Everything about my pregnancy with Asa was normal. A couple differences that I felt with Asa’s pregnancy and Truman’s were that I would become exhausted really easily and I had Braxton Hicks contractions early on (I never felt a contraction with Truman until a couple hours after I had been induced).
Asa’s due date was September 19th. I was so sure that he would come early because of the contractions that I had been experiencing. When I was 37 weeks I had contractions every day for a week but no baby. When I went to the doctor at 38 weeks he told me that if I wanted to be induced he could at 39 weeks. I considered it for a split second but I was induced with Truman so I was hoping that I would get to experience what going into labor naturally would feel like. When I went in for my 39 week appointment I hadn’t felt a contraction in days. I was so uncomfortable I broke down and scheduled myself to be induced on September 22nd. I chose that day because I was still hoping that baby boy would come on his own and my Mom was planning to come up and help us out on September 20th, should baby boy not arrive sooner.
A couple days before Asa’s due date, my Mom called and told me that her weekend plans had changed and that she could come up a day earlier (Asa's due date).
We had purchased a twin bed for Truman but hadn’t brought it home yet because it wouldn’t fit in our car. The delivery charge was definitely not worth it. That bed was the bed my Mom was going to sleep on while here. I don’t plan to transition Truman from his crib until Asa is about 3 months (or if/when Truman teaches himself to climb out of his crib). My Mom’s car was big enough to transport the bed in so we planned to pick up the bed the evening she arrived.
The day my Mom arrived, I had been feeling contractions all day, they didn’t feel a consistent time apart (and really I didn’t even know how to time them--I still don't). After my Mom rested at our place we went to dinner and then picked up the bed.
After dinner and getting the bed loaded up, we pulled in to our place at 8 pm, as I was just about to walk through our door my water broke, at least that's what I thought. I didn’t have contractions so I just decided to try to labor at home for as long as possible.
By 9:30pm, I decided to call the Birthing Center and check in with them. They told me I should come in to confirm whether or not it was my water that broke.
Twenty minutes later Dave and I had checked in to the E.R. We went up to the Birthing Center and they did their little test thing and confirmed that my water had broken. I was then officially admitted. I was almost 4 cm dilated. About three and half hours later, about 1:30 a.m., I was checked again and I was only 5 cm. At this point I decided to have an epidural. I wanted to be able to sleep some if it was going to be a while. I didn’t have an epidural with Truman, I had a spinal block that lasted an hour. I was very nervous to get the epidural. It wasn’t my favorite experience but once it kicked in I was definitely a fan. I was able to get some sleep. Just before 5 a.m. I was checked and I was 10 cm. The nurses started getting things set up for delivery and then we waited on my Doctor. He arrived just before I was ready to push. I started pushing at 5:22 a.m. and Asa was born at 5:24 a.m.. It was a nice two minutes of pushing!
The Doctor placed Asa on my chest (which I thought I wouldn’t be a fan of, I don’t much like bodily fluids, even if they are my own) but I am glad I had the brief moment to hold Asa because I did not see what was about to happen next coming at all.
They were trying to get Asa’s blood oxygen saturation at a normal number but it wasn't where it needed to be. The nurse tried another machine and did the reading again—same low numbers. The nurse whisked Asa out of the room to take him to the nursery to try and get a reading. The other nurse left in the room with me was reassuring us that everything was fine, Asa’s coloring was good and so it wasn’t going to be a big deal. Then, Dave and I were left alone.
A few minutes later my Doctor came in and said they still were unable to get Asa’s blood oxygen saturation where it needed to be, he said it was possibly because the vessel in the heart that is supposed to close off just after birth wasn't closing off. He told us Asa would have to be transported to the hospital about 30 minutes away with a NICU where he could be given a medication to help close off the vessel.
Three hours after Asa was born he was transported to a different hospital. Dave was able to drive and meet them.
As I waited at the hospital that Asa was born at, the NICU Doctor called me and told me that he had seen Asa and that he suspected that the reason Asa wasn't getting to the blood oxygen saturation that is normal was not because the blood vessel hadn't closed off but that Asa most likely had a heart defect. A few hours later a Cardiologist in Denver had reviewed Asa’s echocardiogram and it was confirmed that Asa has a number of complex congenital heart defects.
 |
| First real bath (at Primary Children's) |
No comments:
Post a Comment