This might get lengthy and slightly detailed. . . . just warning you.
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So my water broke at 11:00 PM Tuesday night, June 22nd, while asleep in bed though I wasn't positive at the time that was what happened. I started getting lower abdominal cramping along with low back pain soon after that. . . which I wasn't sure were contractions either. After timing them for about 20 minutes I decided to wake Bryce. We had 2 "false alarms" previous to this so Bryce says "Maybe you should lay down and see if they go away." So I did. . . and that lasted about 30 seconds before I had another "contraction" and moaned in pain. I think Bryce then got the feeling that I did, that this was the real deal. We were out of the house within about 15 minutes and on our way to Reno which, by the way, is about 85 miles from Lovelock. When we left the house my contractions were 5-7 minutes apart and by the time we got to Reno, 1 hour later, they were coming every 2-4 minutes. After checking in to Labor & Delivery I was given IV pain medication and a WONDERFUL epidural which took me from in pain, to joking around with my mom & husband.:) I went from 5cm to complete in about 2 1/2 hours and the nurse then asked "Do you want to start pushing or rest for a little while?" I chose the later option, though who in their right mind would be able to sleep pending pushing out their first child? Not me. But it was nice to just relax while Bryce surveyed the monitor and told me when I was having a contraction. . . and for that reason, I would highly recommend an epidural.:) Everything was birds and flowers until the nurse came in at 4:45 AM and said it was time to start pushing. I thought "OK, I'm going to have a baby soon." NOT!! I pushed for 2 1/2 hours!! I was tired, Bryce was tired, my mom was tired. . . .heck, even the nurse was tired! This is when I told the nurse, "I can't push anymore. I'm exhausted." So, in came the doctor. . . .and I pushed some more. Then out came the vacuum. . . and I pushed some more. . . .and some more.
And just when I thought, "I'm going to pass out or die". . . . my baby boy was born & a huge wave of exhaustion and relief washed over me.
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Little did I know the hard part had just begun.
Roman came out with the cord wrapped around his neck and he wasn't breathing very well. His color was poor and he was still grunting after about 20 minutes of them monitoring him in my room so they took him to the
NICU. They explained that "this is a transition period for him" and "he'll probably only be in the
NICU for a couple hours". Well, that definitely wasn't the case.
(For the sake of space & time I'm just going to give a summary of the following 8 days in NICU)
To begin, Roman had fluid in his lungs and was breathing about
140 times a minute. After the fluid had cleared out the next day they found that he had a
pneumothorax, which is air in his lung cavity, and because he was still breathing so fast, creating more air, it was beginning to collapse his right lung.
So on day #3 in the
NICU the doctor did a needle aspiration to draw the air out of the lung cavity and when they weren't able to draw out all the air they had to place a chest tube. At this time they also put in an ART line, which is basically an IV in an artery instead of a vein, in
Roman's right wrist.
During the time that Roman had a chest tube he was receiving IV Morphine every 3 hours for the pain which basically sedated him and made him very groggy. We refer to the above picture as the "
drunkin' sailor" pose.:)
Bryce and I spent as much time in the
NICU as possible. Rare occasions when Roman would open his eyes were our time to bond with him and talk to him so he could hear our voices and know that we were there. Bryce spent most nights in the
NICU with Roman until 2 or 3:00 AM. I was still recovering and was slightly
doped up on
Percocet.:)
Bryce's parents and my dad both came to Reno after
Roman's birth. They were all so supportive and helpful! I don't know if we would have survived this experience without them. We would have starved to death for sure! They ran errands for us all around Reno as well as driving back & forth from
Lovelock with clothes and other things for us. We both have such great parents!!
Roman ended up getting another
pneumothorax the day after they pulled out the chest tube.:(
On the day of my birthday, June 29
th, the doctor informed us that Roman had no more air in his lung cavity and that his labs looked really good. He was able to absorb and clear-out the air on his own during the night.
We were also able to hold Roman that day- - Bryce for the 1st time and me the 2
nd. It was a sweet moment and a GREAT birthday for me! Bryce was also able to feed Roman his first bottle. Up to this point Roman had been getting IV fluids and some of my pumped
breastmilk through his feeding tube.
I was able to breastfeed Roman that night and he did better than they expected.
The next day, June 30th, after a chest x-ray and lab work, they informed us that Roman was doing great and would be ready to be discharged that evening. We were excited but a little nervous.
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After completing an infant CPR class and receiving discharge instructions, Roman was discharged with a clean bill of health and no expected long term effects.
We are so thankful for all the prayers for baby Roman during that time! We also know of a handful of people that put his name in at the temple. We had faith that Roman would get better and we're so thankful that it was only 8 rough days when it could have been many more. It was the hardest experience we've ever been through but the staff at St.Mary's was great! And the support we received from our family & friends was amazing! Thank you!
