The Full "Labor Day" Diary - Part 4
Finally wrapping up the play-by-play of our marathon trip to the hospital (previous installments one, two, and three here)...
4:30am: With my nerves frayed by the commotion next door, I give up on sleep for a bit and take the opportunity to clean up and change out of the clothes that I've been in for nearly 24 hours.
5:00am: Somewhat more comfortable, I lay back down and the two of us attempt to rest again.
5:15am: Right on cue, Kate returns! She checks on Karen and determines that she is 4-5 cm dilated, which is slow but noticeable progress. She decides to manually break Karen's water to help aid the progression of labor. Immediately upon doing so, she exclaims, "Oh, we have baby poop!"
6:25am: With the Pit drip at 13 mL/hour, Karen begins to feel her contractions again. This is not what we had in mind when the Epidural Fairy left us five hours ago. I start making calls to Nurse Karen to see how we deal with this.
6:50am: Kate and Nurse Karen get the Epidural Fairy to make a return appearance, just as Patient Karen is reverting to "no talking during contractions" mode. He makes a few adjustments to the dosage and to Patient Karen's sitting position. Meanwhile, Kate takes the Pit drip down to 7 to lessen the severity of the contractions.
7:10am: Epidural is doing its job again. We get our last visit from Kate, whose shift is ending. She seems almost as sad to leave us as we are to see her go. We meet our fourth midwife of the visit, Lorraine.
7:32am: Desperate for a distraction, we turn on Good Morning America. It's the second GMA we've watched "today" - i.e. since we got any meaningful sleep.
8:01am: Yury returns! The blow of losing Kate is lessened somewhat by seeing Yury enter and say, "Good morning! Thanks for waiting for me!" He also takes the Pit drip up to 9.
8:04am: Karen pukes for the second time. I find it hard to believe that the first time was 10 hours ago. Yury compassionately helps us clean up, and then turns strict parent on us and forces us back to bed. "Turn off the TV and get some rest," he tells us. "Do you know how long the average pushing time is for a first labor?" We both shake our heads. "Guess," he prods. "Come on, dad." I guess three hours. "Good guess!" Yury exclaims. I hear Karen cursing under her breath. "Now get some rest, because you are both going to need it for the pushing."
8:57am: We are barely dozed off when Lorraine stops by to check on Karen's progress. (OK, seriously. These people yell at us to get some rest, but then they barge into our room to poke and prod every 45 minutes. And then there's the beeping of the epidural machine and the periodic whir of the blood pressure cuff. How the hell is someone supposed to rest like that? I understand they are trying to take care of you, but it would make me feel better if they would just drop the charade and admit that you're just going to have to get by with 10-15 minute catnaps for the duration of your stay.)
9:07am: I notice that the Pit drip is up to 14 mL/hour. We are in uncharted waters now. Thirteen had been the magic number at which all hell had broken loose for the previous 24 hours. It was even a running joke between us and Yury, that 13 was bad. So what did he do? He skipped 13 and took us right to 14...
9:54am: Yury is on fire now. Pit drip is up to 18 and he is practically giddy about pushing us past the breaking point with no ill effects to date.
9:58am: My notes say, "Yury buys breakfast for Zach." Which is amusing, because by "buying breakfast" I really mean that he gave me the patient breakfast that would have gone to Karen if she weren't on Pitocin. Further evidence that my brain is rapidly turning to mush.
10:01am: Yury's Pit drip of fun takes an ugly turn, as Karen starts feeling some major contractions. She presses the boost button for the epidural (they give you the capability of giving yourself an extra dose once every ten minutes if you need it, but it is regulated so you can't OD), but nothing seems to happen. We call Yury to help us check it out, and he determines that the button isn't working right. Karen is frustrated and on the verge of a meltdown, and I'm starting to get pissed. If one more thing ends up not working during this visit, I'm going to flip out. Yury hustles out the door to locate the Epidural Fairy while Karen fights off this latest wave of unnecessary pain.
10:15am: The Epidural Fairy arrives, this time in the form of Steve, a tall guy who is way more personable than the original EF. This is good, because it makes me moderately less likely to chew his ass for the less than stellar performance of the epidural so far. He quickly gives Karen a manual extra dose and then fixes the boost button. He leaves her with strict instructions that she shouldn't be afraid to press it and to have Yury call him if she needs another kicker dose from him. We like Steve. Steve is good.
10:25am: After shoveling down my breakfast, I make sure Karen is comfortable and head downstairs to make a round of phone calls. After talking to Karen's mom, both of my parents, and my sister, I take a deep breath and head back upstairs.
10:55am: Steve the Epidural Fairy stops in to see how Karen is doing, and gives her another kicker dose just for good measure.
11:05am: Lorraine arrives for another checkup, and shocks us all by saying that Karen is dilated to 10 cm! We all breathe a sigh of relief; there is an end in sight, even if it is still three hours away.
11:07am: Karen's first contraction since Lorraine checked her. Lorraine asks, "Honey, can you feel your contractions?" Karen shakes her head no. Lorraine says, "OK, you're having one now, can you give me a little push?" Karen obliges. Lorraine's eyes get VERY big as she says, "OK, great...wow, OK, you're...you're going to have this baby!"
It's all a blur from here, but I'll do my best to recapture it all from memory. Literally the next thing I know there are 6 or 7 other doctors and nurses in the room. The actual obstetrician on the floor comes in to oversee, since they are a little worried that the baby might be undersized. The pediatrician on the floor comes in because the baby had pooped in her amniotic sac. Yury and Lorraine are running around like crazy people, gathering supplies and ordering people around. Three or four other people show up out of nowhere to do who knows what...The OB assumes the catcher's position and exclaims, "Oh, this baby has a lot of hair!" (Note: baby has not been born yet)...Lorraine grabs Karen's right side and reaches across her to pull me into place on her left...We help support her neck and head as she pushes with each contraction...Amid the flurry of activity, Karen realizes that this might not take three hours and says, "Um, can you call my parents?" (Karen's parents had been hanging out at our house; I call and tell them, "You guys should probably head up here, she's having the baby.")...A few more contractions, and the OB announces, "Here comes the head!"...I turn to my left, and sure enough, there's the head of a baby...One more push...And there it is...Everyone scampers off, cleaning up and checking the baby over on the little warming table, and leaving Karen and I bewildered and alone at her bed...It is 11:19am.
After a few minutes of composing ourselves, I grab the camera to document the first few moments of the little one's time on earth. Below are a few of our favorites.
4:30am: With my nerves frayed by the commotion next door, I give up on sleep for a bit and take the opportunity to clean up and change out of the clothes that I've been in for nearly 24 hours.
5:00am: Somewhat more comfortable, I lay back down and the two of us attempt to rest again.
5:15am: Right on cue, Kate returns! She checks on Karen and determines that she is 4-5 cm dilated, which is slow but noticeable progress. She decides to manually break Karen's water to help aid the progression of labor. Immediately upon doing so, she exclaims, "Oh, we have baby poop!"
6:25am: With the Pit drip at 13 mL/hour, Karen begins to feel her contractions again. This is not what we had in mind when the Epidural Fairy left us five hours ago. I start making calls to Nurse Karen to see how we deal with this.
6:50am: Kate and Nurse Karen get the Epidural Fairy to make a return appearance, just as Patient Karen is reverting to "no talking during contractions" mode. He makes a few adjustments to the dosage and to Patient Karen's sitting position. Meanwhile, Kate takes the Pit drip down to 7 to lessen the severity of the contractions.
7:10am: Epidural is doing its job again. We get our last visit from Kate, whose shift is ending. She seems almost as sad to leave us as we are to see her go. We meet our fourth midwife of the visit, Lorraine.
7:32am: Desperate for a distraction, we turn on Good Morning America. It's the second GMA we've watched "today" - i.e. since we got any meaningful sleep.
8:01am: Yury returns! The blow of losing Kate is lessened somewhat by seeing Yury enter and say, "Good morning! Thanks for waiting for me!" He also takes the Pit drip up to 9.
8:04am: Karen pukes for the second time. I find it hard to believe that the first time was 10 hours ago. Yury compassionately helps us clean up, and then turns strict parent on us and forces us back to bed. "Turn off the TV and get some rest," he tells us. "Do you know how long the average pushing time is for a first labor?" We both shake our heads. "Guess," he prods. "Come on, dad." I guess three hours. "Good guess!" Yury exclaims. I hear Karen cursing under her breath. "Now get some rest, because you are both going to need it for the pushing."
8:57am: We are barely dozed off when Lorraine stops by to check on Karen's progress. (OK, seriously. These people yell at us to get some rest, but then they barge into our room to poke and prod every 45 minutes. And then there's the beeping of the epidural machine and the periodic whir of the blood pressure cuff. How the hell is someone supposed to rest like that? I understand they are trying to take care of you, but it would make me feel better if they would just drop the charade and admit that you're just going to have to get by with 10-15 minute catnaps for the duration of your stay.)
9:07am: I notice that the Pit drip is up to 14 mL/hour. We are in uncharted waters now. Thirteen had been the magic number at which all hell had broken loose for the previous 24 hours. It was even a running joke between us and Yury, that 13 was bad. So what did he do? He skipped 13 and took us right to 14...
9:54am: Yury is on fire now. Pit drip is up to 18 and he is practically giddy about pushing us past the breaking point with no ill effects to date.
9:58am: My notes say, "Yury buys breakfast for Zach." Which is amusing, because by "buying breakfast" I really mean that he gave me the patient breakfast that would have gone to Karen if she weren't on Pitocin. Further evidence that my brain is rapidly turning to mush.
10:01am: Yury's Pit drip of fun takes an ugly turn, as Karen starts feeling some major contractions. She presses the boost button for the epidural (they give you the capability of giving yourself an extra dose once every ten minutes if you need it, but it is regulated so you can't OD), but nothing seems to happen. We call Yury to help us check it out, and he determines that the button isn't working right. Karen is frustrated and on the verge of a meltdown, and I'm starting to get pissed. If one more thing ends up not working during this visit, I'm going to flip out. Yury hustles out the door to locate the Epidural Fairy while Karen fights off this latest wave of unnecessary pain.
10:15am: The Epidural Fairy arrives, this time in the form of Steve, a tall guy who is way more personable than the original EF. This is good, because it makes me moderately less likely to chew his ass for the less than stellar performance of the epidural so far. He quickly gives Karen a manual extra dose and then fixes the boost button. He leaves her with strict instructions that she shouldn't be afraid to press it and to have Yury call him if she needs another kicker dose from him. We like Steve. Steve is good.
10:25am: After shoveling down my breakfast, I make sure Karen is comfortable and head downstairs to make a round of phone calls. After talking to Karen's mom, both of my parents, and my sister, I take a deep breath and head back upstairs.
10:55am: Steve the Epidural Fairy stops in to see how Karen is doing, and gives her another kicker dose just for good measure.
11:05am: Lorraine arrives for another checkup, and shocks us all by saying that Karen is dilated to 10 cm! We all breathe a sigh of relief; there is an end in sight, even if it is still three hours away.
11:07am: Karen's first contraction since Lorraine checked her. Lorraine asks, "Honey, can you feel your contractions?" Karen shakes her head no. Lorraine says, "OK, you're having one now, can you give me a little push?" Karen obliges. Lorraine's eyes get VERY big as she says, "OK, great...wow, OK, you're...you're going to have this baby!"
It's all a blur from here, but I'll do my best to recapture it all from memory. Literally the next thing I know there are 6 or 7 other doctors and nurses in the room. The actual obstetrician on the floor comes in to oversee, since they are a little worried that the baby might be undersized. The pediatrician on the floor comes in because the baby had pooped in her amniotic sac. Yury and Lorraine are running around like crazy people, gathering supplies and ordering people around. Three or four other people show up out of nowhere to do who knows what...The OB assumes the catcher's position and exclaims, "Oh, this baby has a lot of hair!" (Note: baby has not been born yet)...Lorraine grabs Karen's right side and reaches across her to pull me into place on her left...We help support her neck and head as she pushes with each contraction...Amid the flurry of activity, Karen realizes that this might not take three hours and says, "Um, can you call my parents?" (Karen's parents had been hanging out at our house; I call and tell them, "You guys should probably head up here, she's having the baby.")...A few more contractions, and the OB announces, "Here comes the head!"...I turn to my left, and sure enough, there's the head of a baby...One more push...And there it is...Everyone scampers off, cleaning up and checking the baby over on the little warming table, and leaving Karen and I bewildered and alone at her bed...It is 11:19am.
After a few minutes of composing ourselves, I grab the camera to document the first few moments of the little one's time on earth. Below are a few of our favorites.
Comments
Congratulations again!
Katherine