March 1, 2002 – 27 weeks 2 days – It was a busy day for me, my husband was out to sea so I had to do all the errands and shopping alone, including bringing everything upstairs to our apartment. Around 6:00 PM I started to notice a tightening in my uterus. I timed them to every 10 minutes, I called my mom and she said I should call Labor and Delivery. Labor and Delivery told me to come in. I ended up driving to my friend Catie’s house and she went with me to the hospital.
They hooked me up to the monitors and left me for a few hours. Apparently the monitors weren’t picking up my contractions so when I told them they were getting closer together they looked at me like I was crazy. I adjusted the toco and it finally started picking up the contractions…they were now every 3-5 minutes apart.
Eventually the checked me and I was not dilated or effaced yet, they did give me a shot of terbutaline to stop the contractions (by this time it was already 4:00 AM). They also took some cultures and I did not have any infections.
An hour later they checked me again and since I wasn’t changing my cervix they let me go, but I was told to come back later in the afternoon to see how I was doing. I went back later that day and they put me on bed rest. I was also told to come back in twice a week for my NST and AFI’s (because of my stillbirth with Ethan). I ended up contracting every ten minutes from this point until the day my son was born.
April 17, 2002 – 34 Weeks – Early on in the day my mom (who had flown up from California to stay with me while I was on bed rest until my husband got home) and I had gone to some stores to shop, we walked a little too much. I wasn’t feeling very well that evening and had a bad headache.
Because I had lost Ethan only 10 months earlier I went to the OB Special Care Unit at our hospital around 9:00 PM. My blood pressure was slightly elevated but my heart rate was in the 120’s. They gave me an IV, pumped me full of fluids, and hooked me up t the monitors. Since I was still contracting they thought they would do a cervical exam. I was 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. They told me to take it very very easy.
April 19, 2002 – 34 weeks 2 days – After a day of taking it VERY easy I arrived at the hospital for one of my NST/AFI appointments. I was contracting every 3-5 minutes, so they checked me again; I was 3 cm and 75% effaced and the baby was at -2 station. Because my hospital only had a level 2 nursery they sent me by ambulance to Madigan Army Medical Center which was over an hour away. My mom followed the ambulance in our car.
By the time we reached the hospital and got me settled in my contractions had slowed to the usual 10 minutes apart. They did an ultrasound to estimate fetal weight and the baby was 5lbs 9oz. They moved me to 3 North which was a wing dedicated to recovering mothers and babies and for pregnant women admitted for various reasons. I stayed in the hospital on very strict bed rest until 36 weeks.
April 29, 2002 – 35 weeks 5 days – AMNIOCENTESIS DAY! My husband had come home while I was admitted to MAMC. So early in the morning on the 29th my husband, my mom and I arrived at the hospital for my amnio. After they prepped my belly with iodine they had a resident perform the amnio, it was his first. When the needle went through my uterus I felt it clamp down around it and said the F-word and my leg flew up and hit the tray. My mom said, “Stacey!” I kind of laugh about it now, but I hurt at the time.
Since it was the residents first time, it took forever. I thought I would do better though, honestly; I had been taking heparin injections twice a day from 7 weeks on, but I wasn’t prepared for the feeling of it going through my uterus. Also, my advise is to NOT put your arm behind your head. I did, and when I jumped I pulled a muscle and that hurt long after the amniocentesis pain had gone away.
After it all we went to get Mexican food and waited at home for the results. Around 2:00 PM my nurse called to say the results came back positive for lung maturity and the induction was scheduled for the following morning at 6:00 AM!! We went for a celebratory walk around the block and went home to get some much needed rest.
April 30, 2002 – 35 weeks 5 days
5:30 AM – I called Labor and Delivery as instructed the day before and let them know I was coming in. The nurse who answered the phone told me the doctor didn’t put in the order for my induction and nobody there could do it. So I had to wait until after 8:00 AM when the doctors arrived to make their rounds before we could do anything.
I tried to hold back my tears while I asked what to do. She said I should go in at 7:30 - 8:00 AM and a doctor would write me in. So we watched Spaceballs until it was time to leave.
8:00 AM – We arrived at the hospital to begin the induction.
10:00 AM-ish – We finally got into the room, had my IV’s, and a doctor came in to get things started. They checked my and I was 3cm and 90% effaced. They started the Pitocin.
11:00 AM – They checked me again, I was still 90% effaced but now 4 cm. They broke my water. I walked around for a while, rocked in the rocking chair, and sat on the birthing ball. Eventually I started hurting pretty bad, and I knew it was going to take a while for the anesthesiologist to get there so I asked for my epidural. The contractions were about 3-4 minutes apart, but I was still able to breathe through them at this point.
12:30 PM – They checked me and I was 7 cms. The anesthesiologist arrived to begin my epidural. He finished a little after 1:00 PM. I felt good for about 45 minutes when I stared feeling a lot on one side. Ultimately the epidural just wore off.
3:00 PM – I started to feel a lot of pressure. They told me I could be getting close so they checked me and I was 9 cms. The next few hours were a total blur. I remember changing positions a bit and being in a lot of pain. I liked to be sitting up.
6:00 PM - I remember a nurse came to say my cousin was there and ask if she could come in. I said “no.” But that was just the pain talking, so my mom went to get her.
7:30 PM – After being 9 cm with an anterior lip for a while they thought I might need a c-section so finally decided to grant my request for another epidural. I had a different anesthesiologist this time and it was a great epidural.
8:00 PM – I was finally complete and started pushing. Even with the strong epidural I was able to push very effectively with the help my mom and a nurse holding my back, and my husband and cousin each holding a leg. I was in great spirits and it was a wonderful experience (even with the 20+ people in the room).
9:09 PM – Gavin Michael was born weighing 6 lbs 6.8 oz and was 21 ¼ inches long, with apgars of 7 and 8. They checked him out and collected his cord blood at our request and I was able to hold him about 20-30 minutes later.
May 4, 2002 – 4 days old
Gavin didn’t nurse well until he was about 3 months old so we spent 4 days in the hospital because he had lost so much weight (got down to 5 lbs 10 oz) and was jaundiced. Our first day home with him was one of the best of our lives and we are so happy to have him with us. He is truly a wonderful little boy and we love him to pieces.
