Porter's Birth Story

I have meant to blog about Porter Lee Sycamore but we've been busy having fun.

Just a warning this is a long post, but then again I had a looong labor. If you don’t want to read all about the birth here’s a summary. I birthed the cutest little boy, the end!

The story begins of me imagining what labor will be like. I thought my labor would be long because I was being induced, but I also thought that it would be pain free because of the epidural. I imagined I would be sitting in the bed laughing, playing games with Ben and just waiting until they told me to push. Ha, this wasn't how it went at all.

March 19. It began at 7:00 am when I got a call from the hospital saying it was time for me to come in and be induced. Earlier that morning I started having regular contractions and was hoping I would just go into labor on my own, but no. We got set up in our labor room at about 8:30 and here we waited, and waited and waited for progress. My Dr. didn't start me off with pitocin, but with a pill they inserted to help me dilate. She also broke my water at this point. Some of the water had a small hint of green which means there could be a chance of meconium (stool in the amniotic fluid). They didn't act like it was a big deal but they would have the NICU team come in and evaluate that baby right when I had him. So the pill they inserted worked well and I dilated from a 1 to a 6 in about 4 hours. I think somewhere around a 5 I had experienced enough of the contractions and didn't want to feel the pain progress. I also knew that once they started the pit the contractions would get stronger and harder. I rang my anesthesiologist and he gave me the epidural. After about 30 minutes I couldn't feel my legs AT ALL and the pain had gone away. At this point I am happy, pain free, and content with my tigers blood flavored ice chips (this is all I was allowed to eat. I asked the nurse if I could just have a little chocolate, but my wish wasn't granted. I even tried to have Ben sneak me food that we had brought, but he wouldn't! I lived but seriously I was hungry and that's one of the first things I wanted after delivery.)

Ok so back to being dilated to a 6. I stayed here for another 3 hours with no progress, and this is when they decided to give me pitocin. I continued to progress at about 1 cm per 2 hours. At some point probably around an 8 I started feeling the contractions again, and I didn't like it. My pain free birth wasn't happening. I called in the anesthesiologist again, again, and again to come give me more but it didn't really help. The epidural was really spotty. I would turn one way and would start to feel contractions on one side and then I would turn to the other side and I would start to feel them in a different area. I remember repeating over and over to Ben, “this is the worst.” I hadn't really gone over any breathing techniques, because I was going to have an epidural! But I soon learned how to control my breathing and tried not to focus on the contractions. Ben was there the whole time telling me to breath (kinda like a yoga instructor would) and he had to fan my face for a good 2 hours ha ha. I knew his hand was getting tired because he would switch fan hands often. He was the best, except for not sneaking me food J.

I wanted all of it to just be over and kept calling in the nurse to have her check my progress, I had to be a 10 by now! But still I wasn't there. This goes on for a long time and finally at about 2:00 am the next day, March 20^th, I was at a 10 and I pushed that little baby out.

Once I started to push, I couldn't feel the contractions or maybe my mind wasn't focusing on them but either way I was happy for this. After about 30 minutes of pushing our little guy was here! I heard a little cry, my doctor showed him to me, and then the NICU team took him to the other side of the room. They were making sure he didn't swallow any meconium. He was really white and his cry wasn't as high pitched compared to other babies. This was a concern and they took him to the NICU and there he stayed.

All I wanted to do was hold my baby. And what about skin to skin!?!? I had just given birth but had no baby by my side to cuddle with. I wouldn't be the first one to change his diaper or be there to calm his crying. I wanted to mother my little boy and he wasn't in my reach. It was a hard night. I didn't want to talk about with other people either because that just brought on the tears.

But I wouldn't have wanted him in any other place but in the NICU. He was cared for and watched over by experienced and wonderful doctors and nurses. And I'm very very grateful for modern medicine and the things they can do to save babies.

Fortunately he wasn't in the NICU for too long. Here is a time line of how Porter progressed while in the hospital.

Day 1-Porter was put on a CPAP machine to help him with his breathing. We called it his elephant trunk. They tried taking him off of the machine multiple times through out the night but he wasn't able to breath regularly on his own. Ben and I were able to hold him!

As you can see in the picture he was hooked up to so many different monitors and had an IV as well.

Day 2-He got an injection of surfactant (stuff that coats our lungs so we can breath) and within 24 hours he was breathing on room air. They placed a feeding tube down his nose and fed him my hard pumped colostrum, liquid gold as they call it (and pumping was a whole different story, I can laugh about it now). After he was able to breath on his own they had to see how his breathing was when I tried to nurse.

Day 3- I was able to feed him 3 times a day and each time Porter did fine. I was discharged from the hospital and again one of the hardest things I've had to do is leave the hospital without my little boy. It was heart breaking and very emotional. We stayed at the hospital until 11:00 pm that night and the next morning I was up and ready to see him at 8:00 am. I didn’t want to leave him there.

You can see his feeding tube.

Day 4- They increased his feedings to feeding on demand. They took out his IV and feeding tube!! On the floor of the NICU they have rooms for parents to stay and Ben and I stayed there that night. The nurses would call me whenever Porter was up and ready to eat and I would go feed him. If he ate well then it looked very hopeful that we would be coming home the next day.Day 5-Porter leaves the NICU!It was such a relief to be able to come home with Porter. No more wires and monitors. No more blood sugar pokes on his heels, no more diaper free nights, he is all ours now!

I know there are many parents who have had to watch their little baby from a far in the NICU and my heart goes out to you. It's not very fun. I know that because of many heart felt prayers and the power of the priesthood, Porter recovered so quickly and was able to come home.

Overall, I had a great experience at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center and I was treated like a queen as I recovered. Porter was given extra attention and he's home and doing well. Porter is home bound until June and my trips to take out the trash have been as far as I’ve ventured some days. Also I've noticed my momma bear instincts have kicked in because I'm very protective over who is admitted into the house so don’t get offended if I don’t let you in. Also another lesson learned is to not let your doctor let you go over due. Mecinium aspiration is more common in overdue births and this wasn’t something I was aware of.

Porter is such a sweet baby and he is doing great! He has gained 9 oz in just 2 weeks and the doc said his lungs sound normal. I love being a mom! His little character shows through more and more each day. I just look at him and am amazed that he is mine to care and look after. There is nothing more precious than to have a little baby!