I'm sure if you made it here, you already know...but, just in case you missed it...
Our precious little boy - Kason Koury - made his surprise appearance on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 at 4:56 am. He weighed 7lb 7.8 oz and was 20.25 inches long. He is perfect and beautiful and we couldn't be happier!
His birth story -
I went to the hospital for my regular NST (non-stress test) on Tuesday, July 29, around 2:00 pm. I was scheduled to go for these every Tuesday and Friday from 36 weeks to the end of my pregnancy. Since they were all the way across town at TMC, I went to the Tuesday appointments by myself and Kyle came along with me to the Friday appointments. So, on that day, it was just me. I left school and grabbed lunch at Chick-fil-A...YUM! I was still going to be a little early for my appointment, so I decided to go to JC Penney to do a little shopping. I had been having some painful contractions on and off for a few days and wouldn't you know, as soon as I walked into JC Penney, I had one so painful I wanted to cry. As soon as it went away, I decided I should just head over for my NST.
I got to the hospital a little early, but no worries...they got me right in. The first thing you do at an NST is get an ultrasound to check the fluid and position of the baby. The Friday before, the fluid was perfect--somewhere around 14. Well, today, the nurse was only finding 6.3. This was technically in the normal range (6 to 25 or something like that), but she decided she should have the other nurse check, too. Well, the other nurse only found 4.3. They decided after my NST, they would call Obstetrix over to have an actual sonographer check my fluid and possibly send me for a BPP (bio-physical profile). Since it was so good just a few days before, I was convinced this was a fluke and that the sonographers from Obstetrix would have no problem finding plenty of fluid.
So, I get hooked up to the monitors for my NST. They measure the baby's heartrate and movements, as well as my contractions. I was having a few sporadic contractions...nothing painful. But, baby Kason decided it was naptime and refused to move for much of the test and when he was moving, his heartrate was not fluctuating appropriately. This was cause for concern., especially since I was WRONGFULLY diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, but that's a story for another day. Anyhow, the nurse decided to take my strip to one of the doctors at the hospital to see what should be done. She had mentioned induction several times, but I was still in denial and CONVINCED that I would be sent home shortly. Boy, was I wrong. She came back and it was a whirlwind from there. I was being admitted for induction. I called Kyle at work and couldn't get the words out. He was so scared that something was wrong, because I was crying and all I could manage was, "I need you to come to the hospital".
I was moved to a L&D room, changed into a gown, and waited for Kyle, the nurse, and my doctor (not my actual doctor, as she was in Iran) to show up. That was a long, scary, lonely wait! Kyle finally showed up and we began the calls to family and friends that today was the day. Shortly after he arrived, a pitocin drip was started and I immediately began to feel the contractions, but they were still not too bad. I had progressed to 1.5 cm and 75% effaced on my own, but my cervix was still far from ready. So, Dr. Tran arrives and decides to break my water...WOW! Talk about a difference - the contractions soon became absolutely unbearable. Since I was on the pitocin drip, though, I didn't have to worry about an epidural stalling my labor and in came the anesthesiologist at around 5:30. I was IN LOVE! The pain was gone within 5 minutes and I was able to rest.
Everything was so peaceful for a while. Kyle called Frank and Dre to come by the hospital to go get our bag from home and take care of the dogs, while I was trying to get some rest. Enter the nurses -- apparently, while Kyle was gone, Kason's heartrate began to decelerate, at one point dropping to 55bpm. Suddenly, 5-7 nurses came rushing into the room. I was moved from side to side to all fours trying to get his heartrate back up. They called for the doctor next door. By this time, I was scared to death and crying hysterically. As they were trying to put in an internal heartrate monitor, his heartrate began to come back up. It was decided that he wasn't handling the pitocin very well, so they turned off the drip for a while to see how I would progress on my own.
Well, I managed to make it to 9cm by midnight on my own. We thought it would happen SOON! WRONG again. I was stuck at 9cm for 3.5 hours. The pitocin was turned back on and I finally made it to 10cm around 3:30am. Did I mention my epidural stopped working at about 9:30 and the bolus (sp?) didn't work, either? I was in horrible pain!!
The anesthesiologist was called back in around 3:30 to give me another bolus and it finally worked...a little, at least. I could breathe through the contractions again. But, it was time to push. Kason sat in my pelvis for so long at 9cm that his head was badly misshapen and he hadn't dropped far enough into the birth canal to make pushing very effective. He was in a bad position (his head was turned towards my hip) and wasn't moving down far enough and when he was, he wasn't staying down. So, Dr. Tran gave us two options...1. push with vacuum for 3 contractions to get him into the correct position and 2. c-section. We chose to push with vacuum. If I thought I was in pain before, boy, was I wrong. The vacuum hurt sooo bad!! But, it worked. He stayed in position and I was able to push him out. We were so in love from the moment we laid eyes on him.
We later found out that he was in distress during my contractions and pushing, so he needed to be out FAST! It took him a while to cry and I was scared! But, he got a 7 and a 9 on his APGARS, which isn't bad for a baby who was in such distress. He was very pale and I only got to hold him for a few minutes before he was whisked off to the NICU, where he stayed for 2 days. This was not because of his distress, though. I had developed a fever during labor, so he had to be monitored for infection and hooked up to an IV.
Over the next couple of days, we spent a lot of time with him in the NICU. I got to breastfeed him there and we changed his diaper and just held him as much as we could. My parents were here, but unfortunately, since he was in the NICU, they didn't get to spend much time with him. So, Kason can't wait to see MawMaw and PawPaw again!!
We came home on Friday, August 1. He is such a good baby. He only cries when he is hungry or gassy. Now, if we could just get him to sleep for an extended time in his bassinet...we're working on that, though.
Stay tuned for more updates and check out www.wildflowerhunter.net for the most recent pictures and www.jumpcut.com/kyleottinger for the most recent videos.
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