But before I can tell you about the birth I need to back up and bring you up to speed on the last few weeks of my pregnancy.
Background: At my 36 week Dr appointment, Friday, September 23, I started showing signs of high blood pressure (BP). The numbers weren't extremely alarming, but definitely something worth watching over the next few weeks.
At my 37 week Dr appointment, Friday, September 30, my BP was even higher than the week before so the doctor ordered me to go on bed rest for the weekend to see if that would help bring it down.
I went back to the doctor the following Monday, October 3, for a sonogram and check up. Cole's heart rate was strong, and according to the sonogram he was 6 lbs. 15 oz and doing great. My BP maintained an OK level over the weekend so the doctor ordered bed rest for the rest of the week with orders to increase my weekly visits to semi weekly.
I went back to the Dr on Thursday, October 6, at 11:00 am and my BP had not gone down all week--even on bed rest, so the doctor told us it was go time! She made us an appointment with Labor and Delivery to check in Thursday night at 8:00 pm. We were going to have a baby the next day!!
Kelly and I were in shock and spent the rest of the afternoon on Thursday wrapping up loose ends at work, calling family and friends, packing the car, and enjoying our last meal (Texas Roadhouse) as a family of two. Of course, we had to make a quick run to Target on our way to the hospital for a few snacks and goodies. My mom and I always joke that we're always hitting up Target :) so it's only fitting that I went right before giving birth.
Labor and Delivery: We got to the hospital about 7:40 pm (alarming early for us since we're almost always late!), grabbed up all the bags we could carry (yes--we had to even leave some in the car for lack of hands. I didn't want to be "without.") and headed to the nurses station to check in. We dropped our bags off in our room, filled out some paperwork, and then it was time to get settled in for the night.
Around 9:30 pm I had to get a cervidil insert to help thin my cervix so that the induction the next morning would progress a little easier. I had the sweetest nurse, Vicki, that kept trying to calm our nerves and ease our anxiety. Side note: When I look back on the entire labor and delivery process I realize the Lord provided the exact type of nurse I needed at the right time. HE is good!!
After the extremely painful cervidil process was over, Kelly and I snuggled up and watched a few movies on his laptop until finally falling asleep.
Friday, October 7--The big day:
6:45 am--Vicki woke me up and told me it was time to prep for the induction. I could take one last shower to freshen up and then it was go time! We had a quick nurse change (to Carie) at 7:00 am and then they prepped my arm for the pitocin drip.
7:30 am--They start with the pitocin drip. They hooked me up to an IV, two stomach monitors, and a blood pressure cuff, which I quickly figured out was the most annoying part of the whole process!
9:30 am--my BP was rising and Carie suggested I get my epidural to help alleviate some of the stress on my body. Side note: Kelly and I went into this process wanting to deliver with as little drugs as possible. We attended an amazing natural child-birthing class and were fully prepared to labor as far as I could on my own before starting any drugs. So, needless to say, this whole situation was not playing out like I had planned. Only further proof of why God is in control and I am not!!
After the anesthesiologist gave me my epidural I was a whole new woman. Kelly said I started talking the nurses arm off and seemed really relaxed. However, the epidural wasn't the cure-all we were hoping for, so shortly thereafter the doctor put me on a mild blood pressure medication to see if that would help. Unfortunately, that medicine didn't help at all and so the doctor ordered the worst medicine of all--magnesium sulfate. She warned me before this process started that she would use the drug only as a last resort. It makes you to feel like you have the flu--chills, sweats, nausea, etc.--and once administered I would have to stay on the drug for 24 hours post delivery. Magnesium sulfate is prescribed for two reasons: to combat high blood pressure and to slow down contractions in women who go into premature labor. So my body was thoroughly confused on what to do between the pitocin drip and the magnesium.
After the magnesium kicked in I began to progress in the labor process. By noon-ish I was dilated to a 3-4, by early afternoon I had reached a 5-6, and by 5:00 pm I was at a 9.5 and 100% effaced.
My Dr came in to check me after her office hours and told me she'd be back at 7:00 pm to check me again and we'd begin the pushing process. When she came back to check on me I had not progressed any further and was beginning to develop a temperature. Taking into account all the factors and our health--the doctor said it was best to move forward with a c-section. Needless to say after 13 hours of labor, I was completely devastated to deliver via c-section, but my supportive husband offered some light at the end of the tunnel--we would be meeting our son in less than an hour!! We were more than ready after the day we had!
My amazing nurse Carie was done with her shift at 7:00 pm (just before I headed into surgery) and the nurse that came on shift was named Lisa. Lisa prepped me for surgery and in no time they were wheeling me down the hall to the OR.
8:00 pm--We were making our way into the OR when the anesthesiologist ran into my head with my medicine stand. I couldn't believe it, but that is something that would totally happen to me in the middle of everything else that was going on! Kelly arrived shortly after I was in the OR and was decked out in his scrubs. The sheet went up between the doctors and us, and after a little more medicine in my epidural kicked in, the doctors quickly got to work.
8:22 p.m.--HE ARRIVED! Kelly Coleman O'Donnell joined this world and was absolutely perfect in every sense of the word. He was 8 lbs., 21 inches long, and had brown/blond hair. Since he had been in the birth canal so long he had a little bit of a cone head and some minor facial bruising, but I couldn't tell. He was here and he was ours!! We were THRILLED. He didn't cry much when the doctors pulled him out and seemed to be a very content baby--Praise the Lord!
Between all the medicines and the stress on my body, I was literally getting sick as the doctors were pulling him out and stitching me back up. I was so weak and nauseous that I couldn't hold him right away, so Kelly had to go to the recovery room with Cole while the doctors finished with me.
When I finally got to the recovery room there was still a lot of setting up to be done, and it felt like FOREVER before our families were able to come in and see us. We had skin-to-skin time before any visitors came in, but once we were done with our first feeding everyone came in to see him. We were all exhausted and so were they--but it was all worth it in the end to see Cole's precious face and to get to hold him.
The next 24 hours were a complete blur to me. I was still on the magnesium sulfate medicine and I could barely carry on a conversation with anyone. I was still really nauseous and was continuing to get sick throughout the day. I just wanted to feel normal again!! Around 5:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon during a breast feeding lesson, my IV came loose. That was the best thing that could have happened to me!! The nurse checked with the Dr. to see if she needed to re-stick me and he said it was OK for me to stop taking the medicine!!! The nurse didn't waste any time in taking off the blood pressure cuff, leg casings (to prevent blood clots), epidural, catheter, and IV! I was finally a free woman.
After we loaded up all our stuff, we headed into our post partum room where we stayed until we checked out on Monday morning. This room was significantly smaller than than the recovery room we were in the day before, but that was OK by me. I was just thankful that I was on my way to feeling like my old self again.
We were lucky to have tons of visitors and great nurses to make the rest of our stay at the hospital enjoyable. Between the nurses, doctors, lactation consultants, and friends and family--there was never a dull moment around that place!
My doctor made one last visit on Monday morning before we were released from the hospital--and I'll never forget that visit. As a result of having a c-section my doctor was able to see that I have a mis-shaped uterus (which was possibly another problem contributing to my difficult delivery process); only have one ovary and one fallopian tube that works correctly--which explains why it took us so long to get pregnant with sweet Cole to begin with--and she could only see one kidney! What?!
She wasn't completely certain about the kidney, so I have to go back in and have a CT scan done to see if the other one was hiding, or if I do in fact only have one kidney. After learning about all those extenuating circumstances that I had NO idea about, I was beyond thankful that the Lord had his hand over the whole situation, and that he gave the Drs the wisdom to take Cole when they did.
The entire birth process was a HUGH learning curve and eye-opener to me, and was truly an amazing miracle witness.
Stay tuned for more updates on our precious one; doctors visits; check-ups; outings; visitors; early days at home; lessons learned from a three week old mom; and our first holiday!!
