Monday, September 29, 2008

Charles' birth story

This birth story would not be complete unless it began at 34w, even though the birth itself began more than six weeks later…

Having returned from a nine week hiatus from doctor visits, my return to the medical professionals assigned to care for baby and I through the process brought back to reality exactly how “managed” the process of bringing life into the world has become. I certainly don’t fault my doctor – I think she’s fabulous, in fact. However, I did respectfully disagree with her assertion that baby needed to be delivered within weeks 38-39 for the “best possible outcome” due to my diabetes. And so the weekly discussions began about premature extraction of this beloved babe, but bi-weekly testing ensuring that baby was still comfortable eased my mind and I knew that baby would come when baby was ready if we only let him.

At 37w, my first exam showed a small amount of dilation (1.5) and the doctor who did the exam swept my membranes, with my knowledge and consent, in an effort to get things moving. He said that he predicted that baby would arrive within four days. Thankfully, he was very wrong, as the events that followed would have been much harder for all of us had his assertion been correct.

A few days later, after no progress towards labor, we began hearing stirrings and rumblings of a hurricane headed to the Gulf Coast. Living in the heart of “Katrina Country” people were rationally nervous about the potential impact of this storm. I was informed that Keesler AFB would close the hospital and Mother/Baby Unit without advance warning if a determination was made that the storm was headed that direction, and was advised to evacuate somewhere that had a Labor and Delivery department at their hospital. Gee, thanks for that, at nearly 38w pregnant, I’d never have thought of that without the suggestion of the hospital administration.

So, after a few phone calls and much soul searching, and consultation with family, I made the decision to drive up to Massachusetts and have baby surrounded by family who would be able to support us, as well as H and K during my hospital stay. I found a hospital that allowed VBACs (Vaginal birth after cesarean section) and an OB practice who would agree to take on a high risk patient (diabetes and “advanced maternal age”) at 38w pregnant, who was evacuating from a potential hurricane.

And so we began our journey north from Mississippi to Massachusetts, with grandma-to-be along for the drive (and doing most of the driving), with my biggest fears being going into labor in West Virginia (don’t know why I was having nightmares about this unlikely possibility since WV is about 30 minutes of the 23 hour drive) and secondary would have been going into labor at all on the drive.

We arrived safely in MA and I met with a very engaging and encouraging doctor who felt there was no rush to have the baby, knowing my history and medical issues. I returned to bi-weekly Non stress tests (NSTs) and Biophysical Profiles (BPPs) and began the anxious baby-watching sessions. 39w came and went, as did the 40w mark, at which time even this doctor began to feel that it would be a good idea for baby to arrive sooner rather than later, and he set an induction date of Wednesday, September 17th. I was slightly heartbroken at the thought, but also ready to meet our new baby, and after a stressful few weeks, ready to be done, if baby was ready to arrive.

I really didn’t want to be induced. Monday night, my father-in-law and I took a ride in his truck down a bumpy road that he is convinced precipitated the arrival of Frank, baby’s daddy, 34 years before, and went to the drugstore in town to pick up castor oil to choke down to induce the onset of labor. By this point, I was pretty much willing to try anything other than doctor-induced labor.

That night, the kids and I snuggled in and I told them that if they woke up and I wasn’t there, that perhaps I had to go to the doctor to have baby, but that grandma or grandpa would be there to help take care of them or comfort them if they were scared. We all went to sleep before 10:00, a rarity these days, and neither of them woke for a while. I woke up around midnight feeling crampy. I thought it was, perhaps, the side effects of the castor oil, and headed to the bathroom since, well, castor oil is found in the laxative section, if you know what I mean.

For the next two hours I debated whether castor oil really was the most stupid thing I had ever tried, or if I was in labor. When I started having contractions that I couldn’t walk or talk through, I determined it was the latter, and realized that in all of our discussions about baby, hospitals, labor and so on, we had never really discussed the logistics of going into labor – who would drive to the hospital, how I would wake people up, etc.

The stairs at the in-laws are steep and narrow, and I really didn’t think I could make it up them between contractions (did I wait too long?). So, I turned on the light to the stairs outside of their bedroom and “knocked” on the wooden stairs, calling up to them. After a few minutes, my mother-in law came down and I told her I was calling the doctor on-call and that I thought we needed to take a drive to Pittsfield. The doctor on call was surprisingly alert for 2:15 a.m., an occupational hazard, I suppose and I lied and said the contractions were regular (they weren’t) and only a minute or two apart (they were).

And so we left for the hospital, making the 45 minute journey in about 25 minutes thanks largely to no traffic and a driver who kept asking, “Are you sure we don’t want to call an ambulance to meet us?” (God Bless her!) We checked in at about 2:45 a.m. and were rushed up to the Mother/Baby unit. By 3:00 I was “safely” ensconced in a hospital bed with fairly strong and regular contractions. Dilated to 5, I knew I wasn’t leaving without a baby and even then, it wouldn’t be that morning, but rather a day or so later when we were finally able to leave. I also knew we wouldn’t be keeping that induction appointment.

By the time I was dilated to about 7, 4:30 a.m. or so, I asked for some stadol, a lovely narcotic I was familiar with from Henry’s birth. Once I had that in my system, it was easier to relax through each resting period between contractions, and I was almost able to sleep in little 30-45 second bits (my “naps”). By the time 5:00 rolled around, I was starting to wonder why on earth people actually attempted labor when it was so much “easier” and less painful to have the baby extracted through c-section. By 5:15 I was annoyed that there weren’t better drugs available to laboring mothers. By 5:25, all I wanted to do was curl up on my side and take a nap. I mentioned it to the nurse, and she said, “go ahead and try.” As soon as I curled my legs up next to me to “sleep,” I felt baby shift and begin to arrive and I knew that my much desired nap would have to wait a bit longer.

Doc came in and after a few pushes, he told me to ease up or I’d tear, but by this point, all I wanted to do was push. I got baby’s head out, and doc wanted me to push, but I was between contractions on a short “nap” and refused for all of 15 seconds or so until the next few contractions and baby was out! Just before baby was born, I remembered to ask that no one tell me boy or girl, as Frank had always done this, and I didn’t want anyone else to do it. Instead, they gave me baby, pretty much right away and I held our little man, definitely a boy, while grandma cut the cord and they wiped him down a bit. Charles was born at 5:39 a.m. on September 16th.

I was able to nurse him, and snuggle him before he was taken for “just a minute” to get weighed and such. I asked why it couldn’t be done in the room and was very annoyed and concerned when they took him. I had a bad feeling, which I should have listened to. They gave Charles his first bath without me there, and I didn’t get to help or take pictures or anything. They also gave him a vitamin K shot, without my permission or knowledge and put unnecessary eye ointment in, again without asking me. All-in-all they had him for nearly two hours, all the while I kept asking where he was and why he was still not back. I didn’t know how much he weighed or how long he was, so while I made a few phone calls, I had no real news other than that he was a beautiful and perfect little man and that he was here.

When the nurse brought him back, she said she had gotten “busy” which was not a good enough explanation in my opinion, but alone and tired it was a little hard to work up my usual backbone to argue and besides, it had already been done so at this point it would be merely howling at the moon.

Grandma brought the kids to meet their new brother early that afternoon, and although they wanted to see me, I think they were pretty indifferent to the little bundle of brother in my arms. They much preferred the sticker books and crayons that the nurse gave them.

Just after noon, we moved into a different room and settled in. No internet access and a hospital policy of 48 hours if you don’t have visiting nurses benefits within your insurance policy made for a long stay, but they took pretty good care of us, although they were annoyed that I didn’t “need” any pain medications or other assistance (drug pushers!). I explained that I had stayed in the hospital a shorter period of time for my c-section and that I was very low maintenance, but all the same we were glad to leave on Thursday morning.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Charles in Charge!

Join me in welcoming Charles Joseph to our little family! He is a tall, skinny little man and utterly adorable! Now we await Daddy's visit to meet him!

Friday, September 12, 2008

Eviction pending

Well, baby is on alert that eviction is pending if he or she fails to make an appearance on his or her own by Wednesday. So, five days or less and we'll have three kids - gulp! At my appointment today, doc said that baby really needs to be born sooner rather than later or risk some of the complications that overdue babies face, combined with diabetes, "advanced maternal age," and blah blah blah, the benefits of induction are now outweighing the risks and I feel a little more inclined to agree to it.

I'm currently dilated to 2.5-3ish and still only 50% effaced, but progress is progress and at least that means that according to the doc if we do have to resort to induction, it will not involve the gel, just the pitocin and possibly rupture of membranes at some point. The pitocin does increase the risk of tears and such from the c-section scar, but its about all I can do for now.

We'll see how it goes - hopefully baby comes before then anyway. Uncle C is still holding out hope for his birthday tomorrow. Doc did sweep membranes today, which is likely to lead to labor in theory, however nothing yet and its been five hours, so here's to holding out hope...

Monday, September 8, 2008

'Nother day, 'nother NST

Friday was fabulous, and I was pretty impressed by the new doc. He questioned me as to why my other doc was so keen to induce, and since I barely understood I told him I was as baffled as he. He said that he will let me go to 41w before mentioning induction, and then it would be brought up as an option if I were concerned and if conditions were entirely favorable.I asked about VBAC policies in their practice, and he said VBACs are the norm across the board, and that the only thing the partners diverge upon is Breech deliveries, as only 2 docs in their practice will do them (he is one). I wanted to just die right there and go to heaven (not that this baby is breech).

He said I am 1.5 cm dilated still and 50ish% effaced, but that baby is still pretty high above the pelvis, and that there should be no reason to expect baby to come soon other than the fact that baby is due to arrive soon. I loved that answer!

He also said he'd put together a little brief for the other docs in case they didn't have time to review my entire file (all 16 pages) so they knew my situation should I turn up in labour before they have a chance to meet me. He really was reassuring across the board and I feel pretty good. He said that he saw no reason a VBAC wouldn't progress normally, and no reason to induce, even the diabetes, at any point before 41w+. Woohoo! A non-interventionist MD!!!!!

Well, Saturday brought another regularly scheduled NST (since I hadn't had one since leaving MS) and of course, it was non-reactive as usual. Baby just HATES those tests. So, they had a radiologist come in for an ultrasound Bio-physical Profile (BPP), which was fine. Baby is just over 7lbs right now, so that is a good thing, and all of the markers were good so they cut me loose again.

This morning was the best NST I've had, largely because I had a whopper of a contraction just before they were going to send me for another BPP, and baby's heart did the proper acceleration and then some. So, in and out in 45 minutes, which is definitely a record for this kiddo. And since the contractions are picking up a little, there is a good chance baby will decide to show his or her face at some point in the near future (or not, stubborn little bugger - don't know where he gets that!). Not yet to that "I'm so done being pregnant" stage, but not too far off either.

Uncle C still thinks that this baby will be born on his birthday, Saturday, which is the baby's "due date" so we'll see! Hoping for a non-Thursday baby simply because I don't want the poor kiddo to be a 9/11 baby on so many levels! But, baby will, as is his or her tendency thus far, do as baby wants!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Why so difficult?

So, when I was out and about on my excursion earlier in the summer, about half way through I remembered to call and suspend our cable and internet to lower the bill while we were gone. In preparation for evacuation, I briefly thought about adding turn in cable box/internet modem to my list of things to do, and decided against it, because I wanted access to the news for as long as possible prior to leaving, and had we turned in the boxes, we might have lost the ability to know what was going on that last day or two.

I called today to suspend our cable and was VERY rudely told by a Cable One representative that they have a policy of not suspending service, and that they don't disconnect unless you return the boxes and so forth. I tried to explain that we have traveled outside of the area in an effort to avoid Gustav and were unable to turn things in before we left, and was VERY rudely told that they are a corporation and that this simply is not their problem. Either I pay each month while I am gone or they will charge my for the equipment and for breaking the contract of service that I signed.

I told her that I didn't sign a contract, and that I never spoke to a single Cable One representative with the exception of calling to have it reinstalled, much less sign anything. She told me to find a copy of the contract and read it again. I said, find a copy of the contract wth my signature on it! In any case, the whole thing has been resolved by me telling them to bill me for the equipment, and that I would refuse to pay it, but that I demand my cable/internet be cancelled immediately. I intend to follow up on this with Cable One at a later date, but my blood pressure couldn't handle speaking with this ignorant woman a moment longer.

Follow up to that, I call Tricare (our insurance company) to ensure that my medical appointment tomorrow will not be a problem, only to be told that there is a blanket referral in the wake of Gustav that is in place from Aug 29-Sep 12. Uh, my due date is Sep 13, so if I go to or past my due date, will this all not be covered? No, simply call on Sep 12 to ensure that they annotate a conversation to the effect that I am due at any day and unable to travel. Well, duh! Can't we annotate that now? No.

I'll not be calling any other customer service centers for a few days because I don't know that I can bite my tongue and am not in the right frame of mind to behave.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

LOVE Continental Air

Okay, actually I am indifferent to whether or not they retain pillows or rent blankets or offer free coffee, because what they DO that is fabulous is change flights for military members whose wives are displaced by hurricanes without charging the $350 change fee! Of course, we had just booked F's flight home for October so he can meet baby the week before we were evacuated. I had expected a change fee of a hundred dollars or so, but was in absolute tears at the thought of the fees listed on Orbitz. I called the airline directly, was connected almost immediately with a live person and was told a similar fee. I explained our situation and after brief consultation with her supervisor, the representative was able to waive the fee and change his ticket for the difference in fare - in our case $17.00. This restores my confidence in the goodness of people and even the understanding of corporations to a degree.

So, with that major step complete, and being settled in at the in laws, we now return to awaiting baby's arrival, followed by daddy's arrival with a lighter heart and easier mind. The local doctor's office is not interested in or able to see me until Friday, so I will relax and wait out the rest. I suppose I should at some point deal with insurance companies to make sure that is set, but I think I'll wait on that for another day!