Andrew's Arrival-- Part 4

Now that things are settling back down from the busy holiday weekend, let's see if I can finish this up while the little guy is napping.

Things are stabalized. I'm stuck on my back at some funky angle. It's going on 11AM. My doctor (well, the one on call with the practice that day-- not my "official" listed doc) makes it to the hospital and checks me. Still about a 9. She orders the epidural be turned down so I can start getting some sensation back for being able to push... expecting we'll be to that point within an hour.

I try to relax and rest a bit... especially after the scare with his heartrate. My mom asks some questions about what they had done regarding the scalp probe on the baby, etc. I am impressed that the hubby can answer them all--- he really DID pay attention in childbirth prep class--- and the nurse is there to fill in any missing details. She also hands hubby a set of scrubs and explains that if we go through all of that again, he is to start putting them on and be ready for a c-section because if it comes to that things will move very fast and she wants him to be ready. Once everyone is calmed back down and settled, the nurse leaves for a while, saying she'll be back to check on me in a little bit.

Mom, the hubby and I sit there and talk... trying to take everything in. It's clear we're all still worried about things, but do our best to lighten the mood. Hubby comes over and sits at my side to hold my hand. We're chatting with the very faint sound of baby's heartbeat in the background. (The nurse had turned the volume down so it was just enough to be heard, but not enough to drive you insane with the constant thump, thump, thumping). Something about the heartrate caught my attention so I looked up at the monitor and saw his heartrate had dropped again. I said something about it to the hubby, who immediately hit the nurse's call button. No need for that. She was already on her way into the room, having seen the drop on the monitor herself. (all the monitors feed to the nurse's station at our hospital so they can all be monitored from there)

No sooner than my nurse had made it into the room and my doctor followed... and then what seemed like a million other people. I know the resident was one of them, and another nurse or two, but it all gets a little hazy after that. They all start working and doing their things. My doctor checked me, and I was at a 10, but baby's heartrate was most critical at that point. The doctor was pushing/scratching on his head, trying to get it to come back up. She couldn't feel any part of the umbilical cord, so it wasn't a prolapse, but she was pretty certain he was somehow laying on it causing the heartrate drop. They jostled my positions and pushed on my tummy trying to stimulate him... but his heartrate remained low so they said that was it. Off to the OR. It was right around noon.

The anesthesiologist met us in the hallway and started explaining to me what would happen. They got me in the room and moved onto the table. They hooked the monitor back up, and baby's heartrate had come back up, so he was doing okay... but given the situation, my doc said no chances and they prepped for a c-section.

I had the epidural in, so the anesthesiologist started pumping me full of medication. The drape was up, so I couldn't see what they were doing to my abdomen. From the feel of things, lots of cleaning and scrubbing and then poking with something sharp and pointed until I told them I was numb and couldn't feel the pokes anymore. Next thing I knew, the hubby was sitting next to me, rubbing my arm. I couldn't really turn to see him, since I was so numb and shaking like mad, but he was there. I think the seriousness of the whole situation finally hit me when I could hear him crying. Then the doctor started the first cut and the anesthes. called the time... 12:15.

The anesthes. was great. He talked to me the whole time, explaining what exactly I would be feeling.... pressure, pulling, stretching... and then he said "here comes that elephant on your chest I warned you about" which actually meant they had pulled baby out and set him on my chest while they cleared his lungs. Baby boy. 12:18. It only took 3 minutes from cut to birth. He started fussing and crying almost immediately, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. The doc held him up over the screen for just a few seconds so we could see him, then he was taken over to be examined. NICU was present to make sure he was okay, since they didn't know about oxygen levels with his heartrate dropping. Apgars of 8 and 9 and seemed perfectly healthy.

As the doctor pulled him out, we heard her say "Well there's the problem" which she later explained. The "problem" was that in all of his uterine acrobatics, Andrew had wrapped his umbilical cord around his body 3 times, in various locations. A vaginal delivery would never have been possible... at least not without extreme risk to him and/or me.

While they cleaned Andrew up, the doctors took care of putting me back together. Baby peed all over the floor. And it took about 5 minutes for him to find his fingers and start sucking on them. They did his footprints, including one in his baby book for us. Measured and weighed and all that routine stuff. Bundled him up and handed him to the hubby, who brought him over for me to see our beautiful, little boy. Hubby and baby sat right by my head for the rest of the surgery. They finished up, moved me to a "real" bed, handed me Andrew and had me in recovery around 1PM.

By the time he was an hour old, we were at our first attempt at nursing. He only went for a few minutes, but he took right to it and has been great at it ever since. The monster amounts of drugs played with my blood pressure and had them concerned for a while. At one point it was around 70/40... though I don't remember the exact numbers. So... they pumped me full of fluids in an effort to bring it back up... and monitored it very closely for the next several hours.

I was in the recovery room about an hour. They cleaned me up and gave Andrew his bath. My mom and my in-laws got to come back and see me and meet Andrew. And then they moved me upstairs to a post-partum room, where we spent the next few days getting to know each other and recovering. Baby and hubby stayed with me the entire time. Friends and family came to visit. And on Wednesday... we came home... with a healthy baby in our arms. Family of 3.