Birth, Part I

Luke had a good day today (I like posts that start off like this). He gained 50 grams, pooped, and ate all of his food. If only my life were so simple...

In preparation for moving to the crib, they set his box at air temperature (31.1C = 88F) as opposed to setting it to adjust automatically to his skin temp (lowering if he's cool, etc). They do this to see if he can maintain a stable body temperature. He needs to maintain his temp for 24-48 hours before he can move into his crib.

Previously, I had mentioned that Wendy (my wife) had an interesting pregnancy & delivery. Below is Part I of the delivery story from her perspective.

Cheers,
Colin
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I was admitted to St. Agnes Medical Center on Sunday evening, Oct. 12th. I had been dealing with bleeding all weekend, and it finally got to the point that Colin and I felt we should call the doctor and see what he wanted me to do. Dr. Mason (the best OB in the world!), said that it was time to do bed rest in the hospital -- we knew the day would come, but we were hoping it wouldn't come so soon.

After spending the night in the Labor and Delivery unit, I was moved to the Ante Partum Unit (APU). On Monday the 13th, I started to experience regular contractions. The contractions were not painful, so I didn't really pay attention, but with monitors on my belly 24/7, the nurses picked them up quickly, and I had to receive my first shot of terbutaline to stop the contractions. It worked for a bit. About 12 hours later, I had to have a second shot, and that finally did the trick.

A couple of days later, contractions kicked in again and this time I was put on a regular dose of nifedipine. I never expected premature labor to be an issue with this pregnancy...I just assumed that because of the bleeding I had been dealing with since July, I would eventually begin to hemorrhage, or would begin to experience high blood pressure.

The days passed, and I did fairly well. I had at least 5 or more visitors each day, several phone calls a day, and lots of encouraging notes. I really didn't get a chance to be homesick, and I had more than enough things I could do each day to keep me occupied.

On Thursday morning, Oct. 23rd, my contractions could no longer be held off by the nifedipine in combination with terbutaline shots. The only option left was Magnesium Sulfate -- which my friend Tracy (a critical care pediatrician) said is affectionately dubbed "Flu in a bottle." That was putting it lightly.

To be continued...