Friday, October 29, 2010

How he got his name

Originally we were going to name our baby Milo Glen Andrus. Milo is David's great great....grandpa's name and Glen is my grandpa's name (my fathers father).
Well I wasn't totally convinced that this was his name, and later I found out David felt the same way.
Well everyone knows that we are both Harry Potter fans and so jokingly David and I were saying that if the baby came during Harry Potter we would give her a middle name of Lily or him a middle name of James (for those who may not know - Harry Potter's parents' first names).
Well both David and I said we didn't like Milo for his first name and we both said we actually really liked the name James. And it turns out that James is actually a family name. Once we figured it out it was like that was his name! There was no second guessing this time.
But we couldn't get rid of Milo or Glen so we decided to be a bit unconventional and give him both as middle names.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

James Milo Glen



It is a little long but I do recommend reading it

OK here is the story starting Monday morning...
Monday I had another NST and a doctors check up. When I got to the office one of the nurses said "You're STILL pregnant!!!" and the NST tech came out and was surprised to see me she though for sure that they were inducing me the week before.
During the NST there was nothing interesting happening, and that was the problem he wasn't really responding to stimulation but he did have a strong heartbeat. Then I went back to see the doctor and he walked and in and before I could say anything he said lets just get this thing done! I had a slightly high blood pressure and with James not really doing much it was finally enough to get him out.
When I left the office I was 85% effaced and 3cm dilated.
I got to the hospital and the nurses here were so happy to see me again. And Amy Garner (Taren's mom) was my nurse and she was really happy that they were finally inducing me.
I got all hooked up and the started the Pitocin and I got my epidural (so I can say that I never really felt a "real" contraction). The external monitors weren't really picking anything up on my contractions and then they kept loosing James' heart beat, so they wanted to break my water to get internal monitoring going. Well right when they were going to check me to see if it would be ok to break my water it broke on it's own so they got James hooked up and we were able to get a constant rate.
Well every time they tried to turn up the Pit James got angry and dropped his heart rate. So they put it on the lowest setting. I was just not making any progress I was now only a 3.5cm.
Then all of a sudden James decided to scare everyone and dropped his heart rate all the way down to the low 60s. I had several nurses run in they helped switch to my other side got me on oxygen and laid me completely flat. The doctor came in and checked me and since his heart rate went back up he decided that I didn't need to go straight back to the operating room. I was now only at a 4. So the decision was made that I was just not having good enough contractions on my own but the Pit made James angry so I was going to get a C-section. I was ok with this because I had already prepared myself for the possibility.
They up'ed my epidermal and wheeled me in to get started. Although I got the really bad shakes from the high dosage so they had to cover me in a blanket that blew hot air across my chest and arms.
And then at 12:44 am October 26th I heard one of the most wonderful sounds! James finally made his appearance! I barley got to see him and then he was gone but David followed him to get all cleaned up, and I got all stitched up. I have 17 staples in my tummy! James was 8 lbs 5 oz and 20 inches.
(Oh and I can have a VBAC if I want to when I do have other children.)
After getting all stitched and cleaned I had to stay in labor and delivery while James was downstairs waiting in the nursery. I was monitored for an hour and then was taken down stairs where I had to wait another 30 minutes before they could bring him in.
But oh man when they did I could barely see him through my tears of joy. I was just so happy to finally have him in my arms and knowing that I could keep him!
Since it was like 4 in the morning I decided that I just wanted to keep James in the room for the rest of the night. But I could not sleep at all I just wanted to stare at him.
A few hours later and some sleep I finally got all the feeling back in my legs. I was doing so well that they actually took me off my IV and took out my catheter sooner, the nurses say, then most women.

David and I just adore our little James. He really is a blessing from Heavenly Father and we are just in awww that he would send us someone so perfect. He really is amazing and wonderful.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Section C


12:20 am - They took Megan out (I followed of course) and got her in to surgery.

12:30 am - Surgery begins

12:44 am - James Milo Glen Andrus gets his first view of the world. A bunch of people in green scrubs and some really bright lights. He's 8 pounds 5 ounces and 20 inches long.

2:20 - I'm currently sitting in Megan's room as she recovers from the c section. She should be able to finally really see the baby soon. I have tons of video and pictures on my phone.


Monday, October 25, 2010

Tonight's the night...

10:30 pm - Baby's heartrate dropped pretty low (60 bpm - that's bad) and the nurses practically ran in. Got Megan turned and on oxygen and everything went back to normal. Doctor came in and talked about a caesarean section.

11:30 pm - Doctor came in, we talked for a few minutes and decided to go for the C section.

12:13 am - I'm in my scrubs - I look like a dork or maybe like I'm going to be heading into an Intel chip fabrication plant. We'll be seeing the baby soon!

Getting Closer

4:15 pm - Water broke during a cervical exam, monitor put directly on the baby

5:00 pm - Baby's heart rate has had several irregular drops. Megan put on oxygen. Pitocin drip stopped. Nothing to be seriously worried about.

6:15 pm - Pitocin restarted. Megan and the baby are doing great. Got some good contractions going.

7:15 pm - Megan's off the oxygen, contractions are nice and strong and Megan feels great thanks to the epidural. Baby and mom are still doing fine, no worries here (just one very antsy dad!).

It's Baby time!

Ok to kick things off I will write the first blog and then David will be doing the rest.
9:40 am - Doctors appt and NST, The doctor came in and said that it was finally time to go to the hospital to stay this time. I was not in real active labor but they were going to go ahead and induce

11:30 am - Admitted to the hospital, I got to the hospital got all hooked up and started an IV

1:00 pm - They have started the pitocin

3:15 pm - Got the epidural and feeling all nice and numb

Saturday, October 23, 2010

4 days in the hospital

Ug What do I say really?
Well today was the 4th day in a row that I was sent to the hospital. (I did not go in on my own will but the will of the doctors)
The hospital called this morning telling me I needed to come back in today because my strip from yesterday was reviewed again and the doctor wanted to monitor me again.
Well I went in and got all hooked up and the nurse said well we are going to induce you we just have to monitor you for a little bit to get a good strip. Well then the doctor changed his mind everything was looking "good" so he was just going to send me home. Well I was not leaving without talking to him. Meanwhile my awesome nurses were doing everything they could to convince the doctor not to send me home saying that I did need to be induced. The baby even had a couple heart rate drops but I guess nothing was going to convince the doctor to induce me.

Ok so I know everyone is telling me that being induced is a lot longer and more painful. I know that it's better for me to start things on my own. But with EVERYTHING that has been going on: High Blood Pressure, the amount of fluid I'm retaining, the baby's heart rate....I would think they would want to get this baby out!
I also know that the chances of a C-section go up as well.
When the doctor came in he said (again) that I have a really big baby and that my chances of doing a C-section is already higher then normal.

I would be ok with things if it weren't the same thing over and over again. Every time I am sent to the hospital they keep saying oh today we are going to induce! Then after 2-4 hours of waiting and waiting they decide last minute to not induce.

It's just emotionally draining when you keep thinking and being told today is the day I get to meet my baby.