Owen was due July 9, but due to gestational diabetes, my doctor wanted to induce. She happened to be on call 4th of July weekend, so since we wanted her to deliver and she wanted him out week 39, we checked into Baptist Jacksonville July 2 to begin Cervidil.
The doctor on call that day was late, so it took almost 4 hours before her man hands inserted it. I will spare the details, but OUCH. I would not do Cervidil a second time. First due to the insertion process and second because it didn't do what it was supposed to do very well.
When I could finally eat, all the cafeteria had was fried food. Seriously? Talk about dumb ... and the government worries Americans make unhealthy choices. Hello, the hospital served grilled cheese, fried chicken tenders, french fries and fried mac n cheese as its late night choices. Ridiculous. Anyway, the above is what I ate.
Chad slept on a loveseat while I was in the bed from hell. It broke down into a delivery bed so it was less than comfortable. Ok less than miserable because it was THAT BAD.
I threw the remote at Chad to wake him and was crying my eyes out with him rubbing my back when the nurse, Carla, came in. She gave me Staydol, which caused me to laugh crazily for about 40 seconds then immediately snore, according to Chad. It was great stuff. Carla came back a few hours later and the 2 of them assisted my staggering self to the restroom. I remember saying it had been a long time since I had taken a drunk walk and that I don't get this drunk anymore. Seriously best drug ever.
The next morning the Cervidil was removed and Pitocin began around 9 a.m. I progressed to a 4 and said my pain was 4.8. Five minutes later I had Chad stalk the nurse, Leslie, and she brought Dr. Patel to give me an epidural. He asked my pain level and I said 5.3. I was all about decimals. They had said it was best to get an epidural when the pain was at a 5.
Three contractions later, he was able to finish inserting it. It was a quick, painless process, but the contractions were coming fast and hard and kept pausing the process. That was around 11a.m.
Brittany, our photographer, arrived around noon Friday and stayed with us until around 2 a.m. She was wonderful company.
Around 9 p.m. I was only progressed to a 6 and had been stuck there for a couple hours while contractions were about 1 to 1.5 minutes apart (though I couldn't feel them). My doctor said the dreaded words I hadn't wanted to hear - let's talk c section. I cried and asked questions but ultimately agreed.
Everything progressed quickly from there as I was prepped and wheeled off. A fabulous nurse named Teri took Brittany's camera to the OR and did an amazing job.
Once in the OR I glanced all around as much as I could and began crying again, which led to vomit. Dr. Patel (who must have been on for 24 hours) administered more drugs and stayed by my head. He asked, "How much of that do you feel?" I said "Of what?" and he said, "Good. Dr. Kohaut already started." I responded wanting to know where Chad was. He arrived what seemed like 10 years later. I was so out of it that I'm sure it was within a minute now.
He held my hand and stroked my cheek and a nurse aaid, "Owen's almost here!" As I faded in and out of sleep while my abdomin was ripped wide open, I thought to myself, o...win. huh? It wasn't computing at all. I love you baby boy, I was just too drugged to know that was your name.
Moments later Dr. K held Owen over the screen for us to see. I remember saying "Oh" then falling asleep. The drugs, I tell ya. I was so sleepy. The struggle to stay awake was real and fierce.
Chad went with Owen to the nursery while I was taken to recovery. I think I remember riding an elevator but it was a blur. In recovery I kept asking for food. I was STARVING for the first time in 9 months. They gave me ice chips and I placed them in my mouth and savored them like they were filet mignon or something. I remember telling Carla that they were the most amazing thing I had tasted in years.
I was in recovery for 5 minutes (Chad said a couple hours, but it felt like no time at all). We were in our recovery room around 1:30 I think and Owen's blood sugar level was diving. He went from the 30s to a 24 and needed at least 50. They wheeled him off to Wolfson's Children's Hospital, which was thankfully connected to labor and delivery at Baptist.
They told us to wait at least an hour before Chad could check on him. I don't remember what time he checked, but he came back and said they had hooked him up to an IV. Chad got some rest while I ate crackers and was suddenly wide awake despite not actually sleeping after surgery.
Around 1 pm my nurse (stopped paying attention to names at this point, but guessing Amy), after my persistent asking, wheeled me to NICU. I spent time with Owen and his nurse, Mary Ellen. It broke my heart to see the IV in his hand. He would barely eat 17 ml of formula. That cracks me up now, as at 19 days old he is up to 4 ounces, or 120 ml. It terrified me then, though.
When I was taken back to my room, Chad woke up on entry. We spent some time together and then we went to Owen's next 2 feedings. We skipped the 2 and 5 a.m. feedings and I think Chad went to the 8 a.m. we went down together for the 11 and learned he was coming "home." He came to our room with us and July 5 to 6 was our first night actually together as a family.
We went home on the 6th. Below are some photos.
