Our Birth Story

Kevin wrote this a few days after we were home from the hospital:
Lewis was due February 6^th or 7^th, depending on who you talk to. Well, his due date came and went, and we were still patiently waiting. We went to our 40 week doctor's appointment on Wednesday, February 9^th, to check Kristen and also to get an ultrasound and non-stress test. Everything was great--Lewis was measuring in at 8 lbs, 15 oz, according to the ultrasound (which ended up being his exact birth weight, but they said it could have gone one pound in either direction as far as the ultrasound's accuracy goes). Big Baby! Movements and heart rate were all good. Next, we go in to meet with Dr. Monica Brown. Kristen was a 'tight' 1 cm and 40% softened. Dr. Brown had said from our 34 week appointment (we asked her what her 'take' was on due date, induction, etc.) that she wouldn't let us go past 41 weeks. When it came down to it, she was willing to let us wait until 41 weeks and 5 days (her on call day) before doing an induction. We decided to go ahead and go in at 41 weeks because she seemed a bit concerned with his size and whether a vaginal birth would be likely (with first baby + induced baby + big baby). Dr. Brown did seem optimistic since Kristen is tall and her mom was able to deliver her big babies vaginally. Kristen had also had 2 colposcopies in the past and wondered if scar tissue had formed, causing her cervix to fail her. So induction, it was. We went ahead and scheduled an induction for Monday, February 14^th. We thought we were going to have a Valentine's Day baby! We had mixed emotions about a Valentine's Day birthday--little did we know, we had nothing to worry about. After the appointment, we knew that Monday was the latest for us. We hoped that we would go naturally before then, and we did what we could to try and speed up the process. Kristen walked the dogs 2-3 times a day as walking is supposed to help jumpstart labor. We enjoyed our last Friday night dinner at El Nopal without our baby. [It ended up not being super enjoyable as we were seated next to a table of 10 loudmouths.] The next day, Kristen and I rekindled an old Valentine's Day tradition (as we knew we would not be able to celebrate this Valentine's Day) and drove to Sellersburg and got some pizza from Sir Dano's Pizza Parlor.

Now, D-Day has arrived. It is Sunday, February 13^th, the night we are supposed to go to the hospital. Before I woke up, Kristen took the dogs for last one walk to maybe get things moving. It ended up being one of her worst walks ever, as the dogs encountered many friends along the way who they felt the need to bark at and attempt to get out of their leashes to go say hello. As the day went on, our nerves grew as we awaited the time to go in. Kristen was supposed to fast after 3pm, so we finished off the pizza and some leftover pasta around 2:30pm. Step Brothers was on, so we watched a little bit of that as we waited (Boats and Hoes!). We had been instructed to call the hospital at 5pm to see if they had a bed ready for us. Kristen called, and they did. So we got all our bags ready and prepared to arrive at the hospital at 7pm. We got to the hospital and took the elevator up to the 2^nd floor. We made a left out of the elevator, which took us straight into the Labor and Delivery area. We quickly realized, oops, we are not actually supposed to be in here just yet (it is supposed to be a secured area…not so much). So we went over to check in--Kristen said, "Hi, we are here to have a baby." We then filled out our paperwork and headed over to our room (Delivery Room 6). We got settled and our first nurse, Joye, came in. She got us set up with the IV and monitors (fetal and contraction), and, not too long after that, Dr. Pridham came in. He went over what he expected to happen, which was that Kristen would get Cervidil that night to ripen the cervix, we would start Pitocin in the morning, and we should have a baby by dinner time on Valentine's Day! (Haha). He also let us know that Kristen could go ahead and eat dinner, so I drove over and got her Wendy's around 8:30pm Sunday night. This would be her last food until after the delivery. Sometime after we finished eating, Dr. Pridham came back and inserted the Cervidil. Kristen will have to describe her first experience with a male OB, but I think she would put it somewhere under 'less than enjoyable.' At this point, we were set for the night. We had the Grammy's on the TV, and we just sort of hung out, played on the computer, and waited. Not much happened Sunday night--we were just waiting for the Cervidil to works its magic. We both slept a decent amount Sunday night.

Monday morning , we wake up and meet our new nurse, Debbie. Debbie takes the Cervidil out and checks Kristen's cervix. We are 1 cm and 70% softened (we were a 'tight' 1 cm and 40% softened at the doctor's appointment on Wednesday), so not much had happened. We were a little disappointed at this news. Regardless, it was time to start the Pitocin and get things going! So we got that started and waited. The morning and early afternoon were pretty uneventful. We sat around watching TV and messing around on the computer. Kristen decided it would be a good idea to watch Food Network while fasting. As you can imagine, that did not go well. Paula Deen was making some ridiculously indulgent cheesecake (Chocolate Explosion Cheesecake). And there were commercials for food - lots of them! A waffle commercial made Kristen decide that she needed a waffle maker for the house! At some point, Dr. Gigi Girard came in and checked Kristen again (around 3:30pm). She checked Kristen's cervix and said we were still 1 cm and she said closer to 40% softened! So not only had we not progressed, we had taken a step backward based on the earlier check. She said we would let the Pitocin go a few more hours--if there was no progress, they would take Kristen off the Pitocin, let her eat some dinner, do the Cervidil again tonight, and try Pitocin again Tuesday morning. The high-risk doctor was on call Tuesday, and he would assess us and go over our options at that time. When we heard this, we heard c-section. So at this point, Kristen was a bit conflicted. She was discouraged that she had not progressed, but was excited about the possibility of eating. However, plans were about to change.

Up until this point, Kristen had been feeling some pretty mild contractions, but nothing painful, which made sense since her cervix was not really doing anything. Not too long after Dr. Girard left to go perform a c-section, the contractions started coming – harder, stronger, faster. It was time for me to go into coaching mode. So I pulled out the BS I learned in class and worked with Kristen on breathing and relaxing. She was a trooper, but as we kept moving on, the pain was getting worse. One nurse came in to fix Kristen's monitors. Kristen mentioned pain medicine, the nurse said, "No, you are still smiling" (only on the outside, Ms. Nurse, only on the outside). After Dr. Girard finished her c-section (probably sometime around 5:00), she came back in to check on us. Since the contractions were now painful, she said we were making progress (her intention was to come in to stop the Pitocin and let Kristen eat), and we should keep going for a few hours and see where we are. Kristen again inquired about pain meds--Dr. Girard responded the same way the nurse did, "You're still smiling." That was probably the last smile we would see for awhile.

At 7:00pm, there is a shift change for the nurses. Our new nurse was Lindsay (aka, Kristen's savior). Lindsay actually was just there helping out since Labor and Delivery had gotten slammed that night—she stayed late to help fill in (and even came LATER to check in on us). Anyway, Lindsay checked Kristen, and Kristen was now 2 cm and 80% effaced. Kristen again asked about pain meds, and Lindsay quickly acted to get some Stadol for Kristen. She also upped the Pitocin so that we would progress further. Once Kristen got some drugs, she was able to relax a bit. Although, the Stadol made the room spin, so she preferred to just close her eyes. Lindsay had to step away to give another girl an epidural, but she was to return not long after that to give Kristen hers.

Lindsay returned at 8pm with the nurse anesthetist (Cheryl) to administer the epidural. I had to leave for sanitary reasons, and I was told to come back in 20 minutes. So I went out and grabbed a bite to eat and called to update our parents. When I returned, Kristen was comfortably resting in bed, loving life (or at least as much as you can love it while being hooked up to every device known to man). I believe at this point Lindsay checked Kristen and she was 3 cm, close to 4 cm! So we are really moving. I go and get Kristen a couple popsicles, and we are just chilling now waiting for things to happen. At 9:45pm, Lindsay comes in and Kristen is now 6 cm! We are going so fast now, I think—"Crap, I better call our parents so they can get over here!" So I call our parents, and they arrive around 10:30pm. There was another shift change at 11pm, and Kristen's favorite nurse, Amber, arrived. Kristen liked her because she paid attention to every detail and was meticulous about keeping her clean, keeping her wires all straightened and neat, and keeping us informed. As the night went on, the monitors kept sliding off, so eventually we did internal monitors for both heart rate and contractions. Because of the epidural, Kristen also had the catheter, the oxygen sensor on her finger, and the blood pressure cuff (for the entire time). At one point they also put an oxygen mask on her. Also at some point, her blood pressure dipped, so she was given something for that. According to my text records, I texted Kristen's mom at 11:50pm, and we had just gotten to 7 cm. Oops! Guess we weren't going to keep going that fast! Things get a little hazy after this--I think we did a lot of napping for the next few hours. At 1:45am, she had gotten to 8 cm.

A little while later, we were completely dilated on the left, but not on the right. Amber put Kristen on her right side for a while to try to get her fully dilated on the right side. We napped for a few more hours, and at 3:45am we were a full 10 cm! Amber says it is time to practice pushing! We are almost there! So we push for a little while--Amber asks me if I want to see the head. I look down, and I can see a little bit of the head peeking out! Wow! Now we are pushing for real. Amber gets a mirror so Kristen can see what is happening. She asks for a big push from Kristen, and out comes a gush of amniotic fluid which flies across the room and down Amber's shirt. We start laughing uncontrollably, and Kristen stops pushing. Amber remains calm and excuses herself to go change shirts. So we take a few contractions off and wait for her to get back. We push through a few more contractions and then Amber goes to get the doctor. It is time!

Amber returns with Dr. Girard and the birthing crew, which appears to be roughly half of the hospital staff. We push through a few more contractions and out comes the head. Dr. Girard grabs the baby by the head and pulls him out. It's a boy! Lewis Pete Thompson is here on Tuesday, February 15^th, 2011, at 4:55am, weighing in at 8 lbs, 15 oz and 21.5 inches long. What an amazing adventure!