband and dad brought me a lot of comfort for my 28 hour labor. The epidural was great, i could not feel much but i could still move my legs, i never felt like dead weight. that was a blessing all in itself. So at 5 PM the nurse said i was diated to a 10 and 100% effaced.. She went to get the Dr, he came in and said i was going to have to push a little because of where my baby was sitting, we needed him a little more out front.. so after some pushing, my mom telling me to ignore the monitors, and such Jack was born at 1708 or 508 PM. He was not breathing and took a lot of stimulation to get moving some air. So the NICU team was called and i held him after they got him breathing for just a minute and he went to the NICU. Hardest moment in my life. Jared went with Jack and sent updates. I was able to get up right away and start on some pain medicine. After about a half hour i went to the NICU to see my baby. He was on CPAP to help him breath, and then all sorts of monitors. The Dr in the NICU said he was not sure if he was going to admit him or just watch him as a transitional baby. The nurse jack had was so great and explained everything to me. They did an xray, showed he needed a medication called surfactant which would help his lungs. to give this meant they needed to put a breathing tube down his airway, put the medication in and then pull it out. I knew right away this is NOT something i could watch. So jared and i went to our room on Mom and baby. I cried the whole way down to our room. I knew there was a risk he would go to the NICU, but i figured since he got the steroid shots for his lungs, he would be ok. It was needless to say, a hard night. Our parents were able to see Jack, but besides us, there was no one allowed into the NICU. They treated Jack with help with his breathing.. Jared and my dad were able to give Jack a blessing which brought a lot of comfort to us. I went back up to the NICU around 10 that night. The nurse had me do skin to skin with Jack. It was hard with all the monitors, but we did it. During the skin to skin, jack was able to come down on his need for help with the CPAP and his respiration's were much more steady. The nurse told me she was going to try a room air sat on him after we left. I was hoping all would go well, but was told not to get my hopes up because they were still leaning towards admitting him (when we first came on the floor). I went back to the room with Jared (who had still not yet held our baby) and tried to get some sleep. Around 1 AM i called the NICU to see how he was doing and to my surprise the nurse told me he was in the well baby nursery and was getting ready to come see me! i was beyond relieved. I went to the nursery and just sat and looked at my baby free from the tubes and monitors. Finally he was mine and all was going to be ok. We stayed at the hospital till Sunday and then came home. To say the least it was a crazy 5 days of our lives, but we would not trade it for anything in the world!!
