As you all know My Wife and I are expecting our first child around Christmas. As the count down started, 30+ weeks ago, we first thought the end would never come. We would laugh about things, dream about things, I talk into her belly, and often I would just smile when I see a brand new family. I am a bit of a sentimental sap for a guy. I find that it comes from being a protective older brother and a pretty loyal person.
Tuesday, My Wife and I headed into the Denver, as we have done so often, for her 36/37 week check up. The Midwife was excited to see us, and was right away concerned about the fact My Wife's blood pressure was high. So as we went through with the check up, periodically her blood pressure was checked, to see if we got a false reading, not so much. When it came time to see the sonogram, the Midwife first pressed on My Wife's belly to confirm that Peanut was head down and assuming the position. The sonogram gave us shocking news, BREECH! Yep that silly little kid of ours has both of our genes to want to do things his/her way. So this brings about concern from the Midwife, because of the fact we are at 37 weeks and My Wife's blood pressure is high. Right away we were scheduled for a procedure to actually turn Peanut around so the head is down and we could go on our merry way. At the same time the Midwife suggested to get some acupuncture done, and I had read that there is also a chiropractic technique to help inspire Peanut to turn over.
All these events changed our view/plan of how we wanted to bring Peanut into the world. We always thought Peanut's birthday would be text book, some time on Saturday, contractions would start to build, we would labor for 5-6 hours at home and when Amy felt it was time, we would dash off to hospital, labor for 4-6 hours more and out would come Peanut, no drugs, no emergency procedure, no need for stress, just a beautiful kid ready to play in with the rest of our friends children. After that, we would be in the hospital for a few days, making sure we have all bonded to one another and the medical staff gave us our last bit of instructions for our new journey with Peanut out side the womb.
Later on Tuesday, we attended our last baby class before Peanut was born. We had already planned on this, so God who knew how to quickly encourage us. I believe that God is control of what is going on inside the womb. Reasons for babies coming up breech could be so many different things, the head doesn't fit in the birth canal, the placenta is in the way, the cord could be wrapped around some something, etc. We will not be able to tell exactly what is going on in there, but God knows and He is protecting Peanut.
Wednesday and Thursday have been some stressful days on my part. Getting the news; learning about the procedures and alternatives; and knowing that My Wife has to go through so much doesn't sit well with me. Fortunately, My Wife was able to get an acupuncture appointment on Wednesday, and a chiropractor appointment Thursday. Also on Wednesday, we met with our Doula, who is a wonderful woman, and has seen her fair share of birthing complications. All that time I was on the phone with family, giving them updates, trying to figure out how to best communicate what is going on consistently.
Yesterday, Friday, I went to work, knowing that I had permission to leave very quickly after my Manager's arrival. I did what I could around the kitchen. I made sure loose ends were taken care of, and that I could leave as many notes to the guys about projects I had started. After all, if complications occurred during the procedure, the doctors could prescribe an emergency cesarean section and we could have Peanut's birthday. Or if the procedure was successful and My Wife's health was of concern they could want us to induce labor and then start laboring right there and then. Either way, I needed to be prepared to be gone for two weeks, since that was all I was allowed from our Employee Relations departmet.
After getting home, we napped for a bit enjoying what could be the last day we have to ourselves. I packed up the car with overnight bags, a cooler, a case of bottled water, and some other odds and ends we might need while in the hospital. My Wife had to fast for at least 8 hours before the procedure, so she had been hungry, thirsty and had a headache coming on as well. When we got to the hospital, we knew exactly where to go, 3rd floor - Labor and Delivery. Because earlier in the week we had been up there to tour the entire floor, we already knew the procedure and where exactly to go. After getting admitted and final registration, My Wife was strapped in and they started monitoring her and Peanut as well as prepped her for the procedure, getting an IV just in case. In and out the nurses and doctor came. It was exciting at first to sit there in the room with My Wife and Doula talking and trying figure out if Peanut turned or not.
Unfortunately, My Wife, like her mother and grandmother, has veins that are not friendly to taking an IV. After three tries, the anesthetist was called in and he got the IV in with some trouble. The Doctor on duty apparently was one of the better obstetricians on staff and Doula was excited to have him attending us. He came in and reviewed with My Wife what has happend over the entire pregnancy and specifically over the week. He took some pictures of Peanut and confirmed that Peanut was still breech and was wanting to monitor My Wife a bit more. A few minutes later, in came in Doctor, spoke to the Nurse and they were ready to attempt to turn Peanut right then. Nurse administered the drug necessary to relax the uterus, not through the IV that took 4 attempts to get in, but rather in her arm. Doctor tried about 5 or 6 times to turn Peanut and was able to get Peanut turned about 20 dergees, but this still wasn't enough for Peanut to get keep moving by her/himself.
After all these events, standard procedure is to keep mom there about an hour longer to monitor both she and baby. Because of her high blood pressure, they sent off My Wife's blood to the lab and to see if she is coming down with Pre-Eclampsia. Some of those symptoms she was showing again. I believe that her head ache and some of the high blood presure was linked to the fact she had nothing to eat for well over 10 hours, so she was given permission to eat and drink water. About half way through eating Doctor came, ordered her back to fasting because if My Wife's blood pressure didn't come down we were looking at an emergency cesarean section with in 6-9 hours. Nurse did what she could to relax My Wife, get her in a position to ease her blood pressure so we could finally go home and have Peanut's birthday a little later in the week with a scheduled cesarean section.
Because of we have an HMO for our medical insurance, we were starting to see the changing of shifts between doctors and nurses. We had anticipated this anyway, so we were not too worried. The Charge Nurse is friends with Doula and so they both had talked about who would be on the day we were going to schedule the cesarean. Doctor was getting ready to leave for the day and the New Doctor was just starting to catch up with what was happening in Labor and Delivery. The nurses were going to change about two hours after the doctor, so we still had Nurse, who was recently recognized by the hospital as an exemplary staff member. It was three hours after the procedure that we saw New Doctor who noticed My Wife's blood pressure was low and steadying out, she prescribed a mild blood pressure medication, and told us they wanted run another 24 hour test on my wife. New Nurse came in with discharge instructions and we were discharged about seven hours since we had first arrived.
To some things up, Peanut's birthday will most likely be next weekend, My Wife is on mild blood pressure medication, she is on moderate bed rest, and I'm doing all I can to keep it together. Please pray for us, Peanut will turn and be head down, My Wife's blood pressure can stay low, that she can avoid the onset of Pre-Eclampsia, and that Peanut is doing well in the womb.
