The Story of Nolin (Finally!)

So I decided that since Nolin is almost 2...I should probably get around to blogging to his birth story. Especially since I'm about to have another one & I would hate to confuse details later on LOL!! I think I'm going to start at the beginning of the pregnancy though so I apologize in advance for the lengthy novel. Feel free to skip to the parts you care about :)


The Beginning:
I kinda knew right away that I was pregnant. Despite that test after test came back negative, I had a nagging suspicion. I had horrible, intense lower back pain & was chronically exhausted. Once I finally got a positive test I headed off to the doctor. They confirmed & ordered a round of blood work. 2 days later I received  a phone call telling me that I needed to have more blood work done. Concerned, I did & waited for my follow up call...When they finally called me again, they told me that I needed to come in & speak with the doctor. While my hCG levels were growing, they did not correspond with how many weeks I should've been so they were concerned that it was not a viable pregnancy. They did an u/s which turned out to be inconclusive. I was measuring at 5w when I should've been 7w. They were also unable to locate a heartbeat. They asked me to come back later that week for a repeat u/s. Boy were they shocked when not only was there a heartbeat but now I was measuring at 9w lol!!! (I blame it on the $70 worth of Red Lobster I ate that week haha!) So from there, we were good to go...Minus that they were having trouble pinning down a due date!

1st Trimester Bump

A few weeks later as I was entering my 2nd trimester, I became very ill. I had respiratory issues so they placed me on a medicine for the swine flu just in case (it was rampant in the area I was living). A few days later I woke up one morning in a pool of blood. Panicking I called the doc & was told to come in later that afternoon. They checked my cervix to find that it was still closed but were unable to find a heartbeat. They sent me home on bed rest & told me that I maybe miscarrying but since it wasn't my cervix...There was nothing they could do...


The Middle:
At my next check up they determined that I had not miscarried & moved my due date up 2w due to Nolin's size. They decided that I was 16w & scheduled me for my anatomy u/s. Once at the u/s, they took more accurate measurements & decided that I was not as far along as they thought & moved my due date back again. So frustrating. Meanwhile, I had accepted a job in Ohio & needed to switch  doctors. After moving, I asked several co-workers for recommendations but either no one lived in town or it had been 30+ years since they had children! I guess that's the price you pay for working in a retirement community lol! I finally just decided to see the practice at the hospital with the best NICU ratings...Big mistake...

2nd Trimester Bump

The End:
The hospital practice turned out to be a teaching hospital. Meaning, I never saw an attending physician. Just residents & interns that rotated every 4w so I never saw the same person 2x. At my 36w checkup I was checked in as usual by my favorite nurse & told to wait in an exam room. After an hour I rang for someone & asked for something to eat and/or drink if I was going to be kept waiting. Another hour passed before I finally got up the nerve to go ask why I hadn't been seen. Apparently the resident I was scheduled to see had been a no-show that day, the one filling in for her had gotten called away to surgery & the one currently seeing patients was full. Bottom line? They forgot to even tell her I was there. After a total of 4hrs in an exam room I left. Idiots...


The next week I was examined by a new resident who told me that I was 2cm dilated & that she had "accidentally" stripped my membranes...Meaning that I would probably go into labor that weekend. I frantically called our families to tell them to come in town & was  sent straight to Labor & Delivery. After spending the day in L&D, I had progressed to 5cm but was stalled so they decided to send me home. For me, contractions feel like cramps. Thankfully my sister was there to time my contractions by placing her hand on my abdomen! We  went back to the hospital the next day when I was having regular contractions, spent the day walking around trying to jump start things...Same thing the next day. Since I wasn't 39w they wouldn't induce so they sent me home with muscle relaxers.

3rd Trimester Road Block! (And clearly looking uncomfortable)

My next appt was 1 1/2w later. I was still stuck at 5cm with uneven contractions but now my bp was high (you try walking around for almost 2 weeks feeling like a watermelon is about to fall out & we'll see how your bp is doing lol!!) After much debate, they decided to induce me. I requested that they break my water 1st to see if that would jump start labor in hopes of avoiding Pitocin. I really wanted to do a natural childbirth. After an hour or so though the nurse came in to tell me that the anesthesiologist was backed up & that they were calling for help but with all the deliveries & emergency c-sections happening they needed to know right then if I wanted an epidural. She said that I was going to be given Pitocin regardless & that there was also no way I could handle a natural delivery with it. I was torn...Even though I wasn't in pain at the time I didn't want to get screwed later so I opted for the epidural. I was alone & scared out of my mind! Right as they finished, my Mom & Adam arrived...Just in time to see me almost die. I don't remember much. I remember feeling funny...And really cold. The next thing I knew there were alarms going off, people swarming me & stabbing me with giant needles...I had been rolled onto my side & was vomiting. And I could see the look of terror on Adam's face...Apparently the epidural caused my bp to bottom out. As a result, all labor stopped. Once I was stable they began Pitocin but in small doses since my epi had been turned down/off. I ended up being in hard labor for 24 hrs. Sometime in the middle of the night, with no doctors or residents around, a nurse decided that we should try pushing to see if we could make any progress. After 4 hrs, that kid hadn't moved. He didn't even budge.They started trying to convince me to let them use forceps or a vacuum. After 2 hrs of arguing with them, Adam finally stepped in to tell them that enough was enough. At this point it had been 1 1/2 days since I had food or sleep. I simply did NOT have the energy to keep pushing & he wasn't low enough for me to feel comfortable with the options presented to me (not to mention that over my dead body was someone inexperienced using that equipment!!) So they scheduled my c-section...


That's really the last thing I remember. I have some vague still-shot memories of laying on a table with my arms taped down...Hearing someone say that Nolin was stuck...Seeing Adam crying...Me throwing up again...But that's about it. I don't actually remember Nolin being born. Apparently the cocktail of medications in my epidural caused an amnesia affect. I'm actually missing about 6hrs of time from that day. According to Adam, Nolin was so stuck in the birth canal that it took 4 residents on stools to get him out without breaking his neck. Awesome. Super pumped that I refused to let them use the forceps or vacuum (and later one of them came back in to apologize for arguing with me & that I had clearly made the right decision). Most of the missing time I have was spent in recovery. Nolin was taken to the nursery for what they reported was breathing trouble & jaundice...Even though I was told he scored an 8 then a 10 on his Apgar. It was HOURS before I was allowed to see or hold him but they at least let Adam go into the nursery to take a picture so I could see him...

Born at 8:57 am Saturday June 12, 2010. He was 8 lbs 2 oz & 20 3/4 in. 

The Aftermath:
Not having any recommendations for a pediatrician, we decided to just use the family practice doctors from the hospital. Yet another big mistake! We were in the hospital for 4-5 days. They agreed to let Nolin come home with us but were concerned about his rising biliruben levels & jaundice. We were forced to go to the doctor/hospital every other day for heel sticks. Finally, I was ridiculed by the doctor for exclusively breastfeeding...I was told that I was basically killing my child & that they were going to be forced to hospitalize him again for the jaundice & also urinary issues due to a hydrocele. I was told I needed to switch to formula instead. They were also upset with me for not allowing him to have the Hep B vaccine while he was jaundiced & the week after Nolin was cleared, they sent a nurse in to vaccinate him. Despite that I had signed a decline form. That was the end of that practice for us!!! We now have an AMAZING pediatrician that is so supportive! I can't wait to see how much of a difference she will make in those 1st few weeks!


Sorry for the novel...I guess this is one post that's mostly for me. So that I can remember as much as possible! And for the road, here's a recent picture of our "Porkchop"

He's trouble with a capitol T!