Colt Charles Robbins

I started this blog when I found out I was pregnant with Ryder, and I kept it every month for Ryder's first year.  From then I've kept a monthly journal for him.  I am going to try to do the same thing for Colt so we can always look back and remember these days...

Colt's birth story...

If you know me, you know my personality if very type A.  I really like things to be planned, and I cannot stand it when my plans are changed or broken.  It is one of my greatest gifts because I stay organized and it's also one of my greatest flaws.  It seemed like from the beginning Colt was not going to let anything go as planned.  This pregnancy was much different than my first, which is part of the reason I thought I was having a girl.  I was more sick this time and for a longer period of time.  I had to use progesterone supplements this time, because I had a miscarriage last April.  I went to the ER twice due to dehydration from throwing up too much.  I had to go to labor and delivery one night because weird things were happening (nothing I really want to type) to make sure I wasn't dilating too early.  We tried two times to get a 4D ultrasound to get a glimpse of this little one's face, but both times he was facing my back and would not turn.  But with all these things, everything was fine with the baby and that was what was most important.  The same thing applies to the day he was born.

On Tuesday, January 12, my doctor was very happy with how I had progressed and was ready to schedule a birthday for Colt.  She wanted me to make it to 39 weeks, which I was, but didn't want me to go too far just because she was unsure of his size and didn't want to have any labor complications due to a big baby.  She first said February 19 and Lance and I thought that would be a great birthday.  My doctor said she didn't think I would make it that long.  Then when she left the room and I got dressed, we were walking to leave and the doctor came up to us and said, "Do you want to have a Valentine's baby?"  Lance and I both said yes, so we scheduled an induction for Valentine's day.  I was really happy to have a scheduled induction, because this fits right in with my type A personality and I knew I could be totally ready for it.  And when I say ready, I mean mentally and physically.  I wanted to have my hair done and make up on of course ;)  On February 13, I started having some contractions around 5:30.  They were very sporadic so I was not too worried about it.  I went to bed that night and did not sleep well because the contractions kept coming.  At about 2-3 am, they were about 10 minutes apart.  I had my alarm set for 4 am, (we were to arrive at the hospital about 6 am), but since I wasn't sleeping I got up about 3:45.  I got in the shower and started getting myself together and the contractions just kept coming and getting closer together.  I woke Lance up at 4:30 and told him he should probably go ahead nad get ready because I wanted to leave sooner than later because of my contractions.  We left our house at 5 and got to the hospital at 5:15 am.  We checked in our room, I got in my gown and we were so excited!  They came in and checked me and I was dilated to a 3-4 from a tight 2 the Tuesday before (Feb. 12).  They said even if I was not scheduled to be induced, they would have kept me anyway because I was in real labor.  About 7 my nurse Marie came in.  I immediately liked her because she was tall and she played volleyball in high school.  She also graduated the same year as me, so I felt like I could relate to her a lot due to her age.  Another nurse came in to do my IV.  She tried twice in my right wrist and it didn't work.  Then my nurse Marie tried in my left wrist and that didn't work.  Then the anesthesiologist, Diane, came in to try.  She tried once in my left hand and twice once in my right hand and those didn't work.  So finally Diane was able to get it in the bend of my right arm.  That whole process was awful!  Both my hands are so bruised.  They said I may have been dehydrated (I don't know how that could be possible, I was drinking water like crazy until midnight the night before) and my veins were really "valvey".  But at least it was finally in somewhere!  They started fluid but did not want to do any pitocin since it seemed that I was progressing on my own pretty well.  I asked to go ahead and get my epidural since the doctor would be breaking my water soon.  Diane came back and got it in and we had no problems with that.  The doctor came in a little after 9 (I think) and broke my water. At this point I was dilated to a 6.  Everything was still wonderful.  My dad and sister had gotten there, and my mom and mother in law had just walked in the room when my nurse, Marie, started seeming like she was a little nervous.  She put oxygen on me, turned me to my left side and kept moving the monitor around trying to look for the baby's heartbeat.  She was noticing that every time I was having a contraction his heart rate was dropping.  She called for more nurses and called my doctor.  My doctor came in quickly, thank goodness she was still at the hospital.  Everyone was rushing around in a panic, and then they asked my family to leave.  That's when I realized something was really not right.  Doctor Bradford put in a heart monitor on Colt's head, but for some reason it wasn't working.  She looked at me and said, "I promise I will not let this little one get into trouble."  This was a little reassuring, but it was still so scary.  Lance and I were both so quiet and just still in the middle of chaos.  I could hear them saying to prepare the OR and I knew what was coming.  Before I knew it they were putting stuff on my stomach and wheeling me out of the room.  They told Lance he had to stay back and get scrubbed up and they would come get him.  Instantly I was in the OR and there were doctors and nurses everywhere.  I looked up at my nurse Marie and said, "with my epidural I can still feel things, what if they can't get me numb enough in time?  Will I have to be put to sleep?" She just looked at me and said, "I don't know."  I was so terrified of being put to sleep.  What if something happened to Colt?  What if i didn't wake up?  These were the thoughts going through my head.  Fortunately, they were able to numb me up fast.  I was numb from the armpits down.  It was just minutes from when I came in that they were making the first incision.  Lance barely made it to the room in time to catch the birth.  I am glad he was able to get it on video, as gross as that may be to some people.  During the surgery I was miserable.  I was very light headed, nauseous and thought I was going to pass out.  As soon as I heard Colt cry I was so relieved.  They had NICU nurses in there to check him out and he was just perfect.  Thank God.  I could hear Lance looking at him and going on and on about how perfect he was.  I felt so happy to know he was okay even though I couldn't see him any more.  I was so loopy and out of it.  My blood pressure kept dropping, and they were giving me all kinds of injections to make it go back up.  Then I finally threw up which was hard because I was so numb.  Soon enough though, we were back in the room and I was starting to feel more normal.

When my family came in, my mom and Noni started crying.  All of the family there was so worried about how the baby and I were and what was going on.  I was also very emotional because it was just so scary and so unexpected, and I was so thankful that everything was okay. 

If you read my post partum post from when I had Ryder, we did not have the greatest experience.  I was worried about my post partum experience while I was pregnant this time, because I was afraid it would be the same.  But I could not have been more wrong.  I had the best post partum experience ever.  I was so grateful for the most wonderful nurses...every single one.  There was one nurse that especially stood out, Regina.  She was with me for two of my post partum days from 7-7.  She was the most personable, sweetest encouraging nurse.  I really think I will always remember her and I don't know if she will ever realize what an impact she had on me.  Recovering from a c section was definitely a challenge, especially since I didn't plan for one.  The day/night after I had Colt, I was pretty out of it, so they left the catheter in so I didn't have to get up.  I felt really helpless because I also had the IV in my arm and because of the location I could not bend my arm.  This meant I could not feed Colt or change his diaper, so that was hard.  Lance really is a great dad and did such a wonderful job taking on Colt duty in the hospital the first couple of days until I got my IV out.  Throughout the night, the nurse was checking my vitals and my blood pressure was still pretty low...anywhere from 80-90s over 40s-50s.  They said sometimes it just takes a while to get blood pressure up after surgery.  That morning my nurse came in and took out the catheter and wanted me to stand up and walk and try to go to the bathroom. I was able to get up okay, walked to the bathroom fine and as soon as I sat down on the toilet I didn't feel right.  I started sweating, got really light headed, and my ears started ringing.  I told the nurse I thought I was going to pass out so she called another nurse in. I thought I was starting to feel better when I woke up with 4 nurses around me and Lance standing at the bathroom door yelling my name.  I passed out, and after I woke up and got myself together they had to wheel me back to my bed.  They took my blood right after and my hemoglobin count was really low.  That coupled with my blood pressure is what caused me to pass out.  Lance had no idea that I started feeling weird once I got to the bathroom and he was sitting in the hospital room and all the sudden he heard the nurse yell, "I need a crash cart!" and he thought I was dead.  It's kind of funny now, but it wasn't funny then.  My doctor came in that day and said my hemoglobin was 8.4 and if it fell below 7 I would have to have a blood transfusion.  I prayed and prayed that it would not go down and fortunately it did not.  It only got better.  The next few times I got up to go to the bathroom were scary, and I was on "fall watch" so I had to call a nurse before I went every time to take me.  By day 3 I was able to get up and go on my own, I took a shower (with one hand because my IV was still in), and walked around a little bit.  That was great to be able to be mobile again!  And we went home on Sunday, February 17, Lance's birthday.  I could not have been more please with Harris Methodist with this delivery.  Everything about our experience, besides the unpredictables (C-Section and passing out) were so wonderful. 

On Saturday night, Lance was complaining about his stomach hurting.  From his symptoms it seemed to me he just had a UTI or something like that.  On Sunday he kept talking about his pain and by Sunday night he had a fever and had thrown up.  My mom and I kept telling him he needed to go to Care Now or something, but Lance, being stubborn, did not want to.  My mom finally convinved him.  Care Now was closed (and this turned out to be a good thing) so he went to an emergency room that they just build close to our house.  There they discovered he had Diverticulitis and he was really bad.  I can't remember all the technical terms for what all that was going on, but it was not good.  At the ER, they said he would have to go straight to the hospital and be there for two days.  Then Monday morning Lance called and said now they were keeping him 5 days, which would get him home Thursday or Friday.  I just now talked to him and now they are saying he won't be able to come home until Sunday.  It's so frustrating.  I am so thankful that we have such great family that have been here every day staying with us to help me.  And we have had so many friends offer to bring dinner and we really appreciate that.  I have tried to respond to everyone, but I know I have missed some people.  I am so thankful that you want to help, but this week I just feel overwhelmed and like our lives are in such disorder that the thought of having people over besides immediate family is more stressful to me.  I get so embarassed if people come over and our house is a mess, and it is awful right now!  And I look horrible, too.  I know we will be happy to have visitors once Lance is back home and we feel more in order.  Lance is on the upward track and is starting to feel better, so hopefully he won't be home any later than Sunday (and hopefully they won't change how long he will be there yet again).

We really appreciate all of your prayers for our delivery, baby Colt, my recovery, and for Lance.  We have felt every one of them, and we feel very blessed!