Sorry for the massive delay in delivering the epic accounting of the birth of Michael Patrick :) Things didn't turn out exactly as planned, and I only arrived home from the hospital yesterday afternoon. After taking some time to settle in and sleep, I'm finally making my way back to the computer.
On Monday afternoon I had what would be my last appointment with the ob/gyn. My usual doctor was still on Vacation, so I met with the Nurse Practitioner. My blood pressure was elevated, my legs were swelling again, and I had protein in my urine sample. Combined with a headache that wouldn't go away, the Nurse decided to send me to Triage to have some labs run. She felt that based on my symptoms, they would likely induce me, so Husband and I both headed off to the hospital ready to bring a baby home.
After arriving in Triage, the nurses took a blood sample and hooked me up to several monitors. I'm not sure exactly how much time passed (I'm assuming about 2 hours), but after a good wait the nurse came back to me and let me know that all my labs were in the "normal range." DRAT! At that point I figured they would be sending me home, that is until the nurse asked me if anyone had talked to me about a c-section.
Huh?
About 30 minutes later, Dr. Partridge showed up to give us his recommendation. While all my labs were in the normal range, they were at the very highest end of normal, and that combined with the fact that I hadn't progressed any further in my labor and that Mike was estimated to be over 9 pounds (and this was my first delivery), Dr Partridge felt that even if they did induce me, there was an 80% chance that they would have to end up performing an emergency c-section. He suggested that we call this pregnancy quits and schedule a c-section. We agreed, and figured they would have us come back the next day for the surgery.
Nope!
The doctor said "Hey, I'm here right now, lets do this." Josh was tossed a pair of scrubs, and they began to prep me for surgery. Within an hour I was bent over a table waiting for the Anesthesiologist to administer my epidural. After hearing so many horror stories, I am happy to report that Dr. Wong has amazing abilities and I did not feel any part of the epidural. Within minutes they were busy at work. At one point Josh looked over and told me what a good job I was doing. I responded "What am I doing??" I didn't even realize that they had started the cesarean. Shortly after that I heard the frantic cries of little Michael. Josh went over to take pictures of our little guy while they finished me up, and then I found out that not only did he weigh in at 9 lbs, 1 oz, and 20.5 inches long, but he also scored a 9 and a 9 on both Apgar tests. Super baby!
I've got much more to write about the whole experience, but for now I will leave you with several pictures to last until I have the chance to write more. Josh and I are so in love with our son, and we can't get enough of him!
Meet Baby Gaines!
Hello World!
Meeting for the first time!
Hospital Picture
Hanging out at Home
I <3 My Swing
What a gorgeous little boy! Looks like he has more hair than Shannon does now. :) Glad you're home getting comfy with your little one and perfecting your swaddle. I'd like to come visit you later next week- I caught a cold and am just starting to get better. How's breastfeeding going?
ReplyDeleteHe is absolutely precious! And cute! And so perfect! I love his "hanging out at home" picture.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy for y'all! Big babies are easy to get used to, I think. They're already like little toddlers. I had a 9+ pounder too :)
Have so much fun getting to know Michael!
CONGRATS!!!
ReplyDeleteHe is GORGEOUS. I mean, seriously...GORGEOUS!
And wow, did you ever have a big baby. You are my hero.
(Spoken from a women who had 2 c-sections and loved both of 'em!)
Congratulations! I'm so glad everything turned out okay, even though it wasn't how you'd planned. And 9 lb. 1 oz.--I bet the c-section ended up being a real blessing.
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