| Autrianna Madison Quinley is pleased to announce the arrival of her little brother... |
| Born On: Wednesday, May 15th, 2002 At: 7:32 a.m. Weighing: 8 lbs. 1 oz. Height: 21 1/2 in. Hair: A little! (dark blonde) Eyes: Blue/Gray Delivered By: Dr. Wayne Young In: Orem, Utah (Orem Community Hospital) |
| Zander Taylor Quinley |
 |
 |
|
| The Birth Story |
| Thursday, May 9th: I am still dilated 1 to 2 and 50% effaced. I'm measuring 43 cm (instead of the average 40 cm). Dr Young is worried the baby may be too big to engage in my pelvis and may end up having to come by way of cesarean section. He wants to wait through the weekend and see if the baby makes the decision to come by himself! My cervix isn't quite ready or "a good candidate" for an induction so hopefully this "little" guy decides something soon! Saturday, May 11th: My Due Date... come and gone! Baby is still nice and comfy in there! Monday, May 13th: Dr Young said my cervix has changed *just* enough that we can be induced Wednesday morning. We'll go in Tuesday night to get the prostiglandin gel on my cervix so that it will start softening overnight and hopefully get me dialating. Tuesday, May 14th: I called the hospital and we were scheduled for our first dose of prostiglandin at 4 pm and then again at 10 pm. I wasn't going to be done with errands in time so we asked to be pushed back to 6 pm and 12 midnight. We didn't get to the hospital until about 6:30. They hooked me up to the monitors and noted that the baby's heart rate would randomly and quickly drop, but come right back up. They said that usually happens because the baby kicks the umbilical cord or pinches it somehow, but because of the decellerations they were going to keep me there instead of letting me go home between prostiglandin doses. I also had a fever so they decided to admit me and just keep me until this baby came, one way or another! I was dilated to a 3 when the nurse went ahead with the first dose of prostiglandin at about 8:00. We were moved into our room and settled in. John headed out to rent some videos since the nurse said we were in for "a long night." They also ok'd me eating as long as I didn't have any meat so John got some KFC sides to munch on too. We watched "Rat Race" while my contractions got stronger. I was able to breathe through them using the "balloon" technique we learned from our HypnoBirthing classes. It was actually pretty neat to see it in action and know that it was working for me! At 1:00 am it was time for the next dost of prostiglandin, but the nurse said she'd check me before even opening it - since it's expensive stuff and if I'd dialated to at least a 4 then I wouldn't need the 2nd dose. Well, she checked and I had progressed to a "generous 4"! She said she'd be right back to start the pitocin. John asked her if we HAD to do the pitocin (I'm SOOO proud of him for speaking up since I was being chicken!!!) and she looked at us like we were crazy. She said "Well, it's normal with an induction." John told her we wanted to see if my body would take over from there (obviously it was already going) so the nurse went to call Dr. Young. He said that would be fine - and as long as my contractions didn't back down I could go without any pitocin. My nurse was intrigued about the HypnoBirthing, but I could tell that she thought I was crazy! lol She seemed to be annoyed that we were going to try this "naturally." By about 4:00 am I was dilated to a 6+. I was beginning to shake with each contraction and I felt like I needed to do something different to get through each one. I was able to get the nice hot jetted tub for about 1/2 an hour. The nurse came in with a portable monitoring machine half way through to make sure the baby was still ok. I wish I could have stayed there the rest of the time! The contractions were barely noticeable and the water was so soothing! But it was back to the bed and monitors after my 1/2 hour was up. My nurse said that I was doing *really* well and that she really thought I'd make it! I think her opinion of the HypnoBirthing was changing. She was quite impressed. At 6:00 am I was a 7 and was definitely "feeling" the contractions. I was using a birthing ball to rock and try to relieve some of the pain (especially the pain in my back). I told John that if it was going to last much longer then I wanted to get something for the pain. The contractions were one right after the other and the peaks were just incredibly painful - even with the HypnoBirthing ... it was just too hard to concentrate! lol My night nurse checked me and said she had to push up pretty far to feel the baby. She said he was floating pretty high up in there and that if my water broke I'd be done! At 7:00 am Jody, my day nurse, came in to check me. I was still on the ball and she was concerned that the baby monitor wasn't picking up the baby's heart beat very well in that position so she wanted me back in bed. I was getting kind of edgy by now because I was still at a 7 and I was starting to feel that I wouldn't be able to take much more. Jody checked me and also said that the bag of waters was so full that if my water would break I'd be done! She said she'd call Dr. Young and have him come break my water to get me delivered. I wasn't sure I'd even last that long! She had to hold the baby monitor pressed down on my stomach to be able to get a good reading of the baby's heart rate. She said she was concerned because there were still those sudden dips in his heart rate and that's not a good sign. With each contraction I would have to moan through it and squeeze John's hand - and Jody would talk me through it, reminding me to focus back on my relaxation music and to relax each part of my body. At one point I was finally able to get enough of a break between contractions to apologize to Jody for first seeing me at the worst part of labor. She said "That's ok, we'll meet after you deliver!" Dr. Young got there sime time around 7:20. He said I was doing really well - but I didn't feel like it! I told him I didn't think I was going to last much longer without something for the pain. He broke my water and there was a BIG gush. Jody was saying something about getting the anesthesiologist on hand (who was around for a scheduled c-section that morning). Then Dr. Young and Jody left the room. My face and hands were starting to go numb - I was breathing pretty deeply with each contraction and wasn't getting enough oxygen. I asked John what was going on and he said he didn't know. I got really scared, but knew I had to hang in there to get this baby here! When they came back a bunch of nurses and doctors came with them - everyone was scrambling around. Jody had her hand up inside me holding the baby and they told me I needed to get on my hands and knees with my chest down on the bed. Someone put an oxygen mask on me and the ansesthesiologist took my hand out from under me to put an IV in. My veins really suck and even on good days it takes a couple of pokes to get into my veins, so when he just jabbed the needle into my hand I couldn't help but yell OUCH! He kept apologizing - poor guy! By this time I was asking for something for the pain ... but their #1 priority was the baby. Jody told us that his heart rate had dropped and was dangerously low - they needed to get him out NOW. While I was still up on all fours, they told me to push as hard as I could, that they needed to get the baby out NOW. Jody said "Push, Monica! Push like you've never done anything in your life before." I could tell how serious this was getting and they were continuing to prep me for an emergency c-section. I pushed as hard as I could. Apparently it was working because they told me to turn back over and they put my legs up in the stirrups. I had an incredible urge to push and yelled out that I needed to push - they all said "push!". Zander Taylor Quinley was born at 7:32 am weighing 8 lbs 1 oz and measuring 21 1/2 inches long. He had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck three times! They cut the cord off but he wasn't crying at first and I kept asking if he was ok. They took him over to the baby warmer and several of the nurses and doctors were working on him. Just a few seconds later he started crying. Who knew a baby's cry could sound so sweet? I could barely see him through everyone still scrambling around. They said they needed to take him to the nursery so John went with him. We had planned for my sister, Marianne, to film the birth - but she got there right when it got bad so she was still waiting outside the room. I asked if she could go to the nursery and tape everything for me. They had to poke Zander a million times to get a line for an IV. Apparently the umbilical cord was allowing blood to flow out, but wasn't allowing any back in - so his body volume was low. The pediatrician checked him out and once they were able to get his body volume back up they brought him back to me. Zander's Apgar scores were 2 at birth, but then it was 9 after being worked on. The pediatrician said that he looked healthy and he didn't appear to have any permanent damage from the umbilical cord - and that it was good we had got him out so quickly. They had even done a test of the cord blood and it was oxygenated, so they could tell he hadn't been out of oxygen for too long. We tried nursing, but Zander was having a problem with gagging, and when he sucked it seemed to gag him - so we held off a bit longer on that. The nurses said it was a normal newborn thing - that he still had some amniotic fluid in his tummy that was aggrivating his system. That continued for the 2 days we were in the hospital - so they suctioned out his tummy to get it all out and let him have a fresh start. That did seem to help a lot, but we still had to watch him closely. Autrianna was proving to be a great big sister. The first time she came to visit us in the hospital she didn't want anything to do with the baby or me! That night she came back after her nap and seemed a bit more interested in the baby. She had fun pointing out his eyes, nose, mouth, etc. The second day she came to visit us I was in the shower so Zander was down in the nursery. Autrianna came into the room and asked "Where'd baby go? I wanna hold baby!" She wanted to hold him and loved giving him kisses. Zander had bought her big sister a present - a wooden rocking chair just like mommy's. She LOVED it! We brought Zander home on Friday, May 17th. I think I was more nervous bringing him home than I was when we took Autrianna home! I knew I'd be fine with all the newborn care stuff - diapers, bathing, burping, etc. .... but I was so scared how I'd be able to handle TWO kids! John was able to take his 1 week paternity leave - and even extended it by working half days. My sister, Melissa, is living with us and is home in the mornings, so she was home in the morning to help and John would be home in the afternoon. My sister Marianne stayed with us the first day John had to go back to work, and my mom came to visit for 5 days when Zander was a week old and helped out a lot with Autrianna and the house. Now we're facing "real life" and so far we're adjusting. Zander is a pretty good baby. He is already sleeping 5-6 hours at night, which makes the days a whole lot easier to handle with a toddler running around! He still spits up a lot - which is a big adjustment for us since Autri never did. He also has a hard time burping - though John seems to be the master burper! lol We're enjoying our little man and think he's the perfect addition to our little family! |
| welcome little one! |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Scroll all the way to the bottom for more pics! |
 |
 |
 |
| Zander Taylor Quinley |
| Family of Four! (Yes, I chopped my hair! lol) |
| Mommy, Zander & Daddy |
| Autrianna loves the rocking chair Zander gave her! |