Baby Day part 2
This post is definitely delayed as things went just a bit south by the end of Baby Day. Luckily the doctor came in to check on things a second time, and that is what sent mommy and me to the operating room to get baby out. Daddy was in no emotional condition to make choices so I went. We had discussed this scenario as a potential the first time there were "late decels" on the monitor. Which were not mentioned by the nurse when she came in to check things. Prior to all this the events were very "different" than a normal delivery...
Having noticed the changes on the monitor I did ask "how long do you let her labor with no progress?". To which the nurse replied "we let them go up to 24 hours". I was caught off guard by that response mainly because she had already had 3, documented by the monitor, "late decels" lasting up to one minute. "Late decels" occur when there is a drop in the baby's heart rate. Any drop lasting longer than 30 seconds raises a red flag.
The nurse manually checked for dialation of the cervix. She was pleased that she could at least reach it (on admission she couldn't). At that point she decided to use the "peanut" ball. Baby had a prolonged decel at that point and the charge nurse came in the room very abruptly. The nurse for my daughter said "it is okay I was just checking mom". Cheerfully, she said to us, see that is what happens when there is a problem on the monitor every one runs in.
With the device in place and my daughter on her right side the nurse left the room. It was then that multiple drops occurred on the monitor resulting in the room filling with nurses and frantic phone calls being made by staff to locate a doc that wasn't delivering at the moment. The nurse checked manually and stated I think I feel the cord. The charge nurse checked and said no that's too thin. At that time the rest of the staff cleared the room and the nurses continued to discuss "what was that thing?"
Being the obnoxious person that I can be at times, I offered up that no one had given the baby a rattle yet so there were only two options left, cord or baby. To my surprise the nurse responded well it wasn't baby. The doctor came in and more discussions went on. Both nurses defended their opinions that it wasn't the cord. The doctor, without manually checking for himself, placated the parents and said all is well and baby just didn't like the way things were going.
Once the staff had left the room for the second time I discussed the option of C-section to my daughter. I wasn't making a decision for them or the staff. I was just trying to let my family understand where I thought the details of the monitor were taking us. And since staff was not putting it on the table I thought they should at least know what could potentially be next.
This put my son-in-law on high alert so any movement on the monitor alarmed him. More changes occurred and the nurse came back in and tried to make baby happy. Then the opening paragraph of this post occurred and again nothing was said about caesarean. The doctor started with we are going to put an internal monitor in to check contractions but first I'll check you. (this was the doctor's first check of her). He simply said "we have cord we are going to the OR".
We had discussed earlier that dad would go to the OR. But clearly this was not going to happen. I donned the suit and followed the gurney. When I saw the monitor for anesthesia last the numbers were very askew to normal for her and the baby. They stopped me at the door and said let us get her set up, but they did leave the doors open. Then the nurse said "we are putting her out you cannot be in here".
I heard the circulating nurse state the time for first incision. She then came and shut the doors and told me to sit down. I complied for about 30 seconds. Each time I peeked through the windows I reflected on what would be happening at that time. I have experience both as the patient and the scrub nurse, which can be helpful or anxiety provoking, depending on the situation.
In the end we have and beautiful little girl and everyone went home safely.
Having noticed the changes on the monitor I did ask "how long do you let her labor with no progress?". To which the nurse replied "we let them go up to 24 hours". I was caught off guard by that response mainly because she had already had 3, documented by the monitor, "late decels" lasting up to one minute. "Late decels" occur when there is a drop in the baby's heart rate. Any drop lasting longer than 30 seconds raises a red flag.
The nurse manually checked for dialation of the cervix. She was pleased that she could at least reach it (on admission she couldn't). At that point she decided to use the "peanut" ball. Baby had a prolonged decel at that point and the charge nurse came in the room very abruptly. The nurse for my daughter said "it is okay I was just checking mom". Cheerfully, she said to us, see that is what happens when there is a problem on the monitor every one runs in.
With the device in place and my daughter on her right side the nurse left the room. It was then that multiple drops occurred on the monitor resulting in the room filling with nurses and frantic phone calls being made by staff to locate a doc that wasn't delivering at the moment. The nurse checked manually and stated I think I feel the cord. The charge nurse checked and said no that's too thin. At that time the rest of the staff cleared the room and the nurses continued to discuss "what was that thing?"
Being the obnoxious person that I can be at times, I offered up that no one had given the baby a rattle yet so there were only two options left, cord or baby. To my surprise the nurse responded well it wasn't baby. The doctor came in and more discussions went on. Both nurses defended their opinions that it wasn't the cord. The doctor, without manually checking for himself, placated the parents and said all is well and baby just didn't like the way things were going.
Once the staff had left the room for the second time I discussed the option of C-section to my daughter. I wasn't making a decision for them or the staff. I was just trying to let my family understand where I thought the details of the monitor were taking us. And since staff was not putting it on the table I thought they should at least know what could potentially be next.
This put my son-in-law on high alert so any movement on the monitor alarmed him. More changes occurred and the nurse came back in and tried to make baby happy. Then the opening paragraph of this post occurred and again nothing was said about caesarean. The doctor started with we are going to put an internal monitor in to check contractions but first I'll check you. (this was the doctor's first check of her). He simply said "we have cord we are going to the OR".
We had discussed earlier that dad would go to the OR. But clearly this was not going to happen. I donned the suit and followed the gurney. When I saw the monitor for anesthesia last the numbers were very askew to normal for her and the baby. They stopped me at the door and said let us get her set up, but they did leave the doors open. Then the nurse said "we are putting her out you cannot be in here".
I heard the circulating nurse state the time for first incision. She then came and shut the doors and told me to sit down. I complied for about 30 seconds. Each time I peeked through the windows I reflected on what would be happening at that time. I have experience both as the patient and the scrub nurse, which can be helpful or anxiety provoking, depending on the situation.
In the end we have and beautiful little girl and everyone went home safely.
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