Monday November 28 2005- We put Ethan and Tyra to bed and I sat down to my computer to do some family history, while Kyle went out to the backyard to remove the pile of tumbleweeds that had blown into our yard, to the end of the street where it was still wilderness. As I was sitting at my computer doing family history, I remember the baby being extremely active. It just would not stop wiggling and kicking and fluttering about, which is just not normal. Yes there are periods when the baby is active, but this much action was just not normal. And while Kyle was outside I remembered that we needed to go to the store for milk or there would be none for breakfast. Kyle came back in about 10:30 or so and I asked him if he wanted to go, or if I should go. He said he would go. So I went to bed and he went to Smiths.
When he got back at about midnight, he woke me to say that he was home, and being 37 ½ weeks pregnant, I needed to pee. So I went to the bathroom, and I was on my way back to bed, when there was just a gush of liquid that just seemed to fall out of me. It literally felt like a water balloon just exploded in my pants! My mouth just dropped open in fear. I was only 37 ½ weeks pregnant I couldn’t have the baby until Friday or it wouldn’t be considered term. I opened the bathroom door and called Kyle, “Kyle, my water broke!” He was surprised, “WHAT!? Are you sure?” Well it was either that or I peed my pants right after going in the toilet. So I changed my pants and sat down while Kyle called the midwife on call, Mindy. He explained the situation and she asked to speak to me. I explained what happened and that I didn’t feel any contractions happening, and I guess I sounded afraid, because she said “It’s ok, you are just having a baby”. I was like, I know but I have never had my water break and I have never had a baby early, and this is my third so it’s not like I’ve never had a baby before. And to top things off this pregnancy I tested positive for Group B Strep, which I have never had before either, so we were concerned about getting to the hospital in time to have enough IV antibiotics to prevent the baby from being infected. So she just said to come in and that she would let the hospital know that we were coming. So Kyle went about gathering the things that we hadn’t packed yet because we weren’t expecting the baby to come for another 2 ½ to 3 weeks, and he kept asking how I was feeling. I felt fine. I wasn’t in labor, contractions were just not starting. So I got up and got some clothes for the kids so Laurel would have something to dress them in, in the morning. Kyle put Ethan and Tyra in the car, and I took the suitcase. And since Nana was living with us at the time, Kyle let Chewy out so she could have him for company. We didn’t even tell her that we were leaving because she has Alzheimer’s/dementia and we didn’t want her to think that we had been gone for weeks when somebody would be at the house in the morning, about the time that she usually comes out of her room, to get her. So off to the hospital we went.
Kyle called Laurel’s house and Roine answered, so he asked him to meet us at the hospital to pick up the kids. All the way to the hospital Kyle kept asking if there were any contractions yet. No there are no contractions.
We got to the hospital and Roine pulled into the parking lot while we were unloading the kids and we started walking inside. He followed us inside and upstairs and got upstairs just after the nurses took me to LDR 2, the room right next to where Tyra was born. They gave me the hospital gown to put on and said they would be back in a few minutes. So I put it on, and came out and sat on the bed and Kyle put Tyra in my lap and we just waited, for the nurse to come back. Roine went down to our van to move Ethan and Tyra’s car seats over to his car, then he came back upstairs and got them to take them to spend the rest of the night with them.
A nurse came in to get the IV antibiotics started and to hook me up to the monitors. As she was getting things set up and starting the IV she mentioned that when the bare metric temperature drops it causes a change in the pressure and that can cause the waters to break.
About 6:30 or 7 AM Kyle went home to walk Chewy and to get Nana and Chewy to take them to Laurel’s.
Mindy came in while Kyle was getting Nana, and said that if labor hadn’t started by now it probably isn’t going to start on its own, and talked about starting me on Pitocin. I said that when Kyle got back I would talk to him about it, but that we wouldn’t start anything till he got back from taking Nana to Laurel’s.
At 8am Mindy was off and Katherine was on call so she was going to be taking care of me for the rest of the day.
After Kyle came back we talked about starting the pitocin and a nurse came in to get that started.
Every couple of hours my pitocin dosage was increased.
I wasn’t allowed to have anything but clear liquids while I was waiting for labor to start, and while I was on pitocin (I got hungry).
After an exam by Katherine she determined that contractions weren’t starting because only the main sac had broke, but the second lining hadn’t. But the baby hadn’t descended far enough into the birth canal for it to be safe for Katherine to break that second lining. So my pitocin dosage was increased to help push the baby closer to the opening before breaking the second lining.
Kyle sent a text message to all the family that we were in the hospital.
Kyle sat in the corner on his computer using the hospitals wireless internet.
Karen came to visit me, while I was in labor on the pitocin, and the pitocin was causing the contractions to be quite painful. She called Kyle’s cell to see if she could come up. Kyle, without asking if I was feeling up to having visitors, told her to come on up.
After awhile the contractions were so painful it was getting hard for me to breath. I tried hard to take deep slow breaths, but I blew the air out so fast that my hands were starting to tingle. Katherine said that I was blowing off too much carbon monoxide too fast, so she put a mask on me to prevent that from happening.
Laying on my back during labor was really hurting my lower back so Katherine helped me roll to my side, and every so often she would help me roll to the other side, just so that I wasn’t in the same position for too long.
After awhile I felt like it was time to push and I told Katherine so and she looked and there was the head and she said to go ahead and push. Not too long after that, at 2:59 PM, we had another boy. The nurse asked us what his name was and Kyle and I said “Uh… we don’t know yet”. We hadn’t picked a name yet. I liked names that Kyle didn’t like and the names Kyle liked, I didn’t like. So we hadn’t agreed on anything, and we didn’t expect the baby to come early, we had thought we would have another two or three weeks to talk about it.
They took the baby to clean him and weigh him (5 lb 15 oz, 18in), while Katherine worked on getting the afterbirth out.
I needed maybe 3 stitches, which Katherine did while I was unmedicated.
They gave the baby back to me and everyone left us alone for awhile, so I could try to nurse him.
Later a couple of nurses came in to help me get to the bathroom and clean up. One nurse was telling me to lock my knees (I was kind of out of it and didn’t lock my knees), and the other nurse told her it was ok, I didn’t have an epidural. So they let me get of the bed without locking my knees to help me stand straight. They handed me warm washcloths so I could clean up. While I was cleaning up another nurse took the baby to the nursery to be given his first bath, and do whatever else they do in there. The nurses that were helping me put me in a wheel chair and took me downstairs to the postpartum floor, and put me in a room. They told me if I wanted a snack I can let the nurse know, and they told me to call a nurse in to help me to the bathroom for the first time, whenever I needed to go.
Kyle didn’t go to the nursery with the baby like he had with Tyra, but he came to the room with me and sat on the couch. We talked about naming the baby. And after awhile we decided on Jeremy Luke Andelin.
When they were done with him in the nursery they brought Jeremy to my room.
Roine brought Alex, Sylvia, Lars, Ethan, Tyra and Nana to come see me and the baby. Ethan and Tyra had no shoes on, because leaving in the middle of the night I remembered to get them clothes but forgot to grab their shoes on the way out the door.
Wednesday November 30, 2005
Nine hours old and he weighed 5 lbs 13 oz.
In the morning a pediatrician came in to see Jeremy. They told me I should stay at least 48 hours because he was born a bit early, and he was so little, and because I had Group B Strep during the pregnancy, and because it was RSV season. I was bummed at that. I wanted to go home.
The midwife on call that day was Jackie. She came to see how I was doing and to check my vitals. She also told me what I can and can’t do for the next 6 weeks. I can’t vacuum, do laundry, or sweep. I can’t lift anything (including Ethan and Tyra) but the new baby. I can’t go shopping. She suggested that I don’t go anywhere I can’t wear pajamas.
Thursday December 1, 2005
About 33 hours old he weighed 5 lbs 7.9 oz.
About 42 hours old he weighed 5 lbs 7.2 oz.
Jeremy had his Bilirubin Test and hearing screening test.