I arrived at the hospital a little before seven and they started pitocin around 9:00. Labor was mild and moderate until about 11:30 when my doctor broke my water.... then the intensity began in full force!! Around noon I began having contractions about two minutes apart for a minute long each. My plan was to go without pain medication... but after about an hour of absolute intense pain I began getting nervous that this was going to go on until early evening and I knew there was no way I could handle hours of what I was handling then! I started muttering about getting an epidural and the nurses really encouraged it. I said to Johnny at one point.... "Man, its like they are offering me sweet treats and waving them in front of my face." I started (in between these incredible contractions) rationalizing why I should just go ahead an get an epidural. I don't think I made much sense at this point.
The nurses didn't want to check me to see how far along I was until I was either feeling an urge to push or asking for pain medication so I didn't know how fast things were going. I said to the nurse - "okay - this is ridiculous - I can't do this all afternoon and evening - I need an epidural!" So, she checked me in time to tell me I was at 8 centimeters and going fast. So, instead of wheeling in an epidural they wheeled in the delivery equipment, call the doctor and I had John Michael at 1:47 p.m.
So, labor was hard and fast. The delivery went okay - when I finally got him out everyone said, "Wow, that's a big boy!" We had all bet on how big we thought he'd be... i came up way short with 7 pounds 8 ounces. Johnny's dad was the weight winner with 9 pounds. John Michael was just 2 ounces short of that weighint in at 8 pounds 14 ounces and 22 inches long! Whoever said that your babies usually get bigger each time was definitely right this time. Our porucupine was only 7 pounds 2 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long.
Unfortunately things got a little crazy and complicated right after he was born. He had the cord wrapped around his neck and was very blue from being bruised in the birth canal. His apgar scores were low and the nurses were concerned he might be having respitory problems since he wasn't crying well, he wasn't feisty at all and his color wasn't good (as you can tell in these pictures). So, they gave me about 60 seconds with him and wisked him off to the nursery. At the nursery they ordered an IV and oxygen (did you know they put babies IVs in their head??? I didn't.) And that began a hard couple of days at the hospital.
Going in we knew we weren't going to be thrilled with the care at this particular hospital. However, with our new insurance we didn't have much of a choice. I'll spare you the complaints and gripes to protect my own hear from getting bitter! We didn't get to have John Michael again until late that night when he was finally discharged from the special care nursery at 11:15 p.m. At that point I began trying to nurse him and enjoy him as much as possible. He took to nursing (and still is!) like a champ but his stomach was still trying to figure out what to do with food and spitting up became a small concern. One of the nurses was "extremely alarmed" at how much he was spitting up and thus bagan hard day #2.
Here's Addy meeting John Michael.
Giving him kisses
To make a long story shorter our pediatrician came in Friday night and encouraged us that everything was fine. He had experience with the nurse that was worrying us before and kindly told us that he had reason to believe there was nothing to be worried about. We were both discharged the next afternoon and finally got to take our little guy home!
Adeline has really taken to him well. For the most part she keeps on with her normal routine but when she sees him she usually likes to give him a kiss or smack him in the face... :) She's been very clingy with Johnny & I and we are doing all we can to love on her and shower her with affection... as well as teach her that we're still in charge... hehe
John Michael is one well loved baby. Here he is with his grandparents.
More soon - I couldn't finish this yesterday due to a 12 hour power outage!!
10 comments:
wow. that's quite a story. sounds almost exactly like priya, without the iv and oxygen. tish had to wait almost 12 hours before she got to see priya. there are a couple of traits in priya that we attribute to that time away, and it will be interesting for me to see if my theory is right.
great job with not complaining too much about community. you never know who's reading, and when you might have to go back.. ;-) actually, too bad tish wasn't working in neo that night. last week they had an avalanche of new kids, and the over-work and under-staffing may explain some of your experiences.
Wow Michelle, thanks for sharing the story. We're so sorry we've not been able to come out yet to see you 4 ... hopefully we can work something out to come visit this coming weekend!
He looks really cute, and we're so happy he's healthy!
see you soon!
All of those picture of proud sister, proud parents and proud grandparents. He is a keeper for sure : )
wow....!! Glad to hear all is well now. Can not wait to meet him.
U look great michelle, one could never tell u had a baby!
Michelle,
I hate that you had such a hard time. Weston had a bunch of mucus in his belly and choked twice but as you know, he is fine now. He just needed to get the extra fluid out. Praise God that John Michael is doing well. I look forward to talking to you. Wow- you gave birth to one large baby!!!! I am so glad it was fast- that's what we prayed for! I'll pray for a fast recovery for you! Very excited!
Sorry you had to deal with the NICU. It's no fun - little baby or big baby. (Bryant and Jennifer's baby was in the NICU for a week as a full term baby.)
IVs in the head....yup. It's not pretty to see. They gave us the warning before we encountered it.
I so glad all is well! Get some rest!
I had no idea there was such a story behind your delivery. I am so glad all turned out OK. Sorry I missed you on Sunday. Hope to see you soon.
Wow, sorry you had to be away from your little guy during those first precious hours! I think I would have gone crazy! But, at least it was relatively brief and you are home now. :) Remind me not to go there should I need to transfer. :-)~
My second was THANKFULLY smaller than my first! I'm anxious to see how this one compares. I'm not looking to break any records, that's for sure! :)
I know you are probably extremely busy with new baby, active toddler and upcoming trip and wedding, but hopefully after that we could get together and spend some time.
John Michael start counting down, 9 days until you meet your Auntie Les!
You both look great! He is so precious. I can't believe he was that big. Luke was 8 lb 1 oz and I thought that was big!!! I'm working on your present...as soon as it is finished I'll be sending it along with the friendship ball!!! Don't let Leslie spoil him too much...she's good at that!
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