Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Andrew's Birth Story & Thoughts on LIJ

As promised, our little boy's birth story, which I'm breaking up into two parts because it is looooooooooong!

On January 14, my husband and I headed to Dr. Charnes' office for an ultrasound to determine the size of our baby. I was 6 days past my due date, and Dr. Charnes found that my amniotic fluid was low and estimated that baby Andrew weighed 9 lbs (yikes!), so off to Long Island Jewish she sent us for an induction. (Dr. Charnes actually said to us during the u/s "Lisa, I think your pregnancy is ending today..." before launching into the explanation, which scared the hell out of us!)

After stopping at home to pick up some last-minute supplies, we drove calmly to the hospital in New Hyde Park. The hospital is undergoing a bit of construction on a new women's center, so we decided to bypass the parking garage for valet parking at the hospital's entrance. The valet cost--like $12--was totally worth it. (Note: Unless you find a spot on the street, you're going to have to pay for parking at the hospital. Annoying, I know.)

The hospital lobby was super crowded, but I was strangely calm and we made our way to the delivery side of the maternity ward, which was thankfully peaceful. I checked in at the nurse's station, saw Dr. Kanarek, who was on-call until later that evening, and was soon set up in a delivery room. Then, Dr. Kanarek did a preliminary exam and he estimated baby to be no bigger than 8 lbs--I was so happy to hear that!

The delivery rooms at the hospital are really small and we only had one visitor's chair. Be sure to ask for another chair if you are going to have two people in the room with you for the long haul. My mom and my husband just rotated, however, since my labor progressed relatively quickly.

Getting hooked up to the antibiotics for Group B Strep and the pitocin was a piece of cake. The nurse inserted the IV super delicately and they slowed down the antibiotic drip when I requested it because my arm was hurting (completely normal with antibiotic). My husband kept an eye on the contraction monitor and about four hours into the induction, I decided to get my epidural. That's when it got a little rough!

The anesthesiologist's assistant came in to take my medical history. After I mentioned some back problems, he launched into a speech about not recommending I get the epidural because I could hurt my back during pushing, not being able to feel when I was in a painful position. Despite him being super stern about it, I decided to go ahead and get the epidural anyway. The insertion was scary, especially because they wouldn't let my husband stay in the room and I kept feeling shooting sensations down my left leg (again, completely normal), but I held onto my amazing nurse Jillian for dear life and soon I was pain free... for awhile!

At this point, I was about 5 centimeters dilated and Dr. Kanarek came in to break my water. I spent the next couple of hours dozing, watching some TV, and flipping over to my side after a scare when baby's heartrate dropped, and about 3 1/2 hours later the returning pain and pressure meant that it was finally time to push!

TO BE CONTINUED!

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