Benjamin David McDowell- His Birth Story

Benjamin joined our little family on December 21st at 11:30pm, weighing 7lbs 3oz., and 20in long. I'm just now getting a chance to post his birth story. Thought I'd better get it done before I get home- I may never have a chance to get on the internet again. :p

Last Monday, I went in for my regular 36-week OB appt. I hadn't been feeling well all week, and my pulse had been really high, especially when I would stand up or walk around. I told my doctor about it, so he wanted me to go have a non-stress test done to see if anything was going on that we should be concerned about. Since we had requested that I have my tubes tied, and St. John's couldn't do it because it was a Catholic hospital, they had me come over to Memorial Hospital (just down the road from St. John's in Springfield) in case I had to deliver- that way they could tie my tubes.

After monitoring me for an hour or so, they took my blood pressure while lying down, then while sitting, then while standing. As soon as I sat up, my pulse jumped up to over 100, and my blood pressure went up as well. Then the nurse had me stand up, and within a few seconds my pulse was in the 140's, and my blood pressure was 163/93. (I also was getting "fuzzy" and would get a headache everytime I stood up) I thought for sure the doctor would get the results and say that it was time do deliver.

After waiting for another hour or so, the doctor finally came in and said that I didn't have pre-eclampsia, so there was no reason to deliver. He wanted to admit me to the hospital- wasn't comfortable at all with me going back to the hotel becaues of my symptoms, but it apparently it wasn't enough to deliver me. By this point I was emotionally exhausted. I literally couldn't handle any more. The past 3 weeks had been so hard on me, and I had done my best to stay strong, and keep it together, but I just couldn't anymore. I just cried and cried when he told me it wasn't time. He tried talking to me, but I couldn't even speak. Davey was not happy at all with the situation. There was obviously something wrong with me, and he was afraid that if we didn't deliver soon, that I could get even sicker. I can't remember his exact words to the doctor, but it was something along the lines of, "You're going to have problems if something happens to her." The doctor (who is a resident mind you) asked Davey to repeat himself. So Davey did. And the doctor walked out of the room. LOL.

The nurse took me down the hall from triage to my room that I had been admitted to, by this point I was still just sobbing. After a bit I finallly got calmed down, and I asked for some water. The nurse told me she didn't think I could have any. What?! She said she wasn't sure why, but she would try and find out.

After an hour or so, they still hadn't let me have water or ice chips. Finally the nurse told us that apparently the doctors hadn't taken the idea of delivering me that night completely off the table yet. I was excited to hear this, but wasn't going to get my hopes up. My OB (the resident) came back in and said that he had spoken with the attending OB, and that the attending was going to come and speak with us.

A very long 2 hours later, which seemed like an eternity (for real), the attending finally knocked on the door.

He started off saying that there really wasn't one reason to deliver me. In order to deliver someone before 37 weeks, there has to be something in black and white. I didn't fit into that category. (at this point we're thinking, ok...they're definitely not going to deliver me tonight..) Then he goes on to say that I'm more in the gray area. I have a bunch of little things (polyhyrdamnios, large baby, classical c-section scar, elevated blood pressure, elevated pulse) that when added together, we enough of a reason to deliver me.

Inside we were ecstatic. Outside we were very calm, and just shook our heads and agreed with the doctor. We asked when we would be starting the c-section, and he said hopefully at 11:00. I looked at the clock- it was 10:00. Then the nerves kicked in.

The good thing about an emergency c-section is you really don't have time to think about what they're about to do. You're so concerned about the baby (or babies in my case) and if they're going to be ok, that you really can't focus on yourself. This time I did, and let me tell ya, it was horrible. LOL. I thought about the spinal block (not a big fan of getting those!) and them strapping my arms down, and the big blue curtain, and the worst....them cutting me open while I lie awake on the table. YIKES.

They started prepping me, the nurse came in and shaved my underwear line/belly area. They had me sign some consent forms, and then anesthesia knocked on the door. Then I really started to get nervous. It was time. I kissed Davey goodbye, told him I'd see him in a few minutes, and down the hall I went.

As soon as the doors to the OR opened, I got clausterphobic. The room was so small- it totally freaked me out. I scooched over from my bed onto the OR table (which also was extremely small- not very wide at all, I was afraid I wouldn't fit on it. Thankfully I did), and they began to prep my back for the spinal. Ick. After verifying that the doctor was in the building, they stuck the big ole' needle in and numbed my back. If you've had a spinal block or an epidural, you know this feeling, and it's not a good one. It gives me the heebeejeebees just thinking about it. :p Then they gave me the spinal block, and my legs started to go tingly. They laid me down, strapped my arms down, and up came the big blue curtain. I actually was much more relaxed after they put up the curtain. The less I could see, the better.

"I'll go get Dad," one of the nurses said. Oh my gosh, it was really time!!!


Davey came in and held my hand, and made sure I was ok. I assured him that I couldn't feel a thing. We talked back and forth, wondering what they were doing. I told him they would probably tell us when they were about to pull him out. Then one of the anesthesioligists said, "Ok, you're going to feel a lot of pressure now, they're going to be pushing on your belly really hard." I turned to Davey and said, "Ok, the head should be coming out now!" He stood up with the camera and started snapping away. He got the coolest pictures of Ben being born!!! It was absolutely amazing to be able to see those pictures later that night. Neither of us got to see the triplets being born (I of course couldn't see a thing, and Davey didn't make it to the hospital in time) so it was very special that Davey got to see Ben being born, and that we were able to get pictures so that I could see it too. :)


As soon as his little head came out, he started crying. And so did I. :) Finally hearing his cry was an amazing moment. A moment that I had waited for for sooo long. After he was born and taken over to be assessed, Davey went over to check the baby out. They didn't even lift him up over the curtain so I could peek at him! It was at least 20 minutes before they finally brought him over to me- it seemed like an hour. It was agonizing. LOL.

Davey finally walked around the curtain holding our son, and sat down by me and let me kiss his little head, and see his precious little face. Davey and I both cried. It was such an amazing moment. My mom laughs and said it seemed like it was our first baby, not our fifth, the way that we acted when this little guy was born. :)

Ben's initial Apgar scores were 9/10. We went back to our room, and he got to come with us. And for about an hour he stayed in the room with us, and we thought everything was fine. Then the nurse mentioned that he sounded like he was breathing hard, so they were going to take him down the the nursery to get checked out. What we thought would be a couple of hours of being observed wound up being 5 days in the special care nursery. Luckily it wasn't anything major, he just had some fluid on his lungs, which was normal for his gestational age and the fact that he was a c-section baby.

We're hoping and praying that we can take him home tomorrow, it's been a very long week, and we're ready to get this little guy home.



Right before they wheeled me back for the c-section. I was just a little excited. :)



His little head coming out- so amazing!!



It's a boy!







Our beautiful baby boy. ^_^

Pregnancy Week 35

I'm really tired of this drama filled pregnancy. It's exhausting. Thank God it's almost over!

Yesterday I went in for my regular OB appt and growth u/s. Things went perfectly fine until I had my u/s, and they found that the baby hadn't grown at all in 2 weeks. (he was 5lbs 11oz two weeks ago, measured 5lbs 12 oz yesterday) What scary news to receive. There was talk of doing an amnio and seeing if his lungs were mature and just delivering, but they called downstairs to my MFM and he wanted me to spend a night in the hospital and have the baby's heartrate monitored. At about 8:30 this morning we went in for another scan, this time with the same sonographer and u/s machine as they used 2 weeks ago when they measured me, and she measured him at 6lbs 7oz. So according to that u/s, he did indeed grow. His rate of growth has slowed down, but not to a scary level. He's still measuring ahead about 3 weeks. Kadence weighed 6lbs 4oz when she was born at 38 weeks, the average is 6lbs 3oz I think. So he's already bigger than that at 35 weeks. This is all according to u/s of course, they can be off +/- a pound.

My c-section has been scheduled for December 28th at 10 am. Makes me nervous that a date has been set! That's only 12 days away! I'm so curious to see if I actually make it to 37 weeks. When the doctor measured my belly yesterday I measured 40 weeks. No wonder I feel like I'm ready to pop. Geesh!

So now I'm back at the hotel, just kind of hanging out for the next 12 days.

If I'm not home by Christmas (I'd have to deliver by this Sunday in order to be home by then) we are planning on postponing (sp?) Christmas until me and baby are home. I told Kadence that I wrote a letter to Santa Claus, and he wrote me back saying that he would make a special trip back to our house when our whole family was together. Such a sweet little girl, she has absolutely no objections to waiting until we're all together.


I went home this weekend to see the kids and that helped sooo much. I feel like a brand new person. Within minutes of arriving home everything was back to normal. I wondered how the little ones would act towards me, if they'd act differently towards me. But other than being a little shy for a few minutes, they were all piled on my lap playing with me and giggling like I was never gone. For the first couple of hours they didn't even want me to get up to go to the bathroom. Lol. Kadence about knocked me over with her hug when she got home from school. I got all teary eyed. My kids are the best. :)


So within the next 12 days I'll be holding my newborn son. That thought alone will get me through the next week and a half. :)

One Day at a Time

I've been in this hotel for a week now. Kind of neat that I've gotten a whole week out of the way. Even if I do make it to that 37 week mark for my scheduled c-section, I only have 2 weeks and 5 days left. In the grand scheme of things, 2 weeks 5 days is nothing. It should just fly by. But being up here alone, away from my family, with nothing to do.. the days drag on. And thinking of spending 19 more days in this hotel makes me want to cry. And sometimes I do cry. ;-)

The awesome thing is all of the NICU time that we're avoiding by me remaining pregnant. That in itself is worth it. Totally worth it. If I can make it until next week, we could have a take-home baby! Especially since I'll have to spend 4 days in the hospital after my c-section- if he does require some hospital stay, I'm hoping those 4 days will be enough for him to come home with me when I get discharged.

I got to see the kids on Saturday, that was so nice! Rowan acted normally towards me, but the boys seemed a bit shy. Broke my heart a little bit, but Davey reassured me that as soon as I get home things will be back to normal. They were just in a strange place and weren't quite sure why Mommy was living here now and not at home. It was wonderful to see them, and totally lifted my spirits to hug them and kiss them and tell them in person that I love them. Kadence was able to spend TWO nights with me at the hotel! It was great! She had so much fun, and was in dire need of some mommy time. Poor little thing cried and cried when she had to leave though. I cried too. I'll see her and the little ones again this weekend. I can't wait.

I take the days hour by hour. Some hours are harder than others. Some days are rougher than the next. I miss my family horribly. And I know they miss me, too. Kadence takes it the hardest, she cries almost every time we talk on the phone. "I just want to snuggle with you." She says that and her little tears just start flowing. Then I spend the next 20 minutes telling her that I miss her too, and that Mommy will be home very soon. Sigh. This is definitely rough.


But like everyone says, soon this will be a distant memory, and I'll be at home, enjoying my 4 kids, and my NEW little baby boy. ^_^ I'm going to be a mommy of 5 soon! I can't believe that, still sounds so strange to me! But I love it. Absolutley love it. Being a Mommy is what I was put on this earth for. :)

Weekend Update

Well since I won't have a computer until Tuesday I thought I would do a little update on how I'm doing.

My contractions have been ok. They've been picking up more again so I'm not sure how long it will be before I wind back up at the hospital. Hoping I can hold off at least a few more days as hospital life isn't fun.

Hotel life is boring. I just sit here in my room all day doing nothing. I talk on the phone some, watch t.v. when I can find something interesting to watch, stare at the walls. LOL.

My spirits are up today because for the first time since Monday morning I get to see my kids!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!! I just want to squeeze them and kiss their little faces and never let go. ^_^


Since I won't have a computer until Tuesday, if I have any updates I'll post them via Twitter up in the left hand corner of this page, and also on Facebook.

Have a great weekend. :)

Long Update from the Hospital Hotel

It's been another long week. Monday morning we drove to St. John's in Springfield because I was feeling some pains along my scar, and having an increase in contractions. At first, I think they were planning on letting me go home (after sitting there on the monitors for about 3 hours) and then the contractions really picked up.

I wound up contracting really hard for about 12 hours. They were super intense (on the TOCO monitor they were starting out at zero and going up to the 120's-140's) and were coming every 2 minutes. I think around 7 that night they gave me pain meds. I finally stopped contracting at about 2am.

Amazingly, my cervix didn't change any. Funny how now it seems as though I have a cervix of steel. Could have used that with the last pregnancy. ;)

The doctors are concerned about my c-section scar and these contractions. They don't like the idea of me being so far away from the hospital, so I am now stationed in a hotel right across the street from the hospital until I deliver.

This is tough. I haven't seen my kids since Monday morning. :( I am hoping that someone can bring them up to see me on Saturday. I miss them so much. :(




I'm going to try to answer some questions that some of you have.


Why can't you stay in the hospital? If you're too high-risk to go home, why can't they just let you stay in the hospital?

This we don't quite understand either. The doctors tell us it's because I really don't need 24 hr. supervision in a hospital, so they couldn't justify me staying there. We already checked with our insurance, and we are covered 100% at this point due to meeting our maximum out of pocket this year. I guess the hospital was unwilling to code things so that we could get it covered.


So why didn't you just go home anyway? Why let the doctors tell you what to do?

Well for 2 reasons. 1, we were told that if I leave Springfield, that I would be discharged against medical advice. That can cause a whole lot of issues, such as having to find another hospital, or even getting dropped from our insurance. But even more importantly, the reason I chose to stay was because I honestly didn't feel comfortable being so far away from a hospital either. I know this stinks, and I know it's going to be hard, but my safety and the baby's safety is what's most important right now.


Why can't they just drain some fluid out of the amniotic sac?

The main reason is because it's really risky. Even riskier than my risk of rupturing. It would be done the same way as an amnio is done to check for lung development, but rather than having to drain 2 tablespoons of fluid, they would have to drain a lot of fluid. Which would mean the needle would have to be in there for a long time. Issues that could arise could be rupturing of the sac, infection, and draining that much fluid the baby may not handle it well. There is also no medical data showing that by draining off some of the fluid that it will help slow my contractions or reduce my risk of rupturing. (this is what we were told...makes no sense to us) The only way they will drain fluid off from around the baby is if I have so much fluid build up that it's difficult for me to breathe. Sounds like a lovely side effect doesn't it?


So what's the game plan?

The game plan is to make it to 37 weeks, do an amnio, and do a c-section to deliver the baby. I will be 37 weeks on December 28th.

If I start having strong contractions, I am supposed to have hospital security come and pick me up, and I will stay in the hospital until the contractions stop.

They won't deliver the baby until I'm in true labor. In order to be in true labor, no matter how hard you are contracting, your cervix has to be dilating. So if I go over to the hospital contracting and they see that my cervix is changing, they will deliver the baby.

I will also have regular weekly appt's for the next few weeks until I deliver.



That's all I can think of at the moment. Leave me a comment if you have any other questions and I'll do my best to try to answer them. :)


I have a laptop until Sunday, and I'm hoping I can locate another one to borrow for awhile- I'm going to go nuts up here all by myself without a computer!


Oh, one more thing. At my scan on Monday, the baby was weighing 5lbs 11oz. Can you say holy-big-fat-baby-batman?? He is measuring more like a 36 1/2 weeker vs. the 33 weeker that he is. My fluid levels are up to 32.5cm. The highest they had been previously at 28 weeks was 36cm.