James

This is long overdue but I figure better late than never. Just a warning, this is a long winded post. James was due Sept. 26 but decided that he didn't want to come the day. I saw my doctor on the 27th and she said that if I didn't start labor by Oct. 3rd then she would induce me but until then I'd just have to wait. I'm not very patient when it comes to waiting so I wasn't happy. Thankfully I didn't have to wait too long. My labor started around 9 pm on the 28th. I had a few contractions but nothing too major. Around 10 pm my contractions starting coming more consistently and more intense about 10 minutes apart. I waited until 1 am before I couldn't stand it anymore and we went to the hospital. They admitted me when I was at 4 cm but I had to wait for 2 hours for the anesthesiologist to get there. Once I had the epidural it was a breeze. I loved not feeling my contractions anymore! However the epidural slowed down my contractions to the point that I plateaued at 6 cm for 2 hours with no progress. Because I wasn't progressing my doctor put me on pitocin to get things going again. I progressed to 8 cm then plateaued again for anther 2 hours so my doctor increased my pitocin dose. Finally at noon on 29th I reached 10 cm but my doctor had me wait an hour before pushing so that the baby could descend further. I started pushing around 1. I pushed for about 50 minutes before his head came out. While I was pushing I started throwing up. Not real fun. When his head came out he was covered in meconium and he was throwing up a ton of it. According to Gregg, it was just pouring out his mouth. The NICU team was rushed because he had not only swallowed the meconium but inhaled it as well. I pushed for about eight more minutes before he came all the way out. As soon as he was out the doctor cut his cord and gave to the NICU team. It was terrible. He wasn't crying because his lungs were stuck together from the meconium and he was covered in it. The NICU team took him and began sucking out his lungs and his stomach but I couldn't see what they were doing and I really didn't know what was going on. I have no idea how long the NICU team was in my room but it seemed like a really long time. They showed him to me from across the room then rushed him off the the NICU with Gregg in tow. After they were gone my doctor told me that she had never seen some much meconium in one baby before and that if I had had him at home or probably anywhere else then he most likely would've died. I think she was trying to be helpful but it wasn't. I was too emotional and too stressed to hear that kind of stuff. After awhile Gregg came back to tell me what was going on. He said that James was in critical condition. He had inhaled so much of the meconium that there was no way he could breath on his own so he was on a ventilator that was breathing for him until they could get his lungs cleared so they would stay open and not stick. We were both so emotional. I cried a lot. I didn't get to hold my baby or really see him for that matter. Even though the doctor had flashed him at me I didn't get a good look so I didn't really know what he looked like. After a few hours on my way to my recovery room they took me to see James. He was covered in cord and IVs and all sorts of stuff but so cute. His nurse said that he was doing much better and he had improved a lot in just a few hours. His doctor came and explained everything to me which was nice to finally know what had happened and what they were doing with James. Because there had been no signs of meconium through the entire labor, the doctors speculated that me throwing up while pushing had been too much stress on James and caused him to poop and then inhale and swallow all that junk. Made me feel real good. NOT.

Over the next few days Gregg and I spent as much time in the NICU with James as we could. It was such a blessing that we lived so close the hospital so that once I was released it only took us 5 minutes to get to the hospital from our apartment. James really progressed quickly. All his nurses and doctors were amazed at his strength. They first had told us that he would be on the ventilator for probably a week but he was off the ventilator and breathing on his own in two days. On day 4, they had me start breastfeeding him. That was hard for him to learn. He didn't really want to work for his food because he had been fed through a NG tube which was no work for him. However he is a quick learner and he was nursing fairly well by day 5. That night the doctors had me stay the night at the NICU so I could feed him through the night. He did well and they decided he was doing so well that he could go home. After 6 days of being in the NICU we were finally able to bring James home. It was such a wonderful feeling leaving the hospital with him. I was so glad that I didn't have to go back but at the same time I was sad to leave. I think it was because I had had such a wonderful experience there and I had learned and grown so much. All the doctors and nurses were so wonderful and made Gregg and I feel so much better about the situation. I must say though that there is no way I would EVER have any more kids any other place than the hospital. We had no idea until James came out there was meconium. I would never want to take that risk of having unforeseen problems and not have the immediate medical attention there. We are so grateful to have been in a place where James could get the attention he needed. He is such a strong and determined little boy. We are so grateful that Heavenly Father was watching out for us that day and that He blessed us with such a beautiful and amazing little boy. He has truly blessed us with peace and with the expert care that James needed. I will be forever grateful to Him and everyone else that helped save my little boy's life.

James with all his stuff.

First family photo

At one point, James had an IV in his head. This is after it was taken out.