It's a Boy!
Robert Lawrence was born on July 5th at 10:09am. Robby weighed 6 lbs, 12 oz and was 19 3/4 inches long. We are all doing great and adjusting to life with a newborn!
As I previously posted, I went in on Wednesday, July 4th at 7pm to start preparing for the induction process. They inserted the cervidil at about 8pm that night (which was very painful as Robby's head was so low they had trouble reaching my cervix around him!) to start softening my cervix. Before they inserted it, they checked me and I was 1-2 cm dilated and 75% effaced. The nurse also saw that I was having contractions on my own before even placing the cervidil. She asked the on-call doctor if she was sure they should place the cervidil because the nurse really thought it would make me go really quickly. Monday at my doctor's appointment I wasn't really dilated at all, so since by Wednesday I had dilated to 1-2 cm, the nurse was sure this was going to be quick! We didn't know how right she was...
We went to sleep that night, and I woke up about 2:30am able to feel the contractions. They weren't exactly 'painful,' but they were uncomfortable enough that I wasn't able to sleep through them. I was worried about not getting any sleep and then having to go through the whole induction in the morning. The nurse assured me I would be able to nap after getting the epidural the next day- which put my mind at ease so I just dealt with the contractions I had throughout the night...
At 6:30am the cervidil was removed and the nurse again checked me to see how I had changed. I had been having regular contractions all through the night that were anywhere from every 2 to every 9 minutes apart. So we were all surprised when they checked me and I hadn't changed- still 1-2 cm dilated and 75% effaced. Bummer.
At 7am they started the pitocin at level 2. They explained that they would increase the dosage by 2 every 15 minutes and it could go up to level 30. Immediately, I started feeling STRONG contractions. I was extremely surprised as I figured it would take a while to get going before I would really start feeling them. After about 15 minutes (pitocin had been increased one time to 4 at that point), the contractions were barely bearable and I knew I wouldn't be able to make it much longer... I was so disappointed in myself for needing the epidural so soon and when I was (what we thought) only 1-2 cm dilated- but the nurse explained that they didn't want me in too much pain due to my high blood pressure. So she set me up to get the epidural, which included pumping me with fluids for a half hour before the epidural. By the time she got the IV going... I was in excruciating pain with contractions that were coming in 'couples'- two in a row with no break in between, then maybe a 30 second break before the next couple. I was barely able to catch my breath in between! By the time the anesthesiologist placed the epidural, I was in so much pain I felt no relief from the epidural. After 15 minutes it should have kicked in, and I still felt no relief. The doctor couldn't figure out why as I should have been feeling a lot better by then. At this point, it's around 8:45am and I'm starting to feel pressure with every contraction. The nurse checks me.... and I'm at least 9 cm and ready to start pushing! I went from 1-2 cm dilated to ready to push in two hours... That explained why I was in so much pain and why the epidural wasn't able to kick in! The pitocin only got to level 6!
I started pushing and luckily the epidural started to kick in (I was still able to feel everything and move my legs but the pain was nothing compared to earlier!)- which made pushing actually enjoyable! After about an hour of pushing, out came our baby BOY- screaming his head off! It was so surreal... Nick went out to tell our parents it was a boy- and all I heard from outside the room was screaming! It was such a wonderful experience.
Robby had his two week checkup- which went great! He was back up to his birth weight, he was 21 1/4 in long, and his circumcision looked great. We are still working on exclusively nursing as we had to give him breast milk from a bottle when he first got home from the hospital because he just wasn't strong enough to nurse long enough and was getting dehydrated. So now he sometimes gets frustrated nursing because it's not as easy as the bottle. But he's getting there and he's gaining weight and doing great! We also have an appointment with a urologist next week to check his kidney. If there is anything more serious going on we will have to go see a urologist that specializes in babies in Kansas City. Fingers crossed it's nothing serious!
Here are a few more pictures of our little man!
Carrie
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