Our Little Miracle

He's here! He's here!! 

My sweet little boy is here!!

November 2 2012 (38 weeks + 5 days)

9:00 am

It was just a normal morning and I had a scheduled ultrasound appointment. My OBGYN was concerned about the baby considering I had Gestational Diabetes. I was excited to see him since I hadn't had an ultrasound since 18 weeks. The ultrasound technician said that everything looked great but she was concerned that I had a low amount of amniotic fluid and wanted a 2nd opinion from a Dr. After the Dr came in, they told me that I should go up to Labor & Delivery (L&D) triage for an exam just to make sure. 

10:30 am

I went up to L&D triage to be seen by a Dr. They strapped some monitors on me and we waited for about 30 min to see if the baby was in distress. Luckily there was nothing wrong with Richie, but the Dr still wanted to admit me and induce labor today... WAIT.. What!? ex-squeeze me? TODAY?!

My husband went to the house to grab our bags. The nurse comes in, hands me a robe and tells me to change. We then walk over to my birthing suite. Come in for an ultrasound and leave with a baby. Crazy! By the way.. this was the last time I had eaten anything until after the baby was born.

12:00 noon

I was officially admitted to the L&D ward at Portsmouth Naval Medical Hospital. Nurses and doctors were in and out of the room getting me all set up and explaining the induction process. My induction started around 1 pm with a dosage of Cytotec, which was inserted vaginally (this may get a little graphic from here on out-- sorry) to soften the lining. It took an hour or so to get things going. I was only 2cm dilated & 50% effaced at the time of induction. 

6:00 pm

By evening there was no progress in my dilation, so the Dr told me they were considering using a foley bulb to bring me to 4cm. I'm telling you.. that was the most bizarre tool I had ever seen in my life but it was very effective! (Google it if you're curious). It did the trick and brought me to 4cm within an hour. 

8:00 pm (roughly)

Night rotation started and I got a new round of Doctors and nurses... One nurse recommended that we should start pitocin to progress me further. The Dr agreed it would be the best option, I had to agree with them. It had already been about 7 hours into labor and I was getting antsy. I wanted to remain drug free but with the low amniotic fluid I was just concerned for the safety of my little guy. 

I stayed at 5cm for most of the night. I still hadn't given in to the epidural even though the contractions were coming a lot stronger now with the pitocin. I just focused on my breathing. 


November 3 2012 (38 weeks + 6 days)

1:00 am

It had been about 12 hours and I was exhausted. I knew I needed to get some rest or I wouldn't have it in me to push. I was NOT gonna have a c-section unless it was medically necessary. The contractions were strong, getting more intense and closer together. I opted for the epidural. It was not an easy choice and had to tell myself that I wasn't failing. 

The anesthesiologist came in and explained what would be happening and what I would be feeling. I was so scared I was shaking. He did a great job and the meds kicked in very quickly. However the drugs were dropping my blood pressure and they had to alter the dosage a couple times. At this point I was able to finally get some sleep.

4:00 am

One of the nurses came in and said that the Dr wanted to break my water. I was relieved because that meant that pushing time wouldn't be too far away. But the L&D floor ended up in an emergency and I wasn't able to see my Dr for another 4 hours. Just to give you an idea, 17 babies were born Nov 2-3! 

8:00 am

My Dr came in and broke my water. What a relief! But the contractions came on a lot stronger & the epidural wasn't helping. The anesthesiologist came back in to alter the dosage. The nurse was closely monitoring the baby's heart rate. The heart rate monitors weren't getting an accurate reading on the baby and the Dr informed me that they wanted to do a vaginal heart monitor. This would also be inserted vaginally and into the top of his head That scared the heck out of me but it was a better way to get his heart rate. They assured me that it would only be like if you had a staple in the top layer of skin on your finger. Closer to 9:00 am, I had to keep adjusting my position because his heart rate kept dropping. I ended up on oxygen and having to lay on my right side to keep his heart rate up. The Dr checked me, at this point I had gone from a 5 to an 8 in an hour.


10:15am

I started to feel intense pressure in my bum and I told the nurse that I felt the need to push. She checked me out and sure enough I was at 10cm & 100% effaced. I couldn't believe it! The Dr came in and coached me through some pushing to get things started and then suited up cause it was GO TIME! I got lucky and only pushed for about 20 min but Richie had his hand up and it made it hard to pull him out.

I was really trying hard to focus on breathing but there was so much going on that I didn't realize I was holding my breath every now and then. They were concerned for the baby's heart rate & needed to get him out ASAP. The Dr ended up using forceps to bring him out which ended up tearing me. I think that was the most scary part. But pushing overall was a relief. I have a category 2 tear, which they thought was a cat 3. Phew thank GOD for the epidural cause I didn't feel them stitch me up. 

Once he was out... I can't even describe how I felt. Hearing him cry for the first time brought tears to my eyes & I couldn't stop crying. I kept telling my husband "omg we have a baby!" We were just overwhelmed with emotions. They cleaned him up and brought him over. I lost it. We had waited 6 years for this and it was worth every second. 

Richie (Alvin Richard Davis V) was born at 10:43 am on November 3 2012. 

He weighed 6lbs 3oz and was 19.5" long.