The Egbert Family : April 2012

I went to bed Thursday March 22 expecting to have a full day of sunshine with an early doctors check in Friday morning. Friday was a beautiful day, I felt great. I wore capris and a t-shirt at 9am walked out the door and didn't even need a jacket, the weather was perfect. This day was going to be perfect. Ryan and I would get a lot done while I was feeling good and we would get better prepared for Xander to enter the world in a few weeks. Little did I know my body wasn't feeling as great as I thought and Xander would be here sooner than we thought.

We walked into the back door of the doctors office a little after 9am, got my weight, urine sample and sat in our room. The nurse came in and started talking to me, asking me how I was feeling. A slight headache but I felt amazing other than that. Then she checked my blood pressure....then again...switched arms and checked it one last time. She looked slightly worried, and Ryan asked her why she needed to check it so much. She said she wanted to make sure, but it was very high. We knew we had to watch my blood pressure, so this shouldn't have been too big of a shock. My nurse left the room to check my urine and to tell my doctor.

A few minutes into waiting for my doctor to come in the room and I started to get dizzy. Ryan let down the seat so I could lay down and got me a water, and my nurse came back in to let us know she found protein in my urine then checked my blood pressure one last time, it was higher then last time. She left the room and we could hear her tell my doctor what was going on.

He walked in almost as fast as she ran out. He measured my belly, then checked my dilation. Then he pulled out his little hammer to hit my knees...and nothing happened. In fact, I couldn't feel it at all. My legs didn't respond. My doctor left so that I could put my clothes on.

Ryan opened the door and my doctor came back in and sat down, he stared at my chart, and asked, "Ryan, what should we do?" Ry looked dumbfounded but laughed and said, "Well it is the 23 and I was born on the 23." My doctor stood up and said, "okay, let me make a phone call. Lets get you checked into the hospital and get this baby out of you."

On our walk over to the hospital I called my mom in tears and shaking, Telling her what was going on and why they needed to start my labor almost a full month before Xander was due.

An hour later I was hooked up to monitors and an IV. They pumped me full of a Cytotec to get my labor started. I got up and walked the hall(yes, just one) for an hour straight. The nurse came and checked me and nothing progressed. She pumped Pitocin into my IV to really kick start my labor and 20 minutes later I felt my contractions getting stronger. A few hours later I was dilated to a 3.

Bedtime came. My mom left and told us to call her if something happened, Ryan cuddled up in the lazy boy to get some sleep. I sat in the bed and wished I could get some sleep. The nurse came in and checked me but I was still dilated at a 3. 4am She came back in and my water was "bulging" but nothing had changed, she said it was time to break my water and left the room. 8am I finally had a break down, the nurses hadn't been in to turn up my Pitocin level, or to offer my husband breakfast, or to check me. I couldn't sleep because contractions were too uncomfortable, and so was that hospital bed. I really just wanted to go home, to shower, to sleep, to relax on my own but I knew that wasn't going to happen so I took it out on the poor nurse who had just taken the night nurses spot. Good thing this nurse understood what I was going through and told me what was going on, brought me a sprite which was the first somewhat yummy thing I had in 24 hours(yes you can't eat when in the hospital in labor!! horrible when you're in "early labor" for 26 hours) She then gave me some medicine to help me sleep.

9am I woke up in tears, I wanted this to be over. I wanted my son in my arms. I wanted to know what was going to happen and why I wasn't progressing even with the pitocin drip! My nurse came in a little after and calmed me down, she checked me and I still hadn't changed, but she said my doctor would be in at 10am to break my water and they thought labor would go a lot faster because I had been dilated at a 3for so long with "bulging" water. I stopped crying and sent a text to my mom who was getting packed and ready to leave for Texas with the family, luckily she wasn't going to leave until after I had Xander so I felt better.

11am My doctor and my mom walked in the door. The nurses walked in after with large square pads and a hook that looked like a crochet hook. My doctor sat down next to me and told me what was going to happen, he asked if I was ready and through tears I said yes. He then stood up and the nurses went to my left side and he went to my right side. He pulled out the hook and told me it wouldn't hurt I would just feel a rush of water, like I peed myself. He snagged my amniotic sac and the rush started...and kept going...and kept going. My poor nurses couldn't keep up, they had never seen so much water! On average a woman would lose around 1/2- 1gallon of fluid when they had there water break, I lost about 2gallons of fluid. After I couldn't feel water gush out anymore I looked down and my already small belly was pretty much gone, I felt like I wasn't even pregnant and had a slight anxiety attack thinking my son was going to be way too small and not ready to come out!

1pm I was dilated to a 4 and my anesthesiologist was on his way in to give me the epidural! I was so happy to see that mans face I almost cried! I never imagined contractions hurting so bad, I was breathing through them but each one was making my whole body shake and I hated that feeling. My nurse was amazing, talking me through each one. I was so grateful for my mom to hold my hand and talk me through each contraction. I was so glad Ryan was there for me to scream at, he told me if I needed to scream to do it at him, he could handle it, and I abused that power as much as I could. :)

Once the epidural was in I laid down and stared at Ryan, I knew it was really going to happen now. I couldn't feel my legs, or my contractions but I was shaking horribly through each one so I knew my labor was progressing. My nurse came in and checked me, I was dilated to a 6. Then told me her shift was up and my next nurses were awesome and will help me as much, or more than she did.

3pm My new nurse came in and talked to me. Asked me how I was doing, at that point I was feeling a lot of pressure in my butt, almost like I had to run to the toilet. So she checked me and I was dilated at a 7. She called in the anesthesiologist who pumped some more medicine and turned up my epidural just a little bit and I started to feel much better.

4pm My nurse came in and checked me again, I was dilated to an 8. She started to prepare the room for labor while Ryan ran to get him some food because he hadn't had anything to eat all day. I talked to my mom, and laid there shaking and smiling. My mom thought I was loosing it, I'm sure, but I was ready to be a mom. I was ready to see my son for the first time. I was ready to start my life. Ryan got back and we all sat and talked while he ate. I was facing my mom and Ryan was behind me. Mom was playing on my cell phone, when I all-of-a-sudden had a ton of pressure on my pubic bone. I grabbed my moms hand and told her there was a ton of pressure, and she told Ryan to go grab the nurse. Ryan jumped up and ran to the door, and him and the nurse returned. I laid on my back and pulled up my legs so the nurse could check me, a few seconds later I heard her say, he's ready. I put my legs down and she went and opened the door where my doctor was sitting at the desk, she told him it was time to start pushing and my two nurses and my doctor came back in. Then my anesthesiologist. They put my feet in the stirrups, my mom on my left, my husband and nurse on my right. The nurse told me how to push and we did a few practice runs. My doctor sat down and we waited for a contraction to start, but the monitor wasn't reading them. So I listened to my doctor tell me how this wasn't a fast process and I'd be pushing for a few hours.

5pm My first contraction hit where I needed to push. I pushed with all I could knowing that was going to be the fastest and only way I could get my son out of me. A few pushes later I was feeling a lot of pressure, I was hot and dizzy. My mom was feeding me ice chips and everything was blurry. I pushed again, and again, and again. Then I was feeling TONS of pressure and I felt like I was going to pass out. My nurses and doctor kept saying how that feeling like this was good, and it meant I was close. Then I had to push again and I heard my doctor say, he has hair! My eyes stayed closed and every time I pushed I felt like my head was going to explode. Ryan and my mom were cheering me on. I felt badly like I was going to pass out, I was sweaty and shaking and just wanted it to be over with. I then had the most peaceful moment I have ever had in my life. I knew my son was close, I knew everything was going to be ok. It was the first time in my life where I put my complete trust in God. I prayed as hard as I could for strength, and started to push. Within seconds I heard a cry, I looked down and there was my son. Tears streamed down my face, my husbands face, and my moms face as we looked at the beautiful baby boy.

5:17p my baby boy was born. The doctor handed him to the nurses and they took him to get cleaned up. Ryan and my mom pulled out the cameras, while my doctor finished up with me. After the nurses got him cleaned off a little and wrapped up they brought him to me and I held him for a two seconds, literally. The nurse took him back so they could do his check up in the nursery. Ryan grabbed him and ran out the door, along with a nurse and my mom. My doctor stitched me up, and I decided that was worse then the actual labor. The numbing shot didn't work so I had to feel the needle stab me multiple times. They then got the room cleaned up a little, got my bed put back together and laid me down flat. Then the doctor left to go check on my baby. Then the nurse left to get my other bed to take me to my own room and get me out of the delivery room.

I got cleaned up and onto my other bed then wheeled into my own private room. My whole family was there, laughing and talking, congratulating me and hugging me, telling me how beautiful my son was. Then telling me he had to be put in the incubator because he had some fluid in his lungs. After hours of a nurse "massaging" my stomach to get my uterus to contract I was finally able to get up.(massaging was more like being punched in the stomach, I literally had a bruise.)

9pm they finally brought in a wheel chair to wheel me into the nursery. I stared at my son and held his hand while he was in the incubator, I could tell he was breathing hard and I prayed he'd be able to be in my arms as soon as he could. After a few minutes I started to get dizzy so they wheeled me back to my room where I cuddled up next to Ryan and we flipped through the pictures. Talking about what our life will be like now, and how perfect our little boy was until we fell asleep.

7am on Sunday the 25th I woke up and woke Ryan up, I made him go check on Xander first thing. He left and came back and said that he was out of his incubator and ready to come spend some time in our room. The nurse wheeled him in a few minutes after that and put him in my arms. Our family was finally whole, everything is perfect. Monday the 26th at 5pm we were released to go home with our son Xander Lynn Egbert. He was 6lbs 5ounces. 20.5inches long. 3weeks premature, but healthy and strong!

My belly really isn't this big, I'm hooked up to monitors which makes it stick out three-four inches. ha