A Summary Of How We Spent Our Weekend
Saturday, May 12, 2001 5:30 a.m. Jennifer and I were sound asleep when all of the sudden Jennifer wakes up with wetness in the bed. We didn’t know what had happened. Did she wet the bed? Or was it her water breaking? Tomorrow the baby was going to be 36 weeks old with 38-40 weeks considered full term. Her due date was June 10, 2001, we had another month of planning and preparing, besides today, my sister Kim was hosting a baby shower for Jennifer. We had plans for today! Little did we know so did someone else…
6:00 a.m.: As Jennifer gets cleaned up, I called Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, which said to come on in for a checkup.
7:00 a.m.: We arrived at the hospital, go to Admitting who checks in Jennifer and takes her in a wheelchair up to the fifth floor where we are wheeled into LDR Suite 1 (Labor Delivery Room). There Jennifer was checkout by a nurse who confirms that indeed, Jennifer’s water had broke. In birthing class we had learned that once your water breaks, you must give birth within 24 hours otherwise you risk infection to the baby. So once we heard this news, we knew our plans where changing for the day…we are having a baby!
8:00 a.m.: Up to this point Jennifer had no pains or contractions, but this was soon to change. In order to start the contractions, she was given Pitocin. This drug puts the contractions into overdrive. At this point she was dilated to 2 cm.
2:00 p.m.: By this time, the contractions were really beginning to take a toll on Jennifer who was dilated to 4 cm. Being the weekend, there is no anesthesiologist on site (but on call). However, we were in luck, there was an anesthesiologist down the hall giving an epidural to another patient and we could be next. The Anesthesiologist arrives and preps Jennifer’s back to insert a needle in her spine that will numb her from the waist down, however, this anesthesiologist hadn’t performed very many epidurals and after stabbing Jennifer’s back at least five times, it was time to call in another anesthesiologist who got it right the first time.
3:00 p.m.: By now the anesthesiologist was finished and within minutes Jennifer’s pain was greatly reduced and able to enjoy the rest of her labor. At this time she was dilated to 6 cm. Now things start moving fast
4:00 p.m. Jennifer is examined and is dilated to 8 cm.
4:15 p.m. Jennifer is dilated to 9 cm.
4:30 p.m. Jennifer is dilated to 10 cm—it’s baby time! By now the room was cleared of visitors and prepped with a bunch of baby delivery stuff. The nurse was already in the room and had called the doctor and respiratory specialist. Now the pushing begins. Because the epidural had numbed Jennifer’s legs, I assisted moving one of her legs and pushing her head forward so she could concentrate on pushing. At one point I got to see the head crown, but spent most of my time helping Jennifer. Then just as the clock turned 5:00 p.m. out came our baby girl.
5:00 p.m. Our baby girl was wiped down and handed very briefly to Jennifer and then taken over to a nearby warmer where she was further cleaned up. At this point the nurse recommended that I step out briefly to let our waiting visitors (Mom and Dad Monzon, Mike and Leslie and Matthew) know the sex (up until the birth we did not know if it was a boy or a girl) and status. I ran out of the room told them “It’s a girl!” and ran back in to ceremonially cut the umbilical cord and take some pictures. (Click to see LDR 1 and LDR 2) Because our baby girl was born almost a month early, there was some concern that she would have breathing problems. The lungs are one of the last organs to develop and she made some grunting noises when she was born. The respiratory specialist placed bands around her arm and leg and wrapped her up and we headed down the hall to ICU after a brief viewing for the family. Once in ICU, she was weighed (5 Lbs. 1 oz.) and measured (19 inches long) and given a vitamin K shot, blood test, eye drops and put in a warmer with a hookup to monitor her blood oxygen level and heartbeat. Here are some pictures from ICU: ICU Picture 1 and ICU Picture 2. From water break to delivery 11-1/2 hours.
6:45pm: Jennifer is transferred from LDR Suite 1 to Recovery Room 564.
9:00 p.m.: I took Jennifer in a wheelchair over to ICU so she could see our new daughter. Here are some pictures: Jennifer-ICU 1, Jennifer-ICU 2 and Jennifer-ICU 3 and here is one of the three of us that the nurse took. Her breathing was monitored until 12:10 a.m. when she was released from ICU and allowed to stay with Jennifer and I making it truly a wonderful Mother’s Day gift.
Sunday, May 13, 2001 (Mother’s Day): Most of the day was spent seeing family and friends, trying to rest and getting use to our new baby girl. Here are some pictures of Jennifer and the baby: 1, 2 and 3. But we still had one more job to do, what are we going to call her? It wasn’t until late that night that we finally decided upon a name that we would make official tomorrow.
Monday, May 14, 2001: Time to fill out the official State of California Birth Certificate and the first question is: Baby’s Name. Our answer: Sarah Rose Edward
4:00 p.m. Jennifer, Sarah and I are released from the hospital to begin our new adventure.
The Baby shower (Saturday, May 12, 2001)
Shortly after Jennifer was checked in to the hospital and we knew we were having a baby, I started making phone calls to family and friends. One of the first calls went to my sister Kim. She was hosting Jennifer's baby shower today, I had to tell her that Jennifer and I would be unable to attend--at least in person. I promised to virtually attend the party by calling in every time something happened. Kim created a virtual, cardboard cutout of Jennifer, compete with a face, hair and big smile out of a marker pen. The cardboard was placed on a chair that no one was allowed to sit on. Through out the day, I would call in and give a progress report. I could hear the crowd cheer in the background as I relayed the news of Jennifer dilating each centimeter and I could hear their sympathy as I told them of the epidural problems. Just before the birth, I left my cell phone outside the Labor and Delivery room, so after I came out to tell the family the news, Uncle Mike called Aunt Kim to tell her the news that it's a girl, the crowd cheered--what a way to end a party!
