So on the 29th of December we found out that the little Kung Fu fighter inside Alisha's belly, who had been head down the whole pregnancy, thought that his mom and dad were a little too relaxed about his upcoming arrival. At the baby check up we were informed that he had flipped himself and was now breech. The doctor informed us that because Alisha was just shy of 37 weeks that she was at an ideal time for them to attempt a procedure to rotate Owen and reposition him head down but it needed to be done as soon as possible. This was good news but there were potential complications and a likelihood that we might have to have Owen the same day of the procedure. The relaxation about Owen's arrival quickly slipped away. We weren't ready for him to come yet because we had no one to watch Collin. Grandma wasn't scheduled to arrive for another four days but the doctor wanted the procedure done in one to two days. The weather forecast was calling for rain, turning to freezing rain, turning to snow with winds and temperatures below zero. Not the type of conditions we wanted grandma to drive 330 miles through.
We called grandma at 4pm and informed her of the situation. As usual, grandma dropped what she was doing, packed her bags, and drove up the next morning to beat the weather and help out with Collin. Collin was thrilled that Gram was up visiting him and took every opportunity to drag her around the house and get picked up by her. When the nurses got back to us with a time for the procedure, the earliest available time was Monday morning. Since grandma was with us, Alisha and I took the opportunity to go see the new Harry Potter movie on New Years eve, which we had planned to see 4 weeks earlier but instead decided a trip to the Midland hospital would be a better course of action.
So after a relaxing new years eve we were awakened by Collin at 1:30 am. I went down to put him back down. After a drink of water Collin did a great impression of the little girl in the exorcist and I needed new clothes and a shower. Unfortunately our little guy had picked up a stomach bug and spent the entire night/early morning throwing up. So the weekend was spent feeding Collin bland foods and trying to keep him from becoming dehydrated. Things got worse though when grandma and I came down with the bug on Sunday afternoon and night.
As we were making our way up to labor and delivery all we could do was hope that all the kicking and punching Owen had been doing over the previous days was his attempt to turn himself around. After being placed in an observation room and answering what seemed like 12 million questions the doctor finally rolled in the ultrasound to check how the Owen was lying. With a pile of gel on Alisha's belly the doctor quickly found his head and determined he had returned himself to a downward position. I breathed a sigh of relief. Although I was keeping fluids down I was exhausted. We went home where I took a long nap and Alisha went to work for a critical meeting that she had.
The calm quickly dissipated as Alisha told me that the contractions were fast and hard and we had to leave now. Bags were grab and thrown in the car, grandma was informed that we were leaving, and we were off. After a little excessive speed and a number of stoplights treated as stop signs, we made it to the hospital. I dropped her off at the ER entrance and a nurse wheeled her off to labor and delivery while I parked the car. I drove to the ramp entrance and hit the button for a ticket only to be informed by the machine that it was out of tickets. An empty ramp in front of me and I couldn't get in. So I backed up and went to the other entrance. Luckily this one was open and I was able to park the car. I then sprinted to get into the hospital assuming that the baby was going to pop out as Alisha was pushed up to Labor and Delivery by the amount of pain that she was in. Since it was 3am in the morning I was greeted by locked doors on our normal route into the hospital. This left me sprinting around the outside of the parking ramp to get back to the Emergency entrance which is all that is opened after hours. The one benefit of all the running and adrenaline was that it was easy to ignore the subzero temperatures of the day.
Thankfully when I got up to labor and delivery Alisha was not sitting there with a baby in her lap. Unfortunately she was still sitting in front of reception and in an immense amount of pain. After a few minutes they got us in a room. Luckily we didn't wait any longer to come in. We found out later that that they closed the ward after we arrived because they were at capacity.
The nurse who wheeled us to our room was the same nurse who was there when Collin was born. After Alisha informed her that she would really like an epidural it seemed like time slowed down. Where was the nurse, the midwife, a doctor, anesthesiologist? It seemed like we had been abandoned. With contraction every 1 to 2 minutes it seemed like there should be a little more concern. I was sent to find out what was happening. I was told by the nurse that yes everything was progressing and they were getting the necessary people. When she got back in the room the real story arose.
Before they can do anything Alisha needed to be admitted. The midwife needed to check Alisha and determine if she was close enough to delivery for admittance. Once this happened then the nurse could ask 12 million questions and fill out a stack of papers which we had filled out the previous day. Once this was done she could start an IV which was needed before she could get an epidural. Luckily the nurse checked Alisha, looked at the monitors and saw what I think anyone else in the world could have determined, she was going to have a baby soon. She got the cart with the IV and attempted to start and it. Unfortunately she was unsuccessful. She tried on the other arm and also was unsuccessful. Then she called in another nurse who also failed in her attempt. At that point they put a call in to anesthesia for someone to install the IV. Our midwife showed up, and guess what, the baby was coming and soon. SURPRISE!!!! The only hold up was that Alisha needed an IV. After a bit of a wait the midwife gave up on waiting and successfully installed the IV right as there was a knock on the door from anesthesia.
Finally they could start giving her fluids, the antibiotic for Owen, and hopefully an epidural. Once again we had to wait, this time until the antibiotic was in and then 500ml of fluid. By the time this happens it is 4:45. Finally it seems like Alisha will be able to get some pain relief, until the midwife tells us that she is so close that the best relief will be to just have the baby. The midwife has Alisha start pushing and after a few minutes, little progress and a lot of pain, a new decision is made. There is time to get some pain relief. They call in anesthesia and give her an ITN which should last for about 2 hours. I say a little prayer, thanking God that she has some respite from the pain. The belief by the staff was that our newest addition would arrive before the medication wore off.
Owen had different plans though. Time went on, the medication and pain relief wore off, and he wasn't ready to come out yet. Anesthesia came back and this time they put in an epidural. The new course of action was to to sit back and wait. Luckily this allowed Alisha to get a couple hours of rest. She just let her body do the work. It turned out her body was doing a really good job. At one point when the nurses came in to check on her they commented that she was having really strong contractions, so strong and frequent that if they were giving her pitocin they would be turning it down. Not long after that Alisha felt it was time to push. It was 10:05 am and we had been at the hospital just shy of 7 hours. In what seemed like a blink of the eye, although I am sure it felt much longer for Alisha, Owen arrived at 10:39 am.
He entered the world with a loud cry. He quickly quieted down as he was placed on Alisha's chest. We sat there mesmerized by his beauty, amazed at the miracle he is and thankful that everything went well. He was 6 lbs. 8 oz. and 18.75 inches long.
Thankfully when I got up to labor and delivery Alisha was not sitting there with a baby in her lap. Unfortunately she was still sitting in front of reception and in an immense amount of pain. After a few minutes they got us in a room. Luckily we didn't wait any longer to come in. We found out later that that they closed the ward after we arrived because they were at capacity.
The nurse who wheeled us to our room was the same nurse who was there when Collin was born. After Alisha informed her that she would really like an epidural it seemed like time slowed down. Where was the nurse, the midwife, a doctor, anesthesiologist? It seemed like we had been abandoned. With contraction every 1 to 2 minutes it seemed like there should be a little more concern. I was sent to find out what was happening. I was told by the nurse that yes everything was progressing and they were getting the necessary people. When she got back in the room the real story arose.
Before they can do anything Alisha needed to be admitted. The midwife needed to check Alisha and determine if she was close enough to delivery for admittance. Once this happened then the nurse could ask 12 million questions and fill out a stack of papers which we had filled out the previous day. Once this was done she could start an IV which was needed before she could get an epidural. Luckily the nurse checked Alisha, looked at the monitors and saw what I think anyone else in the world could have determined, she was going to have a baby soon. She got the cart with the IV and attempted to start and it. Unfortunately she was unsuccessful. She tried on the other arm and also was unsuccessful. Then she called in another nurse who also failed in her attempt. At that point they put a call in to anesthesia for someone to install the IV. Our midwife showed up, and guess what, the baby was coming and soon. SURPRISE!!!! The only hold up was that Alisha needed an IV. After a bit of a wait the midwife gave up on waiting and successfully installed the IV right as there was a knock on the door from anesthesia.
Finally they could start giving her fluids, the antibiotic for Owen, and hopefully an epidural. Once again we had to wait, this time until the antibiotic was in and then 500ml of fluid. By the time this happens it is 4:45. Finally it seems like Alisha will be able to get some pain relief, until the midwife tells us that she is so close that the best relief will be to just have the baby. The midwife has Alisha start pushing and after a few minutes, little progress and a lot of pain, a new decision is made. There is time to get some pain relief. They call in anesthesia and give her an ITN which should last for about 2 hours. I say a little prayer, thanking God that she has some respite from the pain. The belief by the staff was that our newest addition would arrive before the medication wore off.
Owen had different plans though. Time went on, the medication and pain relief wore off, and he wasn't ready to come out yet. Anesthesia came back and this time they put in an epidural. The new course of action was to to sit back and wait. Luckily this allowed Alisha to get a couple hours of rest. She just let her body do the work. It turned out her body was doing a really good job. At one point when the nurses came in to check on her they commented that she was having really strong contractions, so strong and frequent that if they were giving her pitocin they would be turning it down. Not long after that Alisha felt it was time to push. It was 10:05 am and we had been at the hospital just shy of 7 hours. In what seemed like a blink of the eye, although I am sure it felt much longer for Alisha, Owen arrived at 10:39 am.
He entered the world with a loud cry. He quickly quieted down as he was placed on Alisha's chest. We sat there mesmerized by his beauty, amazed at the miracle he is and thankful that everything went well. He was 6 lbs. 8 oz. and 18.75 inches long.
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