Labor of Love – Erin’s Story!

Hello everyone, I am ErinLee, a wife of 8 years and a mother of 2 little boys; Wyatt Daniel and Mason Rivers.  I blog over at the Blue Mason Jar.  Both of my pregnancies had their moments of excitement, but after having Mason I would have to say that my pregnancy with Wyatt was fairly normal.  Mason’s pregnancy was not what I expected and I tease that had Mason been my first born…there would not have been a second!  

During January of 2011, I was enrolled in Medical Assistant program and taking a full load of courses at the local college.  Late in the month I came down with a terrible cold, which we chalked up to my then 2 yr old being a germ machine and bringing something home from daycare.  I finally had to break down and go to the doctor for something to get me well again.  During the visit we talked about what meds she wanted me to take and then she asked me the question…”could you be pregnant?”  I giggled and said, “sure I could, but pigs could also fly if they had wings”.  We laughed and I then pee’d in a little cup…not thinking any more of the conversation or the cup.  When the Doctor came back she informed me that I was probably going to be sick for awhile and that there were few meds I could take and that I was indeed pregnant!  {WHAT}  I about fell off my chair.  Wasn’t a total surprise…but wasn’t what I expected from that visit.  

During the next weeks I was sick as a dog!  Morning sickness is a terrible thing…TERRIBLE!  I made my OB appt and went in to get a better idea of how far along I was {here begins the next 8months of confusion}. My initial ultrasound showed I was about 6wks…but that didn’t match up with my cycles.  My OB decided that we would do another u/s in 2 weeks and recheck the baby and size.  Two weeks rolled around and sure enough the size was different and the dates then matched up better to my cycle.  I was 9wks and given a due date of Sept. 14 2011.  

I proceed to show a baby bump quickly…and the morning sickness got worse.  I ended up dropping my school schedule and stayed sick. Made it to my 20wk appt and found out that we were going to be expecting another baby boy!  {YAY, I wanted another boy}. Everything looked great, measurements matched up great and my due date seemed to be right on track. Now with Wyatt I had early contractions/Braxton Hicks a lot, and it seemed I was going to have the same issue with Mason.  Many nights spent in the labor & delivery triage…lots of meds to stop the pain and contractions.  Finally I was put on “pelvic rest”, now I still don’t fully get that but basically it means no sex (wasn’t interested in that anyhow), no heavy lifting (couldn’t bend over to lift anyhow) and no standing for periods (to tired to do that).  

{Now here is were it gets tricky and the confusion kicks in.}

At about 34wks, around July….27th, I woke up one morning and just didn’t feel good.  I was having mild contractions, super over the top tired, very upset tummy…just felt off.  I called the doctor and they agreed to see me later that day.  I dropped the 2yr old off at the in laws and struck out to the doctor…70 miles away, by myself.  By the time I made it to the doctor my stomach was so upset and the contractions were getting worse.  The doctor on call saw me and said “I am sorry honey, but I am sending you to triage…you need to be on the monitor”. Not what I wanted to hear, but I felt awful.  So across the street I went to the Women’s Pavillion and it was a packed house.  I sat in the waiting room to be seen for over an hour…alone!  Finally I waddled back to the row of curtain rooms, hooked my hard as a rock belly to the monitor and I watched the contractions rise and fall every 2 mins.  I was hooked up about 10mins and the nurse came in to tell me they felt I was in labor and I was being admitted.  {I proceed to freak out}  

I got my husband on the phone, “honey, you need to come to the hospital… I am in labor”.  My Dad was on his way down for a visit and I had to redirect him to the hospital, called the in laws to give them the news and continued to panic.  A sweet friend of mine that was local came to the hospital to sit with me until family could arrive.  They basically told me they were going to do all they could to stop the labor and the NICU would come in to talk to us we got closer to delivering.  They were expecting the baby to still be very small, possibly around 5-6 lbs (my first born was a 9 pounder, so yes 6 lbs would have been small for me).  I was hooked up to IV’s of magnesium, pain meds, steroid shots to help the baby’s lungs and who know what else.  I felt awful…contractions got stronger, but never more than about 2-3 mins apart and I never dilated.  

That night the head OB doc came by (here’s were it just gets weird).  She informed me that I had made up my due date and it was NOT 9/14/11 that it was 9/28/11…WHAT!  It was the middle of the night, I was sick from all the meds and she was not friendly.  BAD COMBO…we swapped words and she decided that I was only 31wks and few odd days.  I was…pissed!  {to this day I still fume over that whole incident}.  I spent the next 10 days in the hospital, pre-term and no baby arrived.  

I was discharged and sent home on bedrest…that really sucked.  I was in nesting mode bad!  I still held to the fact that my baby was due on the 14th of Sept and we were in mid-August.  I slowly begin walking around and doing little things…didn’t really stick to the bedrest rules.  I had an appt on Aug. 26th a Friday, I was dilated about 2cm…no biggie, but I was over it still, cause in my mind I was about 36/37weeks…(I was not in the mood to listen to anyone tell my due date was wrong).  Made it through the weekend with a few mild contractions…no biggie.  Monday I got up and felt awful again, tired, upset tummy…just blah.  Wanted to sleep!  I finally started timing contractions and when they got to 6mins apart I  had my Dad drive me back to the hospital.  By the time we made the 70mi drive the contractions were 4mins apart.  I sat in the waiting room for TWO hours!!!  Once I got into triage my contractions were 2mins apart and I was 3.5cm dilated.  Called they Hubby and he started to head my way.  

I waited on the epidural, I managed to breathe through the contractions and then by the time I was about 7cm I asked for the epidural.  Now my with my born I had to have the epidural twice, cause the first time it only took on one side.  I had concerns this time…but explained all that to the nurses and they assured me it would be okay.  So epidural is in…not feeling my legs and feeling better.  Then it happened…my blood pressure bottomed out.  It dropped down to something like 40 over…nothing.  Quickly the room filled up and they began giving me meds to get me back on track.  That was a scary moment…my Dad said all the color just went out of me and my lips turned blue…ugh!  

Several hours went by and they decided to break my water, which really wasn’t as traumatic as I thought it would be (my water broke with my first).  Another few hours pasted, now remember all the hospital staff is thinking this is a pre-term baby.  They had NICU on stand by to take him if he had breathing issues or any other problems.  Finally I began to feel the contractions through the epidural and the urge to push.  My mid wife came in and we began the delivery process.  ( and let me say I loved the mid wife delivery, over the traditional OB doctor delivery) At 3:36am on August 30th, 2011 my Mason Rivers was born…no NICU needed!  And would you like to know how much my “pre-term” baby boy weighed…. 8 lbs 12 oz 19 in!  Pre-term…HA!   His APGAR score was great and there is another score they do now to give a better idea of the weeks and he scored at 40wks!   The pediatrician the next morning came to see us and laughed that he was far from being pre-term. 

However he did get sick the first week and we ended up back in the hospital twice for about a week at a time.  They ended up deciding that he had caught a cold from his snotty nosed 2yr old brother…but it was still no fun.  Trying to breast feed a baby that is hooked up to IV’s and monitors is not fun!  He is healthy and happy today.  

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Thank you Erin for sharing your story!  I want to pinch those cheekies!