First off. The baby has arrived. He's amazing! It was not easy. I'm going to recount the first four of the past six days all in this one post. This is the first chance I've had to really sit down and write all this out.
Here Goes!
Day 1, Monday, March 20th 2006Betsy woke me at 7am to tell me that she was having some severe abdominal pain. It had been hurting since around 5am, when she got out of bed to use the bathroom, and the pain was progressively getting worse. We were pretty confident that we were not dealing with labor pains because the pain was constant. I made the decision to go immediately to the hospital when Betsy began vomiting. I called the Doctor and let them know we were coming.
Of course we were stuck behind slow cars on two lane streets, but we got to the hospital and were rushed right into a room. All the standard tests were administered. Fetal heart rate monitor, contraction monitor, blood work, urine tests, etc. Initially, the gall bladder was the suspect of the pain. As Betsy writhed in pain the nurses knew we were dealing with something serious. Betsy was admitted, and given stadol (a synthetic opiod) to ease her pain. The drug worked within seconds. After about thirty seconds, Betsy said; "Oh that feels a lot better." twenty seconds later she was snoring.
They then took her for an ultrasound to determine the source of the pain and the cause. It was determined that she had preeclampsia. preeclampsia is a pregnancy related disease marked by high blood pressure, swelling, and in severe cases, upper gastric pain caused by the swelling of the liver as it copes with the problem. The true cause of the disease is not known in any who suffer from it. Betsy showed no signs of the disease until that morning when it was in a very advanced state known as HELP syndrome. HELP syndrome means that the blood platelet level is low and clotting ability is lessened.
The only cure for preeclampsia is delivery. Fortunately for Betsy and the baby, the pregnancy was full term and labor could be induced. So that's exactly what they did. They began inducing labor. They also had to administer magnesium sulfate (a smooth muscle relaxer) to prevent seizures. Seizures being another dangerous (for mother and baby alike) complication of preeclampsia. While the magnesium prevents seizures it also makes the recipient feel awful. Like they have the flu. Also, the magnesium counter acts the drug given to promote contractions and induce the labor (pitosin). So we were locked in a balancing act of these two drugs doing their things .
Slowly but surely, Betsy progressed through the stages of labor. The cervix dilated and thinned. Betsy received an epidural around 4pm after the stadol began to ware off and she started to experience the full force of her induced contractions. The epidural worked like a champ. So we waited. And waited. And waited. All the while Betsy's and the baby's health were strictly monitored and attended to. The nursing staff was amazing.
Day 2, Tuesday, March 21st 2006Around 1:30am the nurse examined Betsy and decided that she was fully dilated and ready to begin pushing. So we did. The Nurse instructed me to hold one of Betsy's legs toward her chest while she held the other. During a contraction, Betsy was instructed to take a deep breath in, hold it, and PUSH!. Then let it out and do it again. Did this three to four times per contraction (usually four). We did this for about two hours. The time between contractions was longer than normal at the pushing stage. This was mostly because of the intravenous cocktail being delivered into Betsy's left hand. The long pauses (two to four minutes) allowed Betsy to rest in between pushing, but it also prolonged the end result. Often the nurse left it up to me to watch for contractions and coach Betsy through the pushes while she went off to help other patients, get stuff for us, and ultimately to get the doctor.
Around 3am the nurse began to see the baby's head and she pointed it out to me. After a couple more rounds of pushing the head was even closer. It was easily visible and the nurse (Melissa) went to get the doctor. By 3:20 Betsy, Melissa, and I were joined by The doctor and two more nurses. One nurse to assist the doctor and one nurse to perform all the necessary diagnostic exams on the baby once he was delivered.
After just a few more contractions and a dozen or so awesome pushes, the Baby's head was out. Followed very soon by the rest of his body. 3:50 am Jackson Scott Birdsong was born. It was the single most amazing moment of Betsy's and My life. Jackson was briefly placed on Betsy's chest and then whisked away to be cleaned up tested for all his vitals and reflexes.
Meanwhile, Betsy had a frightening crash. Remember those platelets we talked about? A small tear in the perineum resulted in a significant amount of blood loss. Betsy's blood pressure plummetted and she all but fainted. The doctor acted fast and stopped the bleeding. Betsy's pressure stabilized and she came back around. It was scary, but Betsy's tough.
After they finished checking on Jackson and tending to Betsy's situation, one of the nurses brought us our son and we finally got to see just how perfect he is.
We alerted the family (some of whom were already in the waiting room) and let the games begin. After a brief visit from Betsy's mom and sisters and my mom, Betsy fed the baby and we tried to get a little rest. We spent pretty much all of Tuesday showing him off to all the visiting family and friends. Everyone agreed that he is the cutest baby ever to have been born.
After everyone had come and gone and Betsy and Jackson learned how to breastfeed some more, the nurse took him for a bath and we drifted off for some much overdue sleep.
Day 3, Wednesday, March 22nd 2006 Day Three was Betsy's birthday and her first gift was more sleep than expected. The nurse checked on the three of us all night. She said we were all snoring and happy so she didn't wake us. So we got about four hours sleep. The second and more important gift, was finding out that the magnesium drip had finally been turned off and Betsy could now eat. She had gone since Sunday night without eating anything other than ice. They brought her a huge breakfast of eggs, bacon, grits, and a bagel with cream cheese. After that they kept the food coming.
We spent most of the day admiring our son and getting updates on Betsy's health. She was progressively getting better but she was very sick. Because of the blood loss, her hemoglobin count was real low and therefore she's real pale and a little weak. Blood supply just takes time to replenish. In about 4 weeks, she should be good as new.
Wednesday evening we had a party! You can't have a birthday without a party.
We had cakes and balloons and presents and a nice visit from the family. Not bad for a birthday party in a hospital bed.
After everyone went home, we relaxed and watched tv. I eventually fell asleep and stayed that way until morning. Betsy was less fortunate. She continually fed Jackson and tried to get little cat naps. She got a little sleep, but could have used a lot more.
Day 4, Thursday, March 23rd 2006 We had heard a rumor the night before that we may get to go home the next day. Thursday morning that rumor was confirmed. Very excited yet very scary news. "We get to go home!?" "Oh crap! we gotta leave all this help and care and wisdom." We didn't know exactly when we would go home but we knew it would be after the pediatrician visited one last time. We knew she was coming after lunch time so we made the calls for help. We had gained a ton of new stuff in the course of a few days. Beautiful flowers and balloons and gifts. We sent stuff home with Betsy's dad. We had my mom take the car to the fire department to have the baby seat checked out and then we loaded her car with stuff.
A nurse came in and gave Betsy all the info she needed to go home and was officially discharged. A little later the pediatrician came and gave Jackson the green light for going home.
So that was it. We collected the rest of our things and loaded them into the car. We figured out how to put a real live baby into a carseat. Then we mustered up some final courage and left.
I would like to say that the nursing staff and the doctors at the hospital were amazing! Everyone was so great. We will never be able to thank them enough.
To be continued...
