Fisher Haus: Labor and Delivery

As you know, Brady came 15 days late! He was quite comfy in there so on Monday, April 1, 2013 we checked into the hospital for induction. We were set to check in at 7am until we received a 5am call that they had an influx of "natural" births and they didn't have a nurse available for me since mine was considered "elective"...hmmm pretty sure 15 days past due doesn't stay in the realm of "elective" but who am I to say. So we called the parents, let them know about the delay and went to breakfast instead.

Just as we put our order in I got the call that they found a nurse and it was time to check in, so after one last meal we jumped in the car and were off to the hospital. As soon as we got there it was straight down to business. Within the first 30 minutes they confirmed I was having contractions, I just couldn't feel them yet so my doctor showed up to break my bag of water - which was an interesting experience. Not sure what I expected but it was definitely different than I had anticipated. Next they gave me a small dose of petocin to get the contractions to come. As we waited, I was entertained by Brett, my parents and Jamie and Jackie. As I'd start to feel a contraction we'd watch the monitors to see if that was in fact what I was feeling. Once they got stronger it was almost like a game to see how high it would spike on the monitor.

When the doctors came in to check on me they determined I was much to "chipper" and didn't have "the look" quite yet so they upped the dosage. Brett and I then took a walk around the floor to help things along and within a quarter of our walk I started to understand what they meant. By the time I made it back to the room I had successfully gotten the "look" they were waiting for and it was straight to bed for me where I rolled over on my side and buried my face in a pillow till they finally used those magic words, "would you like the epidural now?" Yes please! I hadn't realized I had already been laboring for about 3 hours without it - the contractions had come on fast and furious and by the time they gave me the epidural I was already 9 centimeters and just about ready to start pushing.

Turns out they had to wait to give me the epidural because the anesthesiologist on the floor was in a c-section so they had to get another one in for me. I have to say I am not one for needles, but with the intensity of my contractions I never even felt the needle. We had a little difficulty with it working properly at first, only my right side went numb, my left side was still fully going through labor so they had to re-position the catheter and gave me a little extra - which left me completely numb from the waist down. I know this because after that I was feeling mighty fine and the family was invited back in for a quick visit at which point my lovely sister-in-law pointed out that my leg had fallen off the table! I had felt a little off center but had no idea I was hanging half off the table so with a little help from the family I was put back into place.

Shortly there after we were ready to start pushing so the family went to the waiting room and Brett and I got ready to welcome our little man to the world. Unfortunately, as our little drama king likes to do, things didn't go smoothly. After the first push I was resting and didn't notice that the room had filled with doctors and nurses. I didn't realize anything was wrong until a oxygen mask went on and as I rolled over to look at Brett I noticed the new entourage surrounding us. Turns out Brady's little heart couldn't take the stress and it became apparent something was wrong with the umbilical cord. We waited for an hour to give him a rest and tried to push once more but it became clear we couldn't move forward without some risk to Brady so we opted for to head into a c-section. As it turns out the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck so I'm glad we played it safe because as soon as they pulled him out we heard the most beautiful cry of all time letting us know everything was okay!

After couple hours in the recovery room we were marched down the hall with a parade of a family to follow us to welcome Brady to the world!

Here are some photos from the big day!