William "Liam" Alexander is here!!! He arrived December 3, 2007. 8lbs 3oz. 3:53pm.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

It's been a week and a day since I got to meet the most fabulous baby EVER!!! I thought it was about time I posted my labor and delivery story since I can still remember it. :) Sunday night, December 2nd, at 6pm I was moved for the High Risk Perinatal unit to the Labor and Delivery unit. My nurse when I got there was Emily. She was great! Once I was settled, she started my cervidil at 8pm to soften my cervix. Well, around 11:30pm I had to call respiratory to give me a breathing treatment. Emily called my doc who ordered the cervidil to be removed. Apparently, cervidil and asthma don't mix. I was then started on a "light" pitocin drip. I was given 2 ambiens and was told to call the nurse if I had any pain. I didn't. :) Around 3:30am I started having some serious contractions. I felt that I was being a weenie if I was to give any pain meds at this point. At 5:30am, Beryl, my new nurse, came into my room to check on me. At this point I was crying (Yes, weenie), Bill, of course, was SOUND asleep. She said they thought I was having contractions, but since I didn't call anyone, they assumed I was sleeping through them. She got me off the IV and let me get up to walk around. I took a nice long hot shower. Afterwards I put on my hospital gown and my "labor" socks. I wondered why the nurses laughed when I told them about my "labor" socks. I did figure that part out during the early part of the day since they only made it though a couple of hours of my labor. Shortly after my shower, Beryl got the pitocin started up again. Dr. Echemendia came in to let me know how things were looking. I was told not to freak out if nurses came running in and out of my room, that that was normal, but to do whatever they tell me to do. He told me that he didn't want me in any pain and if I felt any to let the nurses know so that they could give me something. He also explained that he would NOT let me take hours trying to deliver the baby since the baby was on the big size and he wasn't sure the baby would even be able to be delivered vaginally. At this point I was only dilated 1cm. I was given some pain meds. However, no relief was given. I still didn't want to call the nurse because I never thought I would be such a weenie. About this time, my water broke. After a few hours, I was in complete tears and Dr. Echemendia told them to go ahead and start the epidural. OK... who would of thought that even an epidural would provide NO relief?!?!?!? The anesthesiaologist came back into the room to put some more meds into the epidural. Still NOTHING. He decided to give me the same meds that they give for someone going into surgery. He said that he had never seen anyone who had such a high drug tolerance. Now this drug did work and boy did it work. I couldn't even feel my lungs!! By now, my mom had shown up and I really started freaking out. It felt like I couldn't breathe, not because of anxiety, but because my lungs felt like they were paralized. My oxygen levels started dropping too so they had to put me on oxygen. I went from feeling everything to feeling nothing. I had Bill and mom rubbing my hands because I couldn't feel them either. Dr. Echemendia came back into my room. I dilated from 1 cm to 7 cm over the pass 2 hours. The nurses got me out of bed and put me in a rocking chair. Within 30 minutes I was completely dilated, however, Liam wasn't dropping into the birth canal. They had me moving between the bed and the rocking chair. I was still on oxygen at this point and Liam's heartrate started dropping. They decided to have me push to see if I could get Liam to move down the birth canal. As soon as I started, Liam's heartrate dropped even more. The nurses were rocking me back and forth. Bill and mom were on either side of me trying to keep me calm. Dr. Echemendia came in to let me know that he had the Operating Room scheduled for me in 20 minutes for a c-section. He let me know that this was for the best. It would be the safest for Liam and me and would be over before I knew it. He told Bill to get dressed and told my mom to get my stuff and wait for us in the waiting room. I was wheeled into the OR and they immediately started preparing me. Soon after they let Bill into the room to hold my hand. I told him to tell me a story to keep my mind off of things. The nurse was sticking me with a pin and wanted me to tell her if I felt anything besides pressure. She then told me that she was giving the pin to Dr. Echemendia for him to also test my stomach area. Bill was busy telling me a story and before I knew it we heard a baby cry! Bill and I both started crying. I heard Dr. Echemendia say that this was a really cute baby boy. He was also telling me what I great job I was doing.... yeah, right, crying and acting like a weenie. :) Bill was giving me a play by play on what they were doing to Liam. It was great to hear that he was crying the whole time because I knew that meant he had a strong pair of lungs!! Once they were done they brought Liam over for me to see. He was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life!!! The nurses came over to let me know that they had to take him into the transition room for observation. Apparently he had swallowed some of the fluid during the delivery possess and some of it was in his lungs. They let Bill follow them up there while they cleaned him, weighed him, and finished the tests. I was told that they would keep him for 6 hours to make sure his "grunting" went away. I was sent into the recovery area for an hour. Bill came back from seeing Liam, then he went and got my mom. I was then transported to my "new" room. It felt really weird at first. I kept feeling my stomach because I was so used to Liam moving around, however, he wasn't there anymore, but he wasn't with me either. Around 11:30pm, the nurse came into my room to let me know that she had my little precious boy. I was so excited. His "grunting" had stopped so he was able to come to my room and not NICU. This was such a relief to me too because I was told that if he had to go to NICU I wouldn't be able to breastfeed due to my asthma meds and they wouldn't want any chances taken. So, needless to say, I'm able to breastfeed, which makes me more than happy!! My recovery was a little rough. My tolerance is just a big ole pain. They tried to give me perocet, which I thought was a joke. They finally decided on morphine and even on that they had to increase my dosage. I think it was hard too, because I was in bed for so long. Before being in the hospital, I was on bedrest at home. Also, my blood pressure went from high to higher. They had to put me on a mag drip and some blood pressure meds. This was along with my steriod drip, which can raise your blood pressure. They had to keep in my epidural in a day longer, since I was on the mag drip. I was sent home with more blood pressure meds and have to continue to monitor my pressure since I am still showing signs of preeclampsia. However, Friday finally came and they let me and Liam go home!!! Now that we are home, we're still trying to get into a routine. Liam is the best baby I've ever seen. My mom is here to help out. She's been bringing me breakfast in bed and cooking lunch and dinner. Liam and I tend to sleep most of the day. The doctors said that this would be the norm for now since Liam is considered a preemie. I know, I have a giant moose preemie, how odd is that?? We're doing the breastfeeding thing. So far it's the easiest thing I've ever done. AND it completely relaxes me. Bill laughs because he'll find Liam and me on the couch completely knocked out from it. Other than sleeping, if I'm up, I'm just staring at Liam. He's so cute!! He's really the most precious thing I've ever seen. I still can't believe that I was given this gift. I feel truly blessed. Despite everything that happened during my pregnancy and even my labor, I would do it all over again to get this end result. However, next time, I'm skipping the whole labor mess and going straight to the c-section.

Sunday, December 02, 2007 I can't believe the day has arrived. I'm being moved down to Labor & Delivery at 6pm tonight. They are going to start off by giving me cervidil. I really hope I'm one of the lucky ones that this will start labor!! I'm dilated, so they said that that is a good sign. If it doesn't start labor, I'll get the pitocin at 6am on Monday morning. I have heard some horror stories about the pitocin. I just hope I get the epidural in time. :) And that I'm not in labor for days. I did take some ambien last night and slept until 12:30pm today. The nurses would check on me than leave. They said for me to sleep as long as I can. Bill slept as well. I told him when I'm up during labor, he has to be up. I think that's only fair. The lactation consultant talked to me today too. As long as the baby is able to go to the regular nursery, I should be able to breastfeed with all of my asthma medications. They are going to have a peditrician review the medication while I'm here to make sure they approve. I'm on some old drugs that most people don't take anymore, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If Liam has to go to NCIU for any reason, they won't let me breastfeed. I really hope he's lungs are fully developed!! I want the chance to be able to breastfeed. Especially since it helps reducing his chance of developing asthma and allergies. I don't want him to go through what I have to!! Wish me luck and say some prayers for Liam and me. I hope we're both troopers and get through this stronger than ever.

Saturday, December 01, 2007 I had a CRAZY night! I started having contractions closer and closer. I finally called the nurse after 2 hours of it. She hooked me up to the monitor. Well, a few more hours passed, they were coming EVERY minute. I thought I was being ripped apart. The nurse, Cher, called my doc who wanted it stopped for now. My doc wanted me to get some more sleep before I'm a mom. They had to give me 3 shots to do it. I'm still having some little ones today. They said if it happens again, they'll let me deliver. Regardless, tomorrow night at 6 pm I'm being transferred to L&D to start the induction process. I just hope I can get some sleep! The contractions lasted until 4:30am!!! OH... through it all, my husband was sound asleep on his cot next to me, even when I called his name. The nurse said that most men are like that because they know we're in good hands. I think next time I'm going to end up hitting him. :)

Thursday, November 29, 2007

First of all I hate being woken up in the morning by a loud person!! The tech barged into my room this morning telling me to get out of bed for my ultrasound. Ahgg! The ultrasound went well. My preeclampsia isn't affecting the baby from what they can see. That made me feel better. And he is now 8lbs 8oz according to their measurements!! And he has a head FULL of hair. My blood pressure has been steadily increasing. If it continues to stay high, they are going to induce before Monday. I don't know how it keeps getting high.. I only get out of bed to go to the bathroom. (Sorry, kind of fustrated today.) I am having steady contractions, maybe he'll come out on his own. That would be nice. I'm a little nervous about being induced. I really have no clue on what to expect. I hope I'm not in labor for days. I hope nothing goes wrong, no asthma attacks, no panic attacks. I just want to have a healthy baby boy. Anyway... sorry I'm a little down. I just get so lonely during the day, not to mention moody from being pregnant. I can't wait to be at home with my new family!!

Monday, November 26, 2007

I got my test results back and another ultrasound done today. The tests showed that I am stable... still protein in my urine, but it's not getting worse. My blood tests came back too, everything looks good there. As for the ultrasound, they didn't do measurements today. :( I wanted to see how much bigger he's gotten. All they were checking was his movement.. they wanted to make sure that he was imitating breathing, which he was. The placenta showed that it's mature. The high risk doc saw me and agreed with my regular OB/GYN that I need to be induced next Monday, the 3rd, if he doesn't come on his own. Afterwards, my regular OB/GYN saw me to give me the details. He's getting with my lung doc because some of the meds can aggrivate my asthma. He's going to make sure that they are both on the same page in case anything happens. All in all, I'm scared, but excited. I can't believe this time next week I could be a mommy!!

Saturday, November 24, 2007 Just wanted to post another update. I saw a lung doc here and they are giving me breathing treatments every 8 hours to keep me lungs clear for delivery. My blood pressure has still been a little high. Yesterday the top number was in the 160s... today it's back down between 145-152 (they seem more concerned with the top than the bottom... bottom has be between 80-95). I saw the doc and was told if it gets in the 160s again, they are going to go ahead and take Liam. I have another round of tests tomorrow to see if I'm getting better or worse. Then on Monday I'll have another ultrasound. Afterwards, they'll determine what they are going to do... take him then or wait another week. Last Monday he was 8 lbs 1 oz.... write back and let me know what you think he'll weight this Monday and when you think Liam will be here. (I'm bored, so this will at least entertain me for a bit!!) :) Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Hey guys. I wanted to give you an update. Well along with my problems that I posted last night, my test results came back and I now have preeclampsia. I'm being kept here indefinitely... sounds like they are going to keep me until the baby comes. I'm feeling OK, just bored and lonely... (Bill is at work during the day). So please continue to keep Liam and me in your prayers!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007 Well... I'm now 35 weeks and 2 days, and currently in the hospital AGAIN. The medication I'm talking for my asthma is raising my blood pressure. Sunday night my lips looked like someone punched me in the face and we rushed straight to the hospital. My blood pressure was 170/103!! I saw the high risk doc yesterday. The baby is now 8 lbs 1 oz! Yes, he's a moose!!! They're talking more and more about taking him early via c-section, but want to hold off as long as they can. I'll be on a lot of additional meds during delievery and have a high chance of hemorrhaging due to my asthma and the meds I have to take. It takes my body longer to heal than a "healthy" person. I'm getting a little scared, but keep telling myself at least we know what we are up against ahead of time to prevent things from happening. Please keep us in your prayers... for Liam's and mine's health and also for my anxiety.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007 Wow... what a roller coaster ride!!! It's been a crazy week for me. I had a good weekend, but apparently, did too much. By Saturday night I was having an asthma attack that wouldn't go away even using a nebulizer. Sunday morning Bill had to rush me to the ER. My oxygen levels were good, my lungs were clear on my x-ray, but my peak flow and white blood cell count were horrible. They ended up giving me steriods IVs and admitting me into the hospital. That night I started having contractions every 5 minutes. They did give me something to stop them, and now I am taking meds every 6 hours to keep them from returning. It's easy to remember, because at the 6 hours mark, the contractions start up again!! I had another ultrasound today and the baby is on the BIG side... 6.5 lbs and I still have 5.5 weeks to go. The doc informed me that I am now considered high risk due to his size, my asthma, and now my blood pressure. I was also told that during delivery a doc would be in my room at all times. They are still keeping my due date on the vague side because they want to keep him cooking as long as possible, but if I have another asthma attack or if he gets too big, they're going to have to take him. I was told that a C-section might be a possibility, but not a definite at this point, just something I need to start adjusting to. I'm also on bed rest which is crazy because I didn't think I could get any lazier. Though it all, Liam is still healthy, which makes me happy. I know that as long as he is OK, I'll be fine. In the end, it will all be worth it!!