December 1, 2008, we arrived at Frederick Memorial Hospital for a bio-physical test. There was much confusion about the scheduling, and when we arrived, they told us the test could not be done. We made a few calls, and eventually it was approved for the test to be done later in the day. Mark and I went to the cafeteria for a quick lunch, I ate grilled cheese and french fries. Not so healthy- but a common meal for me towards the end of my pregnancy. Mark used to joke that Matthan was going to be born looking for french fries- he does happen to love them!!
We had our sonogram around 1:20 pm. Fairly quickly it became evident that there was a concern regarding the lack of amniotic fluid. The sonographer continued to search in case her measurements were incorrect. She even had another person come in to verify her findings. Sure enough- we had hardly any fluid (no wonder, I'd been losing fluid for days!). Which resulted in a call to the on-call OB who had me admitted right away to begin the induction process again! I was told, this time I won't be sent home without delivering my baby.
We were nervous, but excited too. Mark went home to get our bags as I went through the prep of getting my IV, hooked up to monitors and things. It was probably 1-2pm before I was given the medication to begin to induce labor. It was slow going for several hours. Around 12am I was given some medicine to "take the edge off" and enable me to get some rest. The doctor wanted me to rest up so that I would have the strength needed to push when the time came. I was probably dilated to 4 cm at this point. I was fairly comfortable with the exception of a constant ache on my left side.
December 2, 2009
I woke up around 3:15am urgently needing to go to the restroom, as I was sure I'd "wet the bed". Come to find out what water was left- had indeed broken. I vividly recall being in the bathroom, I kept sitting down and standing up repeatedly. Mark thought I'd lost my mind. I just kept saying, "I keep having to go, something is wrong". I then realized the contractions were coming quickly and were very painful. At 3:50am, I begged for the epidural. They checked to see how far I was dilated, I was 6cm. The nurse then mentioned, "Oh, before you have your epidural you have to have IV fluids, which will take about an hour". I think it was moments later my eyes closed and didn't open for quite a while later. I was quite frustrated that after being in the hospital for several hours at this point, could the fluids not have been administered already?? The constant pain on my left side was nearly unbearable. I just repeated "Oh God please" or "Oh Lord please" for the next hour. I think it was around this time that I started vomiting and shaking all over. My dear husband tried to comfort me. Poor guy, I kept saying "How much longer? Are the fluids almost empty in the IV? Please get the nurse, tell her I NEED the epidural." He eventually had to leave the room to get a break, it was difficult for him to watch me in such pain. Finally around 5:30am, the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural. I was SO happy to see him. This soft spoken man, gently gave me the epidural- honestly I didn't even feel it. He told me in about 20 minutes I'd feel better. Well 5, 10, 15, 20 minutes pass, I keep asking, "when will this pain go away?". The doctor said, he was sorry in over 20 years of practice, he has never had this happen where the epidural didn't take.
7:30AM I'm hooked up to oxygen due to the baby's heart rate being unstable. 7:47AM- dilated to 9cm. About an hour later, they checked me and I was dilated to a 10! Now, I'm finally pain free, I cannot feel my legs at all, and its time to push- which is a problem. After sometime passes, the OB tells me they have to turn down the epidural so I can feel to push. I pushed for over an hour, hooked up to oxygen, meanwhile continuing to vomit, and then realized the terrible pain on my left side was back, and so unbearable I could not push. They decide to restart the epidural- and quickly we all realize, AGAIN the epidural doesn't take effect. At some point in all of this Crystal, Mark's sister joins us in the room. She was planning to take pictures of Matthan as soon as he was born. So, once the epidural started to work again, about a half hour later, I begin pushing again, for about 20-30 minutes. The doctor can see the baby's head but it appears as though its too big and my body is not able to deliver him. The constant pain I had been feeling on my left side was where the baby was stuck. A decision was made at this point for me to have a C-section. Tearfully, I agreed. I was beyond exhausted at this point, and STILL vomiting and shaking. They promised me the epidural will be working for the surgery.
Mark put all his scrubs on, and within moments we were in the operating room. I was still so sick that the anesthesiologist gave me some medicine so I'd stop throwing up. I then fell asleep- which wasn't the plan! Mark stayed right beside me,- and I remember a few minutes later waking to Dr. Sweeney talking to Matthan- I knew he must be on his way out. Finally at 12:40PM, he was born. I could hear all the nurses and staff taking guesses on how much he weighed. We could hear him crying...nice strong lungs. Mark went over to see him, and a few minutes later, Mark brought him over to say hello to me. He was so cute- puffy and looking tired himself! They did all the necessary tests. And the doctor continued to finish the surgery, and got me into the recovery room. Within like 30 minutes the nursery was calling requesting that I be able to feed Matthan right away as he had low blood sugar. I remember laying there, half asleep- and Mark walked up and laid our sweet boy on my chest. Matthan nursed great right away. He just stared up at me. So precious.
Our baby boy was a healthy 9 lbs 2 ounces. 21 inches long. He had the sweetest little cry, it was like a hoarse squeak. What a long process to bring us to that perfect day. Every ache was of course worth it, and God's timing of course was perfect as well. Tomorrow our baby boy will be a one year old. A toddler. Well, I might still call him a baby for a little while longer. :O) We love you Matthan Blue.
We had our sonogram around 1:20 pm. Fairly quickly it became evident that there was a concern regarding the lack of amniotic fluid. The sonographer continued to search in case her measurements were incorrect. She even had another person come in to verify her findings. Sure enough- we had hardly any fluid (no wonder, I'd been losing fluid for days!). Which resulted in a call to the on-call OB who had me admitted right away to begin the induction process again! I was told, this time I won't be sent home without delivering my baby.
We were nervous, but excited too. Mark went home to get our bags as I went through the prep of getting my IV, hooked up to monitors and things. It was probably 1-2pm before I was given the medication to begin to induce labor. It was slow going for several hours. Around 12am I was given some medicine to "take the edge off" and enable me to get some rest. The doctor wanted me to rest up so that I would have the strength needed to push when the time came. I was probably dilated to 4 cm at this point. I was fairly comfortable with the exception of a constant ache on my left side.
December 2, 2009
I woke up around 3:15am urgently needing to go to the restroom, as I was sure I'd "wet the bed". Come to find out what water was left- had indeed broken. I vividly recall being in the bathroom, I kept sitting down and standing up repeatedly. Mark thought I'd lost my mind. I just kept saying, "I keep having to go, something is wrong". I then realized the contractions were coming quickly and were very painful. At 3:50am, I begged for the epidural. They checked to see how far I was dilated, I was 6cm. The nurse then mentioned, "Oh, before you have your epidural you have to have IV fluids, which will take about an hour". I think it was moments later my eyes closed and didn't open for quite a while later. I was quite frustrated that after being in the hospital for several hours at this point, could the fluids not have been administered already?? The constant pain on my left side was nearly unbearable. I just repeated "Oh God please" or "Oh Lord please" for the next hour. I think it was around this time that I started vomiting and shaking all over. My dear husband tried to comfort me. Poor guy, I kept saying "How much longer? Are the fluids almost empty in the IV? Please get the nurse, tell her I NEED the epidural." He eventually had to leave the room to get a break, it was difficult for him to watch me in such pain. Finally around 5:30am, the anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural. I was SO happy to see him. This soft spoken man, gently gave me the epidural- honestly I didn't even feel it. He told me in about 20 minutes I'd feel better. Well 5, 10, 15, 20 minutes pass, I keep asking, "when will this pain go away?". The doctor said, he was sorry in over 20 years of practice, he has never had this happen where the epidural didn't take.
7:30AM I'm hooked up to oxygen due to the baby's heart rate being unstable. 7:47AM- dilated to 9cm. About an hour later, they checked me and I was dilated to a 10! Now, I'm finally pain free, I cannot feel my legs at all, and its time to push- which is a problem. After sometime passes, the OB tells me they have to turn down the epidural so I can feel to push. I pushed for over an hour, hooked up to oxygen, meanwhile continuing to vomit, and then realized the terrible pain on my left side was back, and so unbearable I could not push. They decide to restart the epidural- and quickly we all realize, AGAIN the epidural doesn't take effect. At some point in all of this Crystal, Mark's sister joins us in the room. She was planning to take pictures of Matthan as soon as he was born. So, once the epidural started to work again, about a half hour later, I begin pushing again, for about 20-30 minutes. The doctor can see the baby's head but it appears as though its too big and my body is not able to deliver him. The constant pain I had been feeling on my left side was where the baby was stuck. A decision was made at this point for me to have a C-section. Tearfully, I agreed. I was beyond exhausted at this point, and STILL vomiting and shaking. They promised me the epidural will be working for the surgery.
Mark put all his scrubs on, and within moments we were in the operating room. I was still so sick that the anesthesiologist gave me some medicine so I'd stop throwing up. I then fell asleep- which wasn't the plan! Mark stayed right beside me,- and I remember a few minutes later waking to Dr. Sweeney talking to Matthan- I knew he must be on his way out. Finally at 12:40PM, he was born. I could hear all the nurses and staff taking guesses on how much he weighed. We could hear him crying...nice strong lungs. Mark went over to see him, and a few minutes later, Mark brought him over to say hello to me. He was so cute- puffy and looking tired himself! They did all the necessary tests. And the doctor continued to finish the surgery, and got me into the recovery room. Within like 30 minutes the nursery was calling requesting that I be able to feed Matthan right away as he had low blood sugar. I remember laying there, half asleep- and Mark walked up and laid our sweet boy on my chest. Matthan nursed great right away. He just stared up at me. So precious.
Our baby boy was a healthy 9 lbs 2 ounces. 21 inches long. He had the sweetest little cry, it was like a hoarse squeak. What a long process to bring us to that perfect day. Every ache was of course worth it, and God's timing of course was perfect as well. Tomorrow our baby boy will be a one year old. A toddler. Well, I might still call him a baby for a little while longer. :O) We love you Matthan Blue.
1 comment:
well Baby Girl I can hardly see to even type because I am crying so hard but these are happy tears and also somewhat sad because you are so far away. I remember every thing I read like it was yesterday and in no time we will do a repeat. well you will but I will be there again and wouldnt miss being there with you and Mark and even BLUE for anything. I am so excited about getting to see my second grandbaby and another boy at that. He and Matthan will be wonderful friends all their life. I am sorry for the pain you had to endure and will endure again but the reward from above is so very very worth every bit of the pain and discomfort. I love you Bran. I am so glad you are mine...my special baby and I would go through the labor with you of 37 hours over and over to have you.
love from so very deep in my heart...mom (mimi)
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