I then woke up about 11 with strong contractions about 3 minutes apart and lots more blood. The contractions and bleeding continued about about 1:00am I decided we needed to go to the hospital. We got the rest of the last minute stuff packed and loaded the kiddos up in the van. My parents met us at the hospital around 2:30 and took the kids back to their house.
Once in triage, I was hooked up to the monitors for an hour. After an hour, my cervix was still at 2cm (which is what it had been at my appointment on Tuesday), but they were concerned because Peyton's heart rate was dropping with each contraction and I was bleeding lots. So they decided to do an ultrasound to check on his fluid levels. His fluid was really low, so we were told that we were staying and they were going to try to help get things moving.
We were taken from triage to OB Special Care because there were all the labor and delivery rooms were full. Once there, they got me all hooked up to the monitors again and gave me cervidil, a little tiny pill, in hopes that it would help "ripen" my cervix so that my contractions would make it open more on its own. I was given the pill at 7am and the plan was for them monitor me for two hours and then let me get up and move around until 11, then they would check my cervix again and see where to go from there.
Very shortly after I took the pill, my contractions got stronger. By 9:30 I was in lots of pain and was having a hard time laying still. Because I was moving in bed more than I should have, they were having a hard time getting the stuff they needed on the monitors from Peyton, so I had to stay on the monitors for a bit longer. At 10:30, they took the monitors off, the nurse told me to order some food, and gave me permission to take a shower, thinking it might help with some of the pain.
When I got out of bed, I thought my water broke because there was a gush of fluid. But it was just blood. I took a shower, and while it helped a little bit, my contractions just got stronger and stronger. After my shower, I told the nurse that I was ready for my epidural. I had to be transferred to labor and delivery before I could have the epidural, so they checked my cervix (I was now at 3cm) and put in the transfer order. We had to wait for a room to be cleaned, so while we waited they gave me a little bit of morphine to help take the edge off the contractions. I didn't really help, just made me kind of loopy and more sleepy. I was positive for group b strep, so they also started my antibiotics at this point.
Finally around 11:45 they took me over to labor and delivery and got me all hooked up to everything over there. Shortly after we got there, anesthesia came in and I had my epidural by 12:00 and was very comfortable. I was checked at was at 8cm.
A little before 1:00, Brent went to get something to eat. While he was gone, I started gushing blood. When they check my cervix, I was complete, but my water was still intact. They were hoping to keep my water from breaking until 2:30, when my first round of antibiotics would be done. They did get everything all set up and ready to go for delivery and told the doctor know what was going on. They also told me to keep pushing my epidural button so I would have any urges to push.
Brent was back quickly with his lunch and ate fast! The doctor came in a few minutes before two and just hung out and helped finishing getting everything ready. At 2:15 she checked how much blood I was loosing and touched my bag of water...and her touch broke my water. So, we started pushing.
It was way harder pushing this time than the last two because I couldn't feel anything. It took about 15 minutes of pushing (the big kids all took about 3 pushes each to come out), and we had a baby!
Then put Peyton on my chest right away and started to check him out. He was squeaking, peeing and pooping! And he was nursing just minutes after they his mouth and nose all sucked out.
When they delivered my placenta, they confirmed I had a placenta abruption and my placenta was falling apart. The abruption was also confirmed by pathology.
After Peyton was done nursing, they checked him all out and got him cleaned up a bit more. He weighed in at 6 lbs 14.6 oz, 20 inches long, and a head circumference of 12.5 inches. He looked great and his heart sounded great!
It took a while for my epidural to wear off because I had so much of it right at the end, but once I could feel my legs and such again, I got to get out of bed and get cleaned up and transferred to the Mother Baby unit.
Because I only got (almost) one complete dose of antibiotics for the group b strep, we had to stay about 48 hours just to monitor Peyton for signs of infection. But the little guy has done great. He's eat, sleeping, and pooping like a champ! My milk came in while he was nursing right after delivery, so he's eating a little less often than most newborns, but he's eating plenty when he does eat and hasn't had any issues latching on. He does like to be held up for a bit after he eats though. If we lay him down right after he nurses he gets the burpy hiccups and isn't too happy.
The also had an EKG just to check things out, even though his head sounds great. The EKG showed that every few beats originate from the lower part of his heart instead of the upper part. The pediatrician said it normally isn't a big deal, but they are going to have us see the cardiologist for an echo and to make sure everything is okay. We need to call on Monday to get an appointment sometime in the next week or two.
