Birth, Part III

Today was a strange day. When Wendy arrived today, the nurse informed her that they might be low on space in the NICU and that they might have to move Luke to St Agnes. Fortunately we were able to work it out so he could stay....life is much easier for us at Children's. Plus, we're sick of St Agnes after Wendy's ordeal.

As for Luke, he continues to do well, but his weight keeps fluctuating. Last night he lost 15 grams (1790g) so he's a little over 3lb 15oz. Now we're just waiting for him to move to his crib...I'm getting impatient.

Please pray that he continues to progress with bottle feeding (suck, swallow, breathe) and that he'll gain weight more consistently.

Finally, I'd like to thank you all for your encouragement and prayers. They really mean a lot to us, especially when we start to get frustrated or impatient with the whole process.

Cheers,
Colin

PS1: Below is part III of Wendy's birth story (it's almost over).
PS2: Sorry for the lack of pictures, I'll try to take some more tomorrow!
--------------
Finally, around 5:15, the doctor on call, showed up. He asked the nurse if I was dialated -- what a concept!?!? She hadn't even checked me! I could've shouted any number of expletives at her at that point. So...in the middle of a very big and painful contraction, he checked my cervix. Very clearly, he yelled "She's bulging, we need a c-section now!"

My room became a whirlwind of activity at that point. My nurse and the tech began untying cords from my bed (my computer and cell phone chargers, clip light, etc.) so that they could move me.

I have vague memories of being wheeled out into the hall and up the elevator. They took my glasses away, so I was pretty much blind, and was contracting every other minute. Colin tels me that the entire hospital could hear me yelling. Once I was in the OR, I had two nurses in my face telling me that I had to stop pushing -- I didn't know that I was pushing, except for the fact that I could feel Lucas starting to come out. Finally, I got enough of a break between contractions that the anesthesiologist was able to give me a spinal block -- relief at last!

Then I remember laying on my back, the nurses were cleaning and prepping me, and debating over whether or not Dr. Mason would make it in time. The on call Doctor came in from scrubbing, looked at me over the drape that was across my chest, and told me that he may have to make a lateral incision on me. Why? I have no idea. All I could think was that my stomach would end up looking like a butt because of the scar and loose skin! Luckily, just as the doctor was about to make the incision, Dr. Mason came in...thank God!

Colin never did get to come into the OR for Lucas' birth. There were too many people -- the NICU team for Luke, and a couple of extra nurses for me because they didn't really know what they were dealing with. At one point, Dr. Mason asked the nurses how many units of blood they had ready for transfusion if necessary. The nurse responded that there were two, but that they couldn't be used because they were too old. Dr. Mason is a very cool and laid back guy...his response was..."I'm about to take out the placenta, I need 3 units of O neg now!" He didn't sound very laid back then! We really didn't know what damage (if any) the mole would cause, and if I would hemorrhage as a result.

When Lucas was born, I didn't hear him make a sound. We found out later that he was actually doing fairly well, his APGAR scores were 7 initially and then 9 at five minutes, which are really good scores. Shortly after the surgery began, I was really nauseated and dry heaving. That is really hard to do when you've got a spinal block. I asked the anesthesiologist to give me something to make it stop...which he did...then I was really out of it for the rest of the surgery.

After the surgery was over, Dr. Mason asked if I wanted to see the mole. It was lying next to the placenta on a table. He pulled my drape back, and pulled the table with the mole on it closer to me...and I could see the "Evil twin!"