A Baby Story

(Disclaimer, this is a very long and detailed story! The reason that I have a blog is that it enables me to document my family's story as I publish a book for each family member to keep at the end of the year. I kept a lot of details in this story not only because it was one of the happiest days of our lives, but also the SCARIEST. We tend to forget details over time and we want to remember exactly just how blessed we are to have two amazing, healthy children. We tend to forget that until we are faced with the unknown. Feel free to skip this post if you wish!)

                Because Dr. Astin said that he would rather have me come in on my own, we were really hoping for labor to start the weekend before the induction was scheduled. Especially because this would mean that Kiley would get an extra weekend off of work. Grandma and Grandpa Koski knew they would be "on call" to take Kaisley if something happened so they just offered to take her for the weekend. They picked her up Friday and took her swimming and even camping! They are much braver than us (perhaps the better word is more experienced.) We dedicated the weekend trying various things to start labor.  I did a lot of walking and tried things like spicy food and fresh cut pineapple. Jessica and I even parked at Centennial part and walked up the Canyon and all the way to Sportman's Warehouse. I started to have good contractions while we were walking but they went away. Come Sunday morning we decided just to go in to have them check me and see how far I was.

                We went in and his stress test was good and normal and I was about 90% effaced but only a 2 or 3. Dr. Smith was the Dr. on call (I hadn't met him before but we liked him) and he said that since I was already there and I was scheduled for an induction on Wednesday, we could just induce me then or wait. We opted to be induced. They broke my water at noon and I started having contractions closer together. The intensity slowed down though so Kiley and I started to walk the halls. At 4 pm I got an epidural but it didn't work on one spot on my left side. The nurses called the anesthesiologist who was at home and he said instead of him coming back to put it in again, to try giving an extra dose of the medicine every half an hour. At about 5:30 the pain was finally gone. That's when they decided to give me pitocin because I wasn't progressing.  

                Soon after I got the pitocin Kashton started to have low oxygen levels and I had to wear an oxygen mask. This made Kiley and I start to get a little nervous. Soon after that Kashton started to have irregular heart rates. The nurses told me they needed to turn me from side to side to get it up and that's when I discovered just how much the epidural had affected me. I was completely paralyzed from the ribs down. I couldn't feel pressure or ANYTHING. I tried to help them turn myself over but all I could do was prop myself up to my elbows and nothing further. This started to worry me more because I didn't know how I was supposed to push if I couldn't feel anything.

                The nurses were able to get his heart rate back up and came back a few more times to check on us. The Pediatrician on call was Dr. Jones, who we know from church and Kiley did the security system for his house, he came in to say hi and asked if there was anything he could do for us so we asked him to give me a blessing. This had calmed us a little bit but the head nurse saw how nervous Kiley was and how his eyes were glued to the monitor so she showed him that the variation in the heart rates was actually a good thing. This put his mind to rest and he stopped watching it and the nurses left the room. About 15 minutes later I had drifted to sleep and four nurses came charging through the door. Kash's heart rate had dropped so low and in some places stopped completely. One nurse was on the phone with the Dr. telling him what was going on and we heard her saying "we lost it" and "c-section." The other three nurses told me they needed me on my hands and knees and they started to panic when they realized just how much I couldn't move. The three of them couldn't get me turned over by themselves and Kiley ended up coming over and doing it all by himself. They were able to get his heart rate back up and got me turned back over  to prepare for delivery. Dr. Smith came in quickly and told me that on my next contraction I was going to have to push. He told us we had to get him out now and this was the only way to do it. More and more people were coming into the room and the c-section people were outside the door. New people started to move my legs to get them up and didn't realize how numb I was and would drop my legs and they would flop off of the table. Kiley and I were so nervous because everyone in the room seemed to have a hard time staying calm. I started to throw up and they told me to push. (I'm starting to think I am giving way too much detail, sorry) Luckily I was able to get him out in three pushes, even though I had no feeling and had to keep asking if I was doing it right. Finally at 7:37 pm he was here and everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief when they took his vitals and everything was great. Dr. Smith told us he was impressed with both Kiley and I and he said that he would have had to pull him out if I didn't push because there wasn't time for a c-section. Kash was 5lbs 6oz and 19 inches long (his two checkups said 18 inches.) Kashton's blood sugar was a 30 though which meant that he had to go to the NICU, but Dr. Smith said I could keep him for an hour.

                We found out that my parents were in the waiting room so after we had some time with him we let them in. They were surprised he was here because we had spoken to them 20 minutes before and I still wasn't anywhere close to having him. When the time came Kiley pushed Kash down the hall to the NICU with my Dad and my Mom stayed with me. I couldn't go anywhere until my epidural wore off. I was thankful that my Mom was there.

                About an hour later the nurse came in to help me shower but I still couldn't move or feel anything. We decided to skip the shower but to take me down to the NICU to see my little boy. It was so sad to see him there with a feeding tube and monitors hooked to him, but also a HUGE relief to know that his sugars were up and great. After all of the worrying, especially in the last few weeks, he was here and healthy and we had machines and constant care of nurses that could tell us if anything was wrong. They took me back to my recovery room and at midnight I could finally stand on my left foot, but that was it. The nurses kept commenting how killer my epidural was. We were both exhausted and fell right asleep. I used to feel so bad for parents who have their babies in the NICU because I couldn't imagine not being with them, but after that experience I was grateful that he was there because they could take better care of him than I could.

                At 3 am I finally was able to walk and went to the NICU to feed him and then again at 6 with Kiley. We ordered breakfast and then went back to spend the rest of the day with him. Kiley's Dad brought Kaisley over and my mom came to visit and pick her up to spend the next two days with her at our house. Kaisley loved her baby brother. The nurse gave her a bottle to play with and she immediately wanted to feed him. 

               Kash was finally discharged to our room at 2 pm on Monday. We had lots of visitors and everyone noted how small and quiet he was. We seriously only heard him fuss 3 times before we left the hospital. We were able to leave at 6 pm on Tuesday.

 

Dad taking Kash to the NICU

The wonderful nurses

So tiny

sweet boy

We just love him

It was sad to see him hooked up to the machines, but also reassuring that he was okay.

"OOOO BABY!"

Grandpa Koski said "she is clean, her tummy is full, she is happy, but Grandpa doesn't do hair!"

 

Kashton and Grandpa Koski

Aunt Jenny, Hannah, Josh, and Grandpa Gillette

With Grandpa Gillette

My boys are all tuckered out

proud daddy

Dad changing a diaper

Kash and Grandpa Gillette