Project Xerxes: Launch Day
We arrived at Swedish triage around 11ish. They got cuddlyeconomist into a room and started doing their checks, and the contractions were actually coming fairly quickly and strong by that point. The drive to the hospital was uneventful, but left her feeling a bit nauseous. In fact, she really caught the staff’s attention when her vasovagal syncope resulted in her having what looked like a seizure and passing out… The doula and I were aware of it, but it was a pretty scary moment for everyone. The nurse said she was glad we were there because she otherwise might have called a code. It did indeed get the process of admitting her going, but another patient in advanced labor kept them busy as well. At this point she was around 4 cm dilated, and they set up an IV line.
By the time they moved us up to the birthing suite, DrB was pretty overwhelmed with the combination of the very strong nausea and the fast pace of the contractions. The OB on duty was our favorite from the practice, Dr. Lowdermilk, and he was reasonably calming. She decided that she needed some pain medication and they were more than happy to give her some anti-nausea medicine as well-nobody was thrilled with the idea of her passing out every contraction. It was actually a fairly light epidural and didn’t slow things down at all. By 1pm, she was 6 cm dilated and around 2ish she was fully dilated and the head was already moving down. After 20 minutes of push, the baby was out. The cord was around the neck as the head came out, but they popped it back over quickly. DrB had a 2nd degree perineal tear, but the doctor and the resident sewed her up and the epidural kept her pretty pain-free for the procedures.
So, the stats I’m sure you are all waiting for: 8 points 7.7 ounces. 20 inches long. Born July 22, 2011 at 2:49 PM.
IT’S A BOY!
Charles “Chase” Xavier Walbourn
Mother and baby are doing great. He’s so far pretty mellow, but he’s also very sleepy. He got a bath, which he was a little fussy about (Rhys agrees with that one), but he didn’t mind running water on his head/hair. We are staying one night at Swedish and Rhys is staying with some friends. He came to visit us right after his daycamp was over, and he seemed much relieved that everyone is in good health.
By the time they moved us up to the birthing suite, DrB was pretty overwhelmed with the combination of the very strong nausea and the fast pace of the contractions. The OB on duty was our favorite from the practice, Dr. Lowdermilk, and he was reasonably calming. She decided that she needed some pain medication and they were more than happy to give her some anti-nausea medicine as well-nobody was thrilled with the idea of her passing out every contraction. It was actually a fairly light epidural and didn’t slow things down at all. By 1pm, she was 6 cm dilated and around 2ish she was fully dilated and the head was already moving down. After 20 minutes of push, the baby was out. The cord was around the neck as the head came out, but they popped it back over quickly. DrB had a 2nd degree perineal tear, but the doctor and the resident sewed her up and the epidural kept her pretty pain-free for the procedures.
So, the stats I’m sure you are all waiting for: 8 points 7.7 ounces. 20 inches long. Born July 22, 2011 at 2:49 PM.
IT’S A BOY!
Charles “Chase” Xavier Walbourn
Mother and baby are doing great. He’s so far pretty mellow, but he’s also very sleepy. He got a bath, which he was a little fussy about (Rhys agrees with that one), but he didn’t mind running water on his head/hair. We are staying one night at Swedish and Rhys is staying with some friends. He came to visit us right after his daycamp was over, and he seemed much relieved that everyone is in good health.