Well, if you haven't guessed, Grayson Alan has arrived! I figured it is about time for me to write my delivery story:
I went to the doctor on 2/28 for my 39 week check-up. I was secretly (or not so secretly) hoping that I was dilated enough to be admitted to the hospital and induced. Well, I got the bad news that I was not dilated a bit! However, all the pressure I put on myself to dilate must have stressed out my body (lol)... My blood pressure was 142/92 (then 152/96 after the not dilated news, oops). So, my doctor decided I needed to go ahead and be induced. As excited as I was to finally get to meet my little man, everything seemed like it was moving too fast! Next, my doctor wanted to get an ultrasound to make sure baby was head-down. The ultrasound showed that baby was in the correct position, but his amniotic fluid was low. This only furthered the need to be induced (in a way, it was a blessing my blood pressure was high, or we may have never known the amniotic fluid was low). Because of the low amniotic fluid, we had to have a non-stress test to make sure baby could handle contractions. During the NST, the tech kept saying that Grayson wasn't moving much and having to stimulate him. She had me so worried! Dr. G said that everything looked ok on it, though.
Michael and I did get to go home and tie things up before heading to the hospital at 2:00. When we got to the hospital, we checked in and I was started on my Cytotec. This medicine was 2 little pills every 4 hours that are meant to "ripen" the cervix for dilation. So, all night I had to stay hooked up to an awful monitor and lay in bed taking medicine. Thankfully I had some wonderful L&D nurses! The next morning they checked me, and I was still not dilated a bit. Now it was time to start my pitocin. This is the drug to stimulate actual contractions. They start the dosing off low and gradually increase it. This did cause me to have contractions that got fairly uncomfortable towards the higher dosing, but never unbearable. Dr. G came and checked me at 12 and I was still not dilated any...
At this point, Dr.G told me we would have 3 choices. He would come check me at 5, and if I was not dilated any then: 1. We could continue the pitocin all night and see what happens; 2. We could stop the pitocin and try the Cytotec again (allowing me to eat again since I had been nothing by mouth since midnight); 3. Have a scheduled c-section. The pitocin wasn't an option for me, because it would keep me not eating and would be most likely to lead to an emergent c-section. The down-side to the Cytotec was that it could still lead to an emergent c-section or could mean a whole day of trying and leading nowhere only to have a scheduled c-section with a different doctor. I talked to the nurse and she said that almost all patients at try another day end up having a section, and I had friends that had gone through the same thing. Michael and I decided that we were most comfortable having a scheduled c-section with our doctor. So, the nurse checked me at 4 and I was still not dilated at all. We told her our decision and then things happened fast (but oh so slow at the same time!)!
We spent an hour in the room with our families waiting while the nurses got me ready for surgery. Close to 5:30 they wheeled me to the OR and dropped Michael off in a waiting area. I got my spinal (not nearly as bad as I expected, the sitting on the edge of the table and tying to put my elbows on my knees was the hardest part), laid on the operation table, and waited on Michael to come back. The dang nursing student got lost trying to find him! Thankfully, my CRNA yelled out "somebody get the husband!" before he missed anything! Before I knew it I heard Dr.G saying "here is his head! Look at those long eyelashes, are you sure it's a boy?" (he was a boy). Then, I heard the cry that stole my heart! It was surreal! Dr.G brought him over and I saw that head full of dark hair on my husband's face with my chin. I was So in LOVE! Nobody can explain the feeling you get when you see the little person you had growing inside of you for the first time. He was all mine (and Michael's...), and I was the happiest girl in the world! All I could say was, "oh my gosh, he's perfect!!" Then, our lives were changed forever... Sometimes I catch Michael just staring at Grayson. Seeing Michael hold him, there are just no words to finish this sentence. Michael is the best father already!
Grayson Alan was born March1, 2013 at 6:09 pm. He was a perfect 6 lbs, 12 oz and 20 1/4 inches long.
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