The Big Day

I know this happened a while ago but I have been a little busy!!

Hunter Thomas Lile was born to Heather and Jacob Lile on December 16
at 11:39 pm. He was 8lbs 8oz and was 20.5 inches long.

I was induced on 12/15 at 9:30pm since I was over due. They started
by giving me cytotec behind my cervix overnite to help it dilate (I
went in at 1-2 cm and 50% effaced). I started having frequent
contractions, but I didn't really feel them all nite. At 10am on
12/16 my OB came in and broke my water. Within about 30 minutes I
started having contractions that I could feel. I spent the next 7
hours breathing, walking, rocking and sitting on a birthing ball to
get thru the contractions. I was having severe back labor because my
little man was face up and chin up. After 7 hours of labor I had only
progressed to 4cm and my baby was still high. I was not handling the
contractions well anymore as I was exhausted. My RN (who was gung-ho
natural birth) advised me to try a little fentanyl to see if it would
take the edge off. I was very hesitant because as you all may
remember, I very much wanted a natural birth. It did but only for
about 15 minutes. It was at this point that my RN advised me to get
an epidural. She said that since I was making little to no progress
that getting the epidural may prevent me from getting a c-section. I
really didn't want an epidural but I wanted a c-section even less.
The anesthesiologist came in and put the epidural in in about 5
minutes and within 10 minutes I felt better and could relax. About an
hour and a half later, the nite shift RN came in and was looking at
the monitor and said that my baby's heart beat kept going down, I was
also feeling a lot of pressure. She got the anesthesiologist to give
me a bolus on my epidural and she decided to check me, at that point
they saw that I was 9.5 cm dilated and almost ready to push. I
started pushing within the next 45 minutes or so but it was difficult
since I was very numb. I pushed for about an hour when my OB came
in. She said that the baby was still pretty high and with his
presentation he may be very difficult to push out and that I would
probably need a c-section. I told her that I was not tired and to let
me keep pushing a little longer. My Mom and Hubby tell me that she
said she would give me 20 more minutes. So I started pushing like
there was no tomorrow and within about 30 minutes or so I could see
the top of my baby's head. My RN was very surprised I was able to get
him down that far. My OB came in to deliver me and I don't remember
much as I was in excruciating pain since my epidural had worn off and
because of how my baby was presenting. All I remember is that I was
getting very nauseated with every push and was very concerned about
pushing out more than a baby :). I also remember feeling like I had
very little control over what my body was doing. Towards the end my
OB tried to use the vacuum but it wouldn't go on my baby's head, but
in the next moment, I was somehow able to push my baby out. I found
out later from my RN that I was moments away from being whisked off to
the OR. My OB also told me that she could not believe that I was able
to get my baby out on my own.
Unfortunately our adventure did not end there. Since little Hunter at
8lbs 8oz was considered large for gestational age they had to check
his blood sugars. His blood sugar an hour after birth was only 40
(low normal is 45). The RN had me give him some formula and then let
me breast feed him for 10 minutes. His blood sugar was still only 41
so he had to go to the nursery to be given more formula and to be
monitored for about 90minutes. He was brought back to me for about an
hour and when they checked him again he was still low so he had to go
back to the nursery again for 3 hours we got him back one more time but
within an hour it was found that his sugars were low again. To make a
long story short, our little guy stayed in the Special Care Nursery
for 4 days. He was on an IV of glucose and his sugars were checked
every three hours. I got discharged without him, which was one of the
hardest things I have ever done. After an additional 36 hours of
monitoring off of the glucose drip and me proving that I could provide
plenty of breast milk and with strict instructions to feed him every 3
hours we finally got to bring our baby home on Sunday 12/21 at 5pm.
These first few days have been interesting because we didn't get to
care for our baby until he came home. He is mild mannered and lets
us know when he is hungry and eats like a champ.
We were very lucky to be cared for by excellent nurses and doctors at
both Sequoia Hospital and at the Lucille Packard Satellite Nursery
there. My husband and I have decided that if we have another child,
we will travel any distance to be cared for there again.