On Monday the 28th of November (the day after my due date) I had an appointment with my Doctor. The Doctor measured my belly and was very concerned that DJ was getting too big so he scheduled an ultrasound for that night. We went into the ultrasound office and got to see little man's chubby cheeks on the screen. The tech said that DJ was measuring around 8 lbs 9 oz and from that weight guesstimate decided that he would induce me on the 1st of December (that Thursday). We went to bed that night and I spent most of it tossing and turning with really painful contractions in my back, they were not consistent or anything so I just figured I was having another false alarm.
Tuesday morning we got a call from the Doctor. He said that after examining the ultrasound pictures more closely and talking with the tech most of the night he was concerned that the babies head was already so cone shaped and his shoulders were so wide that if we tried to deliver vaginally the baby would be at risk for shoulder dystocia. Basically that means that the Doctor was worried that DJ's head would come out fine but that his shoulders would get stuck. Dr Nance said "Its one of the scariest things I deal with in delivery situations, because not only can it really hurt the mom but if even one thing goes the tiniest bit wrong the baby can end up with a dead arm or worse. Its up to you whether or not you want to deliver vaginally still or not but if you were my daughter I would tell you to do a C-Section cause this baby is making me nervous." Well when my Doctor who has over 25 years of experience tells me he is nervous that makes me terrified. I've never had strong feelings about vaginal delivery, I mean I would rather do it that way because you recover quicker and it leaves you more options for later babies. But I was not worried about any let down, I am no less of a woman because I didn't deliver vaginally. All I care about is that at the end of it all I have a healthy baby and I'm still around to take care of him. Any who (off my soap box) we decided to take his advice and schedule a C-section for Thursday morning.
Thinking I had a few days David and I went grocery shopping and pulled out all the Christmas stuff to begin decorating. Unfortunately the contractions I had been having all night continued to get stronger and stronger finally making it so that I had to just sit in my chair and cry. We called the Doctor who sent us to the hospital for a labor check. This was about 2 in the afternoon. We got the the hospital and were whisked into a room an run through triage. As the nurses were monitoring contractions it became apparent that I was having back labor... aka false (exceptionally painful) labor. However my doctor came in and said that we would just do the C-section that afternoon. By 4 pm I was in the operating room. The epidural was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be, in fact I've had shots that were worse (though I was told that the epidural for C-sections do not hurt as much as the ones for vaginal deliveries). Mostly what I remember is being fascinated by the fact that it felt like my legs were still bent but I knew they were straight. Apparently I was a lot of fun, every time the doctor or nurse would give me an update I would say "whoot whoot paaarty!" the anesthesiologist told me after that if he was a drinking man he would definitely want to go out clubbing with me, since I must be a really fun drunk.
The delivery went really well and DJ was born at 4:43 pm on November 29th.
DJ and Dad went into the back and got cleaned up with I got sewn up.
Because DJ oxygen was not the greatest right of the bat, it took almost three hours before I was able to finally meet and feed my sweet little boy for the first time, but it was love at first sight. We both just sat and stared at each other for while until the nurse told me I should probably try and feed him. Breast feeding went much better than I expected and Dad was able to go home before too late. DJ and I spent several hours cuddling before the nurses had me send him back to the nursery so I could sleep some time around 11 pm.
Around 1 am a nurse came in and told me that DJ was having trouble breathing and that hey had put him on oxygen. Also that he was showing signs of an infection and they were starting IV antibiotics. That was a scary thing to be woken up too. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep that night. David had class early the next day and so had gone home and it was so late I didn't think I could call anyone. Those were probably some of the loneliest hours of my life, waiting for it to be late enough I could call David with out waking him up. Next time we saw our son he looked like this.
The Doctors said that DJ had fluid in his lungs (something very common with C-section babies) and that that fluid and caused a case of pneumonia. On top of that he was pretty jaundicy and so they put the poor kid under the lights for a few days so that he could clear up the jaundice.
Despite all of these sickies the kid had/has some serious personality. All of the nurses kept commenting on how big he was and how much 'personality' he had. Basically that means the kid knows what he wants and is not shy about letting you know. He also has a pretty good grabbing reflex, which meant that they nurses had to replace the stickers on his face and chest every few hours (they are suppose to last a few days).
I was discharged after four days but because our hospital is so small I was able to stay in my room for as long as DJ was in the NICU. So I took care of myself and made my way down to the nursery every few hours to feed the baby. I was so blessed to be at a hospital that would allow me to stay with my son and even provide a free room and food. It really was a huge blessing for us! It did get pretty lonely but I knew that I was where I needed to be as a mother and that Heavenly Father would help get us though.
Finally, after eight long days in the NICU the Doctor said that all of DJ's test scores were good and that the infection was all gone. All we were waiting on was for his lungs to heal up enough for him to breath with out oxygen. (With pneumonia the lungs get scared up pretty bad so DJ's lungs are kinda like a broken arm after the cast comes off, its all healed but it will need some extra work to get it as strong as it was before). So we got sent home with some oxygen and a monitor.
We have an appointment on Monday with DJ's pediatrician and are hoping he will give us a plan to ween little man off the Oxygen. Meanwhile we are tripping over cords in the Pelon house. That is the basic run down of DJ's birth story.
Our family is so grateful for the love, support and prayers we received during the time we were in the hospital. I never understood what people meant when they said that they could 'feel' the prayers of others on their behalf but now I do. At the hardest times when I felt so alone and scared for my baby I felt the warmth and love, not only of my Heavenly Father, but of all those who were keeping us in their prayers. Thank you so much for that. This whole experience has taught me a lot of things but mostly about the love that others have for our little family. We are truly blessed people.
