Bennett is Born!!!

December 31, 2010 is Bennetts Birthday! I'll start with the stats and then tell you all the details. He was born weighing 7lbs 13oz and was 21 inches long! We really were thinking that he was going to be bigger! We had an ultra sound done somewhere around 34 weeks and they said he was around 6lbs and 11oz (give or take one pound) so with 6 more weeks to go (and the fact that one of those weeks I gained 5 pounds! We thought he'd be over 8lbs, but alas he was what he was :)

There is a previous post (on December 29th) about what we did on his due date, just like Jessica and baby Journey, Bennett and I went and got a pedicure, again... IT WAS WONDERFUL! The next day Thursday December 30th, 2010 we had a check up appointment, well me assuming that I was going to be home that afternoon, slept in with LuLu and didn't take her for her morning walk. The appointment was at 9:30am at the Naval Hospital and we arrived and the place was empty (due to the holidays).  We went in and met with Dr. Jagoe (again she's great, even came to visit us in our room after Bennett arrived). She did all the general check ups and said that I was still dilated 1cm (the same from the previous week) (Sorry Bennett, one day you're going to read this and be grossed out I'm sure...) And then Dr. J did an ultrasound to check amniotic fluid level, she didn't mention anything at the time that she did the ultrasound about the fluid level but instead wanted to have Bennett monitored (heart rate and contractions) just to check him since he was one day over due. Well we had to wait to go to the appointment that was at 11am, so in the mean time I drank a ton of water per Dr's orders and then waited and waited around. (This was going to turn out to be the theme of the next 30 hours, waiting).

Well I was all hooked up to the monitors (really I just had two straps around my belly with round monitors on them. Well he was doing fine, it was so cool to see his heart beat go up and down with his activity level. The more he moved the higher his heart beat went (all the way up to 170bpm) I was hooked up to the monitors for about 45 min and they said that all was well with Bennett, and though I had felt some contractions before here and there I didn't have any that the monitors detected. After that the Nurse did another ultrasound (take note this is #2 for the day) and she was looking at the fluid levels (come to find out, she too didn't tell us anything). She took her measurements and then said that she'd like the Dr to take a look as well, but he was finishing his clinic so again... we waited. In the mean time Brad and I fell asleep in the ultrasound room and I had a fiasco in the bathroom (I told you i drank a lot of H2O right...), hahaha, one that won't be shared here but was too funny looking back. Well the Dr came and did another ultrasound (#3 for the day) and then said, very loudly to the nurse who was in the other room, apparently this is acceptable medical behavior, "You're right, I agree, the fluid is low!" Well now we (Brad and I) knew what's going on, the "fluid is low"... well... what's that mean Doc?! Bennett was running out of amniotic fluid (his life source in the womb) the "number" for the fluid check that is acceptable is supposed to be between 5 and 20 and we had a 4.5 something, so the Dr (who by the way needs to work on his people skills....) says, "How do you feel about having a baby today?" I looked at Brad just in time to see his eyes pop out of his head and then go back in, and then I said, "Sure." Well after all Bennett was one day over due and he had to come out sometime right. Well the Dr and his great words of wisdom/explanation of the situation were, "If Bennett runs out of amniotic fluid then we're going to have a dead baby, and I'm just not comfortable sending you home today, so we're going to have you induced, the risks are a 50% chance of having a C-section (because I wasn't very dilated, and may not take to the induction meds well) but hey I'll take a c-section over a dead baby, right?!" <--- Yes, I'm serious... those are the words that came out of the Dr's mouth.

After that lovely conversation they pretty much told us no further instructions and sent us off to the MICU (mother infant care unit) to be induced. Of course we get there before the paper work did so I walked up to the front desk to tell them that I've been sent here to be induced and they all look at each other and then tell me to hold on... shocker... that was at about 12:30 in the afternoon. We waited about 20 min and then they sent us to lunch with the impression (because that's what they said) that they would get a room and a nurse ready for us. So we went to lunch and came back a little after one and then... WAITED in the waiting room until about 3:30 or 4. Another Dr (a resident I'm pretty sure) then took us to triage and I had yet a 4th ultrasound for the day. Well this Dr checked the fluid level of course and she got a very safe number of 9 something. After she said that she seemed like she was going to send us home... well after I told here that the other Dr said that I could have a dead baby by tomorrow I wasn't going anywhere. This last Dr decided she would talk with the other Dr's that were on staff that day and see what they wanted to do. So, we waited, she came back and said that we would stay to be induced but why don't we go home pack our hospital bags get some dinner and then come back around 7 or 8pm. So, we went to dinner (Austin Grill, the taco salad was super yummy) and went and packed our bag and then headed back to the hospital, we got there around 8:10pm. I went back to the infamous front desk and told them why I was there and the charge nurse proceeded to tell me that all the rooms were full and that we were going to have to ... you guessed it... WAIT! After she gave us a story about how people called in and they were short staffed as well... GUESS WHAT?! NOT MY PROBLEM, this is the military right... call someone in I'M TRYING TO HAVE A BABY!! At this point of waiting and 4 ultrasounds with different results and more and more waiting Brad and I were getting restless and upset, I was tired, had been sitting in waiting room chairs what seemed like all day I was just ready to lay down. FINALLY! We were called to our room at 9:30pm (eight and a half hours later from the time we were told we were going to be induced). Then the fun began...

I was induced at 10 o'clock and the contractions continued to get stronger and stronger, at 3am they put in the IV with pitocin, then the pain really started coming! I wasn't opposed to getting the epidural I just wanted to see how long I could go with out it and I didn't want to completely not feel anything, I mean after all that's part of it all, the pain. well I lasted until 7am (I only made it that long because of the support of Brad, he was great, right there the whole time being very encouraging and reminding me to breath, cause let me tell ya' there were times when I forgot to!) The epidural wasn't painful to receive the numbing med's BEFORE the epidural were the most painful part, not to mention the anesthesiologist pinching and poking and pushing on my bones to find the right spot... that part hurt, oh and the 7 miles of tape that he ripped off "elementary school style" as he put it after it was over, THAT was painful!! After he was done with the epidural he said that I was a great patient and held very still, I told him that, "My husband said if i didn't hold still that I would die." well of course Brad didn't really say that, but it was worth saying to see Brad turn bright red... hehehe, then Brad proceeded to tell the Nurse and the Dr, that "You'll never know what she's going to say." I made sure to tell them that he didn't really tell me that. funny. Well once the pain was gone I fell asleep for a while and the staff continued to check on me periodically and things were progressing along just fine. At 2pm they said that I was 9.5cm dilated and that when I felt the need to push to not push, but to push the call button and let them know. They also said that there were 3 other ladies that were going to have babies at the same time I was and you could tell that they were worried that we were all going to give birth at the same time! It was a full house! Well I was nervous that there was going to be more pain coming so I pushed the epidural button... that was a bad idea... after that I could no longer feel the pressure that I had been feeling and couldn't feel any part of the contractions at all, so needless to say Bennett was in the birth canal a little longer than need be. The Dr and Nurses came back at 3pm and they said it was time to push! Nothing to it! hahaha, 8 min later little Bennett made his debut! Brad and I were overwhelmed with emotion. Both crying and I was laughing at the same time. (Note to all, when the Dr is making stitches it's not in your best interest to have the joyous laughter that you can't control.) Brad wasn't able to cut the umbilical cord because they wanted to get Bennett right to the pediatrics Dr's to make sure their were no complications from the meconium, but Bennett came out screaming and was just fine :) I got to hold him right away and he took right to nursing and nursed for a whole hour! What a miracle that he knew just what to do. God is so good :)

We were then moved to our room where we stayed until Sunday. I couldn't move my legs until 8 that night and it was the strangest feeling ever, but so worth it. Next time we'll see how the pregnancy goes and maybe I'll make it with out the epidural... but then again... maybe not.

Bennett's first photo

Mom and babys' 1st photo

1st family photo (minus LuLu)

Yes, we know that they are socks
 but he kept scratching himself!

Just hanging out with momma and daddy

Daddy and Bennetts 1st photo

p.s. there were 15 babies born while we were there that day! I wonder if they were all deployment babies like Bennett was, or tax break babies ;-)