So, I posted when I was getting really uncomfortable this weekend, but here's how everything went:
I woke up at 3 am Saturday with irregular contractions, and through Sunday they only got worse. They took a long time to get consistent, and even though I thought I was in labor, I didn't want to drive an hour to the hospital only to be sent home, the car ride sounded horrible, and the idea of taking it for nothing was even worse. Saturday night, I called L&D, and they told me to hang in there and come in if the contractions got regular, but they didn't until Sunday.
Sunday at about 11 am, I started timing them and they were around 7 mins apart and lasting 1 minute, but they weren't consistent in severity, so I still wasn't sure if I should go in. Finally I called L&D again at 2 I think, and told them about it, saying I wasn't going to come in just to be sent home. They put a doctor on the line who was familiar with me and she told me to come in. If it turned out I wasn't in labor, she said they would induce me a day early.
I couldn't walk well, so I asked Joe to put the stuff in the suitcase for me (it was all ready), and we drove to UI Hospital with DD. The ride was hard, but not as bad as I had remembered when I had DD.
When we got to L&D, I was taken immediately to a delivery room and once I put the gown on, they hooked me up to a BP cuff and the NST machine and placed an IV of glucose and sodium phenylbutrate mixed.
At 4:30 they checked me for the first time and I was dilated to 5. They said it looked like I was in labor and they wouldn't have to induce. I can't remember the times for sure, but I think I was 6 cm at 6 pm and 7 cm at around 8. A lot of people were coming in asking about my health history and discussing the risks, which was scary.
SO only knows a little about OTC deficiency, and had no idea what the risks were for me. I had only mentioned possible risks for Julian to him. He looked really scared when the doc's were discussing my risk level with me, and preparing to avoid any of the major problems. I mean he looked REALLY scared, and pretty shocked, too. (Ever since, he hasn't protested any of the tests they are running and has tried to learn more about the disease)
Around 8 they broke my water, and it was nice and clear, good, right? ha!
By about 8 pm, I couldn't stand the pain and they did the epidural, and SO did all the stuff they asked him to help with, even though I was shaking so hard. It kind of irritated me that he was looking around me instead of at me though. I kept asking why he was mad at me. After the epidural, I was much more comfortable, and they gave me a button to push to increase the effect when I needed (and I did end up needing!)
Around 10, my bp was dropping fast, and Julian's heart rate was nosediving with each contraction. His HR was hitting 70-80 bpm, and I was told that if it continued to dip they were going to do an emergency C-section. THey waited through a couple more ctx and my bp dropped to 80/40 and a little lower. They gave me an epinephrin shot, and both my bp and Julian's HR started to stabilize, so they said they could hold off on the emergency c-section.
They checked after the epinephrin shot, and I was at 8 cm. My water also started coming out thick with meconium. Julian was kicking and wiggling like crazy from the shot, and had taken a big poop too. After that, they started checking me every half hour. Each time they checked, the meconium got thicker and thicker. By the time he was born, they all said they had never seen so much meconium during a delivery, which was really scary.
They told me that they had been planning to let me hold Julian for a few minutes because it would be my only chance for a while. But because there was so much meconium, they weren't going to let me hold him at all. The Peds people were going to have to take him right away and make sure he didn't aspirate.
I was dilated almost to 10 cm by 11:30, and was hoping to deliver by midnight so Julian wouldn't have to share a birthday with my stepbrother. It didn't work out though, and I started pushing at 12:25 am Monday. They told me to do a practice push, and then said STOP! because with one push, he crowned. They needed to get the rest of the team in the room. So they called everyone, and about 15 people came in. I felt like a science project.
SO held one of my legs, and was really focused on what was going on down there. I felt like a circus exhibit, and with all those people down there, I tried to get him to at least stop looking. I grabbed his face and tried to turn his head, but it did no good.
Anyway, with all those people there, they had me pushing again. I only had to push for 8 minutes (including the time it took to get everyone in the room), like 4 pushes total. Julian was born at 12:33 am Monday April 28th.
Julian was covered in meconium, and cried spontaneously, so they were really concerned he breathed some in and rushed him off to the little set up they had in the room.
Within 10 seconds heard someone say
"He peed on me!"
LOL that's my boy!
Anyway, my placenta would NOT come out, so it took about a half hour to get that to let go, and when I pushed it out, my cervix came with it. They pushed it back in and told me I was going to have to be really careful to keep it inside until it healed. At least I didn't tear on top of that, because I have to wear a glove and hold it in when I go potty, and it tries to come out when I walk.
Joe brought Julian to me and took a quick pic while I held him for about 30 seconds, and then they rushed him to the NICU. He seemed to be breathing ok, so the meconium thing seemed like it might be ok. He said they had weighed him at 8 lbs 11 oz.
They checked my bleeding, and I was bleeding WAY too much. They tried to wait and see if it would lighten up, and it didn't, so they said I could have too many clots in my uterus. I did, and they clceaned that out, which was very painful! I had lost a lot of blood, but they things stabilized after they did that.
At about 1 or 2 am they told me Julian actually weighed 8 lbs 12 oz (only 2 grams short of 8 lbs 13 oz). I didn't get his length til the next day, but he's 21.25 inches long.
Over the next few days, he lost a lot of weight and got down to 8 lbs 1 oz. He wasn't eating well, but started eating better on Wednesday, and is now gaining sime weight back.
They had to put an oxygen canula on him, but took that off on Thursday. He had been forgetting to breathe, but has gotten much better.
He had 3 umbilical IV's and one was arterial, so I couldn't hold him. They took out the arterial one Wed night, and I got to hold him for 5 minutes once on Wed and once on Thurs.
So far, his ammonia levels have been good (so have mine), and he doesn't seem to have OTC deficiency, which is WONDERFUL news.
I was released yesterday, and he is going to be released on Monday hopefully.
Sorry so long, and I hope I didn't forget too much, but that's Julian's birth story!
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Julian's birth story
Re: Julian's birth story
TFS your story!
Hopefully it is something as "simple" as a milk allergy and you guys will be able to have him home with you very soon. I hope he is feeling better quickly!!! (((((hugs))))
