On Monday November 28, 2011, we went to our regularly scheduled perinatologist appointment. At this appointment, the doctor checked our baby's growth as well as what had become the routine look at the fluid level and placenta. After seeing that the baby had not grown significantly since the previous measurement, the fluid level had continued to decrease, my blood pressure had suddenly started to spike, and my placenta was still(for a reason still unknown even after a full pathology workup after our baby's birth) aging faster than it should have been, we all agreed that the best decision would be to go ahead and induce me. My appointment had started at 9, by 10 I was admitted and in a hospital gown with an i.v. started. As they admitted me, Dan let family know that today was indeed the day. My mom (who had come for the weekend and gone home just the night before) rushed back to Omaha to be there with us during labor and delivery.
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| Waiting to for them to rupture membranes and start Pitocin. |
Dan and I were so excited! We would meet our little boy soon :-) I was also nervous. This was my first baby and I hadn't even had so much as Braxton Hicks contractions up until this point. We had registered for the hospital's prenatal class, but the one we had signed up for would have taken place the weekend after our baby was going to be born now.
Around 11 they checked me and I was 1 cm dilated and 90% effaced so they went ahead and started the Pitocin. Not much later they went ahead and ruptured my membranes. I had so little fluid, that the resident and the nurse were only "pretty sure" they were ruptured. I spent most of the afternoon in bed chatting with Dan and my mom and watching t.v. while the contractions got started. By late afternoon the contractions were starting to get uncomfortable and I was getting antsy laying in bed so the nurse asked if I wanted to spend sometime on the birthing ball. I spent awhile on the birthing ball and it did help. After awhile on the birthing ball I wanted to get up and walk. Before they let me walk, they checked me again. I had progressed to 4 cm and fully effaced. Dan, my mom, and I spent some time walking laps around the ward. It didn't take long for the contractions to intensify.
As afternoon began to turn into evening my contractions progressed to the point that as we walked, I would have to stop and breathe through it while holding onto Dan. As they became stronger, they also started getting closer together. I decided I wanted to be back in bed. While laboring in bed, the contractions continued to be intense to the point that all I could do was focus on breathing through them. They also got very close together. I had probably 30 seconds or less between contractions(if that's inaccurate that's definitely how short it felt to me). It was at this point we called the nurse to let her know I wanted an epidural. At coming into the room and seeing how much my countenance had changed since starting to walk she decided to check me again. I was 5 cm dilated at this point. Between 6 and 7 pm the anesthesiologist came in and gave me my epidural. Oh sweet relief!!! The epidural was AMAZING!!!! They encouraged me to rest and I actually fell asleep for a couple of hours.
Not long after I woke up, the nurse came in and checked me. I was almost completely dilated, there was just a little left on one side, so they had me in a couple different positions to get it to complete and to get the baby to move down. After spending some time doing this, they had me try a few pushes, but they noticed that each time they had me push, the baby's heart rate would dip. The nurse called my doctor to let her know what was going on. It wasn't too much later that my doctor arrived and took a look at what the baby's heart rate was doing. She told us that he wasn't liking pushing, but she felt comfortable going ahead and keeping an eye on it and start pushing. I don't remember exactly how long I spent pushing, but I do remember how amazing it was to watch my baby crown in the birthing mirror as I pushed. Finally at 10:49 pm Paul Cortez David was born 5 lbs(the exact weight he measured on the ultrasound that morning) and 18 and 1/2 inches long!
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| Face to face for the first time! |
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| Meeting Daddy! |
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Paul Cortez
5lbs. 18 and 1/2 inches long |
After examining the cord, my doctor told us it was no wonder he hadn't liked pushing because there was literally a knot. They also sent my placenta to pathology to see if they could determine why it had aged faster than it should have(at my 6 week appointment my doctor said they couldn't determine a cause). After cleaning us both up they moved us from labor and delivery to our room upstairs. After all the hard work of giving birth and being born we were both exhausted.
The next day quickly became an adventure. Being so little, he didn't want to wake up to eat and he was dropping his temperature, but seemed to be doing okay otherwise. By late afternoon, his temperature seemed to be stabilizing so the nurse took us to give him his first bath in the nursery.
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| Not a huge fan of his first bath |
After his bath, we swaddled him back up with warm blankets and brought him back to the room. When we got back to the room, the nurse checked his temperature and it had dipped again. She said she'd give him a half hour, but if it wasn't back up by then she'd need to take him back down to the nursery to be in the warmer. When she came back to check it, it was still low so he had to go to the nursery. Not to long after she took him to the nursery, he had his first noticeable apnea. It happened twice in less than an hour. Just as family was arriving to meet him for the first time, they came to tell us they were moving him down to the NICU. Dan and I walked down with him and a doctor came to let us know what was going on. Between Dan and I, I remember polishing off the box of kleenex that was in the room. We were both so worried about our little guy and it was heartbreaking to see him with tubes and wires hooked to him.
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| In his isolet |
It took 8 days for him to be released from the hospital. For Dan and I, those were some very long days. Waiting for Paul to start eating regularly, gain weight, regulate his temperature, lower his bilirubin level, stop having apnea, and pass his car seat test. We definitely felt all the prayers that were being offered up for both of us and for Paul. Finally, on December 7, Paul got to come home with us. It was both exciting and surreal that we were finally taking our baby boy home with us.
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| Riding home in his car seat. |
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| Sleeping in his bassinet at home for the first time. |
