Evan's Entrance - The Story
Before we start the story of how Evan finally arrived, I need to mention that Evan tried to arrive early. I (Cindy) was on bedrest and terbutaline (Brethine) for 12 weeks with this pregnancy. I started having regular contractions at 23 weeks. At 24 weeks I was in the hospital due to contractions triggered by a urinary tract infection. At this time I was put on terbutaline orally and bedrest. At 27 weeks I was contracting again, but this time every 2-3 minutes. I was in the hospital again and given terb shots, and then Magnesium Sulfate (yuck!). At this time I was started on the terb pump. At 29 weeks i was in the hospital again and the same routine was done. Fortunately that was the last time I needed to be hospitalized for preterm labor. On Easter Sunday, at 35 weeks 5 days, I was able to stop the terb pump. On April 7, I was removed from bedrest. On the morning of April 12, Evan was allowed to make his entrance. (We didn't know Evan was a he though until delivery!)
I woke early Monday morning around 2:30 am with regular contractions. At first they were 8 minutes apart, but soon moved to 7 minutes, then 6 minutes and finally 5 minutes. I called the midwife Monday morning after all the nice regular contractions and she told me to come on in. I showed up, had an internal, and ... was still only 1cm dilated and 50% effaced. (I had been this at my 36 week checkup 5 days before.) I thought for sure I was going home to wonder if this wasn't real labor, what was? Well, I was told to walk around for an hour and they would recheck. We did, and I was 3 cm and 50%! Major surprise! So, we assumed a nice fast labor. Well, I stalled for about 6 hours (it seemed much longer to my husband!) with no change. The amniotic bag was still intact and the midwife who had admitted me had wanted to break it. But, the midwifes had changed, and the new one, Gina, wanted to keep the bag intact for a while longer. (Thank you Gina! Much less painful this way!) But when I had stalled she suggested either pitocin or a tablet, called Cytotec (misoprostol) which is similar to the progesterone gels, but triggers contractions along with ripening the cervix. She used a 1/4 dose. And I was off. The contractions started coming in chains with no break. I had 7 contractions at one point,
Charlie is definitely a proud daddy!

Good thing my brother had those preemie clothes. I have some clothes that fit!
luckily only moderately strong. The doula massaged me most of the time and really kept my mind off the pain and kept me relaxed. Well, the baby started to have decels after the peak of each contraction and the midwife was starting to get concerned. She suggested we check me and probably break the bag of waters so they could check on the baby better. I was 4 cm and 80% effaced at this point so, she broke the bag and I immediately moved to 5 cm. The baby also finally dropped down in the canal. There was meconium in the fluids so she was glad to find this out. She did an aminotic infusion with saline solution to help rinse the meconium out. The contractions intensified immensely when the bag broke, but I still felt ok doing it without drugs. I labored for maybe 30 minutes and finally felt I needed something. So she checked me and I was at 8cm and there was no way she would let me have a groggy baby (knew what buttons to push with me). A contraction later and I felt the need to push. I tried to pant. Hah! So I pushed. The midwife ran to the door and hollered for nurses and peds to
Ah, sleeping like an angel...
to the door and hollered for nurses and peds to come NOW! She came back and guided Evan as he crowned, as he decided to stick out his arm before the rest of his head was out. 30 seconds later the rest of him followed. I felt MUCH better once he was out. I ended up only with 2 1st degree tears. Unfortunately, I felt most of the stitching since the tears were in areas very hard to numb without a lot of sticks. (She realized later that she could have used EMLA cream.)
Evan came out screaming! His apgars were 9 and 9! He weighed in at 6lbs 7 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. We stayed in the hospital until Thursday. His blood sugar was bouncing around and he was (and still is) breathing rapidly (80s). His blood sugar finally stabilized last night, and since his oxygen sats are good and his color is fine, they let him come home. He roomed-in with me with a few brief visits to the regular nursery, so I knew it wasn't too serious. I did get quite peeved at one time. I told the delivery nurse to make sure that he was not given anything without
Hmmm, now what am I supposed to do again?
checking with my husband or I. Well, the night they found his low blood sugar they gave him 10cc's of formula without asking first. My other two kids are dairy and soy allergic and I flipped out when I heard this! We are trying really hard to delay (or avoid all together) food allergies in Evan. The ped then gave orders that he was to only get glucose water if needed as a supplement and the hospital didn't have any. I later told them he could have Nutragenim if supplementing was needed but I really preferred breastmilk. Next thing I knew a lactation consultant showed up with a pump and was helping me try to get more colostrum out for him, and it worked. (Whew, I guess I am still a little mad.)
Evan and I were released from the hospital on Thursday, April 15 (Tax Day!). His breathing was still fast but they decided to let him come home anyways. At his first pediatrician's appointment on Tuesday, April 20, he weighed 6 lbs even, up from his discharge weight of 5 lbs 13 oz.
I'll sleep as long as I can hold onto your finger.
Mom, stop taking pictures of me and PICK ME UP!
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1