Not to sure where to start, so I will start with Wednesday afternoon when we wen to check in at the hospital. Meagan and I stopped at The Domain and ate at Mangiano's Little Italy on the way to the hospital since Meagan was not going to get food for several hour at the least. The lunch menu was relatively inexpensive and the food was GREAT. We finished our late lunch around 3:30 and headed to the hospital so casually you would not think we were going to have a baby. We get checked into the hospital and meet our nurse for the night, Jolie. Meagan gets all hooked up and comfortable in the bed. Meanwhile, I am coordinating for our parents to get into Austin. Meagan's parents, Bob and Scottie, are the first to arrive and we hang out in the room. While waiting for my family to get in, Meagan and I enjoy a game of battleship that we got at Target earlier this afternoon. Dani comes by and finishes the game off with Meagan as my parents and grandparents are arriving.
We chat with everyone till about 11pm and then the room is back to just Meagan and I. There is a couch in the room that has one side that pulls out. I get it all ready for bed, but I realize when it's pulled out there is not backing to hold me on the couch. So it was pretty much like sleeping on a 2x6 made out of hard leather.
About 3am the new nurse comes in to pull the cervadil out of Meagan and start the pitocin at 4am. We sort of go back to sleep, remembering that the nurses come and check on Meagan about every hour, so there really wasn't much sleep. At 4 the nurse checks Meagan's progress into labor. She was still 80% effaced and maybe 3cm dilated. At 6am the nurse comes back in and Meagan says, "I feel wetness down there." The nurse says, " Oh, its probably just from when I checked you earlier." But then the "wetness" kept coming and we figured out that Meagan's water had broke on it's own.
Around 11am , our OB comes in a checks her and Meagan has progressed to a 4. They tell us that it should be about a cm an hour from this point. So as the contractions worsen, Meagan asks for the epidural. In order to get the epidural, she had to have 1000 mL of fluids in her through her IV. So that was about 2 hours of watching the medicine empty into her. (All while she is feeling every contraction strongly now.) So after along time of waiting the Anesthesiologist comes in and tells her what will happen during the epidural. Then tell us that there is a 1% chance of a "wet tap" which is where the epidural needle goes through the epidural space and into the spinal fluid space right behind it. So the nurse has me sit down on a chair in front of Meagan. (There is a policy where the Dad has to be sitting during the epidural now.) So the first needle goes in and the anesthesiologist say, "I've got a wet tap". So I'm thinking, "great...now what?" But Meagan didn't seem phased by the wet tap at the moment. Next she reinserts the needle into a new space and it works, except now the tube that the medicine flows through will not allow the medicine to pass through. So the injector and breaks, plastic and medicine fly all over the room, and the anesthesiologist says," hmm that didn't work". So I can tell Meagan is getting a little perturbed by two procedures not working, but Meagan knew the anesthesiologist felt bad. So we start all over with a third needle. It worked and we got the medicine in. So the epidural is supposed to take effect within 10 minutes. All of a sudden Meagan gets a massive headache caused by the Wet Tap and even vomits when her blood pressure drops. I just happened to be out of the room at this moment because I went to get our moms to come back to the room. So, the one time something bad happens and I'm out in the waiting room.
Well after increasing the dosage on the epidural, Meagan is finally felling a little more comfortable. I lay down to try to take a nap and the OB walks in at noon to check her. So I stayed laying down while he checks and he sounds really surprised when he says, "Your complete!" So at that point I assumed my nap was not going to happen and I got up and texted the parents to let them know what just happened. I originally wanted just Meagan and I to be in the room while she was pushing, but I told our moms to come in. I'm glad I did because the actual pushing process was so laid back and quiet. (Not at all like it is on TV) So my mom and my mother-in-law were in there to spur on conversation.
Meagan pushes till about 2pm off and on and the OB comes in with his team. This was the only frantic part. Meagan pushes for about 30 more minutes while I go from seeing what was going on "down there" to coming and holding her hand in between contractions. Once the doctor and his team were ready, He gets her to push like 3 more times and *plop* out comes Hudson. I was so thrilled to see how Meagan first reacted to him being on her chest. She was so excited and just could not believe what just happened. I was enjoying that moment when the doctor throws scissors at me and say "cut the cord! cut the cord" So I frantically put the scissors on my fingers and move toward the umbilical cord. I pause and then remembered that I probably should ask where do I cut. They then stretch it out in front of me like I was opening a new business and cutting the ribbon for the Grand opening. The next few minutes were a little hurried and crazy because the nurses were checking all Hudson's vitals and Meagan and I were texting our friends who we had setup in a couple of group text lists. They then have Hudson's weighed and on the warmer bed so I leave Meagan and go and hold the hand of my firstborn son. He probably would have held anyones hand, but it felt like he was holding on to mine because he knew me. All of the nurses leave the room and the family and friends in the waiting room all come in and take turns holding him. I then follow Hudson to the nursery where he gets his first few shots and a bath and they put him under the warmer till his temperature adjusts. Outside the nursery was a flock of friends and family watching us. The nursery workers kept thinking there was a tour going on outside, but it was all for Hudson.
Well so much for extremely short, I didn't even get past the first 4 hours of his life. But Meagan can fill you in on anything else. Bye!
2 comments:
Travis, this was awesome! So neat to read your perspective. I laughed OUT LOUD when I read "plop" and "new business," but then I sighed when you talked about Hudson holding your hand. You are going to make such a great father. So happy for you.
Thanks for sharing this awesome story!
I'm pretty sure he was holding your hand because he knew you were his daddy!!!
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