Taylor was born April 6th 1993. He was due March 29th (Jeff's birthday) but was a week overdue. He weighed 8 pounds 1 ounce and was 22 inches long. Labor was horrible but worth it. Things would have gone much better if the hospital staff had known what they were doing. The doctor decided to induce labor because I was a week overdue and had gestational diabetes. We went in at 8:00 AM April 5th and started the pitosin. My Grandma, my Mom and of course Jeff were there. Most of the rest of the family was in and out during the day.
They thought it would take 8 to 10 hours. Almost 21 hours later we finally had our baby. My Grandma ended up having to leave. She had a flight back to Louisiana already scheduled and they wouldn't let her postpone it again. Taylor arrived at 4:43 AM.
I did about 8 hours of labor without any drugs. When I found out how little progress we were making I became discouraged and they tried giving me something to help me relax and get some rest. Not sure what it was but it only helped a little.
A little while after that the nurse told me it was time to start pushing and we did. Only problem was I wasn't fully dilated so all the pushing did was wear me out and cause lots of swelling. That set us back quite a bit because we then had to wait for me to finish dilating and for the swelling to go down.
After a few more hours Taylor's heartbeat started to go down during every contraction. They decided to do a C-section. They called in the anaesthesiologist to do the epidural. Of course by this time I am in very active labor and the contractions are basically right on top of each other. They wouldn't let Jeff stay so he was waiting right outside the curtain with his sister. So I am trying to sit still, which is basically impossible, while the anaesthesiologist sticks a needle into my spine.
None of the nurses or doctors are doing anything to try to talk me through it or comfort me in anyway. The anaesthesiologist is telling them all about how he got kicked in the face by a horse and his eye is swollen shut. I'm thinking "What! This guy is sticking a needle into my spine with one eye swollen shut?" Then he stops his story long enough to say "Whoops". At this point I am contemplating my future in a wheelchair, while Jeff is being physically restrained by his sister and several others to keep him from running into the room and punching the guy. Turns out he put the needle in too far but was able to get it redirected into the right spot. Probably had something to do with his lack of depth perception. SO I would end up with a killer headache and vomiting but not permanent paralysis.
After this fun experiment they decide to take me to the operating room to do the C-section. Jeff gets into some scrubs so he can come along, everyone else just has to wait to find out what happens. As they wheel me away in the bed they forgot to take my IV stand so my arm is forcibly yanked up over my head by the IV. Luckily they stopped before they totally ripped everything out. Jeff was video taping this and to this day still can not watch that part of the tape.
I am starting to wonder if they are trying to kill me but it's too late to turn back now. We get to the room and just as the doctor approaches with the scalpel he says lets try one more push I think this baby is close. Well, it took more that one push but eventually it worked. Yeah, we avoided being cut open. I think Taylor saw them coming with the scalpel and said "OK fine I give up". At that point things get a little hazy for me. I was upset because they didn't let me hold my baby. They were worried because it had been a tough birth so they wanted to check him out. Jeff followed the baby (I asked him to make sure he was OK). I started vomiting while the doctor tried to finish up and the nurses were checking my blood sugar. At that point I hadn't eaten in like 31 hours.
The baby seemed fine and everyone got to see him on the way to the nursery. Jeff got to tell everyone "It's a boy". They got me back to me room and took out the IV but they left the needle in my arm. I was so out of it that didn't even register with me. Sometime much later that day a different nurse came in and saw it and freaked out then took it out for me.
Taylor had jaundice but otherwise seemed fine. What a relief. Back then they wouldn't let the husbands stay so they kicked Jeff out when visiting hours were over. That is when they decided to tell me they thought Taylor had hydrocephalus and that they would have to do some tests to find out why he had fluid on his brain. This is not a good thing to tell a new mother especially when she is all alone. I started crying and literally could not stop. The hormones, exhaustion, and stress did me in. I called Jeff at home and he came back and demanded they let him in to see me and tell him what was going on. They said the babies' head was a little large so they would do more tests and let us know. All my kids heads are a little large. We joke with them that just means they have large brains.
We find out the next day it was nothing. Not sure if they got him confused with another patient or if they were just confused in general. We got to go home and we were so glad to get out of that place. We did not have any of our other kids at that hospital.
We got the jaundice cleared up at home and Taylor was a healthy happy baby.
They thought it would take 8 to 10 hours. Almost 21 hours later we finally had our baby. My Grandma ended up having to leave. She had a flight back to Louisiana already scheduled and they wouldn't let her postpone it again. Taylor arrived at 4:43 AM.
I did about 8 hours of labor without any drugs. When I found out how little progress we were making I became discouraged and they tried giving me something to help me relax and get some rest. Not sure what it was but it only helped a little.
A little while after that the nurse told me it was time to start pushing and we did. Only problem was I wasn't fully dilated so all the pushing did was wear me out and cause lots of swelling. That set us back quite a bit because we then had to wait for me to finish dilating and for the swelling to go down.
After a few more hours Taylor's heartbeat started to go down during every contraction. They decided to do a C-section. They called in the anaesthesiologist to do the epidural. Of course by this time I am in very active labor and the contractions are basically right on top of each other. They wouldn't let Jeff stay so he was waiting right outside the curtain with his sister. So I am trying to sit still, which is basically impossible, while the anaesthesiologist sticks a needle into my spine.
None of the nurses or doctors are doing anything to try to talk me through it or comfort me in anyway. The anaesthesiologist is telling them all about how he got kicked in the face by a horse and his eye is swollen shut. I'm thinking "What! This guy is sticking a needle into my spine with one eye swollen shut?" Then he stops his story long enough to say "Whoops". At this point I am contemplating my future in a wheelchair, while Jeff is being physically restrained by his sister and several others to keep him from running into the room and punching the guy. Turns out he put the needle in too far but was able to get it redirected into the right spot. Probably had something to do with his lack of depth perception. SO I would end up with a killer headache and vomiting but not permanent paralysis.
After this fun experiment they decide to take me to the operating room to do the C-section. Jeff gets into some scrubs so he can come along, everyone else just has to wait to find out what happens. As they wheel me away in the bed they forgot to take my IV stand so my arm is forcibly yanked up over my head by the IV. Luckily they stopped before they totally ripped everything out. Jeff was video taping this and to this day still can not watch that part of the tape.
I am starting to wonder if they are trying to kill me but it's too late to turn back now. We get to the room and just as the doctor approaches with the scalpel he says lets try one more push I think this baby is close. Well, it took more that one push but eventually it worked. Yeah, we avoided being cut open. I think Taylor saw them coming with the scalpel and said "OK fine I give up". At that point things get a little hazy for me. I was upset because they didn't let me hold my baby. They were worried because it had been a tough birth so they wanted to check him out. Jeff followed the baby (I asked him to make sure he was OK). I started vomiting while the doctor tried to finish up and the nurses were checking my blood sugar. At that point I hadn't eaten in like 31 hours.
The baby seemed fine and everyone got to see him on the way to the nursery. Jeff got to tell everyone "It's a boy". They got me back to me room and took out the IV but they left the needle in my arm. I was so out of it that didn't even register with me. Sometime much later that day a different nurse came in and saw it and freaked out then took it out for me.
Taylor had jaundice but otherwise seemed fine. What a relief. Back then they wouldn't let the husbands stay so they kicked Jeff out when visiting hours were over. That is when they decided to tell me they thought Taylor had hydrocephalus and that they would have to do some tests to find out why he had fluid on his brain. This is not a good thing to tell a new mother especially when she is all alone. I started crying and literally could not stop. The hormones, exhaustion, and stress did me in. I called Jeff at home and he came back and demanded they let him in to see me and tell him what was going on. They said the babies' head was a little large so they would do more tests and let us know. All my kids heads are a little large. We joke with them that just means they have large brains.
We find out the next day it was nothing. Not sure if they got him confused with another patient or if they were just confused in general. We got to go home and we were so glad to get out of that place. We did not have any of our other kids at that hospital.
We got the jaundice cleared up at home and Taylor was a healthy happy baby.
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