It started as most ordinary Tuesdays do. I got ready for school, Brandon slept on, the boys were just happy to get breakfast. School went by slowly as most days seemed to. I stayed after school to get my second day of parent conferences done since I planned on being gone the next week during our regularly scheduled conferences. I finally left the school around 5:30 and headed straight to the hospital.
I had been going to the hospital twice a week for about a month to do stress-tests to make sure that Clark was healthy and getting the oxygen he needed. He was a stud when it came to these tests, within the first 5 or so minutes he would "pass" the test and give us the jumps we like to see. Then we would settle in for the next 20-25 minutes to hang out and complete it!
I was already exhausted by the time I got to the hospital so I settled into the (really comfortable) hospital bed hoping to rest during the test. Then I would grab some dinner, play with the dogs a little and go to bed early. As the nurse got us hooked up to the machine, she commented on how low his basal heart rate was. During previous tests Clark's basal rate was around 130, during this test he stayed around 105. I was a little nervous about his heart rate but the nurse assured me that as long as he continued to show the jumps (proof that he was getting the oxygen he needed) that we would be just fine. The nurse came back after about 20 minutes, she had called my doctor and let him know that the heart rate was a little low but he was still jumping perfectly. The doctor instructed her to cut us free. As she was finishing up my chart, Clark's heart rate dropped to 90, twice. The nurse wasn't comfortable with those dips so she decided to keep us for a few more minutes to see if those drops were a fluke or not. On her way out I mentioned that my insulin needs had started to drop (a sign that my body was starting to ready for birth) a day or two earlier. Brandon called and I let him know what was going on and to keep his cell phone close and on loud (he was at work). The nurse came back about 8 minutes later to let me know that Clark continued to drop and that my doctor was on his way in to take a look and talk to us. I called Brandon to give him an update.
Dr. Isabel got to the hospital in record time! He sat down and looked at our charts. He was pretty blunt and told me that when they start seeing abnormalities in diabetic pregnancies they also start seeing fetal deaths. ((insert panicking mom here)) To avoid any other problems, we were going to have a baby that night! When I asked about our timeline I was told I could expect to have the baby in 30 min. to an hour. ((again with the panic!!)) I frantically called Brandon (who just happened to be serving a felony warrant at the time), my mom (who was in Pocatello with my sister's family) and my principal (who is amazing and took care of all my school things so I didn't have to fret about that!). Between the two nurses buzzing around me prepping me for surgery and the anesthesiologist had me sign the papers describing all of the things that could go wrong! That whole time was quite a blur, I'm pretty sure I was in shock!
Brandon got to the hospital in record time, he even was able to stop at home, change and grab our hospital bags! Within a half hour of talking with Dr. Isabel, Brandon, his parents, and my mom and sister had made it to the hospital and we were ready to meet this baby! Things settled down as we waited for Dr. Isabel to deliver another baby. Finally it was our turn!
They wheeled me into the operating room and had Brandon wait in the recovery room until I was ready to go. It was pretty scary to go through all of the prep by myself, especially the spinal block! At one point, after I was all iodined up and ready to go, Dr. Isabel came in with his nurse and took their spots on either side of me. Someone handed the Dr. a long, thin, purple object and he started to move toward my stomach. I started to panic and frantically asked why my husband wasn't with me and why there was no screen to block my sight! The nurse chuckled and let me know it was only a marker so he could stitch me back up perfectly! Finally Brandon was allowed to come in and the processes started! Brandon was giving me a play by play and joking with the anesthesiologist the whole time! He thought it was the coolest thing ever! At 8:50 pm our (big) baby boy was brought into this world! he cried almost right away, such beautiful music to my ears! I didn't get a good look at him before they passed him through the window to get cleaned and checked out but luckily Brandon was able to take a few pictures so that I could see him. As they stitched me up, Clark came back and I was able to "cuddle" him while Brandon held him. It was such a special time but also so frustrating to not be able to move and hold him. It took about 30 minutes to finish stitching me up and then we were moved to the recovery area. I was finally able to hold my baby boy, one of the best feelings ever! After Clark nursed for the first time, the rest of our family was able to come in and meet him. We are so blessed to be surrounded by family and people who love us so much!
He has been such a great eater and sleeper from the start. One of things we were concerned about was the chance that Clark would have to spend some time in the NICU due to blood sugar issues. The nurses checked his blood sugar before each nursing and every time it came back completely normal, we didn't have to spend anytime in the NICU. It was a such a relief to have such a healthy baby boy.
Brandon Clark Prince was born 3 1/2 weeks early on January 27, 2015 at 8:50 pm. He was 8 lbs. 8 oz and 21 inches long. He is so loved <3
No comments:
Post a Comment