Jillian Catherine now has her own blog! You can catch it here:
http://jilliancatherine.blogspot.com
Hope you enjoy it!
Friday, March 7, 2008
A Birth Story
(The condensed version ...)
Heather checked into the Family Birth Center at Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver, Washington on February 25, 2008 at 7:00 a.m. They admitted her into Room 102, which would become very familiar to her and myself, Greta and Dany.
After signing forms and dressing in a hospital gown, the IV therapist put an IV into Heather's hand, and induction using oxytocin (synthetic pitocin) began at about 8:30 a.m. Heather also had saline solution being dripped into her IV. Further monitoring included two round discs that were strapped to her tummy: one to measure the baby's heartbeat, and the other to measure contractions. The steady rhythm of the baby's heartbeat going along at anywhere between 110 and 140 bpm was kind of hypnotic after awhile.
Unfortunately, not much happened this day. Despite the nurses increasing the oxytocin dosage up to the maximum, the contractions weren't getting much stronger or more frequent. And checkups by the doctors, residents and nurses showed that Heather hadn't dilated past 2 or 3 cm. This was a little discouraging. The doctors recommended stopping the oxytocin for the night at about 8:30 p.m., getting a good night sleep, and trying again the next day. So, Dany and Greta went to the Paul house for some sleep, and Heather and myself managed to get a decent night's sleep in Room 102.
The next morning on February 26, both Heather and myself woke up and showered. Then the nurses got the oxytocin going again at about 8:00 a.m. They pursued the increases in dosage even more aggressively this time. This time, the contractions did seem to grow in strength and frequency a bit more. By late morning, the doctor checked Heather and said that she had dilated to about 4 cm; he also attempted to strip some membranes.
Several doctors arrived at 2:00 p.m., and wanted to attempt breaking Heather's water, in the hope of jumpstarting the contractions even more. The OBGYN used an amnihook, and made several tries, but she was unsuccessful at breaking Heather's water (which she stated was a first for her since her days as an intern). Heather would later say that of all the things that happened during her stay at the hospital, this was by far the most painful.
Approximately an hour later, the contractions ramped up dramatically, coming extremely hard and less than 2 minutes apart, such that Heather was hardly able to catch her breath. She said that her pain level went from a 4 to a 10 (maximum) during this time. During this time, the baby's heartbeat experienced a deceleration (or decel, as the doctors called it), which caused a flood of nurses and doctors to pour into the room to restore the heartbeat. They immediately maneuvered Heather into a position so that the stress to the baby was alleviated. They also made the decision to halt the flow of oxytocin.
It was decided at that time to administer the epidural. The practitioner came in and inserted the tube into Heather's spine, and then got the flow of pain blocker going. Relief was almost immediate. On the downside, the oxytocin had to be started up from the beginning, and the contractions were less frequent and lower intensity. On the upside, Heather had dilated up to about 5 cm.
The oxytocin was gradually increased over the course of the next many hours. The doctors continued to check the dilation, and again attempted to break Heather's water at about 7:00 p.m. As before, they were unsuccessful ... in fact, the baby's heartbeat experienced another deceleration, which led to more emergency maneuvers. They were having trouble tracking the baby's heartbeat with the external disc, so they went ahead and attached a fetal scalp monitor to the baby's head, which gave a more accurate reading.
By about 9:00 p.m., Heather had dilated to about 7 cm. Unfortunately, it was around this time that her IV site had come apart, which led to halting the oxytocin. After waiting about an hour, the IV therapist showed up and hooked up another line, and the flow of oxytocin was started up again, but they were having to start back at the beginning again.
On February 27 at 2:00 a.m., several doctors checked Heather and confirmed that she was not dilating past 7 cm. They suggested that a cesarean section may need to be performed since she was not progressing and due to the several decelerations of the baby's heartbeat. But, after consultation with the OBGYN, it was decided to increase the oxytocin up to the maximum for the next several hours, to see if something might happen.
At about 5:00 a.m., the doctor attempted to check Heather's dilation, and again the baby's heartbeat decelerated. The nurse pulled the "code" handle, and about a half dozen doctors and nurses came running into the room to re-position Heather, which had not been an easy task due to her lower extremities being numbed by the epidural.
The OBGYN recommended that a c-section be performed immediately, and Heather consented. This began an incredible flurry of activity, as nurses and doctors moved quickly to prepare Heather for the surgery. Heather signed a waiver, and then they wheeled her out of Room 102 and into the operating room just a short distance away. They prepped her, and within about 15 minutes of the decision, they began the c-section. I sat beside her head behind the drape, and within a couple minutes, the anesthetist practioner suggested looking at the baby's head being withdrawn out of Heather's tummy. I took a look, and there was a head poking out. Within a minute, the baby was out and in the hands of the respiratory therapists, who cleaned her up and got her breathing.
The therapists called me over to check out the sex of the baby ... it was a girl! I told Heather the good news, and then got several photos. They weighed Jillian Catherine at 7 lbs 11 ounces, and measured her at 21 inches long. Then they brought her over to Heather for a look, before moving her over to the nursery.
While Heather was being stitched back up, the therapists were working on Jillian to get her to breathe a little better, since it was a bit labored in the operating room. Within 15 minutes, she was breathing normally, and her skin tone pinked up quickly. After all of that, Jillian lay there pretty content for awhile checking out her surroundings. This bliss ended when the therapists began poking her with needles to get blood drawn ... the crying began in earnest. Jillian would remain in the nursery for the next couple hours awaiting test results.
Finally at about 9:00 a.m., the nurses wheeled Heather into the nursery so that she could hold Jillian for the first time. It was a beautiful sight!
Though the birth didn't go as planned, we still ended up with a beautiful baby girl, and both mother and child came out of this in good health. It was a very happy ending to a long 3 days!
Thanks for following the action these past 9+ months. You can now catch all the news about Jillian on a new blog site : http://jilliancatherine.blogspot.com
Heather checked into the Family Birth Center at Southwest Washington Medical Center in Vancouver, Washington on February 25, 2008 at 7:00 a.m. They admitted her into Room 102, which would become very familiar to her and myself, Greta and Dany.
After signing forms and dressing in a hospital gown, the IV therapist put an IV into Heather's hand, and induction using oxytocin (synthetic pitocin) began at about 8:30 a.m. Heather also had saline solution being dripped into her IV. Further monitoring included two round discs that were strapped to her tummy: one to measure the baby's heartbeat, and the other to measure contractions. The steady rhythm of the baby's heartbeat going along at anywhere between 110 and 140 bpm was kind of hypnotic after awhile.
Unfortunately, not much happened this day. Despite the nurses increasing the oxytocin dosage up to the maximum, the contractions weren't getting much stronger or more frequent. And checkups by the doctors, residents and nurses showed that Heather hadn't dilated past 2 or 3 cm. This was a little discouraging. The doctors recommended stopping the oxytocin for the night at about 8:30 p.m., getting a good night sleep, and trying again the next day. So, Dany and Greta went to the Paul house for some sleep, and Heather and myself managed to get a decent night's sleep in Room 102.
The next morning on February 26, both Heather and myself woke up and showered. Then the nurses got the oxytocin going again at about 8:00 a.m. They pursued the increases in dosage even more aggressively this time. This time, the contractions did seem to grow in strength and frequency a bit more. By late morning, the doctor checked Heather and said that she had dilated to about 4 cm; he also attempted to strip some membranes.
Several doctors arrived at 2:00 p.m., and wanted to attempt breaking Heather's water, in the hope of jumpstarting the contractions even more. The OBGYN used an amnihook, and made several tries, but she was unsuccessful at breaking Heather's water (which she stated was a first for her since her days as an intern). Heather would later say that of all the things that happened during her stay at the hospital, this was by far the most painful.
Approximately an hour later, the contractions ramped up dramatically, coming extremely hard and less than 2 minutes apart, such that Heather was hardly able to catch her breath. She said that her pain level went from a 4 to a 10 (maximum) during this time. During this time, the baby's heartbeat experienced a deceleration (or decel, as the doctors called it), which caused a flood of nurses and doctors to pour into the room to restore the heartbeat. They immediately maneuvered Heather into a position so that the stress to the baby was alleviated. They also made the decision to halt the flow of oxytocin.
It was decided at that time to administer the epidural. The practitioner came in and inserted the tube into Heather's spine, and then got the flow of pain blocker going. Relief was almost immediate. On the downside, the oxytocin had to be started up from the beginning, and the contractions were less frequent and lower intensity. On the upside, Heather had dilated up to about 5 cm.
The oxytocin was gradually increased over the course of the next many hours. The doctors continued to check the dilation, and again attempted to break Heather's water at about 7:00 p.m. As before, they were unsuccessful ... in fact, the baby's heartbeat experienced another deceleration, which led to more emergency maneuvers. They were having trouble tracking the baby's heartbeat with the external disc, so they went ahead and attached a fetal scalp monitor to the baby's head, which gave a more accurate reading.
By about 9:00 p.m., Heather had dilated to about 7 cm. Unfortunately, it was around this time that her IV site had come apart, which led to halting the oxytocin. After waiting about an hour, the IV therapist showed up and hooked up another line, and the flow of oxytocin was started up again, but they were having to start back at the beginning again.
On February 27 at 2:00 a.m., several doctors checked Heather and confirmed that she was not dilating past 7 cm. They suggested that a cesarean section may need to be performed since she was not progressing and due to the several decelerations of the baby's heartbeat. But, after consultation with the OBGYN, it was decided to increase the oxytocin up to the maximum for the next several hours, to see if something might happen.
At about 5:00 a.m., the doctor attempted to check Heather's dilation, and again the baby's heartbeat decelerated. The nurse pulled the "code" handle, and about a half dozen doctors and nurses came running into the room to re-position Heather, which had not been an easy task due to her lower extremities being numbed by the epidural.
The OBGYN recommended that a c-section be performed immediately, and Heather consented. This began an incredible flurry of activity, as nurses and doctors moved quickly to prepare Heather for the surgery. Heather signed a waiver, and then they wheeled her out of Room 102 and into the operating room just a short distance away. They prepped her, and within about 15 minutes of the decision, they began the c-section. I sat beside her head behind the drape, and within a couple minutes, the anesthetist practioner suggested looking at the baby's head being withdrawn out of Heather's tummy. I took a look, and there was a head poking out. Within a minute, the baby was out and in the hands of the respiratory therapists, who cleaned her up and got her breathing.
The therapists called me over to check out the sex of the baby ... it was a girl! I told Heather the good news, and then got several photos. They weighed Jillian Catherine at 7 lbs 11 ounces, and measured her at 21 inches long. Then they brought her over to Heather for a look, before moving her over to the nursery.
While Heather was being stitched back up, the therapists were working on Jillian to get her to breathe a little better, since it was a bit labored in the operating room. Within 15 minutes, she was breathing normally, and her skin tone pinked up quickly. After all of that, Jillian lay there pretty content for awhile checking out her surroundings. This bliss ended when the therapists began poking her with needles to get blood drawn ... the crying began in earnest. Jillian would remain in the nursery for the next couple hours awaiting test results.
Finally at about 9:00 a.m., the nurses wheeled Heather into the nursery so that she could hold Jillian for the first time. It was a beautiful sight!
Though the birth didn't go as planned, we still ended up with a beautiful baby girl, and both mother and child came out of this in good health. It was a very happy ending to a long 3 days!
Thanks for following the action these past 9+ months. You can now catch all the news about Jillian on a new blog site : http://jilliancatherine.blogspot.com
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Photos
Here are 3 photos (below) from Jillian's first few days.
The first one is Jillian's first sitting (or laying) for a photo that was taken on Friday at the Family Birth Center. It's easy to see that Jillian looks just like her mommy!
The second one is when Heather and Jillian first met in the nursery on Wednesday morning ... a very happy and memorable moment!
The third one is Jillian looking relaxed in her swaddling.
The first one is Jillian's first sitting (or laying) for a photo that was taken on Friday at the Family Birth Center. It's easy to see that Jillian looks just like her mommy!
The second one is when Heather and Jillian first met in the nursery on Wednesday morning ... a very happy and memorable moment!
The third one is Jillian looking relaxed in her swaddling.
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