Asher Ronan Hines
May 19th, 2011
7lbs. 10 oz.
11:00 am
20 "
Just 5 days after Drew's graduation from UNR came my due date, May 18th, 2011. For the last 2-3 appointments with Dr. Thompson I was about 1 cm dilated and about 60% effaced. Drew and I were sure that this baby would be late. We both made guesses on the due date. I had tagged Sat, May 21st and Drew had guessed Tuesday, May 24th. Drew's parents had also put in their guesses for one week late at Wed, May 25th. I had my 40 week appointment on my due date that Wednesday, May 18th and I asked my doctor about helping things along... as in stretching out my cervix a bit. She responded, "Oh you mean stripping your membranes." "I didn't know they were the same thing?" I responded. She said they were so after checking my progress and reporting that I was still at 1cm we decided to see if "stripping my membranes" would kick start any action. For some it works and for some it does nothing. Man, did it hurt when she did it! I wasn't expecting it to be painful so it surprised me, but I was convinced my doctor probably thought I was a wimp compared to what pain was awaiting me.
That day when I went home I told Drew about my appointment. I had lost about about a pound as well, bringing my total weight gain with this pregnancy to exactly 40 lbs (my weight- 166 lbs). I hadn't felt a lot beside Braxton Hicks contractions so Drew and I were sure that this little guy was very comfortable where he was. Even so we decided that we should make the most out of the day and do a few things that we wouldn't be able to do alone again for some time. We ate lunch at Red Lobster then went hiking at our favorite trail head - Michael D. Thompson. I was really pushing it on the hike because I wanted to speed things along. After hiking I went to Lisa's house to pick up the Moses basket she is lending to us. We joked that now that the Moses basket was in place he could come- he must be waiting for a place to sleep :) I also returned my library books so that I wouldn't have to worry about late fees. It seemed everything was in order.
That night contractions started. I was so afraid I wouldn't know what real contractions felt like, but it was unmistakable. I started counting contractions around 10pm and they were about 7 min apart. I jokingly told Drew that "we might have a baby tonight..." (neither one of us thought it would hold true.)
I was most afraid that the contractions would just peter out. We both took a shower which helped the pain a ton :) I told Drew to get together anything he would need at the hospital "just in case". Drew then went to bed to try and get a little sleep. So I was left to labor by myself as I watched Pride and Prejudice. I did really well trying to relax as much as possible in between contraction and rocking and swaying on my hands and knees. I thought I was doing well and I tried my hardest to stay home as long as possible.. and try to let Drew sleep. Around 2am my contractions were about 4 min apart and sometimes 3 min. I had almost convinced myself that I should go to the hospital soon. At 2:15am my water broke and I stood up just drenching my pants and called Drew to action!
We were off to the hospital and at 2:30am we checked in. I was at 4cm, 80% effaced and -2. Drew pulled out his laptop and started working on homework and put on some music for me ( I think it was Evanescence). The nurse told me they would like to see me progress about 1cm per hour. I did the math and that seemed like an awful long time to go through the pain I was feeling.
I was told that I couldn't walk the halls because my membranes had ruptured (because of the risk of infection). I still walked back and forth to the bathroom. I told the nurse I didn't want pain medication at the onset, but after an hour and a half at the hospital I was questioning this whole natural thing. At home it seemed easier to manage the pain because I was comfortable and could do what I wanted. At the hospital I was in the horrible hospital bed and it was hard to manage any pain. I talked to the nurse about my options- either epidural or Demerol but after hearing that Demeral could cross over to the baby I knew I didn't want that. I told her I would think about it and she left. Just one minute after she left I asked Drew what I should do. I felt the next contraction and immediately I pushed the red button on my controls and said, "OK! I want the epidural!" My first anesthesiologist was Dr. Parkhill. He administered the epidural around 4am or 4:10am. The epidural was AMAZING. I couldn't feel the pain any longer, but I could still feel when I was contracting. They told me to gather my strength to try and sleep. I turned over and planned on doing just that! Minutes later nurses were running into my room including the on call doctor and the anesthesiologist returned. I was in La-la Land because I was SO relaxed I didn't have a clue what was going on. They asked me to turn in several positions. Then put oxygen on me and asked me to get on my hands and knees (but only after they had shaved me prepped me for an emergency C-section). Apparently the baby was being suffocated by a 4 min long contraction I was having and his heart rate decelerated for about 9 min. While the nurses said they don't normally let the baby go for that long he recovered on his own after I got on my hands and knees so they let me progress. Everyone was quite worried but it was over soon. At that point when they checked me I was at "8cm or 9cm". At 5:10am Dr. Hernandez came in to talk to me about what had happened and told me my doctor would be on shift at 6:30am so she would be able to deliver me! Great :)! I was happy about that. Dr. Hernandez went on to tell me that I was "progressing like a rocket" for a first time mom and that all I needed was more pressure so I could bear down and push. I think this Dr. must have jinxed me. After this point Drew called his parents around 7am or so to tell them we were at the hospital and would be having a baby soon! Or so we thought. I was relaxing but wanted to move from my side, but when I did the baby's heart rate decelerated again. This happened about twice, I had to be monitored and put on oxygen and told to breathe deeply. From then on I wasn't allowed to move again since every time I did his heart would plummet.
Dr. Thompson came on shift and came in to look at my printout... I was in her estimation only at 8cm and wasn't progressing. She then told me we may have to do a C-section. I was stuck at 8cm, my contractions had stalled (weren't getting any closer together or stronger) I was against this from the start so she suggested we could start Pitocin and see if that would help. I got to the most upright position I could to see if gravity would hlep. Another hour or two went by with no progress! She came to check me and told me the baby was crooked and face up and was not descending. I had also been at an 8 cm for about 5 hours and she thought the only other option was C-section. I was SO exhausted at this point (around 10am) because I didn't get any rest, I had been in labor for 12 hours at this point and I just started to cry. I think I was mostly crying form exhaustion. As I cried I told my Dr. I didn't want a C-section with my first because I was set on a vaginal delivery and I knew this would probably mean the rest of my children would have to be delivered via C-section. She tried to calm me with Drew by telling me that nothing that had happened was my fault and that she would consider a VBAC when the time came (although she added that I was probably a bad candidate for a VBAC). I think she was just trying to make me feel better. Drew started to gown up for the OR and I immediately felt better seeing him all ready to go. They told me it would be about 45 min to an hour until the whole operation was done. I knew we would have a baby soon :) They prepped me... the second anesthesiologist came in to administer the bolus for surgery.
We made our way to the OR and I was pumped with fluid and meds. I felt SO bloated it was unreal how swollen I was. The sheet was placed and Drew was allowed in to sit next to my head. He turned to me and asked, "Do you mind if I watch?" I thought it such a funny question! I just said, "Sure, if you can stomach it!" He watched the whole thing. I was surprised, again, how painful it was... not sharp pain, but a lot of TUGGING and PRESSURE. It felt as thought a rope that was attached to my pubic bone was being ripped out of me. My arms were pinned out and hooked up to machines so I couldn't move, but I asked Drew to hold my hand (all while watching and taking pictures). The doctors kept encouraging Drew saying, "Take pictures!" and then me too saying, "Take more! Take more!" Drew successfully managed to watch the operation, hold my hand with one hand, take pictures on our camera with the other, AND get a picture on his cell phone to send to family all at once. One cool thing during the operation that I loved is how much my doctor, Dr. Thompson and Dr. Stranton talked to me throughout, answering my questions, and talking me through the whole thing. The anesthesiologist I remember was really funny too and kept making me laugh :) I was sure that my crying episode had convinced my doctor that I was the worst patient but she was nice and reassuring throughout.
Asher was born at exactly 11am. I heard him cry and then watched pinned to my bed as they cleaned him with Drew standing next to him the whole time and they finished sewing me back together. I couldn't wait til it was over. Drew was able to cut a portion of the cord, but not from my body since it was a sterile environment. Finally Drew was able to hold him and bring him next to me, but I still couldn't move my arms. I looked at Asher and Drew and I cried, now for joy. Drew was looking at me with our son in his arms and he was crying too. Then our son was whisked away to the nursery, Drew accompanied him and I was taken the the recovery room where I was isolated. I can't remember a single time where I was not more thirsty! I was dying of thirst, but all I could have were ice chips. The nurse who was supposed to get me ice chips however forgot about me twice so I went a good while without anything to quench my thirst. I had to stay in recovery for 1 hour. In the last 10 min Drew came back with our son and I was able to hold him for the first time. It was like torture to wait that long to see Drew or Asher. I started to breastfeed right then and there, but the nurse told me there wasn't much time because they had to get me to my room since they needed the recovery room for another patient who had gotten a C-section just after me. So they took Asher away again. The really unfortunate part of getting a C-section is being separated from my son for so long.
Once the C-section took place my doctor informed me that his cord was wrapped around his neck (which had caused the decelerated heart rate every time I moved in the delivery room). She also told me I had a small pelvis and that he was quite large. So, the factors of Asher failing to descend, being crooked, sunny side up, my small pelvis, and the cord wrapped around his neck all contributed to the need for a C-section. I am at peace with it now. I don't have any other recovery to compare it to either. The nice thing about the C-section is that I didn't have any vaginal soreness, it was fast, and Asher came out perfect since he wasn't squeezed through the birth canal :) On the other side it has been quite painful to move around like normal. We still hadn't agreed on a name until some time after he was born. Asher just fit best and I conceded.
Asher's first visitors :) Grandpa Bob, Grandma Julie, and Great Grandma Marje
The first day and night were a blur. I hadn't slept since Tuesday night and I didn't get to sleep much in the hospital since everyone was coming into my room at all times. I was especially blessed with great nurses. My night nurse was LDS (Katie) and she said it was so rare she got an LDS patient that she called me her "special patient". Drew did not stay with me in the bed the hospital provided. I let him go home to get the last few nights of sleep he could get. Asher turned out to be a "night baby" sleeping all day long and awake and screaming all night long. Drew only knew Asher during the day so to him he was an angel. What a surprise he got when he came home with us! The nurses all were impressed how well I could move my legs and how fast Asher latched on was roaring to go on breastfeeding. My day nurse, Laura, kept urging me to go home a day early. I was cleared to go and although I knew having the nurses to help for an extra night would be nice I decided to go home early on Saturday rather than Sunday so that I could go home. I kind of regretted it because it was still so hard to get up and down with my incision site, but in the end I was grateful I went home early because when Asher finally went to sleep it was silent and I could sleep without disruptions :) The first nights were especially difficult recovering from surgery and being up all night with the baby, but I had some great visitors and great meals :) I couldn't have survived without my mother-in-law Julie who came to help me in those first difficult days as well and stayed up with me every night to help take care of and soothe Asher. My mom and dad also came out later for Memorial Day weekend. Thanks to all that helped!
We are so blessed:) I know this story was long, but it was more for me to write down my memories rather than for a good read. Enjoy the pictures :)
