So seeing as I have now written out both Cooper and Chloe's birth stories, it has come time to write out Brodie's. Again, this is mostly for Josh and I to be able to look back on, but I'm sharing it with you lovely folks. (WARNING: Again, gets a little graphic toward the end…)
Brodie's was the most scary of them all. Most women find labor to be at least a little frightening to begin with, and I am one of them, but having pregnancy complications makes it all the more scary. When I hit my last month of pregnancy, 36 weeks, I started developing signs of Pre-Eclampsia, a pregnancy related high blood pressure than can lead to seizures and is very dangerous, even potentially fatal for mom and baby.
The first signs I had were immense swelling in my feet, hands, and face. Before pregnancy I wore a size 7 1/2 shoe, but during that last week I had to buy a pair of size 9s! And I even had to remove all my rings, including my wedding and engagement rings because they had become so tight they were cutting of circulation and causing indentations in my hand.
(My Feet)
Even though I had the swelling, my blood pressure had been normal up until that point but, at about 36 1/2 weeks my blood pressure finally spiked. It wasn't terribly high, but high enough to cause concern, so they had me take home a 24 urine test to check for proteins in my urine. That night, April 28th, I went in to Labor and Delivery feeling like my blood pressure was high. I had headaches and even began to see spots in my vision, two more signs. When I got there and got hooked up, it was in fact high (145/90) (normal is 120/80 or less by the way and normal for ME is 110/60, so for ME this was quite high), but the nurse didn't see it that way. She monitored me and consulted with a doctor, ignoring what I told her about my normal blood pressure, and they decided to send me home since I still had no protein in my urine.
I was mad, and deep down I knew something was not right and things were going to take a turn for the worse at any minute. My motherly instincts were right and they next morning, April 29th, I woke up feeling awful. I had the worst headache ever and the spots in my vision were worse than the night before. I called the nurse at my clinic and she asked me to come in immediately, so I had Josh stay home with the kids and drove myself to clinic, although as I was driving I realized I probably shouldn't be driving myself and the nurse and doctor were even unhappy that I had done so, but I was kind of out of it and really had not thought it through.
That day I had JUST hit 37 weeks and was finally considered "full term". When I got upstairs the nurse saw me right away. She took me into an exam room to check my blood pressure and I saw her eyes get big. She said it was 150/100 and she was going to get my doctor from down the hall. In the meantime she had another nurse check my urine for protein which was now a +2. I had already called my mom right after they told me my blood pressure and she rushed over, so by the time I did the protein test and got back to the exam room, my mom was already there. We could hear the doctor on the phone down the hall with the on-call doctor at the hospital telling him my situation, so at that point we were both pretty sure he was sending me to the hospital. When he came into the exam room our suspicions were confirmed and he told me to go straight to the hospital for induction. I was nervous that I was just barely 37 weeks (even though it's full term and I had both Coop and Chlo at 37 weeks, but they both had jaundice and I'd hoped to keep Brodie in a little longer) and I was especially nervous for Brodie.
Once I got to the hospital they hooked me up to monitors and Brodie looked great and my blood pressure had come down just a little as I rested in bed. We had called my dad and Josh to come to the hospital with Cooper and Chloe and by the time they started my Pitocin (the meds they use to jump start labor and contractions) everyone was there. They started the meds at 2pm and I was only 3cm. A few hours later I got the epidural which helped at first. They checked me at 6pm and I was only 4cm, so I was bummed, but shortly after that my water broke on its own, so I was positive things would go quickly from here.
By 7:20pm I started to feel the contractions again and I'd feel immense pressure "downstairs" every time I'd get a contraction. They sent in the anesthesiologist to give me more meds and try to adjust the epidural, but I was still in TERRIBLE pain, mostly "downstairs". Nothing was working and by 7:45pm I was in tears from the pain and begged the nurse to check me again, even though it had only been 25 minutes since my last check. My mom was still in the room and before the nurse even checked me my mom sent my dad and the kids to the hall because she knew this was it (mother's intuition again LOL)
The nurse gave in and reluctantly went to check me and only 25 minutes after being only 4cm her eyes got huge, she said, "You're 9 1/2cm and the other 1/2cm isn't gonna last long",and she started pushing the nurse call button screaming, "We need a set up in here!" because they didn't have the room prepared AT ALL. They had none of the supplies in there. Moments later all these people started rushing in with carts and trays and gowns and gloves and medical equipment. The delivering doc comes in throwing on a gown and gloves like you'd see in a movie and in the meantime I have another contraction and she yells, "DON'T PUSH! We're not ready!"
Luckily this being my third little one I had a good feel for my own body and was able not to push, and by the next contraction they were ready which was a good thing because he was already crowning. The doc had me give a little have push to get his head out so they could suction his nose and mouth, then they had me hold it for a minute to avoid a tear (they same thing the doc wanted me to do with Chloe but I ignored her because I was in so much pain and shock LOL). Again, because I was on number three I had better control of my body and held through a contraction, then with the third contraction I gave one last push and Brodie Michael Poston was born at exactly 8:00pm on April 29, 2010 weighing 7lbs, 5oz and 19 inches long (our longest baby LOL)
I was able to hold him immediately, and Josh, my mom, and I just oogled over him. His whole head and face were swollen and purple/blue from coming down the birth canal so quickly, but you could still see his little Poston features and signature Poston boy blonde hair! My dad and the kids were able to come into the room right away and meet their grandson and baby brother!
Brodie Michael Poston
April 29, 2010, 8:00pm
7lbs 5oz, 19 inches
(Only moments old)
(Meeting Bro and Sis)
(He's ALL Poston)
Thanks for sharing yoru story Christine!
ReplyDelete