Quinn's Birth Story

It has officially been one week since Quinn was born! And, what a week it has been...

Last Monday I went into the hospital for my induction around 8:30 am. By the time they got me checked in, monitored Quinn, and re-checked my preeclampsia it was 10:30 am. The urine test came back again confirming that my preeclampsia was severe enough to warrant an induction. I started the day 3 centimeters dilated, Quinn in a -3 position (too far up), and the effacement percentage varied based on who checked me (anywhere from 50%-80%). They assured me that they would be as conservative as possible with the pitocin, and they were.

When the induction began at 10:30 am, I spent an hour on the smallest dosage with no pain. Then at 11:30 am they increased the pitocin by one more dosage, and this time I only experienced slight cramping. At 12:30 pm my doctor broke my water (I was 3 centimeters dilated still) and that's when things really started progressing. Within an hour I was having to breathe through my contractions, and within two hours I made the decision to have an epidural. My decision was based on the fact that I still had a long day ahead of me, and I wanted to enjoy my birthing experience as much as possible. I am so glad I had the epidural!

I was fairly comfortable for the majority of the afternoon, after my 3:00 pm epidural. By 4:00 pm I was 6 centimeters dilated. I was thrilled to be making progress! The next time I was checked was around 6:00 pm and I was 8 centimeters dilated (finally progressing about a centimeter an hour). By this time my epidural was not providing me with pain relief on my right-hand side, both in the front and in my back. I was having to breathe through my contractions again and was feeling pretty miserable. My anesthesiologist came back and adjusted the placement of my epidural and the dosage, and this helped for another couple of hours.

I continued to progress about one centimeter an hour and by 8 pm I was between 9-10 centimeters dilated (they called it an anterior lip). They let me wait another hour to fully dilate, and this hour was pretty painful again. At 9 pm my doctor came in, and the nurse said that I was fully dilated. They said that the epidural should mask the pain, but that I should still be able to feel pressure. Well, for me it was the opposite. I felt extreme pain, but was not feeling pressure. This made me worry that I would not be able to push effectively.

At this time, my doctor suggested that I simply try a few practice pushes just to see if my concerns were true. She was trying to console me, saying that often times pushing masks any pain that patients feel. I agreed to try. I was so ready to meet my son! So, I tried to push with the peak of my contractions a few times, and they just never had me stop. I only had Pat, my nurse, and doctor in the room with me, and this was perfect. We were chatting in between contractions, Pat telling the nurse and doctor about our love story. They were clearly trying to distract me, and I appreciated this because it worked! I pushed for 53 minutes, and at 9:57 pm Quinn was born. It was amazing, and I couldn't believe he was finally here! I was in so much shock that I didn't even notice that he wasn't crying immediately. Once he started crying I noticed the sighs of relief in the room and asked everyone what the worry was. At this time they informed me of their concerns, but that he was sounding great.

They did have a NICU nurse come and check on Quinn for awhile to make sure that he was getting all of the fluid out of his lungs. There was concern for about half an hour that me might have to spend the night in the NICU, but thankfully, this was not necessary.

At 10:25 pm Pat called my parents, Jamie, and Ritchie who were patiently waiting in the waiting room. When they left at 9 pm they didn't know that I would begin pushing minutes later. However, they figured it out when we didn't call back for an hour and a half!

Quinn weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces and was 19 1/4 inches long. He is absolutely perfect!

Pat and I have been so blessed by Quinn. People have always told me that you can't imagine the love you feel for a child until you are a parent yourself. I couldn't agree more. We have only had him in our life for one short week, but he is our everything!

More to come on what else has been happening in our lives this week...

Induction Date

So, I completed my 24-hour urine test and my doctor's suspicions turned out to be true. I do have enough protein in my urine to be considered to have mild preeclampsia. Yesterday I was able to mentally get myself to a point where if I do have medical need for an induction, I can find peace with scheduling one. Therefore, when the doctor called with my results today I was able to schedule an induction for Monday morning with no hesitations. Overall, Pat and I are feeling excited. Sure I'm scared and nervous, but I'm sure those are normal feelings. I can't wait to see what Quinn looks like and I am grateful that we'll have the opportunity to have everything as prepared as possible. If he comes on his own before then, that would be great! But if not, then it looks like we'll be parents on Monday!

Weekly Checkup

Today I had my weekly doctor's appointment. I was expecting my typical weight check, urine check, blood pressure check, Quinn's heartbeat check, etc... to come out normal and to be on my way home. I even expected to learn that I have not progressed from my 3 centimeters dilation from two weeks ago. What I did not expect was to be sent to labor and delivery and told that I would need to be induced tonight, or possibly tomorrow morning (assuming everything looked okay). I was alone at my appointment and was not prepared to hear this. I was an emotional roller coaster, to say the least. I have been warned to be prepared to throw any labor plans out the window, but I am clearly not emotionally prepared for this. I have a vision of going into natural labor, fighting through labor pains at home for a while, and then eventually heading to the hospital when I can't take the pain any longer.

You might be wondering why is there this immediate need to induce me all of a sudden? Well, to be frank, so was I. I did have traces of protein in my urine and a higher blood pressure today (although my blood pressure was still within the "normal" range). These are both signs of preeclampsia. My doctor wanted to error on the side of caution and have me go to labor and delivery immediately to monitor Quinn's heartbeat, my blood pressure, and have some blood work drawn to ensure that there were no immediate concerns (thus causing me to need to be induced immediately). I called Pat and he left work immediately and met me at the hospital. After 4+ hours of monitoring and such I learned that everything looked "normal". Dr. Bovone came and talked to Pat and me about what to do next. Her opinion was that I might as well be induced sooner rather than later just to ensure that no further complications arise. My perspective varied, because ultimately I felt like we learned that everything was okay. I would rather Quinn decide when he join us, but ultimately, I was just not emotionally prepared for this to happen tomorrow (via induction). So, the compromise that we came up with was for me to take a 24-hour urine test to get a better gauge of whether or not I have enough protein to be concerned about preeclampsia. We will get the results for this test on Saturday and then decide what to do from there. No matter what, it looks like Quinn will be here next week. We are looking at an induction (as soon as Monday) if he doesn't come naturally before then.

Pat and I learned how emotionally exhausting spending time in the hospital can be. We feel as though we received just a taste of what it will be like next week. Keep us in your thoughts and pray for a safe delivery!

Maternity Photos

Will was in town this past weekend and took some maternity photos for us. I don't recommend people wait until they are full-term for these photos, but we're happy to have something! Thanks Will!

The Final Ultrasound...

I just returned from my final ultrasound to check Quinn's size, and I am officially terrified of giving birth! The results predicted Quinn's weight to be 8 pounds 2 ounces already (I still have a little over two weeks to go before I'm due). I was hoping to give birth to a baby less than 8 pounds!

In addition, when they measured his head the machine said 40 weeks 4 days (I am 37 weeks 5 days). I know that the Gillettes tend to have big heads, and it seems as though Quinn is following suit. I did ask the technician, "So, what's the margin of error on these things?" He assured me that there is room for some error, but that the equipment tends to be accurate within 10%-15%.

The latest advice that I received to help induce labor was to walk stairs (thanks Raine), so I guess I'll give that a try. It's time for Quinn to join us and continue his growth spurts outside of me!

Pregnancy Update

Today I had another doctor's appointment (and will each week until Quinn arrives). I learned that my belly grew a lot this week (3 cm ish), but I did not progress much in terms of my dilation/effacement. Today, I measured at 40 weeks, was 3 centimeters dilated, and was 80% effaced. My doctor wants me to get another ultrasound next week to check on the size of the baby since I grew so much this week. I'm imagining the growth is more me than Quinn, but I suppose we'll find out next week. Labor progress is exciting, but the reality that this is still a few weeks away is setting in. In the meantime, I have one more week of school and am going to enjoy the time with my students.