The Delivery

Max David Barnhurst
January 22, 2010 7:37 am
8lbs, 18.5 inches

Well I thought I better share the 'birth' story before I forget the details! The last few days has been nothing but a huge blur! So last Thursday, I had my regular appointment for a NST and with the Dr. I was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia earlier that week, so they were watching my BP close. On the NST I was having regular contractions (I couldn't feel them). I also had quite a headache, so he decided to check me again and I was dilated to a 3! (was a zero 2 days earlier) He pretty much said we can continue to plan on induction Monday, or we would even start you tonight because of BP, dilation, contractions, size of baby. I thought I'd go home and rest and see if the headache got better, and about 2 hours later I was feeling the regular contractions and still having headache, so I called Dr Allen and he told me to head to hospital. Benj was at work, so I packed my things and waited for him. Of course in the meantime I am bawling; emotional and scared. Anyway, they started the pitocin around 5 and I didn't dilate much for probably 8 hours or so. I got the epidural before I started really feeling anything, so that was great. Seriously, the IV stick, the cervix checks, the put the monitor on the baby's head all hurt MUCH worse than the epidural. Hell, the catheter sucked too. The whole labor I felt like I had to pee and couldn't. Evidently it was just normal irritation from the catheter. After the epidural got in, Dr Allen broke my water and put internal monitors on the baby. Seriously the water breaking felt cool. It felt like I just sat there and peed myself for like 4 hours. He also started Magnesium Sulfate to avoid seizures due to my blood pressure being high. That pretty much knocked me out and I slept through most the rest of the night. Dr Allen woke me, Benj, and Kellie up about 6:30am saying I was a 10 and ready to push. I was all disoriented and weak from the Mag, trying to wake myself up. The first 2 or 3 sequences of pushing were useless, I had no idea what I was doing. I asked for a mirror so I could see what was going on and where to push. Yeah, I took one look at that and I was done. Anyway, after a few pushes I got the hang of it and actually did really well. I didn't realize you do 3 10 second pushes per contraction until the freaking baby comes out. I pushed for about an hour and a half (which is pretty good for a first timer with an epidural = average is 3 hours per Dr Allen). But really, especially for a fat person, that is hard work. Like aerobics, and I don't do aerobics. By the last few pushes I kept saying I could not do one more, really, I was going to die. Of course Benj was upbeat and trying to be funny the whole time and I remember just yelling at him half the time. He really did great though. Before delivery he was so pissed off about holding my leg for some reason and when it came time he was the only one there so he had to, haha. He did great thgough and got really into it. Kellie held the other and Tam and my mom watched from the side. Tam videotaped I think. Anyway, toward the end, Dr Allen says he is going to need to cut a little for his head to come out. Huge head. So he did, and I ended up tearing also. Anyway, that is pretty much the jist of it. The Magnesium really jacked me up and I was pretty out of it for a day or so. Max was having apnea problems at first so they took him to be watched. After a bit they brought him to my room and Benj tried to feed him a little and he started turning blue, so they took him back to the NICU. He's been there since. He has episodes where his heart rate drops to like the 30's and his oxygen then drops. They don't really know exactly what the problem is. They did start him on a reflux medicine and he seems to be doing better yesterday and today, but he still can't go without oxygen. Anyway, Benj and I have pretty much alternated being at hospital and sleeping for the last 5 days. Thats about all. Just waiting for Max to get better. Benj went back to work today, so of course I have been an emotional mess. Benj has been great, I couldn't have done it without him! Literally!

The whole 'binding your boobs' thing freaking sucks. I seriously think I might have a broken rib about it.

Just FYI, if for whatever reason you are not going to breast feed, be prepared for rude remarks and reactions to it. I'm not kidding, almost every nurse and Dr mentioned something about it. I don't think anyone should judge it unless they know the reasons. Even then, depending who they are, they should keep thier mouth shut. I spent a good day and a half crying and feeling horribly guilty about it. Still kind of do, but anyway, prepare yourself, it is annoying. We'll keep everyone updated on Max. Thanks for everyone's support!