Birth Story Part 1

It was November 2, 2012. Richard was going out of town to the deer lease because it was opening weekend for deer hunting. He would be gone for a few days so I thought I would take that opportunity to go visit my dad and step mom. Their house is a little over 2 hours away so it was kind of like a mini vacation. So I pack up my things and grab my three year old and off we go. I was 28 weeks pregnant and feeling pretty good.

For the most part, the pregnancy was pretty uneventful. It felt different than my first, but I couldn't really explain why or how. I was always worried about a miscarriage or going into labor early. I even remember having a conversation with my friend D'ann at work asking her about her preterm labor experience because I just felt something was off. I guess there is something to be said about women's/mother's intuition.

We get to my dad's house that Friday and just hung around the house and visited. On Saturday Carter started to feel sick. He developed fever along with a nasty cough. The poor boy was miserable! He was very clingy and wanted to be carried everywhere and let me tell you that boy is a lug! I finally got him to lay down in bed and that's when I started having pains. It's hard to describe the pain. It didn't feel like contractions so I wasn't really worried about the baby. Laying down didn't help nor did walking around. I finally decided to go lay down with Carter hoping that I would just fall asleep. That's when I thought I peed in my pants. It wasn't a lot, just a trickle. My water broke with Carter at 37 weeks and it was very obvious that that's what had happened. That's not what it felt like this time. So I got up to go to the bathroom and changed my clothes. I lay back down and it happens again. Now I'm just confused as to why I am peeing all over myself! Off to the bathroom I go again. This literally happens about five or six more times before I finally realize that my water had broke. I think I knew at the beginning, but I was in denial. I was only 28 weeks pregnant and this surely wasn't happening to me! I wake up my dad and step mom and off I go to the ER with my dad. We end up at Medical Center of Lewisville which is closest to my dad's house with a level III NICU. I'm taken to Labor and Delivery and things start to happen fast. I don't really know what I was expecting, but it was not what happens next. My nurse explains to me that she is going to start me on Magnesium Sulfate to stop preterm labor. Now I'm scared. I only know what D'ann had told me about her experience with it and it was enough to know that mag sulfate was evil! They start the medication and instantly I am more miserable than I have ever been in my entire life! First the burning starts. This burning spreads through every ounce of your body. You feel as if someone has set you on fire. Then the nausea sets in. I remember hanging my head off the side of the bed dry heaving while my body is dripping sweat. Then you feel as if a semi truck has just run over you. You feel beaten, heavy, lethargic. Once the bolus dose wears off and they get it to a lower level there is some, not much, but some relief. Then they tell me that I have to be on it for 48 hours. What?! 48 hours of this misery? Okay, if this is what is necessary to stop this baby from coming right now, let's do it. All I keep thinking is that it's too soon for me to meet my baby boy. It's way too soon. I get my steroid shots and then would get another one in 24 hours. The OB explains to me that most women will deliver within 72 hours of their water breaking and if they don't it will be within the next few days. He said our goal was to make it to 34 weeks at which point baby automatically comes out because the it becomes to risky for him to stay inside.  Of course it's very rare for one to make it that long, but it does happen. That was our plan and I would begin to pray hard that we would make it just a few weeks longer. I make the dreaded phone call to my husband to come back. So much for deer hunting this year. He would then start the six hour drive to the hospital. The bad thing about being at this hospital was that our home was two hours away. I chose not to transfer to the hospital where I would have originally delivered because being here meant that my dad and step mom would be able to keep Carter while Richard worked. So for the next few weeks my husband would make the drive back and forth a couple of times a week. Each day that went by was a blessing. I thanked God for every extra day my little boy could stay inside. I was on strict bed rest except for shower privileges. I would sit in that hospital bed for the next three weeks. My daily routine was: Wake up at 7am, watch the news, eat breakfast, take a shower, get on the Internet,eat lunch, watch reruns of Sex and the City and some Food Network, read a magazine or book, eat dinner, watch more TV and go to bed. That's pretty much how it went everyday. Of course some of that was taken out when visitors would come. I got to see Carter almost everyday and that was a lifesaver! I have never really been away from that little boy and it was hard. He was having a good time at Grandpa and Nana's and I knew he would be okay. We spent Thanksgiving in the hospital and I was glad because it meant that I was still there and Camden was still inside. We celebrated every week that passed and I thought just maybe I could actually make it to 34 weeks! I think even the doctors were surprised that we were still hanging on!

He was always the highlight of my day!

 

 

Carter was excited to make the posters, but not

so much about having his picture taken!

 

  

 

This would be the last poster we would make.

 

 

 

November 24th rolls around and at this time I'm 31 weeks and 4 days. It's only by God's will that we have made it this far and I still give thanks for letting our baby grow just a little bit longer. During the afternoon I start feeling contractions. I remember calling the nurse and saying that something just doesn't feel right. She explained that it was probably just round ligament pain and that it was normal. I know what "stretching pains" are and this wasn't it. These were contractions! I am hooked up to the monitor and sure enough I'm contracting every 2-3 minutes. The baby's heart rate keeps dropping. I'm given oxygen to help increase the blood flow to the baby. I am frozen, terrified, anxious and worried. I start to panic and the tears form in my eyes. This can't be happening now! I'm alone. My husband is 2 hours away. Even though I have had 3 weeks to prepare for this moment, I am not prepared. I am given a shot of terbutaline to stop the contractions. I am told that if this is true labor that they will not stop and I will be having a baby. I'm crying and shaking now. I still feel like it's too soon. 31 weeks is way better than 28, but it's still too early. I call Richard and he heads to the hospital. My step mom comes to keep me company. An hour later the contractions stop. They do not start again. We are not having a baby tonight. What a relief! Richard goes back home the next day. Saturday starts off the same as all the other days. The OB tells me we are walking a fine line between whether Camden is safe inside me or not. He says we will wait and see what happens the next couple of days. The afternoon comes and the pains start again. I am contracting again. It's not constant and there is no pattern. The baby's hear rate drops again. I'm put on oxygen again. A C-section is scheduled for the next day now which will be Monday. If my contractions get closer together we will do it today. Richard comes back to the hospital so we can make sure he is there in case the baby comes today. I would continue to have contractions and stay on an oxygen mask until Monday morning. 7:30am rolls around and it's show time! I can't believe today is the day we are going to meet our baby boy! I'm scared but excited. I get my spinal and the cutting begins. "We are pulling him out now" I hear the OB say. All I kept saying to my husband is "Please let him be crying! That way I know he is breathing!" They pull him out and we hear the most amazing sound in the world...his cry! I only get a glimpse as they whisk him away to the other side of the room for the neonatologist and NICU nurses to work on him. I hear them say his APGAR scores are 9 and 10 and I couldn't be more thrilled. He is breathing on his own and needs no support! I cry tears of joy and relief. My husband waits by our boy as I am being stitched up. He would accompany our baby to the NICU while I would have to wait until later. As hard as it was not to be able to hold my boy, I praised God for an uncomplicated delivery and a healthy boy. The three weeks in the hospital bed leading up to this moment was nothing. I would do it again in a heartbeat to keep my baby inside a little longer to get stronger. It was a great day!

 

 

 

Camden Reese Hill

November 26, 2012 8:00 am

3 lbs 5 oz    16 3/8 inches long