Elias Alexander Lance

Our little muffin is finally here!

After 24 hours of trying out the cervix-softening tablets, the doctor examined me and told us I had barely made any progress. My body clearly was not ready. So his suggestion was to try one more round of the tablet, and then if that didnt work, we could either try another cervix-rippening agent, or call it a day and go for a c-section.  At that point, after almost 28 hours of not being able to leave the bed, my hips were KILLING me. The bed felt like a brick, and no matter which way I laid, I just could not get comfortable. I also kinda felt like my body simply wasn't ready yet, and therefore just was not responding to the meds. So Kevin and I decided if this last tablet didnt work, we wanted a C-section.

Also, let me add that up to this point I was hardly have any contractions and the ones that I was having were hardly making me flinch. All day, I was expressing how much pain I was having in my hips. The nurses all instantly said "the epidural is totally available if you want it". I was not against getting an epidural at all...however, I didn't want to get it just for my hips.

Well, when the checked me at 12:00am last night, I was 3cm. So the doctor suggested we start the pitocin and see what happens. About 15 minutes into it, the contractions started...and they came on VERY strong.  At around 2:30, I was done and asked for the epidural. I was actually pretty terrified of the process of putting it in. I've had shots in my butt, legs, arms...but never in my back. I wanted it, but at the same time was totally petrified. But I sucked it up, squeezed the nurse as hard as possible, and let it happen. The first two tries the doctor did were not successful. She couldn't get it to thread. Another doctor who was there for this very reason stepped in and was able to get it in no problem. And ohhhh my goodness...it worked absolutely wonderful. I didn't feel any contractions the entire time, and was able to lay on my hips and get a solid 5 hours of sleep. 

All morning, I was progressing right along! By 11:30, I was 8cm and feeling great! Then, all of the sudden, no matter which way I laid, whenever a contraction came along, his heart rate fell drastically.  The doctor came in and after about a half hour of her observing the machine and pressing on my stomach to get the baby to move, she said its time to call it quits and go for a c-section.

I was so bummed. I finally got all this way. I was a basket case. If you would have asked me 12 before, I would have been all for it! So I balled all the way into the OR, and even once we were in there. They shot me up with a ton more through the epidural, and I started shaking uncontrollably. Apparently thats a very common side effect. I pulled myself together, and was able to control myself. At 1:08, they said they finally reached him, announced that he was out, and...nothing. No cry. No one said much. They didn't hold him over the curtain for us to see. They took him over to the corner to work on him, and no one said a thing to us about him. I kept asking what was going on, but no one answered me. Finally the anesthesiologist said he couldnt tell me anything, only the people working on him could...and they wouldnt answer.  They asked if Kevin wanted to come over, and he went and took a few pictures while they wiped him up. He let out a few cries, and finally he let out the cry I'd been waiting to hear. It was the sweetest sound I ever heard.

Finally, a nurse came over and explained to us that the cord was wrapped around his neck, arm, and leg. They had to work on him for a few minutes to get him breathing on his own. They also said there was a possibility he swallowed the maconium, so they were taking him to the NICU for observation. So they brought him over to me for just a moment, then took him away.

As bummed as I was to have to get a c-section, its a darn good thing we did. They said if I would have tried to deliver him normally, he would have been strangled and it might not have turned out very well. Praise the Lord for intervening and protecting our son!

From start to finish, the whole operation took a little over an hour.  I was then taken to a recovery room to rest while the anestesia wore off. Then at 5, after my mom got back from picking Mom-Mom up at the airport, they took us to the NICU to see him.  When they brought us back to him, I just couldn't believe what I saw...a full head of DARK hair! Not peach fuzz...hair! Kevin and I were both totally wrong. I thought he'd be a blonde and Kevin prayed for a redhead.

The nurse was super sweet, and took some time to explain to us what was going on.  She said right off the bat that he's doing great. He's breathing completely on his own and all his vitals are perfect. His feet were exactly what we expected. Both hands will have to be looked at by a doctor (I'm assuming tomorrow) because they both appear to have some slight problems. The one looks possibly clubbed, and on the other, he cant/wont extend his thumb from his fist. Annnnd he also has a skin tag on his left ear. They said it could be an indicator for kidney problems, so they'll take a look at that tomorrow too. Its easily removable though, so we'll hopefully have that done by the time we leave the hospital.

He's staying in the NICU till tomorrow, so tonight I'm going to try and get as much sleep as possible. I seriously feel like I've been hit by a truck. But we're going down in just a few minutes to hold him for the first time. When we were there earlier, there was too much going on with other babies for them to let us hold him. So they told us to come back down later, just the two of us, and we could spend some more time with him.