Labor 10/31/10 and Delivery 11/01/10

10/31/10. Got a call from the hospital at 7:45am to com in. Got there around 9:00am. The first hour they hooked me up to the machines, had me settle in, etc. Around 10:30am they began the Misoprostol (a cervix ripener). I was attached to fetal monitors and was not allowed to get out of bed for two hours following insertion. After4 hours they examined me and I had not made much progress (70% effaced but 1 cm dilated). Dr. Wong decided to give me another dose of Misoprostol and repeat the process for another 4 hours. As you can see in no pain yet. Although I was having contractions, I could not really feel them.


10/31/10. At 6:30pm I was examined again and not much progress was made in terms of cervix. It was decided to start the pitocin at this point. An IV was inserted and pitocin started a mild dose and slowly increased. It was not painful at first and time continued to go by. We were waiting all night and pitocin was slowly increased. Around 3:30am I was in a lot of pain from contractions and woke John up and got my nurse. We tried some natural pain relief methods (such as massage, breathing, balance ball, walking) to no avail. By early morning hours I decided to try a narcotic to help pain. Although it did provide some relief between contractions it was still very painful so around 9:30am on 11/1/10 (23 hours in labor) we opted for an epidural. At this point I was 4 cm dilated.

The pain was completely relieved and I was able to nap. While I took it easy they were able to crank up the pitocin and labor was really under way. Before I knew it, it was the early afternoon and I was fully dilated and ready to go. They broke my water, turned down the epidural and at 2:30pm I began to push. This is where it became very challenging and I had to dig deep to make it through the final phase. I did some hyperventilating and only John and the nurse were in the room to help me calm my breathing and push effectively. It was one of the most difficult things I have done. I was in a lot of pain and could feel contractions. Pushing was exhausting and I had no idea how long it would last. The only thing that helped was having John there to support me and to dab my face with a cold wash cloth.





11/01/10. The final pushes were a relief because I could feel him and knew the end was near. A few final pushes with the doctor present and he was here! It was painful, but all worth it because at 3:33pm John Theodore Schild was born!!! He was 20 inches long and weighed 8.03lbs.




He really took my breath away. Nothing else mattered at that moment when I set eyes on him. Not the pain, how tired I was. I was in awe at this little person John and I had created.




He was measured and examined and was perfect in every way.




Down to his little toes!




JT had a tough day too and was tired immediately.



Here he is getting his first bath.




Mommy was extremely tired too.



Happy birthday little one and welcome to the world!




11/02/10. On day 2 we found out JT had a bit of jaundice and his bilirubin count was 7.7. It was projected to be over 20 at day 3, which is the cut-off so they began intervention of light therapy and formula feeding. All this was a bit overwhelming, but John did our best to handle it in stride and do everything they recommended that was in the best interest of our son.




11/4/10. We made it home on Wednesday 11/3/10. We were discharged from the hospital around 1:30pm with a biliblaket (light blanket to continue with his treatment for jaudice). For a while we didn't know if we would leave without him, so it was a relief to go home together. The first day and night were overwhelming. Any pattern we had in the hospital was out the window. But slowly things got better, we started to adjust, and get into our little groove. This picture is in the morning after an early feeding. JT is such a sweet, mellow baby. He is so content here (as usual). He rarely cries unless hungry and has adapted so well given the circumstances. He is breast feeding like a champ and switching back and forth from bottle, formula, to breast with ease. We are very lucky and so blessed!





More pictures of our big boy to come...