March 30, 2011--the short version?

• I had an appt that morning and told Mr. he should stick around because they would be sending me to the hospital. Wishful thinking. After the ultrasound I knew there was a chance it would really happen because my fluid was really high. They wouldn't want me to be home when my water broke--fear of cord prolapse. I was right. The doctor called Dr. T, who is my regular doctor, and he agreed to induce. Luckily, Dr T was on call at the hospital, so I was basically guaranteed that I would get a bed sometime that afternoon. They told me to run errands for a few hours and return to the hospital. When I checked in, I told them I was a 1 and 50% effaced. Which wasn't true, I was 2 and 70% when I was checked that morning. Nobody checked me to see if I had progressed. They just hooked me to the monitors and left. I made some calls to make sure Mr. and my mom would come and to see if my MIL could watch the girls. They told me there were 2 rooms opening up that needed to be cleaned, but they didn't have a nurse yet. One nurse called in and said she would work as long as she could be off by midnight. I told them it would only be 2 hours after they broke my water. I also told them that I knew a nurse--Kelly Knight and thought that she would come in if she weren't busy. So nurse Aggie was the first nurse. My mom came and then Mr. arrived--after going to the bank and going home to shower. We had to wait until 5:30 for them to start the pitocin. Right after they started the drip, they announced that Kelly would be coming in and taking over. That was the best news. She was fantastic.


• My contractions were regular from the start and got more intense according to the monitor, but not really painful. The doctor came in an broke my water at 6:18. It actually started hurting within 20 minutes and the contractions were 1.5 min apart. I had them give me the IV bag so I could get an epidural. My plan was to have no pain while I watched American Idol and then have the baby. They gave me the epidural just before 7, Kelly held my had while the other helpers hid their eyes. It kicked in fast this time. I rolled over and tried to rest for a bit. Kelly checked me at 7:25--6 cm. Gave me oxygen to help baby through contractions. Checked again at 8:10--8 cm. Started shaking like crazy and feeling pressure. 8:13 ish--10cm ready to push. Baby born at 8:24. I was watching my mom when I was pushing and she was not looking so good. I thought maybe there was something wrong with the baby. Then I heard the Dr say, "We've got one going down." Mom passed out around the time the head came out. Sorry mom. The cord was around the baby's neck so Dr. T cut the cord himself and suctioned away. It seemed like it took along time for baby to cry. They said he looked "Awesome." Mr. ran to his side as soon as he was born and just stared. It was really cute. I kept shaking while I got stitched up. Mom came to and all was well.


• Luke Campbell Walker--7 lbs 3 oz, 20 1/2 in.


• A few hours later, they took baby to NICU because his breathing was labored. They monitored him and Mr. stayed with him until they got an x-ray taken. The nurses watch him in isolation for 3 more hours and said he was fine enough to stay in the room with me. The next night, another nurse wanted to run more of the same tests, got concerned and called the pediatrician to listen for a heart murmur. He said everything was fine. The nurse came in every few hours and at one point, talked to me while I was half asleep and took the baby out of the room. I asked Mr if he knew where they were taking him, but he had been asleep too. He jumped up and ran and got the now crying Luke, gave them a piece of his mind, and came back to bed. The nurses didn't bother us from 1:30 to 6 the next morning and we actually slept.


• We came home on Friday around 2 pm. He has been such a peaceful baby so far. The only time he has really cried is when his diaper is dirty or he has a burp. I went in for the post partum appt and they had me feed and weigh him. They said he only got 2 ml. So we are nursing and supplementing and glad that some people are a little more sympathetic to those with lower milk supplies. He has to have a CT scan of his chest to see if the cysts are there or not at 6 weeks. We won't be out and about much for 8 weeks because we don't want him to get sick. I feel fine, only taking ibuprofen for swelling. Living on little sleep. Lucky that it is spring break and family is able to play with the girls during the day.