I scheduled myself for an elective induction at 39 weeks. Mostly because I was just overly done with being pregnant, but my Doctor thought it was a good idea with me having pre-eclampsia with Stella; it was safer to not risk pushing my body to that point again.
My last belly shot, taken 2 days before my induction...
I went in on the night of October 2nd. This particular hospital does inductions starting in the evening, that way a prostaglandin can be given overnight to ripen your cervix, if needed. I had been having contractions for a few weeks and I figured that would not be needed. Sure enough, I was almost a 4 when they checked me so the Doctor opted to just start Pitocin.
The Pitocin was started at 8:30pm. Around 1am my contractions started to get pretty uncomfortable. I was thinking "I should really ask for an epidural", but I just decided to put up with them for a little longer. Just before 2am I decided I would get up to pee one last time and then call for the nurse to get the anesthesiologist. I shifted my body and it felt like my water broke. Just then the nurse walked in. I told her I thought my water broke and sure enough it had.
I knew I was about to be in a lot of pain and told her I wanted my epidural as soon as possible. Of course, I had to get a bag of fluid in me and then she had to call for the anethesiologist. I got my epidural at 2:50am; it felt like an eternity! It's crazy how painful my contractions get once my water breaks.
The nurse checked me again and I was at a 6. So we settled in for some sleep. I was very happy with my epidural. Every time I get one, I think "this is the best thing God ever gave women!" It's amazing!
Every time the nurse would position me on my left side, the external monitors would have a hard time picking up the baby's heartbeat. She mentioned that they would probably have to put an internal monitor on the baby's head. Then baby boy started having some episodes of his heart dropping with my contractions. The heart rate would quickly come back up once the contraction stopped so they were not too worried.
At change of shift (a little after 6am), the nurse going home decided to check me. I was at a nine but she said my cervix still had quite a bit of thinning out to do. As she was checking me, they started having a problem picking up the baby's heart beat externally again. The nurse leaving decided she would try to put the internal monitor on, but she couldn't get it to stay on. Meanwhile, the oncoming nurse picked up the baby's heart beat at 120bpm briefly with the external monitor. The oncoming nurse then decided to try to put the internal monitor on. She was successful, but as soon as she got it on, the monitor was picking up the baby's heart rate at 80bpm. They quickly placed me on all four's hoping the baby's heart rate would come back up, but instead it went down to 50bpm. This was at 6:25am.
In a whirlwind, there were a million nurses in my room unhooking everything and whisking me into the OR. Poor Eric, who was sleeping on the cot, awoke to all the craziness. I guess a nurse stayed behind to explain to him what was going on.
As soon as I got to the OR, they moved me to another bed and back to my back, but the baby's heart rate only was up to 80bpm at this point. They quickly bolused me with more pain medication and it seemed like the next minute they were telling me to let them know if I felt anything. Lucky for me the bolus worked (I guess, normally it doesn't kick in fast enough, and they have to put patient's under general for emergency c-sections).
Once they knew I would be able to stay awake, they brought Eric in. They started cutting me at 6:30am and had baby Greyson out at 6:31am - just as Eric walked in. It was crazy fast and crazy scary, but as soon as he came out he was screaming like mad man. I had tried to stay pretty calm up to that point but I couldn't hold back the tears once I knew he was okay. They were all really surprised that he came out screaming - I guess they were expecting much worse. However, they did do a blood gas on him and they said it showed that he was heading South. I was just super shocked & amazed at how fast they got him out - 6 minutes in total from when his heart rate went down!
I was and am still kind of sad I had to have a c-section. It's hard to describe but its like something has been taken from you. But on the other hand I was/am so grateful everything turned out okay with Greyson. I have been to many crash c-sections as a NICU nurse and things don't always go as fast/smoothly and the outcome of the baby is not always as optimal. I feel like there were MANY small blessings along the way... (1)It was change of shift - which meant twice as many people were around to help speed things along. (2) The bolus of pain medication worked and I was able to stay awake to hear my baby's first cry and Eric was able to be in the room. (3) They were able to get Greyson out so fast. He was pretty far down in the birth canal and often in this circumstance it is quite hard to get the baby out. (4) Greyson came out screaming and didn't suffer any long term damage from his HR being so low. (5) I had so much help after having the baby and still have my husband off work (due to delays with his office opening). It has been quite a longer and more difficult recovery with a c-section and I really don't know what I would have done without the help!
Here Greyson is fresh out of me (literally still on top of me; thank goodness for surgical drapes). Eric had to sit down after taking these photos - he almost fainted from seeing all the blood!
Greyson getting weighed... 7lbs, 7 oz and 21 inches long - my smallest baby yet!
Eric getting to hold Greyson for the first time while they stitched me up. It took almost an hour and a half! (but my incision looks pretty amazing!) All Greyson wanted to do was nurse but I was a little per-occupied. There were no binkies around (dang breast-feeding friendly hospital) so Eric had to put a glove on so Greyson could suck on his finger because he wouldn't stop crying!
I was finally able to hold/nurse Greyson once I was moved to recovery!
He was pretty happy after!
Greyson's first bath. He was pretty mad at first...
Then he was happy...
Then he was mad again...
Then he was exhausted...
After 2 hours of recovery, we were moved to the post-partum unit. Greyson was pretty happy/content once he could be with his Mommy and nurse whenever he wanted!
Once we were moved to our new room, my Mom and Stella were able to come visit and meet Greyson for the first time (Logan was at school)...
Stella loved meeting her baby brother...
Later that day, they came back to visit again, when Logan was home from school...
Logan had been counting down the days until Greyson was going to arrive. He was so excited to meet and hold his baby brother...
Since my Mom was in town and watching the kids, Eric and I were able to both stay at the hospital and just enjoy our new baby. We had lots of snuggle/sleep time!
I had to snap a few photos of my cute new baby in the hospital; plus, I loved these hospital blankets - I kind of wanted to swipe a few!
After 3 1/2 days in the hospital (my longest stay yet) even I (who loves staying at the hospital) was ready to go home! Here's Greyson's going home outfit...
A few photos of the Mr. before heading home...
Greyson's first experience with the car seat. He quickly decided he wasn't a fan!
But he fell asleep before we made it to the car...
As soon as we got home, our first baby, Mr. Rocco, had to check out the new addition (don't worry - he's a teddy bear around our kids!)...
