Bright and early, I was served breakfast in bed and was happily watching TV for most of the morning. Dr. Teagle came in to check up on me and it seemed all was well. I had survived the first night and was well on my way to getting the 2nd steriod shot, as planned. Dr O, an assigned pediatrician (as we hadn't chosen one yet), also came by to introduce himself. Although most likely he would still be born a preemie and would first be under the care of a neonatal doctor at the nursery.
Brad stopped by before work with more things to keep me occupied as well as some extra snack foods in the event hospital food sucked butt (it actually wasn't too bad!). I had already informed my work that I would not be coming in. :)
Throughout the day, I struggled getting myself to and from the bathroom ... but for the most part was rather comfortable. After my 2nd steriod shot, I was off to have a 30 minute ultra sound evaluation to try and get an estimated size, weight and other developmental information on the baby. Looking at the monitor, I could see his heart beating and his little hands and feet. I had the doctor check again to make sure he was still a boy. I had thought all was well. Little did I know, it wasn't exactly peachy.
Dr. Teagle came back sometime during lunch. My food was there, but I hadn't had a chance to eat just yet. It seems the report that came back on the ultrasound mentioned very little or no movement of the baby. Dr. Teagle found this quite odd because the fetal monitor papers showed great movement that morning up until I was wheeled away for the exam. They brought a machine into my room and Dr. Teagle performed yet another exam. We're not sure what had changed, but the report was right and my little baby boy was now showing very little signs of movement. His heart was still beating strong, he just wasn't moving.
At this point, either the baby is just in distress or maybe has an infection (this is possible mostly because my water was broken). She now wants me to be monitored even more closely than before. I was told I could no longer eat because they wanted me to rest. There was nothing I could do to but lay there and wait. I couldn't help but cry at this point. I felt helpless and was pretty scared. I called Brad to come back to the hospital. While he was on his way, Dr. Teagle gave me the quick 411. Basically, the best course of action would be to induce labor and deliver today. I had two choices. I could try for a normal delivery or I could have a c-section. I waited for Brad before making a decision. In the end, we decided to induce labor and see if a normal delivery was possible. If all else failed, then I would do the c-section.
I was then given a shot of pitocin and we were again on our way. Word had slowly gotten out that I was at the hospital. Lennie and Lerma came by to visit. We all chit-chatted while watching TV. Every now and then the nurses would come by to check my vitals and the monitors. We saw slight improvements in the fetal graphs although still not as much as before. Over the next three hours or so, they continued upping my dose of pitocin. I could slowly feel the contractions becoming a little stronger and more often. But nothing I couldn't tolerate at this point.
At about 6:00pm or so, Dr. Teagle swings by for a quick update. My baby wasn't tolerating the contractions and the time has come to deliver. With in 5 - 10 minutes I am whisked off the the operating room where I get a spinal tap (or spinal-dural, as Lerma called it, LOL) and am lying on the table awaiting my procedure. Brad is there with me sitting right by my side wearing full hospital scrubs. A drape was put up, so I couldn't see. Shortly after, I could no longer feel anything from my chest down. This was it, I was going to have a baby. I laid there with my eyes closed as the surgery started. Although I couldn't feel any pain, I could feel a lot of pulling and tugging around my abdomen. It's a weird feeling that I can't explain. I couldn't have been there any longer than 10 - 15 minutes or so when they asked Brad if he wanted see the delivery. He stood up and within a minute I felt a push and then we heard the baby cry! He cried and I cried. I couldn't believe it, my son was born.
They quickly whisked him away to a heated bed area where the doctors examined him and cleaned him up. I was still crying and now shivering (supposedly the shivering is common). My baby's cry was echoing in the operation room. There are no words to explain how I felt at that exact moment. I was just overjoyed to hear him crying because crying meant he could breathe on his own.
Little baby Tyler was carried over to me by the labor nurse. Brad was the first to hold him as I just watched from where I still laid on the table. (at this point, they were now stitching me up). He was only with us for a minute or two before having to be wheeled away to the nursery for further examinations.
I could totally be wrong, but the actual stitching me up part seemed to have taken much longer than the delivery. When I was good to go, I was wheeled away to the recovery area where I was able to have some ice chips and wait for the anesthesia to wear off. They wouldn't let me go to the nursery until I could (with assistance) get myself into a wheel chair. After what seemed like a century, I was off to see my baby boy! This was no doubt the happiest of moment of my life.
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