Ok, so as I'm sure most of you know, my doctor decided it would be best to induce labor on Tuesday, June 8 in the afternoon. Which was funny, because when I got to the hospital, the nurse told me I had dilated to a 4 since being in my doctor's office that morning, putting me into the definition of "active labor". Of course, who knows how long I would have been in that on my own! We were anticipating Gabriel's arrival sometime that evening. Not so! Gabriel apparently did not want to share a birthday with his Uncle Kevin, and opted instead to wait for awhile so he could have his own special day . . .
The afternoon ticked by with gradually increasing contraction strength. It was about 7:00 when I decided to get an epidural. After my epidural took effect and I no longer had to focus on contractions increasing in frequency and strength, I realized that it had been quite a while since I ate. It's amazing what your mind can do with a simple shift of focus!
I was tired at that point, but it was a comfort to know that my doctor was standing by in the wings since it was after his office closed. I was pretty worried about his drive across town if things were to happen similar to last time. Which apparently was a valid concern. At 11:55 pm on Tuesday, I was dilated to an 8 and feeling "stuck", like this could go on for at least a couple more hours. At midnight, I suddenly started feeling the pushing urge and called for a nurse. I had dilated to 10 and given the go ahead to start pushing. At 12:13, Gabriel was born. Unfortunately, though a quick delivery may be nice for me, it can make it to where the baby does not have enough transition time to prepare to breath on the outside. Also, the pushing process helps babies clear the fluid out of their lungs. In combination with the fact that Gabriel had his cord wrapped around his neck twice and his body once, there was a little bit of a scary moment for us as we watched them work over Gabriel's increasingly blue body. They rushed him out to the nursery once they got him breathing sufficiently with Philip close behind. I however, had to stay in bed, waiting for my epidural to wear off and perform several "tasks" to make sure I was ok. Fortunately, my nurses knew I was concerned about the situation and helped me to quickly pass inspection so I could go down to the nursery and see the baby boy I'd been waiting 9 months for.
When I was finally able to get to the nursery, they updated me on Gabe's condition. They had pulled 8 CCs of fluid from his lungs and had to put him under what is called an oxygen hood. Basically, it surrounds the baby with a greater concentration of oxygen than our normal air so they can keep more oxygen saturation in their bodies. We waited for awhile in the nursery, and then they told me that they were going to have to give him an IV and advised me to leave because it's a hard thing to watch. I obliged, knowing it was probably better that I wasn't in there, but wanting to stay with him anyway. Philip and I went back to the room and tried to get a little bit of rest since we were both pretty exhausted.
When we awoke in the morning, we kept hoping that they would tell us that Gabriel was doing enough better that they could take him off the oxygen and we could hold him. I was also concerned at this point as to whether or not I was going to be able to nurse him and hoping that it wouldn't mess anything up permanently since I hadn't been able to start right away like is recommended. Fortunately, later that day, we were finally able to hold our little man and eventually I was allowed to nurse. They gradually weaned him off the IV the more I was able to nurse and, like Callie, he was a natural! One of the nurses said that he needed to go from room to room and teach the other babies how to nurse! haha!
Of course, everyone wants to know the stats. Gabriel Allen Booker was born at 12:13 am on June 9, 2010 at 8 pounds 2 ounces and was 19 inches long according the hospital. However, when he was 5 days old, I had to take him to his doctor in Roanoke, who measured him at 21 inches. Philip said that the initial stats were taken quickly as they were trying to get him under his oxygen hood and could have easily been messed up, especially trying to get him sufficiently stretched to take an accurate measurement.
The next surprise was that instead of a 24-hour discharge policy, like I had prepared for, the hospital had a new 48-hour discharge policy. Despite my feelings for staying in the hospital, it actually worked out for the best that while they were still performing tests on Gabe, they weren't trying to discharge me from the hospital. While the hour round trip would have been fun while I was on driving restriction and trying to nurse a baby every 2 hours, I was glad to have a staff cook and clean for me and remind me to take my medications for a little bit longer than I first expected.
Callie came to see Gabriel and me in the hospital one time -- it was a little overwhelming for her to see me in there so we decided it might be an easier transition for her if the next time she saw us, we would be comfortably at home. I missed my little girl terribly, but it was good to have some alone time with Gabe to start off with.
Since then, we've had a couple long nights and a couple stressful days trying to keep up with both Callie and Gabriel. But for the most part, balancing the both of them has been doable and Gabe is a great sleeper. On a typical night, he wakes up once during the night and once in the early morning, usually right before Callie wakes up and then he sleeps for another hour or two after Callie is up. We've been very grateful for the sleep we've gotten, as many people have told me, probably well deserved after what we went through with Callie's sleep habits (or lack there of). We have a little bit of fussy time in the morning, and a little bit more after 8:00 pm, but the rest of the day, we have a pretty easy-going little man who is happy to watch his big sister run around and a big sister who is happy to help with her new, living, breathing, squirming "baby doll".
I hope that you've had a great week so far and that you have a great weekend! God bless you and yours! Have a fun-filled weekend!
The afternoon ticked by with gradually increasing contraction strength. It was about 7:00 when I decided to get an epidural. After my epidural took effect and I no longer had to focus on contractions increasing in frequency and strength, I realized that it had been quite a while since I ate. It's amazing what your mind can do with a simple shift of focus!
I was tired at that point, but it was a comfort to know that my doctor was standing by in the wings since it was after his office closed. I was pretty worried about his drive across town if things were to happen similar to last time. Which apparently was a valid concern. At 11:55 pm on Tuesday, I was dilated to an 8 and feeling "stuck", like this could go on for at least a couple more hours. At midnight, I suddenly started feeling the pushing urge and called for a nurse. I had dilated to 10 and given the go ahead to start pushing. At 12:13, Gabriel was born. Unfortunately, though a quick delivery may be nice for me, it can make it to where the baby does not have enough transition time to prepare to breath on the outside. Also, the pushing process helps babies clear the fluid out of their lungs. In combination with the fact that Gabriel had his cord wrapped around his neck twice and his body once, there was a little bit of a scary moment for us as we watched them work over Gabriel's increasingly blue body. They rushed him out to the nursery once they got him breathing sufficiently with Philip close behind. I however, had to stay in bed, waiting for my epidural to wear off and perform several "tasks" to make sure I was ok. Fortunately, my nurses knew I was concerned about the situation and helped me to quickly pass inspection so I could go down to the nursery and see the baby boy I'd been waiting 9 months for.
When I was finally able to get to the nursery, they updated me on Gabe's condition. They had pulled 8 CCs of fluid from his lungs and had to put him under what is called an oxygen hood. Basically, it surrounds the baby with a greater concentration of oxygen than our normal air so they can keep more oxygen saturation in their bodies. We waited for awhile in the nursery, and then they told me that they were going to have to give him an IV and advised me to leave because it's a hard thing to watch. I obliged, knowing it was probably better that I wasn't in there, but wanting to stay with him anyway. Philip and I went back to the room and tried to get a little bit of rest since we were both pretty exhausted.
When we awoke in the morning, we kept hoping that they would tell us that Gabriel was doing enough better that they could take him off the oxygen and we could hold him. I was also concerned at this point as to whether or not I was going to be able to nurse him and hoping that it wouldn't mess anything up permanently since I hadn't been able to start right away like is recommended. Fortunately, later that day, we were finally able to hold our little man and eventually I was allowed to nurse. They gradually weaned him off the IV the more I was able to nurse and, like Callie, he was a natural! One of the nurses said that he needed to go from room to room and teach the other babies how to nurse! haha!
Of course, everyone wants to know the stats. Gabriel Allen Booker was born at 12:13 am on June 9, 2010 at 8 pounds 2 ounces and was 19 inches long according the hospital. However, when he was 5 days old, I had to take him to his doctor in Roanoke, who measured him at 21 inches. Philip said that the initial stats were taken quickly as they were trying to get him under his oxygen hood and could have easily been messed up, especially trying to get him sufficiently stretched to take an accurate measurement.
The next surprise was that instead of a 24-hour discharge policy, like I had prepared for, the hospital had a new 48-hour discharge policy. Despite my feelings for staying in the hospital, it actually worked out for the best that while they were still performing tests on Gabe, they weren't trying to discharge me from the hospital. While the hour round trip would have been fun while I was on driving restriction and trying to nurse a baby every 2 hours, I was glad to have a staff cook and clean for me and remind me to take my medications for a little bit longer than I first expected.
Callie came to see Gabriel and me in the hospital one time -- it was a little overwhelming for her to see me in there so we decided it might be an easier transition for her if the next time she saw us, we would be comfortably at home. I missed my little girl terribly, but it was good to have some alone time with Gabe to start off with.
Since then, we've had a couple long nights and a couple stressful days trying to keep up with both Callie and Gabriel. But for the most part, balancing the both of them has been doable and Gabe is a great sleeper. On a typical night, he wakes up once during the night and once in the early morning, usually right before Callie wakes up and then he sleeps for another hour or two after Callie is up. We've been very grateful for the sleep we've gotten, as many people have told me, probably well deserved after what we went through with Callie's sleep habits (or lack there of). We have a little bit of fussy time in the morning, and a little bit more after 8:00 pm, but the rest of the day, we have a pretty easy-going little man who is happy to watch his big sister run around and a big sister who is happy to help with her new, living, breathing, squirming "baby doll".
I hope that you've had a great week so far and that you have a great weekend! God bless you and yours! Have a fun-filled weekend!
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