So, this post is going to be all about our hospital stay leading up to the delivery of our baby boy. I won't lie, it's going to be very detailed. Why is that you may wonder? Well, in all reality, this blog is for Gabriel. I want him to have something to be able to read when he gets older that let's him know all about the time leading up to him getting here and everything thereafter. And of course, this blog is for our family and friends to be able to stay in touch and know how things are going for us. My plan is to eventually make a book of my posts for Gabriel to have! :) I hope you all don't mind if this post is a bit long!
Our hospital stay began on Monday, June 6, 2011 right after our dr. appointment. Dr. Bishop sent us straight to Carbondale hospital as soon as he saw us. My protein levels in my urine was high, along with high blood pressure. When we headed to the hospital, we had no idea how long we'd be here for. We got admitted and got settled into our room. Things got crazy from there. We had an ultrasound to see how big Gabriel was and a biophysical ultrasound to make sure he was doing good. They also sent my 24 hour urine collection to be tested for protein.
Dr. Bishop came into our room late that night...probably around 10:00 p.m. to talk to us about what to expect and what the plans were. My protein level was over 3,000 which was one indicator of preeclampsia. Normal levels of protein are 0-300. So obviously, 3,000, is a bit high! Along with the swelling and high blood pressure, Dr. Bishop informed us that we would be staying in the hospital until delivery.
So far we've been in the hospital for 16 days. Gabriel was born 2 weeks to the day of us being in the hospital.
Now...for the interesting part...the delivery. On Saturday, June 18, Dr. Bishop came into my room around 12:30 p.m. I had already had our ultrasound for the day which consisted of a biophysical and a doppler test. I sent Jesse home to go take care of Rylee for a while that day...so it was just me in the room when Dr. Bishop came in. Anyway, he informed me that there were changes in Gabe's doppler test. His diastolic flow in the umbilical cord was not flowing like it was supposed to do. In fact, it had stopped flowing. This was our first major sign that it was getting time to bring our baby boy into this big world. Dr. Bishop said that they were going to begin inducing me that day and that we would have a baby soon thereafter. I had to quit eating my lunch then and went strictly to a fluid only diet for the next couple of days. I immediately called Jesse and told him what was going on and that he needed to get back to the hospital. We then started calling our family to let them know what was going on.
Around 4:00 p.m. that day they gave me this thing so that my cervix would begin to soften. I had it for 12 hours. When the 12 hours was up they were going to start me on magnesium and pitocin to induce labor. We figured this would go fairly fast, so we had some family come in early that morning just in case. Little did we know...this was going to take all day. I started to feel little contractions once they started the IV's...nothing huge though. So, it wasn't that big of a deal. We waited...and waited...and waited. I was on constant monitoring to make sure Gabriel was doing ok.
We moved rooms around 9:30 that night over to labor and delivery. I had a terrible headache that would not go away and I just felt miserable. They informed me that Dr. Bishop would most likely come in to break my water since nothing had happened yet. When they moved me into my new room, my nurse told me to keep my eyes closed so that the bright lights through the halls wouldn't make my headache any worse. I did just that. We made it to the room, I switched beds and laid there. I had oxygen on me the whole time as well. Did I mention that I felt miserable!? My mom and Jesse worked on moving all of our stuff from our old room to this new room. I was also starving...seeing that I hadn't ate any food except jello and popsicles since the day before at noon.
At around 10:30 p.m. Dr. Bishop came into the room and broke my water. We knew we'd have a baby sometime soon now! I got up one last time to use the bathroom on my own and then laid back down. And then...the lovely contractions started. I won't lie, they were terrible...and they weren't even that bad yet. But man, were they painful. Jesse sat beside me holding my hand and my mom was on the other side feeding me ice chips in between the contractions. We had called our families to let them know what was going on. My brother, Josh, was on his way from St. Louis and my Dad was on his way from work. Rachel was also on her way. Anyway, my contractions were getting stronger and I was getting more miserable, so Jesse went to find my nurses to tell them I'd like the epidural. I had to receive fluids for about an hour before they could give me the epidural. That was not good news. So, we sat there for that long hour and kept doing the same thing...holding hands and ice chips!
Finally, the fluid was done and before I knew it, the anesthesiologist was in my room ready to give me my epidural. I was a little nervous about this big needle going into my back, but Jesse kept assuring me it would be worth it and I wouldn't feel it. So, they kicked my mom and Jesse out of the room, and within 5 minutes the epidural was in. Another 10 minutes and I could feel it kicking in. Slowly my legs started to lose feeling. It was amazing...and weird. Amazing that I could no longer feel the contractions that on the monitor looked to be getting worse! I was relieved...and I was a new person! My nurse stayed there for 30 minutes and then they let Jesse and my mom back in.
Shortly after Josh, my dad, and Rachel were all there. Things were going good. I couldn't feel the contractions. I was hungry so I sent Jesse for some Jello. While he was gone for no more than a few minutes, I told my mom I felt sick. Moments later I was throwing up all of the fluid that I had drank. It was everywhere. Jesse walked in, confused. Everyone was helping trying to get towels and such. We called the nurse and she came straight in and helped us get cleaned up and helped me get into a clean gown. Afterwards, I felt fine. It was about 4:00 and I wasn't dilated very much. Mom, Josh, and Dad all went to the truck to try to get some sleep and Rachel went home for awhile. we figured it was going to take some time before Gabriel decided to make his appearance. So, it was just me and Jesse in the room for a while after that. Neither of us could sleep. So we sat and talked for awhile...since we hadn't had much alone time to talk about things. It was nice to get t9o spend some quality time together then! :)
The nurses kept checking me every 2 hours to see how much I was dilated. I was dilating about 1/2 cm every couple of hours. By about 8:00 a.m. I was about 4.5- 5 cm dilated. However, we knew we'd have a baby by that night. They quit checking me every 2 hours for fear of infections after that. I was still amazed that I couldn't feel any contractions...they were huge according to the monitor. However, around 11:00 I was slowly beginning to feel the contractions...and they grew stronger each time. We told my nurse and she had the anesthesiologist come back in and give me some more medicine for the epidural. They gave me a higher concentrated formula and said to give it about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, that did not work. My contractions were getting worse by the minute. Jesse was right there by my side, holding my hand through each one of them. Both he and my mom were feeding me ice chips in between each contraction. Jesse called the nurse and told her that dose wasn't working and that I needed another one. She called the anesthesiologist, but she was busy so it was going to be awhile before she could come back in. I started crying for a few minutes because I was in so much pain. Jesse and mom both told me to stop crying because it was going to make it worse. So, I put my oxygen back on and just kept breathing through each contraction. It was one of the worst pains I've ever experienced. My nurse, who was amazing, came in to check on me. By this time it was a little past 12:00 p.m. and Jesse mentioned that I hadn't been checked since 8 a.m. and asked if she could check me and see how far dilated I was. When she did she said, "Oh, that's not the epidural wearing off... you're ready to have a baby!"
I was both relieved and scared when she said that. It was about 12:15 by this time. They had my mom, dad, and brother, Josh, leave the room. My nurse called Dr. Bishop, who was at his office at this time. She also got other nurses in the room as well. It was amazing how fast they got things together. It was no more than 10 minutes and Dr. Bishop came walking in the room. I remember them asking me if I could somehow lift myself up so they could get something under me... I couldn't feel my legs from the epidural...so that was hard to do. Anyway, they got everything situated. I was still feeling the contractions...trying hard not to push. I was scared and looked at Jesse and started crying...he assured me that everything was going to be ok and calmed me down. We prayed together and before I knew it Dr. Bishop told me to push. My nurse told me to stop pushing that time because not all of the nurses for Gabriel were in there yet. On the next contraction we were good to go. Dr. Bishop said to push, I did, and Gabriel was out, just like that. It was instant relief when he came out. I couldn't believe how easy it was. I started crying. Jesse started crying. It was amazing. Our little boy finally made it here. Jesse said he had his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck when he came out...however, it was off within seconds...that's how good Dr. Bishop is! :) We finally got to meet our baby boy, Gabriel Lee Schiff. He was 2 pounds- 3.6 ounces, 15.2 inches long. Born at 12:35 p.m.
Moments later we heard him crying and Jesse walked over to see him and take pictures. I was still crying...I'm not sure why this time...but I was full of emotions. Gabriel was perfect. My nurse was so sweet throughout the whole thing...I couldn't have asked for anyone better. Dr. Bishop came up and gave me a hug and kiss on the forehead and congratulated us. We were all so relieved and happy that everything worked out. We had all worked hard for the 2 weeks were in the hospital to keep myself and Gabriel healthy... we had did it! Everything was wonderful!
I was amazed at just how fast he got here. It was literally about 20 minutes from the moment we had everyone leave the room to the moment he was born. I had always heard stories of how people push for hours...I was so thankful that it took 2 pushes for Gabriel to get here. My family came back into the room. We were all so happy and I felt so much better. Though he was small, we knew that Gabriel was going to be just fine!
We had to wait about an hour before they would let us go see him in the NICU. I was told I may have to wait a little longer because of the magnesium I was on, as well as waiting for the epidural to wear off so I could get myself up! However, my nurse helped me get cleaned up and ready so I could go see him. He was so tiny and precious when we went into the NICU. They told us he was doing remarkably well for how early and how small he was. I knew in my heart it was because so many people had been praying for us and that God was watching over him. I was so happy to hear that he was doing so good. Each of our family members that were there came in one-by-one to see him. My brother Josh, my mom, my dad, Rachel, Jesse's brother Josh, James, and Shelly were all there. I had to leave the room after about 10 minutes because I was still on the magnesium through the IV. With pre-eclampsia the risk of having seizures are very high for 24 hours after delivery. So, I wasn't yet in the clear of the pre-eclampsia. The magnesium helps reduce the risks of seizures though. They moved me back to the room I was in prior to labor and delivery...room 251. Thank God for my wonderful family and friends that were there... they moved all of our stuff from one room to the other for us!
I was exhausted and kept falling asleep right after delivery. I didn't realize how tired I would be. Everyone stayed for awhile once we got back to our room. My parents got Jesse and I nachos from Moe's. We ate our food and then we both passed out. Yes, we were sleeping by about 4:00. We were both exhausted from a long day. My brother Benji, Nicki, and Emeri all came later that evening to see us. Jesse took Benji and Nicki into the NICU to see Gabriel. I couldn't go in still because of the magnesium, of course, and also because it was such a chore to get me up and ready. I wasn't suppose to be up and walking unless it was to go to the bathroom. My legs felt like jello at times too. A few friends also came in that night to visit...bearing flowers, balloons, and new flip-flops for me! After everyone had left, we both passed out again. It was hard for me to get a good nights sleep though because I was slowly beginning to feel some pain and I constantly had to go to the bathroom. However, pain medicine was amazing for me at this time. It definitely help to keep me comfortable throughout the night. I had to wake Jesse a few times to help me walk to the bathroom. Again, I didn't realize how tired and weak t I would be.
The next day they took me off of the magnesium a little after 12:00 p.m. They then moved us over to the Mommy and Me side. We got to go see Gabriel any time we wanted. I never wanted to leave his side. He was so precious. Even with everything hooked up to him, he was still so handsome. It's hard to imagine loving someone so much, but we do. I hated seeing him hooked up to everything...but the Dr's and nurses kept telling us how well he was doing. So we knew that we just need to keep praying that he'll get strong and healthy soon. Jesse and I spent some quality time together that evening. We laid together and talked about our new baby boy and everything about the future. Our life had changed so much in just a day, but we are so thankful and blessed. =)
Gabriel Lee Schiff
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