It’s a BOY!

We didn’t find out if we were having a boy or girl, we were both pretty convinced we were having a girl. 

I was 3 cm at my last OB appointment, which was 3 days before we welcomed this little guy into the world. One of my co-workers took a class to massage your feet with a certain essential oil. She rubs each foot for 15-20 min and holds pressure if I had a contraction (which I never did) or his heart rate went up (this is the perk of working in labor and delivery and getting to monitor his heart rate). She did this the Wednesday before I went into labor on Thursday, I swear, it’s what helped me kick into labor. 

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We also updated our kitchen counter tops and new sink the week before we welcomed our little guy. We had to turn the water off in the entire house because the sink valves were broken, leaving us without water for a few days. I was freaking out about this in case I went into labor and needed the shower for pain relief. We hired a plumber to fix the valves so we weren’t without water for more than we had to be. The countertops needed to sit for 48 hours before installing the faucet and garbage disposal, so we had to hire another plumber to do this job. My last day of work was supposed to be Thursday 9/24 (the day after the foot massage), but ended up having to call in because I started contracting every 15 min, to the point where they were starting to take my breath away. At 530 in the morning, I thought my water broke, luckily I had the pH strips and cotton q-tips we use at work to see if the bag of water is indeed broken or not. (Another perk of working in labor and delivery). It wasnt, and now it was crunch time if I needed to call into work or not. I thought, maybe I’ll just have Patrick drop me off at work in case I end up staying, that way we won’t have 2 cars there. He knocked some sense into me and told me to call in, boy am I glad he did. 

Patrick had a doctors appointment with his primary care physician to get a flu shot at 830, I was supposed to be at work, and the plumber was scheduled to come at 8AM, so we had my mom come up to be at then house when the plumber was here to install the faucet and garbage disposal. Patrick cancelled his doctors appointment,  so All 3 of us were at the house with the plumber. My contractions started to space a little, but we’re still there. It was a beautiful day with the weather in the mid 70s and sunny, so my mom and I went for a walk and sat outside for a bit. The contractions got more intense after my mom left, I think she was a good distraction. My OB provider called me in the afternoon, surprised I hadn’t checked into the hospital yet. As the evening came, the contractions got more intense, I was in my hands and knees on the ground and pacing the house. I always tell patients not to come to the hospital until the contractors are every 5 minutes for an hour. Mine were never quite that frequent, so I was stubborn and sucked it up for a while. Finally at 1130pm on Thursday, 9/24, Patrick talked me into going to the hospital. I texted the charge nurse to tell her I was coming in, and they had a room and nurse ready for me. We got to the hospital at midnight, and I was surprised I got to skip being in the triage room! I remember thinking, okay, I just have to get through 4 or 5 contractions in the car, I can do this. Normally you have to come in through the ED, but I figured, I’ll just have us park in the children’s parking lot and just tell security that the unit was expecting us and was hoping I didn’t have a contraction in front of the security guys in case they gave me a hard time trying to check in. (The labor and delivery unit is located in children’s hospital, so separate hospitals/staff/protocols). 

I was 5 cm and my cervix was pretty thin by the time we got to the hospital. I was very relieved. I got an epidural pretty quick after getting settled in labor and delivery. I was begging the anesthesiologist for weeks to do my epidural, I work at a teaching hospital, so the residents typically do them. This particular block, they were first year anesthesia residents. I’m so happy she agreed to do my epidural, she did the procedure in literally a minute, and I got instant relief. It was a very busy night at the hsptial, call nurses were there, no rooms left, multiple laboring patients stuck in the small triage rooms, and 2 OR cases going on. It always seems to be extremely busy on days we’re one of the LD nurses come in to have a baby. I do remember the moon being very pretty on our drive to the hospital. I thought I took a picture, but I guess not! 

At 430 in the morning, now Friday 9/25,  I received my second dose of penicillin, since I was GBS*, ideally you want 2 doses in before delivery. I called my OB, and she wanted by bag of water broken with the 2nd dose, at this point I was 8cm and she would be on her way in at this point. During my whole labor, his heart rate was low, like 110s, normally we like to see it between 120-160. After my bag of water was broken, his heart rate kept decelerating. With an already low baseline, seeing it go even lower is not fun to watch. (I didn’t watch my heart monitor, just saying from experience). Our nurse, Monica, called for the doctors to come to the room because his heart rate was not coming up, when this happens, lots of people come into the room to help. I was still 8cm, I think, and they placed internal monitors to monitor his heart rate and contractions, during all of this my OB, Dr Lovell, came in and never left my room until the delivery. Sassy kid we have! I was sooo numb, I could not help move anything, I had to hold my legs with my hands because I had no control. My nurse, Monica, was in my room from 430-shift change at 7, and then my day nurse, Ashley, never left my room until after delivery. We were in very good hands! I made it to 10cm at 730ish in the morning. I’m not sure how, but I made it to 10cm with a very crappy contraction pattern, they stated me on a little pitocin, but kept having to turn it off because his heart rate kept dropping. His head was still kind of high, he was OP (sunny side up), so I tried pushing 4 times, but his heart rate would drop for 5 min before coming back to his baseline. My doctor also tried to Rotate his head, but no luck, and I’m happy that she couldn’t, I’ll tell you why later in the post. My doctor said, I think we’re done and called for a c section. 

Funny side note, the term “OP” kept getting mentioned, which means occiput posterior, in relation to where his head is facing. I didn’t do much explaining to pat during the labor, I was so exhausted and hasn’t slept in 2 days, I didn’t have the energy. Anyway, pat said, does that mean out of position? And we were all like, basically yes! Maybe that’s just a funny LD thing.

Little graphic, but here’s our boy! Patrick announced that it was a boy! The umbilical cord was wrapped around his head twice, pretty tightly. It was also wrapped around his body and he was squeezing it when he came out. Thank god for co-workers snapping Live Photo’s so I could see!

Branko Benetti Donovan

September 25th, 2020 at 0828

7lb 15oz, 22in

They take the baby to warmer right away to get him checked out, so Patrick went over with the NICU team, to see our little guy and cut the umbilical cord. They asked him if he wanted to bring Branko to me, and he said no because he we too shaky. As they did his weight, Patrick came and sat by me, and we both were just crying tears of joy. He kept saying, I didn’t even cry on our wedding day, it was so cute to see all those tears of happiness! 

Big wing span! Sorry, another graphic photo. 

My first real look at our little guy. I could only see his feet when Dr Lovell showed me him over the drape. 

Our first family photo, both of us with pink, watery, swollen eyes!

Here we are in recovery, I barely remember this time, I was very loopy from the drugs, overly tired, and my blood pressures went down to the 70s. I also was numb up to my shoulders and could barely feel my hands. I’ve been looking through old text messages during this time and don’t even remember writing them! 

Next up, I’ll share our postpartum period in the hospital.