Elijah Joe...

Elijah Joe was born on January 6^th, 2012 at 4:30pm. But his journey started much earlier than that!

I started having contractions right at the stroke of midnight, welcoming in the New Year. They were small, but Matt and I were fairly confident that we were on our way. With the iPod contraction app in hand, we were ready to go to bed, in what we thought would be our last night as a family of two. Well, we were wrong…

I didn’t get much sleep that night. I was extremely uncomfortable and continued having mild contractions, just enough to make sleep impossible. After about 12 hours, and no progression in pain, we decided to go to the hospital and get checked out. And to our disappointment, we were sent back home.

So we waited…I had a doctor’s appointment scheduled for Tuesday, which came and went with no baby. It was at that appointment that we scheduled our appointment to be induced, which we all thought I wouldn’t need. Thursday night, 10pm. Tuesday came and went. Then Wednesday came and went. Looks like Thursday night would be the night!

With a decent night’s sleep, our bags packed, and our last dinner out (The Spaghetti Factory), we were on our way to the hospital. We had a lot of anticipation, but we knew it would be a long few hours ahead. By 11:30pm, I was in my room, starting the Pitocin. They started the Pitocin at a level 2 and would continue to increase by 2 until reaching 20 as the maximum.

I started feeling contractions just about ½ hour after they started the Pitocin; small at first but stronger than what I had been feeling. I attempted to sleep as best as possible, in between needing to go to the bathroom, Pitocin increases, and being extremely uncomfortable. Matt was able to sleep pretty well, considering.

Contractions definitely started getting stronger by the morning and we were well on our way. Family and friends were starting to arrive and the anticipation was growing. The contractions were growing, but Elijah wasn’t moving. So at this point, they broke my water with the hopes of speeding up my labor. But still no progression.

Then it seemed that my contractions went off the charts very quickly. They were extremely close and very strong. They were fairly unbearable as I held on to Matt with the passing of each one. And the doctor came and checked my progress, and still, nothing…

At this point we started talking about pain relief. Without any progression, and my contractions already being so strong, it was going to be a very long road ahead. We were contemplating it and discussing our options. But then the nurse mentioned that if I didn’t decide right then to get an epidural, that it would be another 2-3 hours before the anesthesiologist would be available again. It was an easy decision to make. Give me the epidural! I just couldn’t go on.

And let me tell you—that epidural was the best thing ever! I finally felt some relief. By this point, I’d been in labor for about 12 hours with little to no progression. A few more hours continue, and still, nothing.

By 3:30pm, 15 hours after I was induced, the doctor came to discuss the possibility of a c-section, which was definitely not a part of our birth plan. Baby’s heartbeat was okay, and so was mine, so a c-section at this point was not absolute necessary. But I still hadn’t progressed. The doctor told us that I could continue to labor, but the longer I went without progression, the greater the risk of infection or other complications. So, we were moving forward with the c-section.

 

And by 4pm I was in the operating room and by 4:30pm, Elijah was here! I was blessed to have both Matt and my Mom in the operating room with me. And while they were operating, I spent my time looking at their faces and waiting for the arrival of our healthy baby boy.

And then I heard it…Elijah had entered the world and was crying right away! The doctor popped him over the sheet for a split second for me to see and then whisked him away. It would be about 45 minutes to an hour before I was able to see him and hold him. But Matt, daddy, got to see him and hold him shortly after he was born.

4:30pm                 7 lbs, 8.8 ozs                       20 ½” long           APGAR 9

And what followed was a hectic 5 days in the hospital. It took a couple days before I was able to even stand and get out of bed. We had lots of visitors and help. We even skyped with our church just 2 days after he was born! And Elijah was doing well until he started getting jaundice. On day #4 in the hospital, his jaundice levels increased drastically within a 12 hour period. And the next 24 hours were exhausting as I fed Elijah every 2 hours with his time in-between spent under the lights. It was exhausting. And at one point, we didn’t think Elijah was going to get to go home with us.

But at midnight, 24 hours after the jaundice outbreak, the 3 of us were finally released, together, to go home. We were officially a family of 3…