THE DETAILS – Day 2

Sunday, January 7, 2007

12:30am – I was dilated to 5 and was having severe back labor and my whole body was shaking. We decided that we both needed rest and needed it badly. The pain was very intense. I went the epidural route and I am so glad that I did.

1:00am – I received the epidural and within minutes was able to feel the relief and finally get some much needed rest. We both slept for the next 5 hours or so.

5:00am – The nurse came in and checked me over and surprise – I was dilated to a 7-8. I had labored well over night and a lot of progress was made.

6:00am – I dilated to 8-9 and my doctor was called. She arrived and thus began the long, tumultuous wait to get to 10 cm.

10:00am – Still not dilated to 10 so they up my Pitocin even more and also because my contractions were not strong enough.

10:30am – Finally made it to 10 cm and the pushing began.

11:00am – Pushing…and we find out that baby is “sunny side up” – meaning his head was coming out face up rather than face down.

11:30am – More pushing….

12:00pm – Still pushing and was close to crowning.

12:30pm – Pushing some more and no progress was being made. An OB doctor was called in to assess the situation and give her advice. We basically had two options…go the C-section route or try the vacuum. After all that pushing, we decided to give the vacuum a try which is pretty much like putting a toilet plunger (only a much smaller version) on your baby’s head. The OB doc said she would only try for 20 minutes and then if nothing happened, we’d have to go with the C-section.

12:50pm – No progress was made at all – Baby R was stuck and we had no other options. They started prepping me for surgery and wheeled me into the OR (Operating Room).

1:33pm – Baby Quinlan John was born and he scored 9 out of 10 on the Apgar test, all vitals were great and John assisted with cutting his umbilical cord. There was cause for concern due to severe bruising and fluid between his skull and skin that covered the top of his head down to the nape of his neck.

Quinlan spent the next 40 hours in the Intermediate Care Nursery for observation and additional support.