So maybe you're wondering what happened between my last post on Sunday and Cooper's arrival. I will warn the squeamish that there is mention of some female parts so if you'd rather not think about mine or anyone else's then you may want to stop reading here and just know that they induced labor, contractions hurt, epidurals rock and Magnesium Sulfate makes you feel like crap.
On Saturday they started another 24 hour urine collection so they could get a more accurate protein reading. On Sunday my BP readings continued to rise and the nurse pushed the docs to take more blood work. They also finished my 24 hour collection and sent it to the lab for a rush analysis. About 2:30 I asked the nurse for some antacid because I was having pretty bad reflux. She came back shortly and took away my water and said I was NPO (which I guess means no food or fluids) and that the doctors would be in to talk to me. I knew as soon as they said the doctor would be in that it probably wasn't good news. About 3pm the doctor came in and said that my urine was extremely high in protein and that they had decided to call it and go ahead and induce delivery. I found out later that my protein level was 9,000. According to the nurse, this is crazy high considering my first 24 hour collection was 1,800 and they thought that was bad. The protein count means that your kidneys are leaking the protein into your urine and are not functioning properly. Chris had gone home for a bit to take care of Floyd and rest so my parents and I somewhat frantically tried to reach him and let him know. We were told several times that the induction process would take several hours and that I probably wouldn't deliver until midday on Monday.
Chris arrived around 4:30 or so and by 6pm we were moved to a room in Labor and Delivery. The first thing they did was hook my IV back up giving me fluids and starting the Magnesium Sulfate. This is the drug that helps lower the BP and prevent seizures. It also makes you feel like crap. Because I was on the Mag they also had to put the Foley catheter back in so they could monitor my urine. They also hooked up a fetal monitor and contraction monitor so they could monitor Cooper. Shortly after that an OB resident, who didn't look much older than 18, came in to see if I was dilated at all, which I wasn't. Since my cervix was not 'ripe' a prostaglandin medicine is used to start the ripening process. Around 10pm they used a Foley catheter to force me to dilate and they also started Pitocin in my IV to stimulate contractions. Then I was given an Ambien to help me sleep. Chris slept in my room in a recliner. All we had to do now was wait.
About 4:30 or 5 I started to feel some contractions. They soon got so strong it made me throw up. This was about the time I wished I had read the chapter on labor and knew what the heck to do during the awful pain of contractions. The nurse came in and I asked for some Nubain to help get me through what I thought was the pain of early contractions. She checked to see how dilated I was and said it was time for an epidural if I wanted one. That decision took no time at all and several minutes later the anesthesiologist was ready to proceed. He had me sit on the side of the bed with my feet on a chair while he worked. They made Chris sit in a chair beside me while he worked. I had two contractions during the procedure and found myself pushing a little when I shouldn't have. The pain was much better once the Epidural started working it became just a pressure with a nice relaxing lull in between.
Once the Epidural was finished the nurse was surprised to find I was already 10cm dilated. Chris called his parents to let them know I was in labor. The anesthesiologist corrected him because I wasn't in labor, I was delivering. While we waited for my OB to arrive, I coughed and the nurse, very seriously, told me not to do that again if I could help it because I was that close to delivering. Things went really fast once the OB arrived. With the nurse on one side and Chris on the other it was time to push. The surprising part for me was the waiting between contractions. I guess I always thought it was a pretty continuous thing but it was at least 30 seconds sometimes between pushes. It only took three or four good pushes and Cooper was here at 6:32am. They put him up on my stomach right away and he promptly peed on the doctor. Then the doctor offered to let Chris cut the cord but we were so in awe that he let her do it.
Then they whisked cooper over to the warmer and started cleaning him up and doing his Apgar scores. He soon started making some noise which calmed me down a bit. While the OB finished up with me Chris took pictures of Cooper getting weighed and tested. Then they let Chris hold him for a bit. Once I was all finished up they put Cooper under my gown in what they call a 'Kangaroo Cuddle'. The skin to skin contact helps preemies keep their temp up. While we were cuddling my parents arrived and came in to see their new grandson. Cooper and I cuddled for about an hour and then since he was so strong they moved him to the well baby nursery. While I rested, Chris and my parents went to the nursery with Cooper.
Chris' parents and grandparents arrived an hour and half or so later. They were thrilled as well to see their new grandson. They did have a hard time seeing Cooper getting his first blood draw. I'm glad I didn't see that. I was moved from labor and delivery back to the high risk floor since I was still on the Magnesium Sulfate. I drifted in and out of sleep until we were visited by the pediatrician who told us Cooper was doing great especially for his size and would stay in the well baby nursery. They said we would all go home on Wednesday. This was great news because we had been told if he needed the NICU there was a good chance he would end up in Dayton or Cincinnati because all the NICUs in Columbus were full. Around 5pm or so Chris and I had them bring Cooper to my room so we could hold him. He stayed with us for several hours while we held him and fed him. Grammie and Aunt Carole stopped by and also got to hold him for a while.
On Tuesday, they stopped the Magnesium Sulfate and removed the IV and catheter. This was great for me because I was no longer tethered to bed and could at least get up to shower. The pediatrician stopped by again and said Cooper was still looking good. They were going to go ahead and do the circumcision because he was big enough. We asked to have him brought to the room and after a few hours we got a call that he couldn't be brought up because he was having a few problems after the circumcision and they were trying to get his blood sugar leveled out first. Chris' brother John stopped by and got to see Cooper in the nursery. While I was napping the guys ran out for a bit to run some errands. That's when I got the call that Cooper was going to need to go to the NICU. The neonatologist, Dr. Snyder, came to my room to explain that Cooper was starting to act more like a preemie. He was having 'dusky' episodes where he would forget to breathe and turn blue. He would start right back up as soon as his back was rubbed. This is really common in preemies because they're brains aren't completely developed. Luckily since he only needed a monitor and not a ventilator they were able to squeeze him into the NICU at Riverside.
I was pretty upset and crying by the time Chris and John got back to the room. It was really hard for me because I felt helpless because I was stuck in bed. Then we found out I could go down to the NICU and visit. Once I was able to do that I started to relax a bit. Until that point I had only held my son twice for no more than a couple hours.
That pretty much fills in the gap. It's hard to believe it's only been a little over a week since this whole ordeal started. To me it feels like months. We are very thankful for the great care Cooper and I have gotten and really appreciate all the positive thoughts and prayers from our family and friends. We're looking forward to Monday when Cooper will hopefully come home.
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