Finley Cornell Page
6 pounds 12 ounces 20 1/2 inches
11:24 AM 11/24/13
Well, things are already starting to turn into a blur so I figured I better record the birth of this sweet little boy before I forget! I think I tend to forget things as a coping mechanism... or I'm just losing it.
Over the past few days I had felt a decrease in the baby's movement. He was still moving, but it was much less. I read that as long as they moved 10 times a day they were fine and that closer to delivery the baby could move a lot less. Sunday morning I woke up and the baby didn't move at all. Usually right when I wake up and right when I lay down to go to sleep were his most active times. I got the boys situated with cartoons and ate my Lucky Charms and kept thinking he would move but the stinker never did. So I woke Tyson up after about an hour and a half and he went downstairs and got our fetal heart rate monitor. Ya, we have one because I tend to be a nervous wreck - can you blame me? His heart rate was in the 150s. At all my appointments it was about 145 so I felt a little more calm. I took a bath and put some stress relieving essential oils in the tub. Unfortunately I think I'm allergic to the oils because my legs were suddenly on fire! I had to get out of the tub after just a couple minutes. Tyson asked if he was moving yet and when I said no he said we had better get to the hospital. We got the boys bathed and ready and got loaded up. About the time we got in the car I started having contractions.
We dropped the boys off at my parents' and by the time we got to the hospital I was in pretty severe pain. They checked me and I was 4cm. The baby's heart rate was a little fast, but not too concerning. They figured it was just from my adrenaline. They got me into a room and tried to start my IV and draw my blood. That was a real problem. The nurse had a hard time with my IV and decided she wasn't even going to attempt the blood draw. She started running fluids to see if she could get my veins a little more volume and got the phlebotomist. That poor kid tried SO hard to draw my blood. Probably about 10 times. Two or three different nurses tried and no one knew what to do. At this point it had been about an hour and I was dying in pain. I do NOT remember the pain being that bad with the other two. When the anesthesiologist walked in I was so happy. The nurse said, "I think that's the first time she's smiled since she's been here!" He was telling me all the side effects and blah blah blah and I was like I don't care just do it! I got my epidural. Then the phlebotomist came back to try again. It was determined that the blood draw would have to come from my foot. Worked out great as I was getting numb. Then my water broke. It was completely thick brown meconium. I knew this was a concern, but didn't realize how bad it was at this point. The nurse checked me and said I was still at a 4. I was shocked. I had been in so much pain for the last hour. The pharmacy wasn't sending up my meds so Tyson went to go get them himself. Perks. She quickly started my IV of benadryl and vancomycin because I was GBS (group b strep) positive. Dr. Nipperts who was on call came in and introduced herself to me. She explained to me that because of the meconium and the problems we were having with his heart rate there would be extra people in the room during the delivery. She also told me that if we couldn't get his heart rate under control or get him out quick we would have to do a c-section. I said, "that's fine. I feel tons of pressure." So she checked me and said, "Well that's because the baby is right here and we need to push." So I went from a 4 to a 10 in 15 minutes- never even got any pitocin! And then he was born.
He didn't cry. Not one little noise. Because of the Benadryl I was falling asleep. It was awful. I was in and out of sleep from the second he came out. I heard them call a code pink and I knew my baby was unresponsive. I guess they did chest compressions for 30 seconds. I had no idea. I was asleep and feel terrible about it. They sucked all the meconium out of his lungs and took him right out. Tyson went with the baby and then I was out like a light. I knew they were stitching me up etc... and the nurse kept checking to make sure I was conscious but I was out. I hate Benadryl! But maybe it was for the best because if I had been awake there's a good chance I would have been absolutely freaking out.
Tyson came back and said he's really sick. They think he has a bad infection. His lungs aren't working quite right. He's going to be intubated. He's not able to keep his blood pressure up. And his heart is pumping way too fast. I remember just saying, K. The pediatrician came in and told me the same thing. I was just struggling to keep my eyes open. They decided to fly him to Primary Children's. Tyson called Kelsey and JD to be with me. When they got there I was shaking uncontrollably from the epidural. It was awkward. I couldn't stop and I was still in and out of sleep. Eventually my whole family showed up and we were all able to see him before they flew him out. I cried when the boys walked in. I don't know why really, I just like them a lot.
I was SO happy they got to see him so it wasn't so confusing to them.
Tyson pulled his pharmacist card and they let him ride on the helicopter! They said they've never let a dad do that! What a little sweet talker! It helped that he weighs a buck 35!
He was extremely impressed with the Life Flight crew. The flight took 6 and a half minutes.
The boys loved watching the helicopter take off. Especially Cal! We all know how he feels about helicopters!
I was released this morning around 9 and finally got to go see my baby. I think he's pretty cute! He is very heavily sedated with morphine and ativan so he really doesn't move.
Here's what we know now:
He has a blood infection. That is bad. Blood is all over your whole body and in every organ. Therefore, infection is all over his body and in every organ. This is called sepsis.
His blood culture was positive for strep. Probably the GBS that I had. He is getting ampicillin and gentamycin to treat the infection.
Today he had a spinal tap. It did not look positive for meningitis. That is good.
He is not able to maintain his blood pressure and is therefore on a high amount of dopamine. He has low blood pressure throughout his body and pulmonary hypertension between his lungs and heart. And something about a left shift. I don't know what this means.
His heart rate is still high.
He is still on a ventilator and requiring 37% oxygen.
We are hoping that all of these complications are due to the infection and that as soon as the antibiotics start to get rid of it, these symptoms will resolve.
Here's a video of the little guy. The ventilator pumps his lungs really fast. I don't like it. It freaks me out. But Tyson says studies have shown this to be more effective in infants.
So, bottom line is he seems pretty stable, but he is not out of the woods. We know babies can die from this. When I got to the hospital today the neonatologist (who was like an awesome grandpa) gave me a huge hug and told me that I saved my baby's life by getting to the hospital when I did. He told me that if we had waited another hour we would have had a very different outcome. I cried a lot.
And that is about it folks. We feel very blessed to have Primary Children's Hospital so close by. We have definitely felt an outpouring of love and prayers on our behalf. We are SO lucky to have such wonderful family and friends in our lives! Thanks for all your help so far! I'll try my best to keep you posted!
