Jackson's story - Day 1

We arrived at the hospital at 7:30am on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 after dropping G off at daycare.  I checked in at registration and then went straight to my room on the labor and delivery floor.  The nurses got me hooked up to monitors and then disappeared for a while.  After hearing the woman next door screaming we determined that she was in the middle of delivering without an epidural.  Ouch!!

The nurses finally came back and started a bag of fluid about 10am.  At the same time my doctor came in to break my water.  At this time I was just hanging out with Nathan, my mom, and Nathan's aunt.  I was already having contractions at this point, but no too painful. 

The nurse came back and said that the anesthesiologist was about to be in surgery for a few hours, so we could either do the epidural now, or wait a few hours.   I picked to do it then.  So, about 11am I got an epidural.  At this point I was still only dilated to a 3 where I had been for about a week.   I was doing well with the contractions on my own at this point, but decided to start the potossin around 11:50am. 

I sent everyone off around 1pm to go out and get some lunch.  I was tired and wanted a little rest.  But, as soon as the left I started feeling some cramping.  I suffered through it for over an hour while they were gone.  I told the nurse about it and we determined something was going on with the epidural.  The anesthesiologist was still in surgery.  But he said he would be there as soon as he could.  (Did I mention this guy was really nice and explained everything he was doing.)  After testing different areas of my leg and belly, we determined that the epidural had settled on my right side since I was laying that direction.  The catheter was also going into my right side, so when he went to put the additional medicine in, it made my right leg feel like it was made of lead.   I was feeling much better, but had much less feeling in my legs.   If this had not worked we were going to have to start over with putting the epidural in again.  I was glad we did not have to do that.

Around 3pm they checked and I had finally made it to a 4.  At this point Nathan decided to go back home and finish caulking the shower.  (I know this sounds very strange, but the caulk needed to sit for 3 days and this was the best time to do it.  He tried to do it before we left for the hospital, but ended up having the wrong kind of caulk.)  He left knowing that we would call him when things got moving along since they seemed to be taking a while.  They checked me again about 4pm and I was at a 5.  The potossin was working really well and my contractions were coming too close together at every minute and a half and the baby's heartrate was going down.  So we turned the potossin down some and they put me on oxygen. 

Around 4:30 they checked me again.  The contractions and signs from the baby showed that I was progressing pretty quickly.   I was suddenly at an 8.  Nathan was still at home fielding phone call after phone call on both the home line and his cell and trying to finish the shower.  I had to send him a text and he called right back.  Since it was so late in the day he also had to pick up Garrett from daycare.  I had to call the daycare from the delivery room and tell them to have Garrett at the front door and ready to go.  They were very helpful with this.  At this point in time my dad and my oldest sister had arrived at the hospital.  And my mom was making phone calls to alert everyone else that things were moving along very quickly.  Nathan arrived with G, so I was able to see him before I delivered.  My parents were able to watch him in the waiting room and get him some dinner during the delivery.

At this point I was in a lot more pain and things start to get a little fuzzy.  But around 5:30 the nurse checked and I was fully dilated and ready to go.   I was not in the mood for socializing so I had Nathan kick everyone out and tell them they could not come in.  There were numerous people that I did not see before the birth, but I was too uncomfortable to care at that point.   At 5:50pm I started pushing.  Due to the extra medicine this was extremely difficult.  I think they finally called the doctor in about 6:20pm.  He was in there for a few rounds of pushing doing the things that doctors do.   Luckily, they did not have to cut me this time, however I still had some tearing.  Jackson was finally born at 6:47pm.  This time I actually remember them putting him on my belly after he was born.  And Nathan was able to cut the cord.  Nathan took some pictures of him while they finished up with me.

 

The nurse went to get the new big brother so he could meet Jackson.  He was curious as to why I was in a hospital bed, why I had things stuck in my arm, and wanted me to get up.  Not too long after that everyone else was able to come in to meet Jackson.

My mom and Jack

My dad and Jack

Nathan's dad

 

My sisters

Nathan's aunt

Ashley

The kids

Everyone was only allowed to stay for about 30 minutes.  Then we tried to feed him for the first time.  While I was feeding, Justin and Ashley went to get us some food.  (This is much better than giving birth during the middle of the night.)  He was not interested in eating, so he went with daddy upstairs to the nursery.  They weighed him and cleaned him up.  Due to the flu going around, they don't let anyone stay in the nursery very long.  So, Nathan was back downstairs pretty quickly.   After eating, Nathan took G home for the night and my mom stayed with me and Jackson.  About 9 something they transferred me up to the postpartum floor.  They did not bring Jackson into my room until after midnight.  After that is was a very long night.  I did not get a lot of sleep with everyone coming in, the pain, and Jackson waking up pretty often.

He weighed in at 7 lb 13 oz and 19 1/2 inches long.