Now that it has been 2 weeks and 2 days, I guess I will tell the story of my sons birth, even though most of the people that follow my blog already know it.
On November 2nd, I drove to school, and waited for the time to reach 8:30 so I could call my OB. I was worried because I had not felt Jude move since Monday, and I didn't know if that was normal, he wasn't a very active baby to begin with. I expected to call and have them tell me to come in tomorrow, when I had a previously scheduled appointment. Well, they didn't. They told me to come in right away, and I was TERRIFIED!
When I got to the doctor, the hooked me up to a monitor to measure contractions, which I wasn't having. They also hooked me up to a monitor to measure the baby's heartbeat. At first the nurse could not find it, and I started to freak out a little bit. She went and got the doctor, and luckily the doctor found the heartbeat. I was extremely relieved. She left me in the room for what seemed like 5 minutes, and came back in to look at the results. She told me that normally, there would be a fluctuation in the baby's heartbeat to show that it was moving around in there, but there was no fluctuation. She told me that I needed to go to the hospital for more testing.
I went to the hospital and checked in. They put me in a labor and delivery room and hooked me up to the same 2 monitors they had on me at the doctors office. When they saw the same thing, they gave me oxygen to stimulate the baby... still nothing. Then they hooked me up to an IV... still nothing. They decided to do an ultra sound to see what was going on. Apparently when they look at the baby via ultra sound they give it a score, 2 points for fluid, 2 points if the baby moves, 2 points if the baby is practicing its breathing, and 2 points for something else... well out of 8... I only got 2. Jude wasn't moving, or doing practice breathing, and he didn't look like he had a lot of room. I was shocked too that the ultra sound said he was only 4 lbs. The last time he got measured he was 3lbs 8oz, so something slowed down his growth significantly. My doctor told me she wanted to check with the specialist I was seeing, but she thought that he needed to come out because it is easier to take care of him on the outside than it is when he is in my belly.
She called the specialist and they gave the go ahead. She came back in a told me to call my husband because I would be having this baby in the next hour or so. I was extremely emotional, but trying to keep a calm face for all the nurses/doctors that were coming in to poke and prod me. Some time before 4 they took me to the room for the c section. They gave me a spinal block and an epidural. I think that was the scariest part. I was trying really hard the whole time not to lose it. I was a mess in my head though, terrified, excited, terrified, confused, terrified.
After a whole lotta tugging and pulling on my lower regions, Jude came out breathing on his own, at a teeny tiny but long 4 lbs 2.6 oz and 17.25 inches long. I got to give him a little kiss (as I was crying and could barely see him anyway) and then they rushed him away and me into a room where they tortured me by pushing on my stomach over and over again. It wasn't too bad though because I couldn't feel anything from the waist down, it was just uncomfortable. My day up to this point felt like it all happened over the course of 2 hours, no exaggeration, but I actually got to the doctor at 9:30 and had Jude at 4:00, so it was actually a really long time. Once he was out, every minute felt like and hour. I WANTED TO SEE MY BABY!
Finally they rolled me into the NICU and I got to see my little man. He was precious and I couldn't wait to see him again. They took me to my room where I tried hard all night to get my legs to move so I could get up and see my baby faster. I was still hooked up to the epidural, and I knew I wouldn't get to see him again that night but I wanted to get out of bed as soon as possible the next day.
The next day all the nurses that were checking on me were surprised at how mobile I was and how little pain medication I needed. It hurt like hell, but it was bearable. I still think getting the epidural and spinal block were the worst part.
When I could walk I went in to see Jude. The doctors told me that they still couldn't figure out what was wrong in my belly, but he wasn't happy in there and they were glad they decided to get him out. The next couple of weeks were an emotional roller coaster. Although he improved everyday, battling low platelets, pH imbalance, temperature regulation, and no motivation to eat, he finally over came all the small battles and we got to take him hom.. he's crying now... gotta go
