Birth story!

Colson Xavier joined our world via C-section at 10:22 pm, April 4, 2011. He weighed in at 7 lbs, 14 ounces and 20" long.

I was induced for the second time at 6:00 Sunday evening. They started me on the Cytotek, and all was going well, until about 3am. At that point I hadn't really progressed a whole lot - I think I was at 4cm, up from 3, but effacing at a good pace. Colson, however, was not terribly pleased with the Cytotek this time around, so they started me on the Pit. This apparently did much good, because at 8am Monday morning my doc was able to break my water. I was expecting lots of pain, as I had been told by friends, but there was NONE - just lots of fluid going everywhere. Colson had managed to poop in his water so THAT was fun - EW!

I proceeded to labor along nicely, making small bits of progress. Around noon, I asked them if I could go in the Jacuzzi, as I was about ready for my epidural but SO wanted to get in the water first. This request earned me THE most painful part of labor and delivery, even now. The source of that pain? Internal monitors. They put internal monitors in so I could go be in the water, since the other monitors can't go there, and the process of those + contractions = me gripping Aaron's hands and sobbing, while trying to relax. Bet you can guess how THAT went...

Anyhow, into the Jacuzzi for a little over an hour or so, with my fabulous husband sitting on the edge behind me and sponging my back, stroking my hair, etc. My doc showed up around 1:00 to talk to me, check on me, give me a layout of the day. When I got back to the room I had them give me the epidural - it had, at that point, been 5 hours since they'd broken my water and I was getting tired. I needed to sleep, but couldn't with the contractions like they were and they were just plain old really starting to hurt. Enough to curl my toes! They brought the lady in, I explained my spine to her, and she seemed relatively confident that she could do it. Aaron said "It's extremely discomforting having someone poking needles in to my wife's spine." Especially when aforementioned wife is gripping your hands, head down, eyes closed, and flinching or saying "ow - pain here, pain there". 


Once the epi was in, I slept for about 3 hours. I couldn't feel a thing from about mid-abdomen down, and trying to move was laughable. I felt like a marionette with the strings cut! We did another cervix check around 6, and I was dilated to a 6 and fully effaced. We did another at 9...and there was no change. Colson, however, was starting to have heart issues. He was dipping too low with the contractions, which indicated cord compression. They made the call do a C-section at 9:30, after consulting with my doc. He showed up around 9:45 or so, they got me prepped, wheeled me in. Aaron showed up a few minutes later, once they were ready. And voila - baby at 10:22. They cleaned him up and gave him to Aaron, who took him to recovery room. I had Aaron warn them that I was going to puke soon, and not 5 minutes later I did exactly that. Felt much better afterwards!!

I was in the OR until a little after 11 but still couldn't hold him because I was shaking violently as a result of trauma. adrenaline, pain and adrenaline. I watched as my husband fed our son a bottle of formula, because his blood sugar was low and we needed to get it up quickly. Didn't happen - or rather, it did but it didn't stay up. Even after a second bottle feeding he was still low. When he was burping Cole, it came out his nose. I told the nurses then to look for a tiny cleft in the soft palate, as every boy born to the females in my mom's line have it. In between them, aaron got to change the first diaper - Meconium ahoy! I forgot to tell him about using the dirty diaper to get stuff off - went through about 6 wipes trying to clean our son! At 2:30 they ended up taking Colson to the NICU for an IV feed and observation. 

He's been there all day - and lo and behold, they finally found the hole I kept telling them had to be there. The doctor person up there came down to talk to us around 10am. Apparently I will not be able to breastfeed him, but I CAN still pump and feed it to him. They are working on finding the right nipple for him so that he can eat. We will apparently be able to get this fixed when he's a year old, which is fine as long as he is able to eat in the meantime! We are still waiting on the results of the hereditary blood disorder blood work, to see if he has it or not. The tests have to be sent all they way to the Mayo Clinic in order to be diagnosed! Hopefully we will know very soon.


I should be getting released on Thursday, but I don't know when Colson will be. They say it depends on how well he eats, if we can find the nipple, if his sugars stabilize, etc. If he's not ready when they kick me out, I get to be in a "transition" room in the NICU itself. That would allow me to be able to feed and care for him without the separation of being at home and hospital. I will update as I know more about what's happening.


In the meanwhile, I apologize if this is rambly or doesn't make sense. I'm on Percocet and keep falling asleep while typing - hard to see what you're typing when your eyes are closed and you're out of it. Once I get the pictures hosted somewhere I will post them for your smiling pleasure!