{"id":94,"date":"2009-03-04T19:43:21","date_gmt":"2009-03-05T01:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.randybaldwin.com\/baby1\/?p=94"},"modified":"2009-03-04T19:43:21","modified_gmt":"2009-03-05T01:43:21","slug":"welcome-reed-matthew-baldwin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.randybaldwin.com\/family\/2009\/03\/welcome-reed-matthew-baldwin\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome Reed Matthew Baldwin"},"content":{"rendered":"

I went to the doctor for my 38 week appointment on Tuesday March 3 at 3pm.\u00a0 The nurse took all of my measurements and vitals.\u00a0 The doctor came in shortly after and took my blood pressure manually.\u00a0 He immediately was concerned.\u00a0 My blood pressure had elevated from a normal reading 7 days prior to 144 over 104.\u00a0 Very scary levels.\u00a0 He immediately checked fetal heartbeat and checked the swelling in my feet.\u00a0 As I have mentioned to all of you my feet were unnaturally large.\u00a0 Not just pregnant large, but scary big.\u00a0 The doctor ‘checked me’ and said I was only dilated to 1 & 1\/2 and effaced to about 50%.\u00a0 He looked me in the face and said, “Ok, I’m on call tonight so why don’t you go next door (St. Luke’s Hospital is connected to his office) and let’s do this tonight.”\u00a0 He left the room, I got dressed and went into the hall.\u00a0 By this time I’m shaking because I’m excited but also scared.\u00a0 (Randy wasn’t with me because he had a meeting).\u00a0 I grabbed the doctor again and asked him exactly what he meant by his previous statement.\u00a0 He clarified and said he had already sent orders to the hospital (in the 5 minutes it took me to get out of exam room) and that I needed to go straight there and they would run some tests, but that he expected to deliver the baby that night.<\/p>\n

Needless to say I texted Randy and said to call me immediately, I didn’t care what was happening in his meeting.\u00a0 He called and I told him we were having the baby tonight.\u00a0 Both of us were pretty speechless.\u00a0 Like all of my accountant friends I am a huge planner and like to be prepared.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I was not.\u00a0 I didn’t have a hospital bag or anything except my purse.\u00a0 Randy is wonderful and was the calm voice of reason.\u00a0 He said he was shutting down his computer as we spoke and for me to head to the hospital and think about any last minute things I wanted him to grab at the house.<\/p>\n

I went over to Labor & Delivery.\u00a0 I walked in the door and they said “Are you Julie Baldwin?”\u00a0 Apparently the doctor had told them to drop all other patients and tend to me the moment I walked in.\u00a0 I was immediately taken to a room, hooked up to a fetal heart monitor and an IV and had lots of bloodwork drawn.\u00a0 Finally I was able to talk to Randy and he was on his way to meet me.<\/p>\n

At this point I did not want to call anyone to tell them the news because there was still a chance my labs would come back normal and they would send me home, but put me on bed rest.\u00a0 The labs came back totally normal with no red flags.\u00a0 I was sad and relieved at the same time.\u00a0 As all of you know I really wanted to have the baby, but my doctor was telling me he wanted to do a c-section because he was afraid the baby was too big.\u00a0 I have been pretty laid back about my pregnancy and about delivery.\u00a0 I didn’t have a birth plan or any special instructions to be followed during delivery…except that I didn’t want a c-section.\u00a0 Needless to say I was very disappointed.<\/p>\n

The doctor ordered a sonogram to determine an estimate of the baby’s size.\u00a0 Again, based on that result would determine what we did next, so I still couldn’t share the news with anyone.\u00a0 The sonogram showed that he was wedged into my pelvis and the tech estimated that he weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces.\u00a0 The doctor came back in and told me he wanted to perform a c-section immediately.\u00a0 I voiced my concern and told him I would like to try to a natural birth if at all possible.\u00a0 He agreed that I could try, but he needed to break my water and put me on pitocin.\u00a0 He also told me that if I didn’t progress we would need to do a c-section.\u00a0 I of course agreed that whatever was best for the baby was my first concern and all other requests were secondary.<\/p>\n

At 7:30pm he broke my water and at 8pm the pitocin drip started.\u00a0 I was at a 3.\u00a0 I wanted to wait as long as possible before I took any drugs for the simple fact that medicine can slow down the dilation process.\u00a0 Contractions started almost immediately and I was not a very happy person.\u00a0 Oh yeah, at this point we finally alerted our families, and our bibles study group who was meeting at that time.\u00a0 I told Randy he was the Director of Outside Communications from then on and I put my phone away.<\/p>\n

At 10:30 I asked for the IV drugs.\u00a0 Of all the things I did this is the one I wish I would have skipped.\u00a0 All the drugs did was make me very groggy.\u00a0 I was almost totally out of it, but would wake up for each contraction.\u00a0 What a waste.\u00a0 At 12:30am the doctor came back and checked me.\u00a0 I was still at a 3.<\/p>\n

At 1am I finally asked for the epidural.\u00a0 The anesthesiologist was wonderful and very prompt.\u00a0 By 1:30 I couldn’t feel my legs or the contractions.\u00a0 It also gave me a chance to sleep.\u00a0 Sadly, Randy didn’t get the same.\u00a0 His bed was very uncomfortable and he didn’t get any sleep.\u00a0 As a side note, I had no idea Randy had been updating Facebook this whole time.\u00a0 I’m so thankful he did that because it helped him to fulfill his duty and still tend to me with every contraction.<\/p>\n

At 3:45am the doctor woke me up, checked me and I was still at a 3.\u00a0 Obviously I wasn’t going to progress and a c-section was ordered.\u00a0 I didn’t argue in the least.\u00a0 Clearly this is how God and Reed wanted this to happen.\u00a0 Little did I know what a blessing that would be…<\/p>\n

Randy called my mom and his mom.\u00a0 They wheeled me into surgery and Randy got into his “rabbit suit”.\u00a0 I won’t bore you with any surgery details except the most important one.\u00a0 Once they cut me open and were ready to pull Reed out the entire staff below the curtain started talking about how “unusual” it was.\u00a0 Randy stood up to take pictures (the wonderful staff allowed us to take pictures even though that is strictly forbidden).\u00a0 Reed’s cord was tied into a tight overhand knot!!\u00a0 They quickly pulled him out and got him cleaned up and in Randy’s arms.\u00a0 During the whole surgery I could hardly keep my eyes open because of the drugs, but it was perfect.\u00a0 Reed was perfect and a healthy 8 pounds 3 ounces (good sonogram tech, right?!) and 19.5 inches long at 4:31am.<\/p>\n

We went back into my labor and delivery room and both our parents and both my sisters were there with tears in their eyes to greet us.<\/p>\n

The next day we asked the doctor what the potential implications of the knot in the cord were.\u00a0 He said that usually the child dies.\u00a0 I almost broke down in tears.\u00a0 If I had gotten my way and he had been born naturally he would have very likely died in childbirth.\u00a0 I can not thank Dr. Gonima enough for making the decision he made to go ahead and perform a c-section.\u00a0 It wasn’t what was in my plan, but it was definitely in God’s plan.<\/p>\n

I love this little guy so much that I truly can’t describe it.\u00a0 I hope you enjoy the pictures below!!<\/p>\n

– Julie and Randy<\/p>\n