Friday, July 28th, 2017
Leading up to this day (10 days after your due-date), Hannah, my midwife had been monitoring my blood pressure and your activity via non-stress tests. Your dad and I were driving to Wenatchee every couple of days, and would enjoy going to have coffee and Pybus Market, and visiting your Grammy K and Gramps at their new house. Grammy Nette was staying at Sunland and came up to visit and help with chores. At my appointment on Tuesday, a week after your due-date, we scheduled an induction for Friday. You seemed perfectly content hanging out inside awhile longer. Your Gramps was really disappointed because he was headed to Greenland for a fishing trip he had scheduled before we knew about you, and we sort of hoped that maybe you'd come on your own before then. It was a relief to finally have a date when we would be able to meet you. The night before we went to the hospital, we hung out on the deck and ate ice cream, made sure our bags were packed, and your carseat was correctly installed. We went to bed so excited to finally be meeting you!
7am--Checked into Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee. We had to walk a realllllly long way from the emergency room checkin area to the elevators to go up to the maternity floor. Mommy was really out of breath by the time we got there. Our friend Melodi got to be mommy's nurse, and she helped us get settled in the room, started my IV, and waited with us for the midwife (Alicia) who was on call.
8:30am--The midwife came in and talked through the plan, which was to start trying to get labor going with some medicine called Cervadil (aka: the Noodle). At this point, we just sat around waiting for things to get moving. For the rest of the morning and afternoon, we chatted with Melodi, walked laps (about 40) around the maternity floor while we timed ourselves (it took a little over a minute to walk a lap).
7pm--At this point, I was still not in labor, but things had progressed to the point where we knew you were on your way soon. Alicia did an ultrasound to make sure your head was down, and decided to begin Petocin to help strengthen the contraction I was having. Kyle dropped by to bring us some Olive Garden food for dinner. I had lasagna and your dad had Kyle's favorite, some kind of beef noodle thing. He stayed to visit with us for a little bit, then he and Melodi had to go home to their family. At this point, and our night time nurse, Autumn came in to introduce herself.
12:30am--Contractions started to pick up, and were probably about 3-4 minutes apart or so. Daddy was helping me by talking to me through contractions and encouraging me while he was watching the monitor and the clock. I was in bed, and all of a sudden, you gave a HUGE kick in the middle of a contraction, and broke your water. It was a weird gush of warm water. At that point, we were sure you were on your way soon. I continued laboring in a rocking chair until about 7am, when the nurses changed again.
Saturday, July 29th, 2017
7am--Mommy was really tired, but things were moving along. Judy, the next nurse on shift, was determined to help you come as soon as possible. She helped me get onto the bed, and told me in her thick Hungarian accent "Today, ve have baby!" The next couple of hours were a whirlwind of contractions and changing positions. At one point, there was no break between them anymore, and I asked to be done. I needed a break, and I was very tired. I didn't want to open my eyes to look at anyone, and I had to go to the bathroom! Judy helped me get to the bathroom and she told your daddy to go down to the cafeteria to have a snack with Grammy K because things were going to pick up quickly.
10:45am-- I started to feel a lot of major pressure and when Judy checked, it was about time to start pushing. My midwife, Hannah, came back in and things got intense! Daddy was back and I was pushing with each contraction for about 45 minutes. I was trying to get comfortable to push, and was crawling sideways off of the bed. Judy wasn't happy about that, and told me "Zis is no position to push out baby." She grabbed my leg, handed it to your daddy, and flipped me back over. Hannah would tell me to push then add to it. I pushed so hard that I ended up pooping (twice, if you ask your dad). Judy was thrilled with this because she told me to push like I was pooping under water.
11:37am-- Two pushes after Judy flipped me over, your head was showing, and with one more push, you were out. You were finally born!! They flopped you on my chest for about 15 seconds, then right away, they had to take you to get your oxygen flowing better. You were kind of gray when you came out. Daddy wanted to cut your cord, but they did it quickly to make sure you were safe. While they were rubbing you down, they started stitching me up. At this point, I was in a lot of pain and asked for some Fentanol. It took Hannah an hour or so to finish the stitches, after consulting Dr. Wells (an OBGYN). Apparently, you did some damage on your way out to us both, because you had your hand over your face on the way out. At this point, there were so many people in the room, I didn't even care that I was totally naked. There was my nurse, midwife, tech, OBGYN, two nurses for you, and the lactation consultant, Carrie. She helped me get you latched on to feed right away as soon as they were done getting you all cleaned up. I remember being in a lot of pain during the stitches and having you on me to eat, and Carrie asked them to give me more meds because I wasn't feeling well. I was also SO HUNGRY. I hadn't eaten since the lasagna the night before, except for part of a Cliff Bar your dad fed me in the middle of the night. We ordered food (french dip and a chef salad), and they brought it to the room, but I couldn't eat it for a long time.
1pm--My stitches were finally done, and you were just snuggling in, when Grammy Nette and Pops walked in. I was still not entirely cleaned up, and I had to go to the bathroom before they moved us all to the recovery room. Judy helped me get cleaned up while Grammy Nette helped your nurse, Barb, give you your first bath. They realized you needed a size 1 diaper instead of the newborn size. Everyone was impressed--you were so big and long! After this, we all walked down the hall to our new room. It was a slow and painful walk, but we were so happy to finally have you with us! Grammy K met us shortly after that in the new room and held you for the first time and brought a yummy Subway sandwich for mommy. We spent a little time just settling in before the nurses came back and started doing some tests on you, and Carrie came back in to help you eat some more. They realized your blood sugar was low and you weren't getting enough oxygen on your own, so they took you to the special care nursery unit.
For the rest of the day and that evening, we rested and you got a bit of formula while mommy was learning how to feed you. You had an oxygen tube, and an IV in your foot to help you get enough sugar in your body. Because your hand was over your face when you were born, your airway was pretty swollen, and you needed some help to transition to life on the outside.
--Samuel Brian Slover--
7/29/17 -- 11:37am -- 9lbs 2oz -- 22.5"
Sunday, July 30th, 2017-Monday, August 1st, 2017
We stayed in the hospital for the next couple of days while you continued to improve and they decreased your sugar tube until you were stable on your own. The nurses would call mommy in the middle of the night to come down and feed you, and during the day we were with you in your room all the time. Grammy K brought mommy and daddy coffee and snacks each day, and held you and kept us company for awhile. In the afternoon, aunt Cassie and Grammy Nette came and brought Olive Garden for dinner, and Pops came to visit before he had to go back to work, too. Mommy got discharged Monday after her blood pressure was finally low enough, and we stayed in our room because the hospital wasn't too busy. It was looking like we could finally go home soon, which we were so excited about!
Tuesday, August 2nd, 2017
We were finally ready to get discharged, but had to wait for the OK from Dr. Pugmire to bring you home. Mommy and Daddy had to watch a couple videos about crying, and infant CPR, then your nurse that day kept coming in and talking to us. She was so sweet, but we just wanted to head home. It was about 1:00 that afternoon, and we brought your carseat up and figured out how to get you in it. Daddy and Grammy K took some things to the car, then we waited for your paperwork to come in. Your nurse walked us down to the car, and we were finally on our way!
When we got home, Grammy Nette was there waiting for us with Turk and Oreo. It was so nice to come home to a clean house with food in the fridge. That day was a blur, and the night was long. You were still having some trouble breathing when we'd lay you down. We were up all night long just watching you breathe. You had a wheezy sniffle, and we didn't have the nurses anymore to tell us that everything was okay. The next day we borrowed a humidifier from our friend Niki, and got you some saline nose drops. That seemed to help a ton! We were relieved to have you finally home safe and sound.
