Birth Story of Kaitlyn Grace Hughson
Born April 6, 2006 @ 7:41pm
8lbs 11.6oz, 21 inches long, 13 inch head
APGARS 9 & 9
We knew Kaitlyn would be making her appearance soon after a routine prenatal doctors appointment on April 5th. At the appointment, the doctor found off the chart amounts of protein in my urine. This, usually accompanied with high blood pressure is a sign of pre-eclampsia aka toxemia. But my blood pressure was fine. We did another urine test and sent it off to the lab for further scrutiny while we waited in the lobby. An hour passes and the nurse comes out to get us… she wants us to go back into the exam room and wait while my doctor seeks a second opinion on my lab results – all the while, we don’t know if this is good or bad news.
When she comes in the room, she asks “what do think about going to the hospital and having your baby today?”. Of course we are ready and anxious to meet our little one, but are wondering if this is an order or a question. She begins to explain that while I still show protein in my urine, this is the only sign of pre-eclampsia I have and they really don’t know why it’s happening. After our brief conversation, we decided to go to hospital for more labs, hoping to find some answers.
We rushed home and grabbed the bags which had been carefully packed 2 weeks earlier. This was it! We were excited, anxious and nervous about everything and how it was happening. This wasn’t how we planned or thought things would go. I said goodbye to Kyle and we headed for the hospital.
We got to Providence St. Vincent’s around 6:00pm where they checked us into an exam room and we made ourselves comfortable. Our stay was only about 3 hours… they did yet another urine analysis which showed (gasp) protein. But still, as before, everything else seemed fine and I was feeling great. We were allowed to return home with strict rules to do a 24 hour urine collection for more lab tests. So – today wasn’t today after all.
When we got home, we were both pretty tired… this whole ordeal began at 2:00pm and we were on an emotional roller coaster. Was the baby ok? Was I ok? What’s going on?
That evening, the phone rang around 10:00pm. It was the attending doctor at St.V’s. She was not at all pleased that I was released to go home… apparently, she had been pouring over my labs and found some interesting “numbers” that made her very nervous and wanted me back in the hospital first thing in the morning. There went any ideas of getting some sleep. So, I headed for bed and laid there… looking at the clock, drifting off to sleep every once in a while, until it was time to get up and go.
We made it to the hospital on April 6th around 9:00am. I was again checked in to an exam room and hooked up to the monitors. They again wanted a urine sample, but this time, it wasn’t going to be as easy or as pleasant. They wanted a pure catheter sample. NOT FUN. Once that was finished, they drew some blood as well. Again, time to wait. About 2 hours pass while we are flipping through magazines from 2003 that we found shoved in a drawer. Finally, the doctor comes in and says we’re having the baby today. My kidneys are failing at a fast pace and can’t support me & baby anymore. She termed it “Atypical” Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (aka – Pre-eclampsia) because they really still don’t know what is wrong… just that my kidneys are failing and we could both die. The cure is to get the baby out NOW. So, off to labor & delivery we go!
When we got into the delivery room, the nurses immediately began hooking me up to the monitors. I was to be on them constantly because of my new “condition”, as well as the automatic blood pressure reader. Then, I get an IV which is attached to a Pitocin drip, Magnesium Sulfate drip and your basic fluids. By looks of all the tubes going in – you’d think I was dying!
For those who don’t know or are interested… pitocin is a synthetic hormone that stimulates labor and causes contractions. Magnesiun sulfate is a drug to prevent me from going into a seizure and dying (from the kidney failure). Then, the basic fluids are given via IV because the magnesium often causes pulmonary edema (amongst a whole lot of other fun side effects) so I am not allowed to drink anything. At this point, my blood pressure had gone up so they have me hooked up to that monitor and of course, two other monitors – one for Kaitlyn and one for contractions.
All this makes one feel a little constricted.
Still, I am in good spirits and ready to get going. So, at about 2:00 pm, the pitocin starts and we are on our way. I’ll spare all the gory details of labor and give you the short version.
2:30pm – contractions have started. Nothing bad, I’m still laughing and talking.
3:40pm – my water breaks while I’m sitting on the big exercise ball. All is still good!
4:00pm – I’m now breathing through the contractions, conversations are only in between contractions.
5:00pm – this sucks. I’m having back labor and not able to talk to anyone more than 2-3 words at a time. Contractions are pretty much non-stop.
6:00pm – I just tried to bite Chris’ hand and am having a really tough time keeping my cool through the contractions. I’m starting to push involuntarily and I feel panic setting in.
6:15pm – the anesthesiologist has finally arrived with a huge needle to shove into my spine and take away the pain. HOORAY! A needle in my spine was very much welcomed compared to the pain.
6:30pm – The Dr. checks me and I am completely dilated and ready to push. However, I’m now paralyzed from my chest down, can’t move anything, can’t feel anything – except for the crazy shaking. I guess it’s normal for your whole body to shake uncontrollably when you’re about to have a baby. So, we are going to have to wait for some of the meds to wear off so I can feel what I’m doing. Why did I get that epidural?! I could have waited 15 more minutes if I knew that’s all it was going to be!!! Damn it!
7:41pm – Kaitlyn is born after 30 minutes of pushing. They laid her on my belly and all we could do was laugh and cry. Such an amazing experience. No complications. We’re both doing great!
After all the routine stuff goes on (weigh the baby, cut the cord, bath, etc) I am wheeled to the postpartum room. We settle in for what will be a two night stay. My first thought -
“Can I get a cheeseburger?”. Since I haven’t been allowed to eat anything since I got to the hospital at 9am, I was STARVING!
The next 48 were a little blurry. Literally. Because of my kidneys, I have to continue the magnesium sulfate for at least 24 hours after birth. During this time, I am allowed to drink 24 oz of liquid. IN 24 HOURS. Torture. It also affects the central nervous system and caused slurred speech (very annoying when you’re sober), blurry vision, an inability to focus on objects, and extreme muscle weakness and slowed reflexes.
If you can imagine what it feels like when your leg falls asleep and you get up to walk – that feeling of having no coordination or muscle control… that’s what my whole body felt like. Turning myself over in bed was a nightmare – if not impossible. I had to ring for a nurse to help me get up and go to the bathroom every. single. time. I actually wasn’t even allowed to get out of bed without assistance because I couldn’t support my own weight. But, after giving birth, modesty goes out the door and you really don’t give a shit.
Besides all the drugs I was on, I had to have my blood drawn and reflexes checked every 3 hours for 24 hours. It’s so nice to have a nurse come in and wake you up at 2am with a tray full of needles and vials and check your reflexes. I think I slept through a couple of exams… but really, I loved my nurses. They were awesome and would get me anything I wanted. When it was time to go home, I cried the whole way… not sure why. I blame hormones.
So, all in all, nothing turned out how we planned or originally wanted. But I wouldn’t change anything. I’m not ashamed that I needed pain medication and I’m so grateful that we have a healthy little girl at home. She is the most wonderful little human in the world!
8lbs 11.6oz, 21 inches long, 13 inch head
APGARS 9 & 9
We knew Kaitlyn would be making her appearance soon after a routine prenatal doctors appointment on April 5th. At the appointment, the doctor found off the chart amounts of protein in my urine. This, usually accompanied with high blood pressure is a sign of pre-eclampsia aka toxemia. But my blood pressure was fine. We did another urine test and sent it off to the lab for further scrutiny while we waited in the lobby. An hour passes and the nurse comes out to get us… she wants us to go back into the exam room and wait while my doctor seeks a second opinion on my lab results – all the while, we don’t know if this is good or bad news.
When she comes in the room, she asks “what do think about going to the hospital and having your baby today?”. Of course we are ready and anxious to meet our little one, but are wondering if this is an order or a question. She begins to explain that while I still show protein in my urine, this is the only sign of pre-eclampsia I have and they really don’t know why it’s happening. After our brief conversation, we decided to go to hospital for more labs, hoping to find some answers.
We rushed home and grabbed the bags which had been carefully packed 2 weeks earlier. This was it! We were excited, anxious and nervous about everything and how it was happening. This wasn’t how we planned or thought things would go. I said goodbye to Kyle and we headed for the hospital.
We got to Providence St. Vincent’s around 6:00pm where they checked us into an exam room and we made ourselves comfortable. Our stay was only about 3 hours… they did yet another urine analysis which showed (gasp) protein. But still, as before, everything else seemed fine and I was feeling great. We were allowed to return home with strict rules to do a 24 hour urine collection for more lab tests. So – today wasn’t today after all.
When we got home, we were both pretty tired… this whole ordeal began at 2:00pm and we were on an emotional roller coaster. Was the baby ok? Was I ok? What’s going on?
That evening, the phone rang around 10:00pm. It was the attending doctor at St.V’s. She was not at all pleased that I was released to go home… apparently, she had been pouring over my labs and found some interesting “numbers” that made her very nervous and wanted me back in the hospital first thing in the morning. There went any ideas of getting some sleep. So, I headed for bed and laid there… looking at the clock, drifting off to sleep every once in a while, until it was time to get up and go.
We made it to the hospital on April 6th around 9:00am. I was again checked in to an exam room and hooked up to the monitors. They again wanted a urine sample, but this time, it wasn’t going to be as easy or as pleasant. They wanted a pure catheter sample. NOT FUN. Once that was finished, they drew some blood as well. Again, time to wait. About 2 hours pass while we are flipping through magazines from 2003 that we found shoved in a drawer. Finally, the doctor comes in and says we’re having the baby today. My kidneys are failing at a fast pace and can’t support me & baby anymore. She termed it “Atypical” Pregnancy Induced Hypertension (aka – Pre-eclampsia) because they really still don’t know what is wrong… just that my kidneys are failing and we could both die. The cure is to get the baby out NOW. So, off to labor & delivery we go!
When we got into the delivery room, the nurses immediately began hooking me up to the monitors. I was to be on them constantly because of my new “condition”, as well as the automatic blood pressure reader. Then, I get an IV which is attached to a Pitocin drip, Magnesium Sulfate drip and your basic fluids. By looks of all the tubes going in – you’d think I was dying!
For those who don’t know or are interested… pitocin is a synthetic hormone that stimulates labor and causes contractions. Magnesiun sulfate is a drug to prevent me from going into a seizure and dying (from the kidney failure). Then, the basic fluids are given via IV because the magnesium often causes pulmonary edema (amongst a whole lot of other fun side effects) so I am not allowed to drink anything. At this point, my blood pressure had gone up so they have me hooked up to that monitor and of course, two other monitors – one for Kaitlyn and one for contractions.
All this makes one feel a little constricted.
Still, I am in good spirits and ready to get going. So, at about 2:00 pm, the pitocin starts and we are on our way. I’ll spare all the gory details of labor and give you the short version.
2:30pm – contractions have started. Nothing bad, I’m still laughing and talking.
3:40pm – my water breaks while I’m sitting on the big exercise ball. All is still good!
4:00pm – I’m now breathing through the contractions, conversations are only in between contractions.
5:00pm – this sucks. I’m having back labor and not able to talk to anyone more than 2-3 words at a time. Contractions are pretty much non-stop.
6:00pm – I just tried to bite Chris’ hand and am having a really tough time keeping my cool through the contractions. I’m starting to push involuntarily and I feel panic setting in.
6:15pm – the anesthesiologist has finally arrived with a huge needle to shove into my spine and take away the pain. HOORAY! A needle in my spine was very much welcomed compared to the pain.
6:30pm – The Dr. checks me and I am completely dilated and ready to push. However, I’m now paralyzed from my chest down, can’t move anything, can’t feel anything – except for the crazy shaking. I guess it’s normal for your whole body to shake uncontrollably when you’re about to have a baby. So, we are going to have to wait for some of the meds to wear off so I can feel what I’m doing. Why did I get that epidural?! I could have waited 15 more minutes if I knew that’s all it was going to be!!! Damn it!
7:41pm – Kaitlyn is born after 30 minutes of pushing. They laid her on my belly and all we could do was laugh and cry. Such an amazing experience. No complications. We’re both doing great!
After all the routine stuff goes on (weigh the baby, cut the cord, bath, etc) I am wheeled to the postpartum room. We settle in for what will be a two night stay. My first thought -
“Can I get a cheeseburger?”. Since I haven’t been allowed to eat anything since I got to the hospital at 9am, I was STARVING!
The next 48 were a little blurry. Literally. Because of my kidneys, I have to continue the magnesium sulfate for at least 24 hours after birth. During this time, I am allowed to drink 24 oz of liquid. IN 24 HOURS. Torture. It also affects the central nervous system and caused slurred speech (very annoying when you’re sober), blurry vision, an inability to focus on objects, and extreme muscle weakness and slowed reflexes.
If you can imagine what it feels like when your leg falls asleep and you get up to walk – that feeling of having no coordination or muscle control… that’s what my whole body felt like. Turning myself over in bed was a nightmare – if not impossible. I had to ring for a nurse to help me get up and go to the bathroom every. single. time. I actually wasn’t even allowed to get out of bed without assistance because I couldn’t support my own weight. But, after giving birth, modesty goes out the door and you really don’t give a shit.
Besides all the drugs I was on, I had to have my blood drawn and reflexes checked every 3 hours for 24 hours. It’s so nice to have a nurse come in and wake you up at 2am with a tray full of needles and vials and check your reflexes. I think I slept through a couple of exams… but really, I loved my nurses. They were awesome and would get me anything I wanted. When it was time to go home, I cried the whole way… not sure why. I blame hormones.
So, all in all, nothing turned out how we planned or originally wanted. But I wouldn’t change anything. I’m not ashamed that I needed pain medication and I’m so grateful that we have a healthy little girl at home. She is the most wonderful little human in the world!
Here's a few pics...
posted by Mel @ 12:23 PM
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