The Jelly Beans Arrival

We have been a little busy this past week or two and I have not been able to update the blog postings since before the jelly bean arrived. The following is a rough time line of what all happened on Tuesday July 29th through Friday, August 1 (his actual birthday)

Tuesday, 9:30 pm
My parents made it in from Georgia. They left their house around 6:30 that morning and were suppose to stop in Shreveport, LA but decided to make the trip in one day since they were making such good time. They were able to spend more time with me and Pete before the big day. (Today was also my last day at work until October)

Wednesday- until 7 pm
Today was my last day before the jelly bean arrived. I made a last stop at Mighty Fine for a bacon cheeseburger and a strawberry milkshake (the last real meal I would have for over 24 hours). Pete worked half a day at work and then hung out with me and my parents before we left for the hospital.

Wednesday- after 7 pm until Thursday am
We arrived at the hospital to register me and there was a back up of other pregnant ladies there at the same time. After registering, I was sent up to the labor and delivery floor to begin the first part of my induction. I got to don a lovely hospital gown along with an IV. The first of the drugs was given and the process began. Pete tried to sleep on the couch in the room while I tried to sleep in the uncomfortable hospital bed. (I'm not sure which was worse, the couch or the bed). I was offered some sleeping meds around 11 pm to help me sleep and I turned them down in the beginning but changed my mind around 3 am when I was still wide awake and sleep was no where near. I was able to catch some sleep after the meds but I was also awoken by very minor contractions beginning about 4 am. I was able to catch a little more lite sleep until I was awoken by the shift change in nurses and them wanting to start the second phase of the induction.

Thursday- 7 am until 2:00 pm
They began the second round of medication (Pitocin) for the induction at 7 am. I was able to immediately feel the effects. Contractions began to increase in intensity and frequency. We waited for my doctor to come and check my progress (which we were hoping was going well). Around 11 am my doctor came in and revealed that there was very little progress. She decided that we should speed things along even more by breaking my water.

After my water was broken, the contractions were even more intense and the frequency increased was well. Around 1 pm, I had the first round of drugs (a shot of Fentanyl). My nurse described it as a pitcher of Margaritas in a shot. I understood why she said this in under 5 minutes. I had to keep my eyes closed due to the spinning of the room. The drugs helped take the edge off the contractions but I was still able to feel them. I was okay with level of pain and agreed to the second shot an hour later. Unfortunately the second shot was not as affective as the first. This was due to the increase in the contractions, not the results of the drugs. After the second shot was wearing off, I agreed to the epidural.

Thursday- 2 pm- until 10:45 pm
This is not the fun part of the story. I will say that I did not like the epidural doctor....he was not my friend that day. So he came in to explain what all he would be doing in the middle of a mean contraction so I was not really able to focus on what he was saying, but I know what all he would be doing. They had me move to the side of the bed so that I would be able to curl my back enough for him to insert the needle and catheter in my back. Thirty minutes and 6 shots in my back he was finished. Basically, he was able to get the needle in the correct space the first time but the catheter was kinked and would not go in the space. So he tried again, and again, and again, and again. Pete and the nurse were both ready to ask for another doctor if he was not going to be able to get it in and I was ready to call the whole thing off (the epidural that is). He was finally able to get the needle and the catheter in the correct space in my back and the drugs began to take affect. While the end result of the drugs was worth it, the process to getting there was not pleasant.

The next session was not that eventful. Just me being very quite and reflective and Pete and my parents hanging out in the room (which for some reason, I liked to be very, very quite with no noise or music). My doctor came back at 4 pm to see how much progress I had made and I was up to 4 cm. I was informed that unless I made a lot of progress in the next two hours, that my doctor would most likely be the one to deliver my baby and another partner in the practice would deliver the jelly bean.

I still had not made much progress by the time that 6 pm had rolled around. By 8 pm however I was 8 cm and he was fully engaged. I was making good progress as was the jelly bean. Around 10 pm I began to get the urge to push . The room was cleared and they began to prepare the room for delivery. The doctor that was going to deliver me came in to introduce herself and see if we had any specific requests during the delivery. I did not begin to push until around 10:45.

Thursday 10:45 PM until Friday 2:30 AM
I began pushing around 10:45 pm and he was delivered at 12:37 am on August 1, 2008. It was a long hour and forty five minutes of pushing that exhausted all of my energy and drained Pete as well. We were both elated at his arrival and were able to see how cute he was and how much hair he had when he first arrived. Pete was able to spend time with him while they were testing him and cleaning him off. He was also able to get some great pictures of him during this time. I was still being working on by the doctors and was not able to hold him due to me lack of muscles (I was feeling very weak after pushing for around 2 hours).

Pete went out to the waiting room to share the news with my parents who had been waiting with us all day. They were able to come back to the room after they had cleaned out all of the medical equipment and cleaned me up. We waited for them to meet him before sharing his name and him getting his first bath.

After his bath, my father went to get us food from Kerby Lane (French Toast for me and Pancakes for Pete) since I had not eaten in over 24 hours and Pete had not had anything since lunch. Once the food got there, I think that I had about one and half triangles of my french toast before passing out. Pete was exhausted as well and the nurses were kind enough to watch the Jelly Bean while we both got about 2 hours of sleep.

(Pictures of things will be added later...you can also check them out on our Flickr account)