Eli Hudson…the birth!

For an otherwise healthy girl, it seemed like every time I went to my OB appts during the last couple of months, I always left the office with a new diagnosis. :) Every time my doctor would say, “Let’s just do this test. I don’t think it will be positive, I’m sure you’re fine…” the results would come back to declare otherwise. So, it wasn’t a huge surprise at my 37 week appt that my bp was elevated. He talked about possible pre eclampsia but reassured me that it probably wasn’t. He asked me to check my bp a couple of times each day and to call him if it became any more elevated. While at work, later that very same day, we checked my pressure. 170/110. Time to have a baby!!

I was admitted the next morning for pre eclampsia and pregnancy induced hypertension. :) The morning of my induction my BP stayed about like this…until I started to transition, then it shot back up into the 170s/100s.

Rebecca was watching my monitor all the while I labored and she would update my progress (or lack thereof according to the monitor) by saying…’that was a 4!’…which in case you’re wondering, is nothing as far as contractions go. This was confusing to me because I honestly felt like I was getting close to delivering and my insides felt like they were ripping in 1/2. So every time she said ‘that was a 4!’…the dialogue happening silently up in my dome was occasionally laden with expletives. FINALLY, a nurse came in to check on me because my bp alarm was going off. She adjusted my belts and finally, the screen showed contractions that matched what I believed I was feeling. Pain. and plenty of it! ;) A bit of satisfaction. I’ve got your 4 right here!!! LOL

For some reason, because it was a scheduled induction, I just went into the morning believing that drugs would be on board early into the labor process. nope. Not exactly the case. I started laboring around 8:30 when they broke my water. They hung my pitocin at 12 pm and at 12:45 when they checked me I was 8 cm and complete. The anesthesiologist was still no where to be found. My nurse enthusiastically said “let’s just have a baby!!”…but I really didn’t want to have a baby until I had some good drugs. I could feel a bit of panic welling up–I’m just not that girl. It’s the baby actually coming OUT that has me terrified-notsomuch the contractions! I watched a birthing video a few weeks earlier…I saw how huge that baby looked coming out. Dr. Green used his most compassionate doctor face to tell me they would try to get the epidural in but it may not have time to work. At 1:30-ish, the epidural was in. A few bolus doses and the pushing commenced. Eventually it really did help quite a bit. Bliss. Of course, the full effect of the epidural didn’t happen until after Eli was born but nonetheless. I was grateful.
getting the epidural placed

time to push!

Baby Eli was born at 1:51…about to make his big debut!!

Kyle endured a bit of good natured peer pressure by the doc and surprised us all by being able to cut the cord!!! Daddy did amazing. We had to laugh during the labor/pushing phase of the delivery because Kyle had one job and one job only. He was supposed to silence my bp monitor by pressing a button each time it went off. But he was so caught up in the drama of it all…(or he was dissociating and living anywhere but with us in that room) that we had to remind him each and every time to press the button. “Kyle. press the button.” followed by laughter…