My Labor and Delivery Story- Part 2

Warning- This post is super long!

Thursday October 6, 2011

When I woke up at 6am for the pitocin to start I was happy to know that I had 2 doses of the cytotec the night before and that my cervix was finally softening!  Sadly the nurse told me that I hadn't started to dilate yet.  I got a new nurse at 7am who was super great (really, all of my nurses were super great) and she told me how she was going to help get this baby out today.  She was very upbeat and was good at explaining things to me as she went along.  My doctor showed up sometime around 8am and checked me.  He quickly decided that he could force an opening to break my water (Brian woke up in a panic when he heard this) and the next thing I knew, the nurse handed my doctor the instrument used to break the waters.  I hardly had time to react or grab Brian, but I know that I screamed out and was crying.  It was the worst feeling ever!  I was freaking out too because it felt like I had no bladder control and I was peeing in the bed (don't worry...I wasn't).  Not a fan!  Once this happened, boy were those contractions strong!  Ouch!  I held out until 9:30am for the epidural.  I felt like such a wimp because I still wasn't dilated, but the contractions really hurt and I didn't know how long it would take to start dilating.  The anesthesiologist was really nice and also explained how things were going to work.  I felt confident in her ability and wasn't as scared as I thought I would be.  Brian was a sport and sat in front of me holding my leg while the epidural was put in place.  Can I just say that I felt instant relief!  Best thing ever!  I was back to my happy self.

So, long story short...it took me all day to dilate just a little bit.  And I mean ALL DAY!  We had a few ups and downs with the baby's heart rate (I pretty much wore the oxygen mask all day) and the pitocin dosage.  We had to completely start over with that in the afternoon.  Also, the nurse decided it would be easier to attach internal monitors to check the baby's heart rate and my contractions.  I was grateful to lose those annoying bands across my belly which had been itching for the last day and a half.  If only the blood pressure cuff (which would go off every 15 minutes) could have come off too!  I also had to get an additional dose of stronger epidural drugs because they started to wear off.  The stronger drug did wonders though.  Around 3pm the doctor said I was 3-4cm and that the baby might be arriving around midnight. 

When my nurse left at 7pm we were sad because I was only at 5cm and she really wanted to be a part of my delivery.  The good news was that I got the same night nurse as I had had the night before so we knew each other and I thought she had been really attentive too.  I continued to dilate slowly and Brian and I sent both sets of parents off around 10:30pm so they could sleep. 

Friday October 7, 2011

Finally around 12:30am I hit 9cm and the end was in sight!  We were so excited, but I was so tired too.  I called my parents who insisted on coming back to the hospital right then (we mentioned that it could still be awhile based on how things had been).  I fell back asleep and then woke up around 1am with a desire to push.  The nurse said that I was practically fully dilated, but that part of my cervix was still in the way and my baby was still a little high in the birth canal.  We decided that pushing might help though.  Poor Brian woke up at that point...hearing the nurse say, "okay, let's get ready to push."  I had been shouting at him for the previous 15 minutes, but he didn't hear me and there was nothing that I could have thrown at him.  :)

I started pushing around 2am and needed to get additional meds because I was starting to feel the contractions again.  Boy was the pushing exhausting...especially so early in the morning!  I pushed and pushed but nothing was happening.  Our little boy was still too high in the birth canal.  When the doctor arrived he found that the baby was facing the wrong direction (not breech, but he was positioned to be face up instead of face down for delivery).  The doctor attempted to twist him with his hand but wasn't able to.  He even used the vacuum but found that our baby's head was stuck on something in there not allowing him to descend further.  This was around 4am and I was just spent.  We asked the doctor what our options were...  I could either a) lay on my side for the next hour in a certain position to see if it allowed our baby to move down (and then push some more) or b) go do a c-section right away.  We were going to have to get the baby out within the next 4 hours somehow because it would have been 24 hours since my waters had broke and it's best to get the baby out within 24 hours to decrease the risk of infection to him.  I felt so tired and heartbroken that my baby was stuck and I couldn't get him out, but we felt that going and doing a c-section would be the best thing.  Honestly, I felt like a failure at first, but we wanted our baby healthy and quickly.  :)  It was 5am when we made the decision.  I was immediately prepped for the operating room and Brian was put into sterile clothes.  Once in the OR the amazing anesthesiologist explained things again to me about what I might be able to feel and what the doctor was doing.

Here's Brian in his sterile clothes.

Both of us behind the "curtain".

At 5:23am my baby was finally born!  He came out super sleepy and didn't cry right away.  When he finally did cry, so did Brian and I.  Brian was able to get up and take some pictures while our little guy got cleaned up.  He also got to hold our baby while I was getting cleaned up. 

My poor baby's misshapen head from the vacuum.  So cute!

We were quickly moved to the recovery area where I finally got to hold my son!

Our first family picture!

Brian and I took a good look at our baby and decided on his name:

LUKE BARRETT INGRAM

7lbs 11oz

20 1/2 inches

Luke was a name that both Brian and I liked and sounded good.  Brian also likes it because of his love for Star Wars.  I was totally fine with this association.  We had been trying to find a middle name that fit Luke and while I had been looking in a book of baby names over the summer I discovered the name Barrett.  Barrett means, "strong as a bear".  We thought it was perfect because Luke was referred to as Little Cub while he was in my stomach and will probably still be called Little Cub because we're attached to that name too.

We introduced Luke to both sets of grandparents who had been waiting quite some time in the waiting area for his arrival.  It was a fun moment to have everyone hold him and to finally reveal his name.

The new Taylor Grandparents

The Ingram's

He is completely and totally perfect and Brian and I are so in love with him!

My Labor and Delivery Story- Part 1

October 4, 2011

Today was my 39 week appointment.  Brian and I went in knowing that we'd be discussing our delivery options with my OB since our little boy had been measuring big in the ultrasounds the last several weeks.  After talking with the doctor and my body not having progressed at all, we decided to schedule an induction because we weren't sure that I'd be able to deliver the 9lb baby the ultrasound was estimating.  He said he'd go call the hospital and that we'd probably go in tonight (4th), tomorrow (5th) or Monday (10th) because he wasn't scheduling inductions over the holiday weekend (he's Jewish).  Brian and I sat in the room waiting to hear when we'd need to be ready and SURPRISE...the doctor told us to be ready to check in at 8pm tonight!  WHAT?  Brian looked completely scared!  I mean, yeah we were ready, but not quite that ready!  Brian had to go back to work to finish things up, as he would be starting paternity leave (he gets 12 weeks paid...we are so blessed) and I ran home to do laundry and pack my hospital bag.  I was so freaked out that I even started putting together the Pack N' Play that Little Cub would be sleeping in.  I called my family to let them know what was going on especially since my parents are so far away.  They immediately booked a flight for the next morning.  The doctor also recommended that I eat a decent lunch/early dinner since once I was at the hospital and on meds I wouldn't be able to eat for quite sometime.  Brian was able to escape work early and we went out to eat at the Texas Roadhouse.  It's my favorite and it's so close to our new house.  Yippee!

I seriously love everything about their food!  It was a good last pregnancy meal!

Doesn't Brian still look a little freaked out?  It was so cute.  He was very frazzled at dinner.  :)

We came home and finished packing our stuff for the hospital and Brian fished the Pack N' Play.  Here's a picture of that.

It's in our room so Little Cub will be nice and close for those late night feedings. 

We finally made our way to the Hospital and got me checked in.  I immediately got an IV put in and was hooked up to 2 monitors which were connected by bands on my stomach.  One was to monitor contractions and the other was to monitor the baby's heart rate.  Brian of course had to take pictures.

Nothing like a few photos in a hospital gown to make me feel like a cow!  I was only allowed Popsicles and ice chips, but Brian was allowed anything in the nourishment room, which consisted of crackers, cookies, sodas, juices, etc.  It was an awesome snack room and he was a happy camper.

As I mentioned before, my body had not prepared itself yet for labor, so we were essentially starting me from scratch.  To do this we first had to get 20 solid minutes of my baby's heart rate so the nurses were trying to monitor that from the band they put on my belly.  The only problem with this was that my Little Cub did not like the band and was constantly moving.  It took over an hour and a half to get 20 minutes in a row of his heart beat.  Then, the nurse gave me cytotec (which is a little pill that is inserted into my cervix to help to soften it) because I was not effaced.  Once this was inserted I started contracting and they were not able to give me another dose as was planned.  Brian and I called his parents to let them know what was going on and we went to sleep.  The hospital had a couch that made into a bed for him to sleep on and he didn't want to leave my side.  :)  He slept better than I did because I either had to keep getting up to use the bathroom or my sweet baby would move and the nurse would have to come in to adjust the band on my stomach.  It was a long night.

October 5, 2011

Around 6am I was started on pitocin, which started bringing on more contractions.  The doctor came in sometime between 7am and 8am to see if I had made any progress and sadly I hadn't.  I wasn't dilated or effaced.  He said he'd keep me on the pitocin and come back later to check.  Since nothing was happening I sent Brian to the store for food and other things because my parents were going to stay with us and we were in desperate need of a few things (we just moved in October 1st).  While he was gone the baby's heart rate dropped and I was told to wear an oxygen mask, which helped almost immediately.  Other than that the day was pretty boring.  My parents showed up in the afternoon certain that the baby was just waiting for them to arrive before he made his appearance.  :)  Apparently that was not in Little Cub's plan.  The doctor came back before 5 and there was still no change.  :(  He told me and the nurses to get me off the pitocin so I could eat dinner and that they would start again with the cytotec again that evening and pitocin in the morning.

Oh joy!  But, boy was I excited for dinner.  I had watched Brian eat both breakfast and lunch (he got fed 3 meals a day) and I knew the food was as good as it smelled.  See, I even got a slice of cake.  I was happy!

I got a dose of the cytotec and off to sleep I went.

To be continued...

Our New House!

Sunday, September 25, 2011

We bought a house! This is why we wanted to move to Texas. All the years of saving our money and dreaming of having a place of our own and waiting for the right time finally came to fruition. We bought a beautiful home in The Colony, TX and it's just 4 miles away from where I work. It was one of the first homes we looked at and we quickly realized that this was the one for us after looking at many others. Here we are the day we got our keys.

Can you tell we're excited?

The living room and kitchen.

Breakfast nook and guest bath.

Office and a room already decorated for our Little Cub. We lucked out that the previous owner had a little kid. Little Cub is going to love this!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Moving day. Rented a UHaul and got all our stuff over to the house in a couple trips. We didn't unpack a lot of our stuff in the apartment knowing that we'd move soon. Here's me in the truck and Jen in the kitchen.
We've got a lot of unpacking to do now. Big thanks to my parents for coming up from Waco to help us move. Couldn't have done it without you.

So nice to wake up in our new house. Jen made some French toast in her new kitchen and we wanted to capture our first meal here.

Then I started unpacking and getting things ready. Here I am changing the plug on the dryer so it fits our wall socket. I'm looking forward to being the Handyman around here.


We treated ourselves to our own housewarming gift. We got a brand new king size bedroom set. The full size bed just wasn't enough room. Jen and I like to snuggle but when it's time to sleep we need our space. It's so comfy. We have matching dressers and a night stand.


We'll be busy unpacking and making things tidy. But we're so proud to be home owners and starting a family. Can't wait to show our Little Cub his new home.