The Horn's: Jackson's Big Entrance Into The World

Many people have asked me in the last week why Jackson ended up being a C-section baby. So instead of replying to many e-mails with the same story I will just post about it and if you are interested you can read it. :o)

On Monday, January 11th I started going into early labor. That night Don had a soccer game at 9pm. Before he left I mentioned I thought I was having contractions, but I have never experienced them so I wasn't sure if they were true contractions or false labor pains. I told him to go to his soccer game since it was only an hour long and if I absolutely had to go to the hospital I would call his Mom who was just up the street. I ended up calling the hospital and talked to a nurse to see if I should go to the hospital. As we were talking she seemed concerned I was bleeding so she told me to come in. I called Gina and she came over right away and took me to the hospital.

Once we got to the hospital they took me to triage to see if they would admit me. They hooked me up to all these machines and monitored me for about an hour. The on call Dr. came in and said my blood pressure was very high and was not going down. Every Dr. appointment I have had while I was pregnant, I never had high blood pressure. The nurses would always comment how good it was. The Dr. also said the baby's heart rate was really high. She said I was only dilated to one, but I was in the early stages of labor and they wanted to admit me because of my high blood pressure and the baby's heart rate. We called Don and I asked him to take a shower before coming. I know that sounds silly, but I was feeling so nauseous and since he just finished playing a soccer game I knew he wouldn't be smelling the freshest and I wanted him near me. :)

So off I went to labor and delivery to be hooked up to more machines. They decided to let me go into labor naturally and if I didn't make any progress by 4am they would induce me. So by 4am I didn't progress as much as they hoped so they gave me some pitocin. Boy did that kick start those contractions in high gear. By 10 or 11 am I was dilated to a 4 and a half and my effacement was paper thin. The on call Dr. came in and said they were probably going to break my water for me. I had been holding out on any drugs at this point. The contractions were getting pretty bad with the pitocin and I knew once my water broke those contractions would even get worse. If I don't HAVE to feel pain I sure wasn't going to. So they came up and gave me my epidural. Boy did that feel great. Instant relief! It was amazing! I could still feel some of it since I didn't want to be completely numb, but it was just enough to make it all better. After they did that my water broke on it's own. Yay!!!

Around 3pm the Dr. came in and said the baby was showing signs of distress and my blood pressure was still not coming down. They also said my cervix was starting to swell up. Basically I was going backwards is how I understood it! They wanted to monitor me for an hour and if nothing improved they were going to need to do a C-Section. The Dr. than walked off. My nurse was great. She looks at me and said "he doesn't have the best bedside manners, ask me any questions you have." I was a little taken aback because I was not wanting a C-section. My whole pregnancy I was preparing for a natural birth so I wasn't sure what to expect. So I asked her all my questions and we sat tight waiting to see what would happen.

Finally around 3:30 they came back in and said it was not getting any better and they needed to do the C-section. Don had run out to get something to eat so we called him to get back right away. He made it just in time. They got me all prepared and sent me to the OR. The anesthesia they gave me made me shake uncontrollably. It was the weirdest feeling not having that control. Don held my hand the whole time and it seemed to give me some control at least on that side. Everything went so quickly. I kept feeling all this pressure which I think was safe to assume they were cutting me open. Next thing I know they popped Jackson over the curtain and told me it was a boy. It was one of the best moments of my life. I heard him crying in the distance and I knew he was ok. After that I pretty much blacked out. Later I was told I lost a lot of blood and they were trying to get it to stop. In the end everything was ok. I woke up in the recovery ward and I was still shaking uncontrollably. They put lots of warm blankets around me to help the shaking and it felt so nice. Don was sitting next to me with Jackson the whole time. I was so happy to see them. Don and I feel so lucky to be Jackson's parents. He is truly our pride and joy.

On Monday we had his first pediatric appointment and they said he is healthy as can be. His skin color looks great (no jaundice,) his neck muscles are really strong, his heart rate is really good and his breathing sounds great. All in all he is perfect as can be. Yesterday we got him circumcised and I about fell apart. I hate seeing my son in pain. I was a wimp and waited in the waiting room while they did the procedure. Don stayed with him and Jackson's nurse is a family friend so I felt like he was in good hands. In the end I was told Jackson did great. He took it like a champ!

As for his nick names we call him Peanut... When we had his first sonogram I thought he looked like a little peanut and it has stuck. Marza (my sister) and myself like the nickname Jak Jak from The Incredibles and someone in the family started Jacks "on" Jacks "off." Ya, not sure how I feel about that one... :o) Anyways, there you have it. Hopefully this week I will get to Jackson's first photo shoot. Those pictures will be used for the birth announcement. I have some cute ideas to try with him so I can't wait. I just need Don's help. I am not as mobile as I would like to be yet, but I am recovering quickly. I am still trying to take it easy with the bending over and picking things up. So hopefully I will have some new pictures soon. In the mean time, here a few new pictures when we were at the hospital.