Baby #6 is Here! He came about 2.5 weeks early (which we knew would happen) and we are thrilled to have our little guy here safe and sound!
I was supposed to go in to be induced on Friday. We were up and ready to go when we get a call that we need to wait, as they were just delivering a few babies and needed to get things cleaned up and ready for more patients. They said to call at 9:00. We got all the kids off to school.
We call at 9:00. They were still cleaning and giving nurses breaks. They said they needed a bit more time, but would be ready by noon. They told me there was no need to call, they would be ready for sure by noon and just come in.
We had my in-laws come back around 11, thinking we could grab some lunch on the way to the hospital. We get some lunch and then on the way to the hospital, they call telling me that they had 3 women walk in, in labor. GREAT! They apologized and said that rarely happens! I talk to my doctor and we agree if it hasn’t cleared up by 7 or 8, we’d try again the next day. I get a call about 4:00 from the hospital, they said the women that came in were not progressing and they would not be close to ready by 7 or 8. We decide to wait until morning, as I did not want to go in at midnight as start induction. I would rather have a good night’s sleep!!
We take the kids to Red Robin for dinner, to drown our sorrows in bottomless fries and ranch dressing.
Saturday morning, I call. THEY HAVE ROOM AT THE INN!!! My in-laws come back (for the 4th time?!) and we are off to the hospital for good this time!
It takes like 2 hours to even start the induction. Paperwork, answering questions, getting Iv’s started. It always takes forever and I am not sure why. Finally, Pitocin started. It takes a few hours to ramp up the Pitocin enough to even start contractions. Once we get a good rhythm, the nurse totally forgot about us. She was working on some education stuff. I told her that we have to keep ramping things up to get anywhere (I have been induced 5 other times – I know how this works best on me). Basically, all afternoon wasted and I was still about where I was when we came in. I was frustrated. Finally started ramping up the Pitocin again. Got a new set of nurses – YAY!
FYI- They let me EAT this time! They never had in the past! YAY! I ate like 3 pieces of cheesecake before he was even born. I ate 13 pieces total during my stay. YAY for unlimited cheesecake that is actually pretty good (especially considering hospital food!) I do enjoy the unlimited room service at the hospital!
With the new set of nurses, we FINALLY got things progressing. By 8:30ish, I was ready for my epidural (contractions were finally getting strong). It was in and going by 9 – seriously the fastest I’ve had someone come and get it all in. It went in great.
AND IT WORKED!!! I was THRILLED. If you know what happened with kid #5, you know this was a small miracle. I was ecstatic.
We headed off to sleep once the epidural was in. Around 1am or so, I could feel contractions again. I was at a 6 and they said to start pushing the button for more pain meds to get all drugged up, since it probably wasn’t long now. I took that to heart and pretty much pressed the button every time I felt a contraction (pain or not), to make sure I was at my max (you can’t over drug yourself, no worries there!). Went back to sleep.
They checked again around 2:30, since they let me sleep. They said, that if we wanted to have the baby, we could go ahead and have him now. Oh alright then. HA! They went to wake my doctor.
Once they were all set up, I started pushing. The epidural was FANTASTIC! Seriously, after last time and how horrible it was, this was like a dream. I would simply catch my breath in between pushes and then think, man, this doesn’t really hurt!
After 6 or so pushes, the nurses suddenly grabbed the Oxygen mask and put it on me. One nurse told another to call pediatrics. I could not see the monitors, but my doctor looked at me and said: “We need to have this baby now. No more waiting for contractions ok?”
I knew he was in trouble. His heart rate was dropping. I hadn’t come this far with him to lose him now. With no contractions to help with the pushing, I used all the strength I had and pushed him out in 2 pushes.
They put him on my stomach. He was blue and they were rubbing him vigorously. We heard a peep. They kept rubbing and then we heard his glorious crying and he started to pink up.
When I first looked at him I thought: “Where is the rest of him?!?! He is sooo tiny!” Compared to my other boys, he was teeny! My husband cut the cord and they used the cord blood to run tests to confirm the genetic testing from earlier in the pregnancy.
We just laid and cuddled for a good hour or so. I didn’t have to push or anything for the placenta. They worked on me and I cuddled the baby. They had blood on hand and used preventative measures to help ensure no hemorrhaging this time. It seemed to work because I was fine. Another crisis from kid #5 averted (It is shocking to me I chose to do this again after the horror that was #5’s birth! Seriously, it was only on faith that I did this again!)
Once they were done, they left us for a while. We didn’t take any pictures or video, Just lived in the moment with our new little one.
They eventually came back in to weigh him and examen him, etc. They came to take him, and he had pooped ALL over himself and I. I hadn’t even noticed (I was numb and it was under a blanket.) They cleaned us both up.
He was 6lbs 15oz- Yep, much smaller than my 9lb boys! Heavenly Father knew I needed a tiny baby to love on as my last baby 🙂 I am sure if he had stayed in that extra time, he would have been closer to that 9lb mark!
They eventually got us ready to move to the recovery rooms. That is when they ripped the epidural off my back. OH MY FREAKING GOODNESS! It hurt worse than labor. (That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it REALLY HURT!) It was stuck on there good! If you read my last post, you know what happens later. I even stuck to the wheelchair from all the adhesive left on my back. At least it was a really good epidural (seriously, the best one I’ve had! It put my success/failure rate for epidurals at 50%)
We basically spent the next day doing skin to skin cuddling. He LOVES skin to skin. His siblings came to visit him twice. #5, the toddler, was not happy the 1st time, but did MUCH better the second time!
They took him for an ultrasound mid-day. My husband went with him. He said they thoroughly examed him for that kidney. The on-call pediatrician (the one I REALLY liked – see the previous post – she was cool) came in a few hours later to tell us the news: THEY FOUND THE KIDNEY! AND IT WAS WORKING! (As far as they could tell!)
It was VERY good news. Apparently, the kidney is hiding in his pelvis. It appears to be working, just in the pelvis. This actually isn’t horribly uncommon.
The funny thing is, I am pretty sure this pelvic kidney is going to be more trouble than having no kidney. We have to go for ultrasounds to make sure that the kidney is functioning and doesn’t cause trouble where it is. He has to have them at least every year (a little more often right now – I think we need 2-3 during the first year) and then every other year once he is a teenager. We have to go to a special Children’s Hospital to get the ultrasounds done. So yeah! He has the kidney, but we have to get it checked on often to make sure it is working and not causing problems. But hey, at least he has a spare now!
We ended up staying until the end of the next day, because he couldn’t keep his blood sugar up. We ended up having to supplement him until my milk came in. Luckily, my milk came in the next day, so we didn’t have to supplement for long!
But staying longer did get me more cheesecake, so I guess it was all good 🙂
We don’t have the results of the cord blood, confirming the other diagnosis – that takes a bit longer. But honestly, I don’t care much/aren’t holding my breath. It won’t affect him for years to come. He is here now, he is healthy, and I can kiss his chubby cheeks. 🙂
