The Presson Family

It all began Wednesday, June 24th. We had a Non-Stress Test at 4pm and a regular doctor's checkup at 4:45pm. The NST went very well; Christian's heartbeat was strong and regular with his movements. My doctor's appointment didn't so quite so well. I had protein in my urine, higher blood pressure, gained 7 lbs. in water weight in 1 week due to swelling, and was still between 1-2cm but "really soft".

My doctor decided to send me into the hospital to be evaluated that same evening. She didn't want things to go from bad to worse in 2 days. I was scheduled to be induced on Friday, June 26th. Paul and I left the doctor's office, went to pick up our hospital bag and pillows, and came right back to the hospital. We got to evaluation unit at 6pm. They tested my blood pressure every 15 minutes, tested my blood and urine - which both came back fine. Since my swelling was so bad and blood pressure was high, they decided to admit me to labor & delivery.

At 8:30pm my IV was started and I was moved into an L&D room #2 at 9pm. They began inducing me at 9:30pm when they began the Pitocin to start contractions. Dr. Walsh visited and checked my progress at midnight I was still between 1-2cm, so she "stretched my cervix". The Pitocin got up to 6 milliunits/minute and contractions were every 2 minutes. The nurse checked me at 5am and I was between 2-3cm. I finally got some sleep for a couple of hours - with the exception of waking up every hour to go potty. When I woke up at 7am I felt a little warm trickle down the inside of my leg and thought I had peed myself. When I stood up to go to the restroom, my water broke on its own! It gushed onto the floor next to my bed and kept coming out as I walked.

About 10 minutes after lying back down from the bathroom, my contractions got much stronger immediately. OUCH! I breathed through the pain and asked for the epidural at 7:30am. At 8:00am the epidural arrived! It only stung for a minute, but was INSTANT relief! My entire lower body was numb about 10 minutes later. I laid down and slept on and off for a few hours. I was checked at 11am and was between 4-5cm and 70% thinned out.

Checked at 1pm and had no progress. Still at 4-5cm.

Checked at 2pm and had LOTS of bloody show and was at 6cm, 100% thinned out, and -2 station.

Checked at 3pm and was between 7-8cm and -1 station.

Checked at 4pm and was 8cm and 0 station.

At that time, I began feeling pressure in my rectum, which is good because that meant he was dropping further into the pelvis!

Checked at 5pm and was 9cm.

Checked at 6pm and was still at 9cm.

Checked by Dr. Walsh at 6:30pm and was 9 1/2 cm and 0 station. She said I could probably push through the extra 1/2 cm on my own, since his head seemed to be able to fit through the birth canal. We tried some "practice pushes", and she decided to drop my epi to 50% in order for me to "labor down" and be able to feel the contractions, so I could push him out!

Well, right after they took my epi down, I was in INTENSE pain!!!! Contractions were about a minute long, and a minute apart...so I had NO BREAK in pain!!! At this point I had only slept about 4 hours in the last 24 hours, had nothing to eat and was completely exhausted! Dr. Walsh wasn't on call that night, so Dr. McBride took over.

She came in and checked me around 7:30pm and I was still not progressed past 9 1/2 cm. She said we needed to get the epi started again and give me another hour to get to 10cm.

Once I got another dose of epi, I couldn't move my legs AT ALL! Completely numb again = relief! I was checked again at 8:30pm and was still 9 1/2 cm...no more progress within the last 3 hours! We tried pushing again without much progress when Dr. McBride determined that Christian was slowly dropping into the birth canal but he was face up towards my belly...which is also called "sunny side up", since it is very hard to deliver in this position, she decided to do a c-section. I was very upset with having a c-section delivery, but had no other options. I had already been in labor over 27 hours, and was exhausted.

Around 9:30pm they began preparing me for the c-section delivery. About 10:30pm, they got Paul ready and wheeled me into the operating room. The operation began at 10:45pm and Christian Michael was born on Wednesday, June 25th at 11:10pm! He weighed 8lbs 14ozs and was 20 1/2 inches long. He was a very healthy weight, but not chubby at all (except for those adorable cheeks). I noticed right away how big his hands and feet looked.

Since birth, I am recovering well. Christian is learning how to breastfeed and also supplementing with 1oz of formula per feeding. He was slightly jaundice, and had to be put on the BilliBed for one day. We’re heading home tomorrow, Monday June 29^th. We are so in love with our perfect little man!