Awsumb Kenneth Hardy
Born on: October 19, 2001
Time: 6:55 AM
Evergreen Hospital, Kirkland Washington
Weight: 7 lbs 8oz Length: 20"
The Birth Story
 On Tuesday, October 16th, I went to
visit my doctor, Doctor Deb Stemmerman, for my last regular appointment. I
was then given the last set of tests to make sure everything was ok with the
baby. The doctor determined that an additional procedure was in order
before being induced on Thursday.
Wednesday morning I went in to the doctor and
received a foley catheter to begin opening my cervix. I went home and had
contractions and cramping all day. By evening the catheter fell out.
This meant my cervix had opened up to 3 cm. I tried to get some sleep
before we needed to check in at the hospital the next day.
Bright and early on Thursday (7:15 am), we checked into
the hospital. At this point I was only 2 cm as my cervix had shrunk a bit.
The nurses set us all up, and started me on Pitocin (a medicine that induces
contractions). My contractions became regular and were pretty close
together.
During my pregnancy, it was determined that I had
abnormally high blood pressure, which is caused by a condition called
preeclampsia ("pre-seizure"). In an effort to keep my blood pressure down,
I was only allowed to labor on my left side. This was very frustrating.
I got up every hour to empty my bladder and would stall as long as I could
before getting back into bed.
The Pitocin did effectively cause me to have regular
contractions. It did not, however, seem to help me have effective
contractions. I was constantly wondering how long it would last. My
doctor told me that I would be ready for my epidural by the time the Mariners
and Yankees game started, and that I would deliver the baby after the Mariners
won (guess she didn't know they were going to lose!). I just kept focused
on that clock!
After the game, the nurse had cranked up the Pitocin
and I was having contractions almost constantly. This was very difficult
because there was only a very short break in between. The contractions
were much easier to handle with my feet dangling over the side of the bed.
But every time I was instructed to lie back down to keep my blood pressure under
control. Despite all this, I was only dilated 4cm and the doctor wouldn't
give me an epidural until I was dilated at least 5!
I figured at this rate I would have the baby on Sunday.
The doctor started talking to the nurses about preparing for a c-section.
As the doctor went across the hall to deliver another patient (also named
Wendy!) my contractions became almost unbearable. The time was 11:00pm, I
was then offered some Stadol, a pain-killer to help deal with the contractions.
I thought this drug was just great! I could now only feel the peak of the
contraction, if even that. I hallucinated about being lined up on cookie
sheets to go into the cookie oven. I wanted to be in the line with the
people who knew how to breathe correctly and get peanut butter cookies. (OK, I
was a bit out of it).
As the Stadol wore off a new shift of nurses was coming
in to work. I was told that I could not have any more drugs because the
doctor was going to come over to prepare me for a c-section. We waited and
waited for the doctor to come. Finally I was given a half a dose of Stadol
and told that if the doctor was not there in half an hour I could have the rest
and then have an epidural. The nursing shift changed officially and the
new nurse began to play with my Pitocin levels. Again I was having no
relief from the contractions. I started to cry and told the new nurse that
the old nurse promised I could have more Stadol if the doctor didn't come (the
doctor was now doing an emergency delivery down the hall). Finally, the
nurse gave me more, but I was in such pain, I thought she was only pretending to
give me the drugs to get me to stop crying!
 |
|
The morning after - 10/20/2001 |
The nurse finally got a hold of the doctor on the
phone. She agreed that it was okay and sent in the anesthesiologist to
give me an epidural at about 1:30am. What a relief. The doctor
finally came in to check on me and decided to let me go a bit longer. As
Kenneth curled up in the window seat to sleep, the nurses tucked me in.
About 5:30am Friday morning (October 19th) I woke up
and felt pressure. The nurse checked and I was fully dilated. She
asked if I wanted to start pushing. When I asked her how long I would have
to push for she told me a few hours. I decided we might as well start!
The nurse started coaching me through pushing around
6:00. After just a short while, she told me to stop pushing because the
baby was already here and the doctor was sleeping in her office! After the
doctor arrived I pushed a few times and Awsumb Kenneth Hardy came right out at
6:55 am. There was only a small tear and a couple stitches needed.
The baby, however was not OK. He looked dead. He was not breathing
and had no muscle tone. The staff was all very professional, and although
we knew something was wrong we were constantly reassured. His APGAR score
was only a 2.
The nurses were able to get him breathing, but decided
to take him to to the nursery. At our hospital babies only go to the
nursery if there is a problem. The nurses let Kenneth carry the baby.
In the nursery, they put the baby under a warmer and hooked him up to monitors.
The minute they gave him a shot (his Hepatitis-B immunization), he perked up and
started crying like a healthy baby. They decided he didn't need to stay in
the nursery after all. He was then given an APGAR of 4, then 5. When
Kenneth carried him back into my room I knew he would be OK.
Awsumb was a bit hypoglycemic like we thought he might
be. So, as I breastfed for the first
 |
|
The morning after - 10/20/2001 |
time we also gave him a bit of
glucose. As the day went on the nurses continued to check him and after
only having glucose a couple of times his blood sugar was normal.
Friday was a very long day. Many of our friends
came by the hospital to see us. After a marathon drive from Utah, my
parents arrived in town that afternoon. When my father sat down next to me
it was just like looking into Awsumb's face! Awsumb looks just like my
brother, father and Grandpa Awsumb.
That night I was able to get a bit of sleep.
Kenneth held the baby all night long. The next morning we came home from
the hospital. Now it was Grandma Awsumb's turn to hold the baby all day
long. After such a long pregnancy it was so nice to be home with our new
little baby. I was so excited to be off bedrest the next day I immediately
started organizing and cleaning the house.
Monday we went back to the hospital for our postpartum
check up. Awsumb was a bit jaundiced and had lost some weight. Since
we were breastfeeding so well and the weight loss was in an acceptable range,
the nurse said to just keep up the good work and the jaundice would go away.
I did get a lecture about taking it easy, though!
Since then, things are going really well. I
finally relaxed a bit and we have just been snuggling. Kenneth and I have
things all worked out. He changes the baby and keeps me with fresh water (
I just can't get enough!). My milk came in on Monday and the baby is
eating well. I do not have any soreness in my breasts, just the initial
fullness. I also am healing just fine from the delivery. I've just
had a bit of swelling.
Awsumb went to the pediatrician for the first time on
Friday, the 26th. He had gained back all his weight and was now past his
birth weight and doing just fine. Sunday we went to church for the first
time. Awsumb slept through all the meetings, even Primary with 60 hyper
children!
Kenneth and I are so thankful to have little Awsumb
with us. He was sure worth the wait!
 Click
here to see Pictures from Awsumb's Blessing Day
Little Awsumb's Ultrasound Pictures
We were lucky to have seven ultrasounds to see our little baby.
When we first suspected I might be pregnant we called and made an appointment to
see the doctor at the fertility clinic we had been working with. The
clinic rushed us in and our first ultrasound was on 3/08/01.
The baby was just a few weeks. All we could see was a small dot with a
rhythmic heartbeat. This was Kenneth's favorite, he was so excited that we
were pregnant. (I will spare you, as they were not that exciting!)
After confirming what looked like a healthy pregnancy
the fertility clinic sent us to my regular OBGYN. After all we had been though
trying to have a child I was very confused about why this was happening now.
Not to mention the fact that I was having problems with the pregnancy, and my
OBGYN office didn't seem to be much help. Finally, friends convinced me to
change doctors. I was put on a few different forms of progesterone to keep
the pregnancy from spontaneously aborting.
The first time we could really see the baby was on
4/17/01. These pictures look like a play-dough figure, or the gingerbread
man! Finally on
6/14/01 we found out the sex. It's a Boy. Pictured below from that
session are only the babies head, spine and body.
The most clear ultrasound was on 7/20/01 when I was a
test subject at Siemens. The new software they were testing was so
amazing. Much better resolution than the ultrasounds at my OB
office. We saw the baby's face, not just the "skull look" but the pockets
of puff under his eyes, and his lips, etc. As the technician was
concentrating on showing off the software, and we were just excited to see the
baby so clearly, we completely forgot to ask for a good picture of the face,
below shows his leg bone.
In the beginning of September I was put on bed-rest,
because I was developing preeclampsia. During the last few weeks of September I wasn't doing
so well. The doctor said we would have the baby that week! I was
given steroid injections to help the babies lungs mature faster. We went
to the hospital to see a specialist, with a Siemens machine. Everything
was ok, and I was told to go home and stay on bed-rest and that we would have
the baby by the first of October. We were so excited
to see the baby's hair floating around! Wonder if it is red, or maybe
curly?
As the doctor reviewed my chart to schedule and induction she
could not find my glucose test results from months ago. Turns out I had
tested positive for Gestational Diabetes, but the test results had been lost at
the lab. We now had a second set of problems and had to postpone the
induction to get my sugars under control. Because of the preeclampsia I
was still on bed-rest and going crazy! On 10/02/01 the doctor took another ultrasound.
The baby was "tasting" his fingers. We saw the cutest profile of the
babies nose! The doctor was going to try to pull us another week further
so the baby would not go into shock and become hypoglycemic after birth.
By now we were going into the doctors office every
couple days, and one week had an appointment everyday! Stress tests were
given and blood work taken to monitor the baby closely. 10/11/01 the last
ultrasound was taken and the baby waved to us, or so it seemed. We were
then finally given and induction date!
Ultrasounds are obviously more exciting for the
expecting parents. The baby is much easier to make out during an
ultrasound because you gain perspective as the technician moves the wand around.
Enjoy viewing some of our favorite ultrasound pictures...
|
