Cole Joseph Smith

Our second son, Cole Joseph Smith was born on August 29th at 9:11 PM, weighing in at 7 pounds, 4 ounces and measured 19.5 inches long.  Another boy with a head full of hair and as sweet as sweet can be.  

When you are 35, you are considered 'Advanced Maternal Age' so OB visits are a little different.  We were offered a blood test called Maternit 21 which allowed us to test for several birth defects along with the gender as early as ten weeks gestation.  I opted to have the blood drawn at my twelve week appointment so I didn't have to make a special trip to Women First.  

The last month of my pregnancy, Dr. Grider suggested I have an ultrasound before meeting with the doctor since I was 35.  The ultrasound tests for four different things: movement (a arm 

We had a gender reveal party on Sunday, March 26 with our family and found out I was pregnant with another sweet boy.  

August 21, 2015 - I had my routine weekly visit with Dr. Price after a weekly ultrasound and my amniotic fluid had dropped from 14 cm to 7 cm.  The low mark is 5 cm so Dr. Price suggested I come in on Tuesday, August 8/25 for another ultrasound.  That revealed that my fluid had bounced back up to 14 cm.  I kept my regularly scheduled appointment for that Friday where I was scheduled to see Dr. Grider.  The ultrasound revealed that one pocket of fluid was 7 cm and the other was 4 cm.  After consulting with Dr. Grider she looked at me and said "are you ready to have a baby?!"  Tears welled up in my eyes because I was ready, but I don't think you are ever really ready.  I was originally scheduled to be induced on September 2nd because Dr. Grider was available to deliver (it was actually her day off but she said she'd willingly come in to deliver my baby.  Have I mentioned how much I love her?!).  Lucky for me, Dr. Grider was on call the next day which was Saturday, August 29th, Cole's birth day.  

Upon leaving Dr. Grider's office, I was given instructions to call Baptist East's Labor and Delivery at 5 am to see what time they wanted me to come in.  Rich woke up and called and they told us to be there at 7 am, so we were.  On our way to Baptist East, Rich rolled through the McDonald's drive thru to get breakfast.  I was instructed not to eat so I pretended to eat a sandwich!  

We got checked into Labor and Delivery, room #2 and settled in for the day, not knowing what the day would become.  

I was hooked up to Pitocin and a bag of IV fluids since I couldn't eat or drink.  I was allowed ice chips and Popsicles which helped a little, but didn't do much.  

Dr. Grider made her rounds and came to see me about 9:30.  She checked me and I was still only a tight one cm dilated so I had not made much progress. She did break my water and the nurses upped the Pitocin dose.  I had some really sweet nurses who were with me for the day.  They checked me periodically as well.  

My Mom came to the hospital about 11:30 am and sat with us in my room.  Rich left to get some Jimmy John's for lunch and chose to eat it at the restaurant because he felt rude bringing it to the room since I was starving!  

A few more hours passed, I was making progress and feeling contractions.  I asked for the epidural so the anesthesiologist came by to administer it.  Dr. Courtney Protzer.  She got everything set up and with the nurse's help, I moved to the side of the bed, hunched over into the correct position and waited for her to begin setting up the epidural site.  She inserted the needle, but hit a nerve or something on the left side so I jumped.  Then she started again and hit something on the right side, so I jumped.  At this point I began to wonder what was going on.  She was talking about her cruise to Greece the next week, her six month old daughter and how she was going to Hawaii for a month to be a guest speaker.  I didn't think too much about her stories until she supposedly got the epidural inserted and was ready to give me a test dose of the medication.  My feet immediately went numb so I told her and that's when she said that when she pulled the needle back she got spinal fluid.  She said that the reason they do the test dose is to make sure the epidural didn't miss the epidural slot and make it to the spinal space, which mine did.  If she didn't test it and gave me a full dose, my entire body would have gone numb including my heart and lungs which would be deadly.  She could only give me a tiny bit of the pain medication since she was in my spinal space, but only my left leg went numb.  The contractions came back, but I did't say much because I didn't know if I was supposed to feel them and I didn't want to see like a wuss.  

The nurse came back in to check my and I was progressing a bit, but not much. 
She gave me a 'peanut ball' which looked like a yoga ball that she put between my legs to help force Cole out.  It apparently simulated doing squats which helped women give birth in the olden days. Rick and Nan drove to Louisville to see us and Valerie was at the hospital visiting her Dad so she stopped by. They had a nice visit with me and I was thrilled that Nan and Rick came to see us.  I wish Cole had cooperated so they could have met him, but he was being stubborn.  

The nurse came in and raised my bed so that gravity could help Cole labor down and push him down.  In the meantime, Dot and my Mom came back to my room and as I was sitting up, a severe pain in my neck kept getting worse and it felt like shards of glass were breaking down my spine.  Then I had a hard time turning my head from side to side.  The nurse came in thankfully to check me again so she asked my Mom and Dot to leave.  I told her what was going on so she asked Dr. Protzer to come back in to my room.  She assured me that neck pain I felt wasn't related to the botched epidural but my gut told me it was.  She gave me a "bolster" to help with the pain, but it only made my left leg become more numb.  

I continued to express to my nurse that I was feeling every contraction and the neck pain was intense.  I asked that no one come in my room so I could attempt to get some rest because I had also developed a pounding headache.  The nurse thought that could be because I was hungry and had not had caffeine, but I actually had a little diet coke before I checked into the hospital so I knew it wasn't that.  Dr. Protzer told me about a 'spinal headache' that I could get 24-48 hours after the botched epidural was I was confident that I was experiencing that right away, although she said it was unrelated.  

The headache and neck pain continued but I felt relief as long as I was lying flat on my back.  Dr. Protzer's shift ended so another anesthesiologist came on call so she heard me out.  She gave me another bolster, making it a total of three, yet none had relieved the pain from the contractions.  My contractions were about two to three minutes apart so at least I had some relief between each one.  She saw the amount of pain I was in so she gave me the option for her to remove the existing epidural needle and put another in, hopefully getting it into the epidural space the second time around.  I really didn't want to go through that again so I asked if the most pain I would feel were the contractions, not the actual birth.  She agreed that as Cole was being born the only thing I would feel were contractions.  The nurse decided to check me as we sat in limbo about what to do because I said that if I was an hour away from delivering I would conquer through the pain and leave everything as it was.  She checked me and bam, it was baby time.  I had finally dilated to 10 so she called in all the troops. Dr. Grider was actually on her way home so they called her to relay the news. It took her about 25 minutes to get back to the hospital and at that point I was in a lot of pain.  I even said that I would pay for her speeding ticket if she would get to me faster.  My contractions were so intense and seemed to be getting a little closer but I held on through the pain.  

Rich went to the waiting room to call my Mom so she could witness the birth of Cole.  She was not in the room when Tyler was born so this time we invited to be a part.  

Three strong pushes later at 9:11 PM, our second sweet boy was in my arms. He had a head full of jet black hair like his brother and confirmed to us he was OK as he let out a really loud cry.  He was perfect and all I ever wished for. 

Dr. Grider sewed me up as the nurses cleaned Cole off and got his measurements.  They then gave him back to me for Kangaroo Care where we bonded for an hour while the nursing staff cleaned me and the room up and got everything squared away.  My Mom went to get me some food as I was starving, but in the meantime, a nurse brought me some caffeine to help with my pounding headache.  She also gave me some Naproxin and Percoset to help with pain, but they didn't alleviate the head and neck pain I felt.  

Brian and Steph came in to meet Cole and Rich finally got to hold him once our Kangaroo Care time was up.  I hated to let him go because those first few minutes of your baby on your chest is unlike any other joyous moment I have ever experienced in my life.  Literally love at first sight and my heartbeat and body heat were all Cole yearned for because that's all he knew.  

I was still in a great deal of head and neck pain when they wheeled me to my room.  They dropped Cole off at the nursery for his first bath and then brought him back to me.  By that time, he was ready to eat and I was so worried about him latching on to breastfeed because I could not raise my head up.  I was only comfortable laying flat on my back but thankfully I had a wonderful nurse who propped him up by my side with pillows so he could nurse and he latched right on. He ate on one side and then tuckered out.  I did request that the nurses take him to the nursery for the night and bring him back to me when he was hungry.  I was so tired and I knew that I would sleep better if I knew he was being watched by a team of nurses while I slept.  

Before I called it a night the nurses wanted me to try and sit up again so that I could walk to the bathroom.  I couldn't bear the pain of being upright for even thirty seconds.  It was awful.  After two unsuccessful attempts at getting me out of bed, I failed because the neck pain was so great.  It felt like shards of glass were breaking down my spine.  The nurses decided to leave my catheter in for the night since I was immobile.  I was terrified that I was going to be paralyzed. 

I didn't get much sleep because nurses were in often pressing on my abdomen, taking my vitals and asking me about my pain level.  When they came in a 4 AM, turned on all the lights Rich blew a gasket.  He was exhausted and stressed because I was in so much pain.  At one point a CNA said to Rich "here, take your baby back to the nursery."  Rich looked at her with a glaring look and replied "I don't even know where the nursery is.  That's your job!"  He was less than impressed.  

Morning rolled around and I was still in pain.  Another anesthesiologist came in to see me and he recommended two things:  I wait out the pain or they take me down to general surgery for a blood patch.  Of course I opted for the blood patch to seal the hole where spinal fluid had been leaking since the botched epidural happened.   I couldn't wait any longer because I wanted to take a shower and check my baby out.  I had not had the chance to really get a good look at Cole because I couldn't move my neck.  It was awful.  

While waiting to be called for the blood patch, Dr. Grider came in to see me and she said "waiting out the pain isn't even an option!:  I had to agree with her.  

Noon rolled around and it wa finally my turn to get fixed.  I was wheeled to general surgery.  The nurses started a brand new IV in my left arm because the anesthesiologist didn't want to take a chance of infection from the exising IV that they left in so they started a new one.  I was told to roll on my left side and remain still so he could do his job.  He administered my own blood into the site of the epidural.  I had to lay flat for twenty minutes then the nurse raised my bed up.  I still felt pain but it wasn't nearly as intense.  I was actually able to be in the upright position for more than 20 seconds.  I asked for a coke so they got me that to drink.  After about thirty minutes it was time to take me back to my room.  I called Rich to let him know I made it and he told me that Tyler and Suzy were visiting.   I was so bummed that I was not there to see Tyler meet Cole for the first time but thankfully they snapped a lot of pictures.  

Tyler wasn't sure what to think once I was wheeled back into my room.  He saw the IV and asked me to take it out and come home with him.  Bless his heart. He didn't like leaving me behind but Suzy took him home shortly after I got back to my room.  

About an hour passed and I began to feel alive.  I was able to check Cole out which was the greatest.  Finally I could move again.  

Rex, Janna, Reagan and Clay came back to the hospital after going to the State Fair.  They got the chance to meet and hold Cole.  

I sat waiting...all I wanted was a shower.  The nurses wanted to wait awhile before they got me to walk. Once I was able to walk to the bathroom they took out my catheter and gave me the green light to take a shower, although it was about 7 pm at this point.  Rich had had enough of the hospital so I sent him home and Suzy came up to stay with me Sunday night.  Once she got settled I took my shower and felt like a brand new person.  

I hope to never experience that pain ever again... birthing a baby and feeling every contraction doesn't even compare to the pain from leaking spinal fluid.  I don't recommend having an epidural.  I  never fully understood or knew about the risks of an epidural but contractions are temporary and once your baby is born, the pain you feel getting them into this world is a distant memory.