Oh where to begin! I feel like so much has happened in the past few days I'm still trying to get my mind wrapped around it. We are so thrilled that our little man is here. So I guess I should start his birth story from the day my water broke...
Phillip arrived home from Chicago on Thursday morning at 1:30 am. He typically comes home from Chicago every week on Thursday nights in order to be there for my Friday appointments, but this week my appointments were scheduled for Thursday morning and I was starting weekly non stress tests. So the previous weekend I asked Phillip to change his flights so he could come with me to those appointments. So Phil gets home, and hops in bed around 1:45 am or so. Then around 2:15 am I felt a weird kind of pop/kick sensation which I had never felt before, but thought it was just normal baby movement. Within seconds I noticed I was peeing my pants a little, which was strange since I had never done that unless I coughed or sneezed. So I got up and went to the bathroom, but then noticed that more stuff was coming out involuntarily in copious amounts. I immediately kind of panicked knowing this was my water breaking and I was only at 35 weeks. I then went into the bedroom and woke up Phil and told him I thought my water just broke and asked him if he thought I should call my mom (who was upstairs watching Erin's kids for the week). So I called my mom and she confirmed that it was probably my water breaking. I called my OB and she said she agreed it sounds like my water broke. She said to take a shower, pack a bag and come in and meet her at labor and delivery. The funny thing is that my OB is our neighbor and we totally could have car pooled to the hospital!
At this point I'm feeling rather nervous and totally unprepared! We hadn't even packing a hospital bag yet and had no idea what we needed to bring. We just started throwing stuff into a bag for me, Phil and baby. I took a shower and when I got out noticed I was still leaking fluid!! I got dressed and we headed to the hospital. By the time we got to the hospital it must have been 3:30am so we had to enter through the Emergency Department and head up to the 5th floor to labor and delivery. Because with every step I took more fluid would gush out Phil put me in a wheelchair and wheeled me up. My OB beat us to L&D by only a few minutes.
Last picture of me before Felix was born (between contractions). Also the last picture of my truly swollen pregnant face. Enjoy!
The delivery nurse got Phil and I settled in room 4 and by this point I was starting to feel some small contractions, but nothing too strong. Because I tested positive for Group B Strep they immediately got my IV in and started me on antibiotics. They then started a drip of pitocin to help my contractions along. It was only a little bit but it really pushed those contractions along. To be honest I don't know how long I contracted for, the whole 12 hours went pretty quickly for me. But I contracted for a little bit and then they started getting a bit too unbearable for me so they gave me some painkillers (a.k.a narcotics) to take the edge off for a little while before getting the epidural. Now at this point my OB hadn't examined me to see how far along I was. Her philosophy is to not disturb that area as much as possible, which I appreciated. So I labored for a little while with just the painkillers until the contractions became unbearable again (I'm kind of wimpy). I then got the epidrual, which was an interesting experience. Mostly because I was still kind of out of it because of the painkillers they had given me earlier. I always thought the epidural was given while the mother laid on her side curled up, but the anesthesiologist had me sit up on the side of the bed, lean against my nurse and lean forward. I feel bad for my nurse Emily (who I called Sarah because I was so out of it) because I had to put most of my weight on her. I'm sure my head left it's mark on her chest!
At this point I started to feel a little bit better because I was no longer in intense pain. I'm not sure how long it was after the epidural, but then my OB came in and did her first internal exam. She told Phil and I that I was at 9+ cm and would probably start pushing in the next hour! I couldn't believe it. Phil (who at the time was still kind of dozing off (neither of us had gotten any sleep) sits up and says "really?" Our OB laughed and insisted that I was at 9+ cm already and would be pushing soon. I couldn't believe I had progressed that much in what seemed to me such a short amount of time. Nor could I believe that in just a short while I would meet our baby boy. I had mentally prepared myself for a long labor.
So at about 1:15 or so I started pushing. At this point the monitors were not picking up my contractions for some reason so my doctor, nurse and Phillip had to rely on me to tell them when each one was coming. At 2:01 I had my last push and our beautiful baby boy was born. The doctor immediately placed him on my belly. My initial feelings were of amazement that he was here and so quickly. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of joy to see our baby boy for the first time. I could even see his little finger nails!
They had him lay on my belly for a few minutes while they cleaned him off a little and the doctor cut the cord. Then they took him away to do some stuff. I believe they took him over to the warming table and took his APGAR score, which at that time they gave him a 9.5. My OB then gave me a few stitches for some minor tears and then they brought him back over to me.
Because he was born at 35 weeks they had a pediatrician and team in the room, which is standard protocol. After they weighed him (6lbs 0.3oz) they brought him back over to me so he could breastfeed. He latched on pretty quickly. It's amazing that they come out with that sucking reflex already. At this point the nurses and doctors were cleaning up and then they left the room. It was just Phil and I in the room with our son. Phil decided to call his Mom and while he was on the phone with Rita I noticed that Felix had stopped nursing and fallen asleep. But then I noticed he was losing his pink color and starting to turn ashen. I tried to see if he was breathing and then called the nurses in. The nurse that came in immediately took him from me and took him over to the warming table where the oxygen is. She called for help and said "I have a blue baby." That got everyone's attention. Everyone came running back into the room, including the pediatrician and her team that were in the room during the birth. My OB and delivery nurse came back into the room and came over to me to calm me down. At this point I was sick with worry and crying. But within a few seconds of everyone coming back into the room I heard Felix let out a little cry and felt an overwhelming sense of relief knowing that he was breathing again. That was a pretty traumatic moment for Phil and I. I won't go into all the different thoughts and emotions that went through my mind at that time. Even now thinking about it makes me feel so sick to my stomach. I am just so grateful that I noticed the change in him and was able to get the nurses and doctors into the room.
After they got him breathing again they took him over to the Level 2 Special Care Nursery. Phil stayed with me for a few minutes and then went over to the nursery to check on Felix. They put him on a warming bed under heat lamps while they ran some test and checked him out. I had to stay in my labor and delivery room until I was able to stand up. Phil came back and reported to me that Felix was doing well. We found out what recovery room we were going to be put in, so Phil took our stuff over there and ran into the pediatrician on her way over to talk to us. She told Phil that Felix had had two more "spells" since being over in the nursery. She said that he would have to stay in the nursery for at least 5 days, probably more. But other than his breathing everything else looked great.
The first time I saw Felix after they took him away.
We've since learned that this is a very common thing for premature babies. They haven't yet learned to remember to breath or take deep breaths and they also have a tough time coordinating breathing and eating at the same time. So far Felix has been in the Special Care Nursery for 5 days and is still experiencing spells, which means that his oxygen levels drop below 90% oxygen saturation in the blood. We are told that every baby is different and it could take Felix many weeks to teach himself to keep his oxygen levels up. All the nurses and pediatricians in the special care nursery assure us that it's simply an issue of gestational age. At 35 weeks he's not mature enough and typically they see babies turn the corner once they reach term age of 37 weeks+. As of today Felix is 36 weeks 1 day gestational age. He will have to go 5 days without any spells until they release him to come home. All the nurses refer to this as the "white boy" syndrome. Apparently white males have a tougher time maturing as premies than females and babies of other races. And there are two other little baby boys in the Special Care Nursery that have the same issue as Felix.
Phil and I spend our nights at home and our days at the hospital. We come in for his morning feeding and stay until after his evening feeding. He's a really good eater and is getting bigger and stronger everyday. I'm surprised at how good he's doing with breastfeeding considering he's a premie. As of right now he is almost all on breast milk with very little formula supplement now that my milk is coming in. I feed him, pump, eat, sleep and then start the cycle again. I do four feedings everyday with him. These are the best moments of my day. I love being able to hold him. Because he's still so small they want him to get as much sleep as he can. So we only typically get to hold him during a feeding, plus being held tuckers him out pretty quick.
This is not how I imagined bringing our baby boy into the world. It's been pretty hard on both Phil and I emotionally. We know on an intellectual level that Felix is fine and that for his gestational maturity he's where he should be, but it doesn't make it any less stressful and emotional for us. Leaving him every night is the hardest thing I do each day. I think the nurses are pretty used to me blubbering like a fountain after that evening feeding. But we know that this is the best place for him to be right now. The nurses and doctors couldn't be better. Most of the nurses in the Special Care Nursery have been in that unit for 10, 15, 20+ years. They all have so much experience with babies just like Felix. It's a comforting feeling to know he is getting such good care.
We want to thank all our friends and family for their love, support and most importantly their prayers for little Felix. We know he is being watched over daily by angels.
