Home From the Hospital

We got to go home the day after Kohen was born and boy were we grateful to be out of the hospital. Grandma was there to greet us and our neighbors Helen and John got to sneak a quick peek of our bundle of joy too.

The first sponge bath

When I worked in Labor and Delivery, one of my favorite things to do was give the babies their first bath. I was so looking forward to Kohen's, but they take the babies out of the room to do the bath now so I was pretty bummed. Needless to say, I was chomping at the bit to give my son a bath. I managed to wait until Rich picked up Morgan from Wyatt's, went grocery shopping, and cooked dinner (tacos in a bag...YUMMY!).  I was super excited to give him his bath, but he wasn't as excited to get a bath. In fact, he HATED baths until he could be submerged in water. 

Much happier after his bath

Our little "pumpkin"

Night one at home went pretty well. Grandma was there to help thank goodness. Kohen slept with us in our room in a bassinet for part of the night. Then he hung out with grandma and dad for the second half of the night watching TV in the living room so I could sleep. 

It was so nice finally having our son in our arms safe and sound. Being able to eat meat, sleep on my back, not have heartburn, and not throwing up were a HUGE plus too!

"D" Day

After a long and exhausting night came the BIG day. I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of Dr. T to see what the plan would be. In the meantime I tried to eat breakfast which resulted in me starting to throw up so the nurse gave me some zofran. It took the edge off, but I continued to feel pretty nauseated. My cervix was still dilated to 1-2cm. Dr. T arrived and told me that I could rest for a couple of hours and take a shower and then he would start the pitocin. The plan was to increase the pitocin every 30 minutes until it was maxed out, turn it off for 2 hours then do it again. By the second time the pitocin was maxed out I was surely going to be in labor.

Me after a VERY long night ready for labor to be over with!

I took a shower and tried to sleep, but I was really getting frustrated with the lack of progress I was making. I was having back labor for over 21 hours and not making any progress. They started the pitocin and I was really feeling nauseated so the nurse gave me some IV phenergan. Phenergan makes me really sleepy. I had finally dosed off and so had Rich. My mom had gone home to take a shower and feed Zoey, our dog (Morgan, our dog went to hang out at Dan and Wyatt's house to play with Gertie, Dan's dog). They increased the pitocin for the first time and I was sound asleep. Then much to my surprise it felt like a bettering ram slammed into my pelvis, followed by a trickle of fluid. Could it be that my water had broken. I tried to wake Rich up, but he wasn't budging and he had the call light! Then there was another bigger trickle of fluid. I yelled at Rich that my water had broken and he flew awake. We called the nurse and she was busy in another room so the nurse that came in gave me a pad and didn't even check to see if my water had broken! After that my contractions got way more intense and frequent. I couldn't lay in bed, talk or walk through contractions anymore. I had to stand by the bed. The lamaze breathing wasn't working cause I couldn't focus enough to do it. Rich was such a champ trying to make me comfortable and remember all of the lamaze tricks to ease the back pain. Nothing was working at this point and I am sure that I wasn't the most pleasant person to be around.

Finally, 10 minutes later my nurse came in and saw me standing by the bed. She asked me if I needed to go to the bathroom. I told her "no I need an epidural!" I told her that my water broke. The nurse that came in when I called hadn't even told my nurse what had happened. The nurse checked my cervix and sure enough my water had broken and my cervix was dilated to 4 cm. The nurse went to get the anesthesiologist to give me an epidural. She came back and told me that the anesthesiologist was in a c-section and couldn't leave. We decided that if it was going to be a while for the epidural then I would have some demerol. She went to see how long the anesthesiologist was going to be. When she returned the anesthesiologist was with her thank goodness! I got my epidural and life was good. Before I could lay back down I got the shakes and felt some pressure so my nurse checked me again. I was 9+cm and 100% effaced. I progressed this much in less than 20 minutes! Rich called my mom to come back and my nurse called Dr. T. Within a few minutes I felt the need to push so 2 nurses came into the room until Dr. T arrived just in case.

Dr. T arrived and I was allowed to push. It was less than an hour and our little Kohen was making his arrival into the world. My mom helped the nurse hold my legs and Rich sat in a chair by my head holding my hand. Rich was so nervous about seeing the delivery. It was best that he was sitting down! Dr. T let me "deliver" Kohen and Rich cut the cord. Words cannot describe the feelings that you feel when your son is first set on your chest. He was beautiful and perfect. None of the pain or hardships of pregnancy or labor mattered. They were all worth it to have this beautiful baby boy. The love that I felt for Kohen was unreal and so was the love that I felt for Rich. The tears were flowing although Rich would tell you that he didn't cry he did get teary eyed.

 Tyler "KOHEN" Prewitt was born 11-8-10 at 1:19 pm. He weighed 6 lbs 4 oz and was 18 1/2 inches long. Rich was so funny holding him for the first time. He was so scared. The nurse told him to just support his neck and he would be fine. This made Rich obsessed with Kohen's neck for weeks. It didn't take long and Rich settled into daddyhood and is doing amazing with Kohen!

Finally here!

Proud papa

Induction Day

At 38 weeks Dr. Tamanaha decided that I could be induced at 39 weeks. I was so excited to finally have our baby (and not be pregnant anymore). We decided that I would go in to the hospital on Sunday at noon and have Dr. Lepetich start the induction process. This way I was likely to deliver when Dr. T started his call shift on Monday. Rich worked the night before so he only was able to get about 3 hours of sleep. I didn't sleep either. On Saturday "nesting" kicked in. I was in super cleaning/organizing mode. I sure over did it! When I finally stopped cleaning I almost couldn't walk everything hurt so bad. The achy body and over-active mind kept me up for most of the night.

Sunday morning arrived and Rich and I put the bags in the car, ate some cereal (they told me to eat a light breakfast) and headed to the hospital. At about 2:00 the nurse put the first gel in. I had to lay flat for the first hour then walk for the second hour. After the walk I was having some decent contractions, but my cervix hadn't changed so they put another gel in and the process was repeated.  Much to our dismay the second gel also didn't have any effect on my cervix. At this point Dr. Alperin was on call so he decided to put a cervidil in for 12 hours so I could get some sleep and be ready to have the baby in the morning when Dr. T  was on call. My mom arrived from Sierra Vista to be with us just before the second gel was put in. She walked the hospital halls with me so Rich could actually get some sleep. He was very grateful for that!

The cervidil made me contract like crazy. All of the contractions were in my back so it was pretty miserable. All I could think about was wanting to walk to progress the labor. So every hour I got up and walked. At about 3 am my nurse, Michelle, (a friend and old co-worker of mine) checked my cervix and I was still at 1cm. We decided that I should try and get some sleep. Michelle gave me an ambien and an hour later it hadn't done anything. The contractions hurt too bad to sleep through. We decided to try the stadol. Prior to labor I swore that I would never take the stuff cause I hated the way that it made moms and babies feel. However, I was sure that it would be out of my system by the time the baby came so Michelle gave me a half dose. I started hallucinating. Rich and my mom got a good laugh. I thought Rich had a gun and that bunny rabbits were sweeping my contractions away. I was able to get about 4 hours of sleep with 2 doses of stadol. I felt much better after getting to sleep! It was a long night full of frustration and pain, but the reward the next day was well worth it!

39 weeks and 1 day

Daddy had to show off his "preggo" belly too

Being on Bed Rest

I was on bed rest for 5 weeks. I thought that it would be fun getting to stay home, lounge and catch up on TV. It was fun for the first few days. Then I soon realized that bed rest really meant being confined to bed. I had contractions when I got up to go to the bathroom, when I got up to get something to eat. I even had contractions when I sat up to eat. Needless, to say I was bummed when I figured out that my idea of what bed rest was wasn't reality. However, there were some up sides to being on bed rest. My hubby learned to be a housewife. He cooked and cleaned and did the laundry. He was really attentive and protective of me and the baby.

I was getting really nervous that I didn't have everything ready for when Kohen arrived. My good friend Christine took me to Target. She promised Rich that I would ride around in a motorized scooter. I thought that she was just saying that so he would let me out of the house. I was so excited to get out of the house and go shopping!! When we got to Target much to my surprise, Christine made me ride in the scooter. I felt like a dork, but at least I got to go shopping and get off the couch!

The infamous scooter ride

The contractions never stopped, but never got worse either. The contractions never got strong enough to put me into labor on my own so eventually I had to be induced.

The Horrors of Being a Patient in the Hospital

It was a very humbling experience being a patient instead of the nurse for 6 days. Having to pee in a "hat" (measuring device), eat horrible hospital food, rely on other people, and conform to the schedule of every one else was quite the experience. It taught me to be mindful of my patients and the inconveniences that they are experiencing. Waking up at all hours of the night for medications, vitals and dinging monitors leaves little time for rest. I was so tired because of the hospital hubub and the magnesium.

I have determined that magnesium is death in IV form. It made me extremely tired, gave me blurred vision, light sensitivity, and horrible headaches. I felt like I was on drugs. I even had trouble walking on my own. I had really wobbly legs. It was really hard for me to swallow my pride and learn to depend on other people.

Rich was amazing while I was in the hospital. He never left my side unless he had to go to school or home to shower. He helped my shower, brought me good food, helped me to the bathroom, and kept me company. Our relationship was made stronger through that time.

It was very scary being in the hospital knowing that our son could be born any time premature. They gave me steroids to mature his lungs just in case he came early. A neonatologist came to talk to us to prepare us for the worst. But, God was watching over us and our son did not come prematurely.

Thank you to all of our friends and family who came to visit, brought me food, watched our dogs, and helped at home. We love you and are thankful beyond words!

The Adventures of Preterm Labor

Thursday, September 23, the day after our first visit to the hospital, we had a follow-up visit with Michelle, the nurse practitioner. Michelle thought that the contractions we due to the busy day that we had and the all of the vomiting. We were told to rest and to call the doctor if I had more contractions. I wasn't scheduled to work until Saturday (Auntie Krystal wouldn't let me work on Friday) Michelle didn't feel the need to put me on bed rest. I was just supposed to take it easy. Low and behold, that night I started having contractions again. This time they were hurting a little more. We called the doctor and were told to head to the hospital again. I tried to be stubborn and wait another hour to see if I could get them to stop on my own. Luckily, Richie was persistent and got me to go to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital the contractions were 2 minutes apart and getting pretty painful (enough to take my breath away). My heart rate was too high to get terbutaline and oral nifedipine wasn't making them go away. The nurse, Linda, checked my cervix and it was starting to change. That meant that my worst nightmare was coming true. I bought myself a stay in the hospital on magnesium. When I worked in antepartum, I remember feeling horrible for the women on magnesium. Now I would know exactly how thy felt.

There weren't any rooms in antepartum so I got to stay in Labor and Delivery for a few hours. They started my IV, Thanks Erin! They had some trouble getting it started. Apparently, I have some valve filled veins. Luckily my old co-worker Erin came to my rescue and got one in. Then They started the magnesium. Rich thought I was hilarious on the magnesium. I felt very drugged and Rich confirmed that I was acting very drugged. I even almost stabbed myself in the eye with a fork. Rich went home to let the dogs out and I finished getting my mag bolus.

They ended up getting a room in antepartum so I called Rich to let him know that I was being moved. The phone rang and rang so I thought that he had fallen asleep. He called me back in a few minutes and told me that he was running to get to the phone and Morgan got in his way and he tripped and flew across the room. I guess that he was a little scared when the phone rang.

I ended up staying in the hospital for 6 days. 5 days of magnesium and countless shots of terbutaline later we got to go home, on bed rest of course.

Our 4D Ultrasound

On September 22 Rich, Krystal and I headed to our 4D ultrasound. (For 4D pictures see previous post). It was an amazing experience getting to see the features of our son's face. After the ultrasound Rich and I  headed to Peter Piper Pizza for some lunch and Krystal headed back to work. After lunch we went an appointment with Dr. Tamanaha. Everything looked good so we headed home.

I had woken Rich up early to go to the ultrasound so he went home to take a nap and I headed to Target. Those gift cards were burning a hole in my pocket from the baby shower. I shopped until I dropped, literally. I got home from shopping and felt horrible. I started throwing up, which was nothing new. I laid down on the couch until it was time to go to our third prenatal class. I was feeling a little better, and there was no way that I was giving in and letting Rich skip a class. We made it about 2 miles down the road when I decided we needed to go home and forget about the class. I wasn't feeling as good as I thought. We got home and I laid down again while Rich went to the grocery store. 

Rich had just gotten the grill fired up and the steaks cooking when I started having some pretty frequent contractions. After drinking a ton of water and laying down and relaxing they hadn't eased up. Dr. Damore had us head on in to the hospital. I thought that my contractions were about 7 minutes apart, but when we got to the hospital they were 3 minutes apart. Apparently, our son was just as excited to see us as we were to see him. After some IV fluids and a couple shots of terbutaline we got to go home. This was only the beginning of what was to be a very scary crazy adventure!