Last night was fairly uneventful. I haven't had any heavy contractions and I am not dilated. I had my second steroid shot at 6:30 this morning. They gave me a dose of Cervidill to soften my Cervix to hopefully make the induction tomorrow a little easier. I was told that sometimes this medicine will be enough to kick start labor and get things rolling. I guess only time will tell. They will remove the medicine at 5 am tomorrow morning and start the Pitocin at about 6.
I had really hoped to NOT be induced. All of the birth stories I have read about induction seem like it is a very slow process and many have seemed to have some very difficult labors/births when induced. Perhaps these 2 things are unrelated, but that has been my take on things.
Regardless of me feelings on this, it seems that the ball will begin rolling downhill by 6 am tomorrow at the latest. However small the incline on that hill may be and however long it takes that ball to roll to the bottom of the hill.
I am also hoping to forgo a C-Section. But, once again I have no preconceived notion that I have any control over this process. I am trying to just let go and let the process be what it will be.
I found out I am allergic to one of the antibiotics I was being given. The first dose went in my IV just fine, the second one burned a bit. The third one burnt A LOT. Each time I reported this, they attempted to change the speed and the dilution of the antibiotic, saying that the antibiotic was a very strong one that is often tough on the veins. By the one that was a 6 this morning, I felt as if my arm was on fire - it was itching and burning all over the arm, not just at the site of the IV. An inspection of my arm showed redness. My checks were red as well and my breasts and stomach were also red. Since I am on 2 antibiotics and the steroids, it was a several hour ordeal to figure out which one they thought was causing the reaction. I think we got it figured out, though, and my next round of IVs was much less painful. They did have to move my IV site though - the one on the left arm was burning with just the saline drip, so they determined that my vein had been through all it wanted to take.
I met with a social worker today (she meets with all families who have babies going into the NICU to explain their role and how they help). I also met with a lactation consultant. She has assured me that she thinks the presence of the colostrum means that I will definitely be able to breastfeed and she is going to work with me to help get my milk production to a maximum over those first few days. I have a website to look at tonight to learn about manually expressing as well.
My mom has decided to come up for the birth. She left at 2 this afternoon and is making the long trek all by herself. I am very glad she has decided to come. I know that it will mean a lot to both of us for her to be able to be here to meet her grandson shortly after his birth.
I guess that is it for now...I will try to keep you all updated as I can. Wish us luck and send us some prayers!
P.S. - Just in case you were wondering, NO, we still haven't picked a middle name. Nothing like waiting for the last minute, huh?
Showing posts with label Labor and Delivery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Labor and Delivery. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Residing in Labor and Delivery
Yesterday, I had my weekly OB appointment and NST. We had taken our first Childbirth Preparation class last Wednesday and I was concerned about the signs of preterm labor. I had been having some pressure low in my abdomen and an increase in Braxton Hicks contractions. I had also had a slight increase in discharge. Dr. M let me know that since we had reached 34 weeks, if preterm labor arrived, they wouldn't do anything to stop it. According to his statistics regarding our birthing hospital, survival statistics and developmental delays were the same for a baby at 34 weeks vs. a baby at 38 weeks (full term).
Little did I know that this conversation would have so much meaning less than 24 hours later.
We went to bed last night at around 10:30. At 3:30 in the morning, I moved to roll over to the other side. When I rolled, I felt a warm liquid running down my leg. My first thought was that it was blood and that I had just changed the sheets. When I stood up, there was a substantial gush of warm fluid. I flipped on the bathroom light and was shocked to see that there was no blood but my underwear were soaked. The fluid was clear and there was no smell. I needed to use the bathroom, so I sat down and another gush happened. I urinated and that fluid was clearly the color of - well - urine. So, after just a moment's hesitation, I called out to Derek and said that I was pretty sure my water just broke*. After repeating this to him (because I woke him from a dead sleep), he was up like a bolt of lightning and rushing around. A call into the hospital prompted a very quick return call from the on call Dr. at our OB's office. She told me to head on in to the hospital to get checked out.
We only live about 2 blocks from the hospital, so we made it there in no time. I guess I hadn't really done very much research on what happens when your water broke. I assumed the painful contractions would come first. Once your water breaks, you continue to leak amniotic fluid until the baby is born. Granted, it isn't constant, but it can be released during a change in position or a contraction or a cough or sneeze.
I went into the Maternity Triage area and the nurse determined that my nurse determined that my water had broken and that I had not just urinated on myself by looking at the leaking fluid. I was given another NST, this time with the added monitoring for contractions - at which point I learned I was actually contracting and just wasn't feeling it. It was determined at that time that I would be admitted to the hospital. It was at THAT point that I started to freak out a little bit.
We weren't ready for this. Since we had yet to pack our hospital bags, there were so many things that didn't make it into the suitcase at 3:30 in the morning. I guess I thought they would be just sending me home to wait for the contractions to come and for real labor to start. I don't think I was mentally prepared that we would be told that he would be here until his birth. Nor was I quite prepared that his arrival could be so soon. We had only taken 1 Childbirth Prep class out of the 4. We haven't had our breastfeeding class. We haven't had our newborn preparation class yet. I haven't learned Lamaze breathing yet...
On top of that, we didn't have the laptop, our camera, our camcorder...I began to panic about how we would take our first baby photos if all we had were our iPhones. I mean, after all, living 2 blocks away from the Hospital meant that Derek couldn't run back home to get what we needed, right? Yeah, not so rational at 4 in the morning.
The doctor on call changed shortly after I arrived at the hospital. When he came to see me, we determined the course of action to take. A quick ultrasound revealed that Carder is head down and that there was still amniotic fluid surrounding him. This meant that was no need for an emergency C-Section. The doctor on call indicated that he thought it would be best to attempt to get the 2 steroid doses and see if we could make it the necessary 48 hours without my body going into full blown labor. If I make it to that point, I will be induced on Thursday. The reason for this is that at that point, the risk of infection outweighs the benefits of attempting to keep him inside any longer.
They are anticipating that he will need to stay in the NICU for a minimum of 2 weeks, but he could have to stay for as long as until his due date or later. The main concern for babies of his gestational age (besides lung development) is the suck-swallow-breathe reflex to make sure he can eat without choking. We had a tour of the NICU this morning. I have to say that was probably the scariest part of this ordeal so far.
An IV was started and I have received a couple of doses of antibiotics to prevent infection for both Carder and myself. I have received my first dose of steroids and I will be receiving the next dose tomorrow morning. I am getting monitoring every few hours. So far, everything looks good.
My parents had come to visit this past weekend and had just flown back to Georgia on Monday morning. I think my Mom is devastated that she left just before everything happened. Of course, we had no way of knowing that this was going to happen. I have tried to convince her and my dad to turn around and come back to Michigan for the delivery. After all, with this scenario, they can actually make it here for Carder's birth and get to meet him. They are trying to decide what they will do. Derek's parents arrived this morning to help do what they can in the mean time. Derek's mom has gone shopping for some preemie clothes and she will be doing some more shopping for us once he arrives and we know more of what to expect as far as an anticipated take home date.
I will post an update later when I know anything else.
* My plan was to take the line from Juno and yell out "Thundercats are go" if and when my water broke. I was so shocked that I completely forgot this until we had already been admitted to the hospital...
Little did I know that this conversation would have so much meaning less than 24 hours later.
We went to bed last night at around 10:30. At 3:30 in the morning, I moved to roll over to the other side. When I rolled, I felt a warm liquid running down my leg. My first thought was that it was blood and that I had just changed the sheets. When I stood up, there was a substantial gush of warm fluid. I flipped on the bathroom light and was shocked to see that there was no blood but my underwear were soaked. The fluid was clear and there was no smell. I needed to use the bathroom, so I sat down and another gush happened. I urinated and that fluid was clearly the color of - well - urine. So, after just a moment's hesitation, I called out to Derek and said that I was pretty sure my water just broke*. After repeating this to him (because I woke him from a dead sleep), he was up like a bolt of lightning and rushing around. A call into the hospital prompted a very quick return call from the on call Dr. at our OB's office. She told me to head on in to the hospital to get checked out.
We only live about 2 blocks from the hospital, so we made it there in no time. I guess I hadn't really done very much research on what happens when your water broke. I assumed the painful contractions would come first. Once your water breaks, you continue to leak amniotic fluid until the baby is born. Granted, it isn't constant, but it can be released during a change in position or a contraction or a cough or sneeze.
I went into the Maternity Triage area and the nurse determined that my nurse determined that my water had broken and that I had not just urinated on myself by looking at the leaking fluid. I was given another NST, this time with the added monitoring for contractions - at which point I learned I was actually contracting and just wasn't feeling it. It was determined at that time that I would be admitted to the hospital. It was at THAT point that I started to freak out a little bit.
We weren't ready for this. Since we had yet to pack our hospital bags, there were so many things that didn't make it into the suitcase at 3:30 in the morning. I guess I thought they would be just sending me home to wait for the contractions to come and for real labor to start. I don't think I was mentally prepared that we would be told that he would be here until his birth. Nor was I quite prepared that his arrival could be so soon. We had only taken 1 Childbirth Prep class out of the 4. We haven't had our breastfeeding class. We haven't had our newborn preparation class yet. I haven't learned Lamaze breathing yet...
On top of that, we didn't have the laptop, our camera, our camcorder...I began to panic about how we would take our first baby photos if all we had were our iPhones. I mean, after all, living 2 blocks away from the Hospital meant that Derek couldn't run back home to get what we needed, right? Yeah, not so rational at 4 in the morning.
The doctor on call changed shortly after I arrived at the hospital. When he came to see me, we determined the course of action to take. A quick ultrasound revealed that Carder is head down and that there was still amniotic fluid surrounding him. This meant that was no need for an emergency C-Section. The doctor on call indicated that he thought it would be best to attempt to get the 2 steroid doses and see if we could make it the necessary 48 hours without my body going into full blown labor. If I make it to that point, I will be induced on Thursday. The reason for this is that at that point, the risk of infection outweighs the benefits of attempting to keep him inside any longer.
They are anticipating that he will need to stay in the NICU for a minimum of 2 weeks, but he could have to stay for as long as until his due date or later. The main concern for babies of his gestational age (besides lung development) is the suck-swallow-breathe reflex to make sure he can eat without choking. We had a tour of the NICU this morning. I have to say that was probably the scariest part of this ordeal so far.
An IV was started and I have received a couple of doses of antibiotics to prevent infection for both Carder and myself. I have received my first dose of steroids and I will be receiving the next dose tomorrow morning. I am getting monitoring every few hours. So far, everything looks good.
My parents had come to visit this past weekend and had just flown back to Georgia on Monday morning. I think my Mom is devastated that she left just before everything happened. Of course, we had no way of knowing that this was going to happen. I have tried to convince her and my dad to turn around and come back to Michigan for the delivery. After all, with this scenario, they can actually make it here for Carder's birth and get to meet him. They are trying to decide what they will do. Derek's parents arrived this morning to help do what they can in the mean time. Derek's mom has gone shopping for some preemie clothes and she will be doing some more shopping for us once he arrives and we know more of what to expect as far as an anticipated take home date.
I will post an update later when I know anything else.
* My plan was to take the line from Juno and yell out "Thundercats are go" if and when my water broke. I was so shocked that I completely forgot this until we had already been admitted to the hospital...
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