Stotts and Tots: January 2013

Milo Andrew Stott

7lbs 5oz -- 19.5in -- 12/11/12 -- 4:04pm

*If you want the short version skip to the end.

It was a week past my due date when we headed to the hospital to be induced. I had already been there once for false labor so a part of me felt like this still wasn't going to produce a baby. As much as I told myself I wasn't leaving that hospital without a baby, it still didn't get real for quite a while.

We got to the hospital early so we could 'hurry up and wait.' We waited for over 3 hours just to get my room. There must have been love in the air 9 months before that night cause that labor and delivery was hoppin'.

We finally got settled in around 8 or 9pm and they started me on Cervidil to get me ready for the induction in the morning. I had heard that many women go into labor just after the Cervidil but I knew better than to get my hopes up. Milo wasn't going to make it that easy. :) I started having irregular contractions after a few hours but nothing really happened until about 1:30am when his heart rate dropped. The nurses rushed in and put oxygen on me and flipped me around to get his heart rate back up. They told me he had been showing some signs of distress during long contractions and that last one was over 2 minutes.

Before then I had considered trying to do this without an epidural. I wasn't anti-epidural by any means, I think I was just curious to see what I could handle and what the fuss was all about :). After this happened I started to seriously consider getting an epidural just for the possibility of a C-section. I knew that if it was an absolute emergency and I didn't have one, they would put me under general anesthesia and I didn't want that.

Well morning came around and at 7:30am with Kyle and Mom by my side, they started the Pitocin. Well we had more 'hurry up and wait' -ing to do. She slowly upped the dosage until I finally started having regular contractions after a few hours. These still weren't too bad. They felt a lot like my Braxton Hicks and I was a little concerned that I wasn't going to progress much since I was only dilated 1cm that morning. Sure enough, after a few hours of these I was still only at a 1 so my doctor decided to break my water. And that's when the fun started!

So THESE are really contractions! I started to feel the pain. I must say it still wasn't awful at this point. After two hours of painful but bearable contractions, I decided to get the epidural. Epidurals are seriously miraculous. I knew they would numb me but I didn't expect such instant relief. I could have been in labor all day if that is what it felt like! I smiled, chatted, and watched jeopardy for the next three hours before my nurse came to check on me. I had dilated to a 3 and was close to 100% effaced when they started the epidural so I expected to be about 5 or 6cm now. I didn't think these contractions could have been very effective since I didn't feel them. But the nurse had barely put her gloves on when she said "Oh! You're nine and a half! It's time to push!"

Everything happened quickly. I think the whole town came into the room with various carts and kits. Mom snapped one last belly pic and Kyle came to hold my hand and I started pushing. We got through two pushes and the nurse said she could see his head when his heart rate dropped again. It was down to the 70s, which is almost to brain damage level. My doctor said she wasn't comfortable having me push in there so she wanted me in the OR just in case. I was rushed to the OR and poor Kyle and Mom were left in a completely empty room with no real idea what was going on. Once they hooked up my monitors in the OR it was clear that Milo was still not tolerating labor so Dr. Thompson said "We're cutting!" and it was go time. I could feel them pouring buckets of betadine on my stomach and I had people asking my name and DOB and putting a hair net on me and putting up curtains and upping my epidural strength and then I felt the doc tugging and pulling at my belly. And then I heard those glorious cries.

I must say that even when his heart rate dropped and they decided to do a c-section, I still never thought anything would be wrong with Milo. Somehow, I just knew he would be fine. And he was more than fine. He was perfect.

It was about then that the nurse said "Oh crap! I forgot Dad!" Poor Kyle was still back in the room so she went to get him in a gown and bring him in. He got to see Milo first and he brought him over to me. I kept telling him to bring him closer so finally the nurse said "Here's how you do it," and grabbed Milo and put him right next to my face. I was so happy to see my sweet baby boy after all this time. It wasn't the birth experience I had anticipated but it really didn't matter. I left that hospital with a baby. Our little family was all I needed.