(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.
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| Dad taking Kash to the NICU |
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| The wonderful nurses |
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| So tiny |
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| sweet boy |
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| We just love him |
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| It was sad to see him hooked up to the machines, but also reassuring that he was okay. |
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| "OOOO BABY!" |
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| Grandpa Koski said "she is clean, her tummy is full, she is happy, but Grandpa doesn't do hair!" |
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| Kashton and Grandpa Koski |
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| Aunt Jenny, Hannah, Josh, and Grandpa Gillette |
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| With Grandpa Gillette |
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| My boys are all tuckered out |
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| proud daddy |
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| Dad changing a diaper |
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| Kash and Grandpa Gillette |
