I was really thinking he was going to come early. Mostly because my mom wasn't planning on coming until after my due date. I thought, surely he will decide to ruin her plans of being here when he's born. It turns out I was right.
It was a Monday morning and I was 38 weeks and 3 days when the itching started. A horrible, non-stop itching of my hands and feet. Weird, right? I was only comfortable with ice packs on them. Thank goodness I had my weekly appointment that afternoon. I'll admit I had done some research on the symptoms and wasn't encouraged by what I read. The drive to the office was tough because I couldn't keep the ice on while driving, but I made it.
At the appointment the nurse looked at the ice pack and said, what hurts? I explained the extreme itching and she looked at me funny and started asking lots of questions and looking at my hands and feet for any sign of a rash. With a puzzled look she told me the doctor would be in soon. My doctor had the same perplexed expression when I told her what was going on. She looked at my hands and feet for any explanation and also felt around my upper abdomen (checking my liver, I found out later). She asked lots of questions to make sure I hadn't eaten anything weird or had been effected by something that was giving me a reaction. Then she said there was a chance it was something called Cholestasis, but she didn't think that was it. They would get some labs from me and send me on my way. In the mean time she said I could take Benadryl for the itching and let her know immediately if I noticed that baby wasn't moving as much. Hmmm...
Thus the waiting began.
So we became experts on Cholestasis in the 2 days it took her to get the results. You can read all about it from the American Pregnancy Association. Here's a basic rundown: your liver produces bile for your stomach. Your gallbladder stores it and distributes it. Cholestasis is when a pregnancy hormone makes your gallbladder slow down or stop the flow of bile. This makes it back up in your liver where it can spill into your bloodstream. The salts in the bile build up in your blood, mostly in your hands and feet, causing the itch. Not a big deal to the mother, but it can negatively affect baby's liver which can cause preterm birth or even still birth. A scary bit of information, which made me super paranoid about Reed's movements (even though the doctor told me to be aware of his movements already). Every couple of hours I would lay down just to make sure I was still feeling him move.
Tick-tock...
That Wednesday I called the office in the afternoon because I hadn't heard anything. They didn't have any information for me, so I hung up, disappointed. An hour later, my doctor called with the results.
It was Cholestasis.
BUMMER!
The 'cure' for Cholestasis is delivery. Funnily enough, it just goes away post-partum because the pregnancy hormones level out. This meant we were having a baby early. So my doctor was going to consult with a high-risk doctor (because they usually treat/observe Cholestasis Mommies) and call us back. She called back within 30 minutes to tell us that since I was so close to 39 weeks that they recommended induction.
"Can you be at the hospital tomorrow?"
"Uhh, yes?"
Small freak-out.
So we got all the details and set to packing. I called my mom to tell her she would be 2 weeks late for Reed's arrival (of course) and informed the rest of the immediate family of the plans. The reality of not being able to see her grandbaby for 2 whole weeks set in, and my mom changed her travel to come the very next morning (Thursday). So a frenzied evening and horrible night's sleep later, it's Thursday.
We weren't set to go in until that evening, so after my mom arrived we busied ourselves with a breakfast date and some shopping. A failed nap and long afternoon later, Wes FINALLY got home from work, we got ready and were off. We showed up right on time and I got plugged up to the machines and IV. They started me on a pill and the doctor would come back in the morning to start the pitocin. I wasn't excited about it because of everything I'd heard and read about induction, but there we were. I had to stay in bed for 2 hours following the medicine to make sure it would start working. Tell a pregnant lady she can't get up for 2 hours and she will have to pee the ENTIRE time. A tortuous 2 hours later, I finally got to use the bathroom. I was actually starting to feel some contractions by then, but they were small. The nurse said it could possibly put me into labor if my body was ready, but it wasn't likely. So around 9:30 I ate something and the nurse gave me an Ambien to sleep and we were left alone until morning.
Around 11:30-12 I was woken up by strong contractions and a nauseous feeling. After laying there for a little bit I couldn't handle it anymore, called for my nurse and lost my dinner. After getting me situated she said I was 4 cm and I could have my epidural, too. Apparently the medicine that wasn't supposed to start my labor actually did. At least I didn't have to have pitocin!
So I got my epidural around 1 and was a surprising 6 cm. This is happening fast. Wes texted my mom and said that she should probably make her way to the hospital. After a little while I noticed a little relief, but not complete relief. The epidural had only got the right half of my abdomen, so I was still in a considerable amount of discomfort. The NA came back to adjust, but after a while I was still in a lot of pain. My body was progressing so fast that I was outrunning the drugs. One more NA visit and I was finally good. During that time Reed's heart rate kept dropping, which brought a whole slew of nurses in, leaving me wearing an oxygen mask, flipping from side to side (which is quite hard with an epidural), and even getting random shots to slow down my labor. Whatever they did worked because Reed stabilized.
My mom showed up around 3 and I was 9 cm. The nurse started calling for the doctor then. They couldn't get a hold of her and finally went to the on call doctor. She showed up at 4:00 and 10 minutes later Reed was born. I didn't get to hold him right away because he had a bowel movement in utero, so the NICU nurses came in to check him. He was totally perfect so we got to enjoy him immediately after.
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| 6 lb 4 oz and 20 in long |
It was all so surreal. I was kind of in shock that I actually went through labor and had a baby and that he was in the room. Not to mention the "I am totally in charge of this baby now" feeling. Just a little overwhelming.
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| Our new family! |
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| Total love, and total fear. |
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| Mommy love |
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| Reed and his Nana who got to be there. |
Reed's very first visitor was his Nana, who got to be there for his birth. Changing her flight plans was probably a good decision.
Reed's very next visitors were his Godparents Chris and Jess Diem who left their house at 5 in the morning to meet him. (Y'all are crazy!) We had a nice quiet morning visiting with them and also freaking out over a newborn. Sweet Chris got me my first Dr. Pepper in 9 months (YUM) and a moment of hilarity ensued when Wes and Chris tried to put a shirt on Reed. It ended up being backwards or upside down or something. Just what this tired Mamma needed: a good laugh and caffeine.
Enjoy!
The Turners
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