Labor Story
Tucker's due date was Friday, January 22, 2010 and sure enough I went into labor on January 22nd around 2pm. I had taken the day off from work on Friday since I was scheduled to be induced on Monday, January 25th if Tucker wouldn't have come over the weekend. I called my sister and unfortunately she had her children and wasn't able to come over right away so I called my sister-in-law Kim. Kim was available and she came over and we walked around my neighborhood until Keith got home. My husband Keith travels every week and of course he would be out of town the day I went into labor but luckily he got home around 3:30pm. Keith's sister Kim left and Keith and I hung around the house and I labored until about 6pm. The pain really wasn't that bad but the contractions were coming every 5 minutes and I wasn't sure when to go to the hospital so I called the nurse line and she asked me a few questions and told me to come on to the hospital. Keith and I arrived at the hospital around 6:30pm and were sent to a room and basically a nurse asked a lot of questions and checked to see how dilated I was at the time. Unfortunately, I was only 1cm dilated and when the Dr. saw me he said that I had two options: 1.) I could stay and walk the halls until my labor progressed more or 2.) I could go home and wait for the contractions to be so unbearable that I would not be able to talk when I came back. Now if your Dr. told you this what would start going through your mind? My mind was racing with a million things that were going to be happening over the next hours/day(s). For any pregnant woman who might be reading this stay at the hospital and walk the floors because Keith and I left and were charged about $1300 (which ended up being paid by my insurance but still) for just those few hours. Keith and I left the hospital around 9pm and went home. I labored at home with Keith until 3am and we decided it was time to go back to the hospital. The contractions were coming a lot faster and lasting longer. I knew it was time to head back to the hospital so we arrived at the hospital around 3:30am and a nurse checked me and I was 3cm dilated (I had dilated 2 more cm)so she checked me in. The nurse immediately made me a really hot bath and I relaxed in the bath for about an hour to an hour and a half. The bath helped me relax a lot while I was having the contractions. The nurse came and told me that the Anethesiologist was next door and if I would like my epidural now would be a good time since he was on the hall. I really was fine and even had a second thought about having the epidural since I was in pain but at the time it was tolerable pain. I felt like the nurse basically talked me into the epidural and I received my epidural around 6:30am and the Dr. broke my water at 8am. Everything was moving right along except I wasn't dilating. I was still only at 3cm and lunch time went by and I moved to 4cm and then to 5cm. The nurse by this point had given me so much pitocin (drug to help speed up labor) that it caused me to swell beyond belief. The epidural in my opinion slowed my body down and I wish to this very day that I would've waited on my epidural. Unfortunately, I never moved past 5cm through labor and I ended up having an emergency c-section because I was starting to have complications. I had an extremely high fever and Tucker's heart rate was increasing and the Dr. said that he had to get the baby out. I seriously lost it. I don't think I've ever cried that hard in front of so many people in my life. I am such an emotional person in general but I did not want to have a c-section. I was given morphine and they topped off on my epidural and prepped me for the c-section.
Surgery
The moment I was wheeled into the "OR" I had a bad feeling. I don't know why but my heart sank. Keith was on my right side and the Anethesiologist was on my left. I didn't feel anything going on while the Dr. was preforming the C-section. I did heard the Dr. ask Keith if he'd like to see his son and as the Dr. pulled Tucker out I didn't hear anything and all the sudden I thought my life was going to be changed forever. I looked at the large clock on the wall and it said 6:53pm, January 23, 2010. Tucker was born the day after his due date. Unfortunately, when Tucker took his first breath he swolled his merconium which can be very dangerous. Merconium is a baby's first stool and it's black and tar like. When Tucker swolled his merconium it went into his lungs. I was still lying on the hospital table and watching the Neonatel (NICU) nurses rush in as well as other phsycians. Basically the "OR" was filled with white coats and no one was saying anything to Keith and I. We are both crying (me = dramatically) unbearably and trying to figure out what was going on. We just watch as they worked on our son and I prayed that everything was going to be fine with Tucker. When a baby is born they are given an APGAR score for a baby's Heart Rate, Breathing, Grimace, Activity, and Appearance. The baby is given a score between 0-2 for each with 2 being the best. Tucker was given all 0's which means he was really bad (no color, no heartbeat, no breathing, ect... Tucker was given a 1 for Grimace and I believe that is only because they were shoving long tools down his throat and scrapping his lungs out. They ended up taking Tucker from us and moved him to the "NICU". I had to stay in the "OR" and finish my surgery. The Dr. kept telling me not to worry that my baby was in good hands I would see him soon. I had Tucker at 6:53pm on Saturday and I didn't get to see my baby until 2am Sunday morning. Talk about heartbreak! I was so exhausted and given so many drugs that I passed out after being wheeled back to my room. I was placed in a wheel chair around 2am and Keith and I were finally able to see our little baby. What a blessing! I will never forget it and even though Tucker was hooked up to so many machines and had wires all over him he was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. I always remind myself that "Every good and perfect gift is from above" - James 1:17 and I am so thankful to the Lord for His answered prayers over Tucker. Tucker had a very hard first three days in the hospital. Babies are generally born with 150,000 blood platelets and Tucker was only born with 88,000 blood platelets which basically meant if he were cut he would bleed to death because his blood platelets were not strong enough to clot. Tucker also had jaundice while we were in the hospital which is very common for babies so I wasn't as concerned with the jaundice as I was with his blood platelets and him being monitored concerning his lungs. The results came back that his lungs were clean and by the time we left the hospital his blood platelets were at the right numbers. Since Tuckers blood platelets had stabilized he was able to have his circumcision before we left the hospital. We waited at the hospital an hour after his procedure and headed home as a family. It was a beautiful day.
...Here are a few pictures from the hospital...
Tucker in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit)
Tucker sleeping in his hospital carrier
Our first family picture
Tucker with an ultraviolet blanket to treat his jaundice.
He was my little glow worm.
I hope you take from this blog that "Every good and perfect gift is from above" ~ James 1:17 I thank the Lord every day for blessing my life with such an amazingly happy, beautiful, and most importantly healthy baby boy.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made ~ Psalm 139:14
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