The Coots Family: March 2010

Wow! This post is long overdue, but is one of the most important posts I have written to date! Our son, Lane Austen Coots was born Friday, March 5, 2010. Here are the details:

On March 1, I went to Dr. Hernandez for my 37 week check-up. It was pretty routine, except that he found a little bit of protein in my urine. He assessed my swelling feet and legs, and began asking some questions about other symptoms. He thought there may be a small chance that I had developed preeclampsia. He decided that I better head up to the lab to pick up a 24 hour urine sample test kit to monitor the amount of protein after a full day. One of the main symptoms of preeclampsia is high blood pressure, and that was one thing I didn't have throughout the pregnancy, or that day. He told me to monitor my blood pressure with the nurse at school and to call him if it got higher than 140/90.

The next day I lugged my urine jug to school to collect my sample each time I urinated. What a pain! After school I checked my blood pressure and it was really high. I decided that Mitch better come over after work and check it again. He came by around 9:00 that night and took it twice. It was sky high both times. I decided I would check it first thing the next morning at school and go from there.

The next day at school was Thursday, March 4, 2010. This was the day I was supposed to take my urine sample to the lab and find out the results of the test. I went on to school that morning with plans to take the urine sample to the lab at 9:00 during my planning. Right before I left I went to check my blood pressure one more time. This time it was really high and the nurse advised me to call Dr. Hernandez. He asked me to come in immediately after I dropped off the sample at the lab. I did just that and arrived at his office a little bit nervous after dropping off the urine test.

When I got there my b.p. was still alarmingly high. He decided to do a sonogram to check on the baby and basically diagnosed me with preeclampsia right there, before even getting the results of the urine test. The baby seemed to be ok, and he guessed him to be around 6 lbs. The next thing he said was..."I am going to send you to the hospital to be admitted and induced. I just want you to know that you are going to have the baby, not just to be monitored." He told me they would start me on a drug called magnesium. This is to prevent seizures from happening. He told me it would make me feel really, really crummy, but was necessary for my health as well as the baby's. I asked if I could wait on Kyle to come get me from work and then head up there, and he politely said no, that I really needed to get admitted soon to start the mag drip. I almost teared up then, but tried to keep my cool. I realized I had left my purse at school in my rush to get to the Dr., and he cleared me to run back up there and get it. I did, and all the teachers were so excited, but I was fighting back tears!! I quickly ran home after that to get my labor bag I had packed, and tried to scramble to pack my overnight bag with clothes and such. Then I headed up to Methodist Mansfield to have my baby!

A nice nurse named Tonya quickly got me admitted and soon after I got there, Kyle arrived carrying some beautiful peach and orange colored roses. A nurse named Holly started the mag drip soon after. It made me feel a little puny and really, really hot and sweaty, but wasn't as bad as I had imagined. Family began to arrive and they started the pitocin drip to begin contractions. The rest of that day was very long. I was having contractions, but not dialating quickly. Dr. Hernandez said that the magnesium and pitocin were fighting each other, and causing my contractions to be too far apart. I felt uncomfortable, but never in major pain. However, I was STARVING because I hadn't eaten anything but 3 mini muffins at 8 am, and they would only allow me ice chips. Around 9 pm, when I still wasn't progressing, they decided to take me off of the pitocin to give me a break and eat something. Then they gave me a sleeping pill and said they would try again the next morning. The nurses began to talk of a possible c-section if it didn't work the next day. It was pretty disheartening to hear that we had to start all over the next morning.

Around 5:00 am, the nurses came in to start the pitocin drip. The family came back up around 6 or 7 am, and things began to progress a little before noon. For the longest time I was only dilated to a 1. Dr. Hernandez broke my water and my contractions really picked up. I was dilated to a 2 at this point. My contractions became very strong and I was hoping for my epidural soon! I was in a lot of pain when Dr. Hernandez came to check me and thankfully I was almost a 5. The anesthesiologist came in to start the epidural and I was in so much pain from the contractions, that it didn't hurt at all. In fact, I couldn't even feel it. The minutes before the epidural were the most painful minutes of the whole birth. But once the meds kicked in it was smooth sailing for me. The nurses monitored me (Dr. H went back to his office) until it was time to push. When I was ready they called Dr. H and he took a while to get there. :( By the time he came I was really close. The problem was that my contractions were too far apart. I would push 3 big pushes and the baby's head was visible, but in the time until my next contraction, he was slipping back up. Dr. H said that this was putting the baby into distress and he needed to use a "Kiwi" to get him out. This basically a vacuum type suction that sticks to the baby's head and is used to pull them out. Kyle stayed really calm throughout the birth. He held my leg and cheered me on while I pushed and saw a lot more than he thought he wanted to!! Dr. Hernandez attached the suction to Lane's head and pulled, pulled, pulled...and at 12:52 pm, Lane Austen Coots entered the world. I was overjoyed, and thought he looked just like I did when I was a baby. Kyle had the camera around his neck and video camera in hand as they cleaned the baby up. He was crying as he switched back and forth taking pictures and video. I am thankful he did this because I couldn't see anything! They weighed and measured him and said he was a healthy baby boy! We instantly became proud parents and it was love at first sight!

Lane Austen Coots

Born at 12:52 pm on March 5, 2010

5 lbs 13 oz 19 1/4 in long