WARNING: Below is the account of Marc-Antoine's birth. Although thoroughly sanitized, it may still contain too much information for some!
I woke up on Saturday morning with what felt like early labor pains. I was having regular, somewhat painful contractions every 20 minutes or so. For sure, this had to be it. I sent Madeleine off with Mémé and Pépère and Chris and I walked around the neighborghood in the hopes of getting things moving. By 1:00, my contractions had all but stopped. I wasn't feeling great, but I certainly wasn't in labor.
On Sunday morning, I woke up with similar contractions. This time, the contractions were closer- about 9 minnutes apart. I felt fluish- overall body aches, fever of 103, nausea. I called the hospital and was told to saty home (to Carla's dismay!) and medicate with Tylenol. By the afternoon, the contractions were gone again, but the flu-like feelings persisted.
On Monday morning, I woke up with mild contractions, but there was no keeping Chris home. After a weekend of false hopes, who could predict how long this was going to last. We were still two days away from our official due date. Around 8:30, I thought I felt my water break. But just like with Madeleine, it wasn't obvious. My water had probably broken high and the amniotic fluid was trickling instead of gushing.
Chris came back from work and we headed to the hospital. Because I am GBS positive, and had a fever on Sunday, we were admitted. By 10:00 our labor seemed to be progressing well. Chris was an awesome support and by 4:00 I was at 5 cm and ready for an epidural, which was quickly provided. As soon as this happenned, the Dr. ruptured a water bubble caused by the babies position in hopes of getting things moving. When the water came out, they noticed some meconium in the amniotic fluid. The Dr. said he wasn't overly worried, but we would need to take some precautions at birth to prevent infection in the baby.
The contractions got stronger and the baby seemed to get weaker. The babes heartrate tanked with every contraction and he seemed to have a hard time recovering. Our Dr. consulted the obstetrician on call and they monitored us for a period, but seemed very nervous- as did Chris. We tried a number of things to get the baby to react better but by 6:15, the call was made to proceed with an emergency c-section. Marc-Antoine Parkhill was born at 6:42 pm, weighing 8lbs 15oz and measuring 20 inches. Although he seemed strong and healthy, he carried a small rash on his chest and a slight fever. This, combined with the difficult labor, was enough for the pediatrician to admit him to the special care nursery for antibiotics and observation. In the end, it all worked out, as we are now both home and healthy.
Marc-Antoine and I were discharged from the Civic Hospital Thursday afternoon and couldn't be more thrilled to be home. Below are some pictures of him. There are more to come as free minutes become available!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
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