North Florida Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
*Ashlee*
When you get a chance (no rush, I know you've got a lot going on with that precious new baby!), I'd love to hear about your experience. How did you like delivering at Downtown? How'd everything go? How were the nurses and the doctor? Etc...
You can PM or email/FB me if you'd rather not post it all here.
Thanks! Hope everything's going great with V-Dub. 
Honeymooning
Re: *Ashlee*
Okay, got some time! I'll try to write down as much as I can and remember! It was a bit foggy for a while, lol!
So at 11pm I started having contractions, by 2am they were 4-5 minutes apart, lasting about 50 seconds. My water hadn't broken, but all along I we had the 4 minutes apart, go to the hospital game plan. I was supposed to be induced at 7am, and we didn't think I'd make it until then (ha!) so I called the office # and hit 1 for the "do you think you're in labor" line. I spoke with a nurse and told her and she said to come on down to the hospital. I was still able to walk so we parked the car and walked to the maternity check in. I've done the pre-admittance paperwork, so she just went over a few things and then wheeled me up to my room. JJ was with me the whole time.
When we got in the room, my first nurse came in. She took my vitals and went over the basic paperwork for about 30 minutes. She went over the epi protocol then as well. Then I had another nurse come in to put in my IV. You also have a blood pressure cuff put on that stays on the entire time and automatically takes your BP every 20 minutes (this annoyed me most of all!) By 4am, we were finished with that so she got me some ice chips and left JJ and I to labor. I was progressed to 3cm at that point. The first nurse and IV girl were both nice and friendly, but we didn't get into much labor stuff so it was pretty light on conversation.
At 6am, my nurse changed, so she came in an I met her. By then my contractions were still 4-5 minutes apart, and she checked my dilation, which was at 4cm. She told me that as soon as a Dr. was available they'd break my water. Dr. Barnes was doing a c/s and then got off, and Dr. McIntyre wasn't in yet. At 7:45, Dr Boyd showed up and we talked about the game plan. I told him I would like to labor naturally, even though I was scheduled for an induction, and he was fine with that as long as I progressed. He broke my water and then headed out.
Every hour or so, the nurse would come in and change my towels, check my BP, temp, contractions, etc (you'll also be hooked up to a HB monitor and contractions monitor). I did feel really tied down to the bed, and wished I hadn't gone in so early. Between the 2 monitors, BP cuff, and IV, I wasn't really too happy. Unless you want the epi immediately, I'd hold off on going in right away. The contractions really weren't bad at all, but I was just at 4 cm.
When things were stalling (I didn't budge on the 4cm from 7:45am until 4pm) it got pretty tense, but that is where my nurse and the doctors were my saviors. At 11am after no progression, I told my nurse that we could start the pitocin on the lowest setting, and Dr. McIntyre was happy about that. I still wasn't progressing though, so they had to keep cranking it up and finally at 2pm ish I told them I was ready for the epi. The anesthesiologist was great, really friendly and she did a great job with it. I only had 1/2 bag of fluid in me though, so they had to put in another 1.5 before the epi could go in. The nurse turned it up though, and got them in in about 15 minutes, so from the moment I said "Guacamole" (JJ and my code word for okay, I'm not messing around, give me the f'ing drugs!) it was about 45 minutes until it was in and I was happy!
After the epi was in for an hour, I still hadn't dilated anymore, so Dr. McIntyre and the nurse started brainstorming what to do. They put in an internal cathader contraction monitor to see how strong they really were and how normal they were. The contractions weren't strong enough to dilate me, so they turned the pitocin up,up,up since I got the epi. Then they were worried about the HB during contractions since I had been hyperventilating, apparently, not deep breathing, so I had to get an oxygen mask. Finally, they decided my amnio fluid was down and the cord was being pinched, so they did an amnio transfusion (where they pump saline up to refil the belly). Basically, my nurse told me c/s wasn't going to happen. She told me she had a bag full of tricks and would throw everything but the kitchen sink at me, which made me so happy. I was getting really scared and down. Dr. McIntyre also was not wanting to do a c/s because Violet was so small, and there were so many more things they could try. Honestly, I was getting so upset, having so many things taped to me, in me, on me, etc. but everyone was so encouraging, it was exactly what I needed.
Finally, all of those things started to work, because at 6pm I was at 6 cm, and then by 6:45 I was up to 8.5 cm. At that point, my nurse switched out again. I was so sad because she seriously got me through the hardest part of the labor, and I was bummed she wouldn't be there in delivery
Her name was Sarah, btw. So then my new nurse came in, she was also very friend and helpful. She walked JJ and I through the delivery process so we knew exactly what would happen. She prepped the room for delivery, got out the tools and we were ready to go. Once I hit 9.5 cm, she paged Dr. McIntyre for a final check, she came in and said when I'm at 10 to start pushing with the nurse. So then she left because pushing can take a while! Well the nurse and JJ were just with me during the first set of pushes, then she told JJ to hit the call button to get the delivery team in. Dr. McIntyre, 2 assistants, my nurse, and 3 additional nurses all came in at once, I gave 3 more pushes with JJ and my nurse, then Dr. McIntyre got in position, 2 more and Violet was born. She immediately put her on my chest for a few minutes, then the 3 nurses took her for her measurements, drops, shot, etc. which took about 10 minutes while Dr. McIntyre worked on me (placenta and a stick, 1 degree tear) then they cleaned up really quickly (another 10 minutes) and just the nurse, JJ, Violet and I were in the room. The nurse showed me how to start BF her and was in and out for 30 minutes while I BF'd her and JJ ran out to the waiting room to tell the family.
After that, JJ and Violet went upstairs and my nurse finished cleaning me up then transfered me to a stretcher to go upstairs. We were in our room and met the new nurse. They got me a PB&J and we rested a few minutes while Violet had all of her vitals done. Every 2 hours they came in to check mine and Violets, and every 3 hours I fed her. It seemed like a revolving door of people, but that's just for the first 12 hours pp. Then it's every 4 hours, so not too bad. My nurses upstairs were also great. The first one told me how to take care of down there and went over what was going on. Then at shift change, the next one was really helpful with BF, later on a lactation consultant came in and she was also great. Dr. McIntyre came in just before her shift ended and checked me, then an assistant came in the next morning from N. FL ob/gyn. Honestly, there are so many people at your disposal, it's great. All so helpful and every single one of them helped me with something different or gave me tips and suggestions.
I would honestly give the hospital an A+ with everything. Our room was great, they were always asking what we needed, but they also gave us our space to get the hang of things on our own as well.
A few recommendations - They had food for me, but it was ick. And all they had was water or juice. I would recommend having a small cooler with drinks for you and your husband. I had my parents bring up lots of gatorade for me and whatever for JJ. They don't have mini fridges, which they should! After the first night, I was able to shower, and wore my regular PJ's and clothes, not gowns, which I wasn't expecting to. They'll give you a gown, but I'd rather wear my clothes, so bring clothes! Also bring all your shower stuff, the shower isn't great but it's okay. They have a sofa/bed for DH, but you might want an extra blanket or pillow. Bring your BF pillow if you have one, it helps so much. Bring lots of snacks, or have family lined up to bring you stuff, and especially for DH. JJ got Chick Fil A for lunch both days, and family brought him dinner. When you have to leave, you have until midnight to check out, but after the pedi discharges baby and the OB discharges you, you can leave. We wanted to go asap, so we were gone by 10:30am on Friday (had her Wed. night) so our only full day was Thursday. If you want the help, take it, but we were ready!
I think that's everything... honestly, it was such a good experience. The labor was not at all what I pictured (being strapped down to a million wires and plugs, pitocin cranked and an epi after 14 hours of labor) but in the end, the nurses and doctors did everything they could to ensure we were safe and I delivered how I wanted to, and then recovery was helpful and great.
I'll be thinking of you tons, I know it's going to go really well
ps - here's your prize for reading this! lol
Dang it Ashlee. I was getting a little choked up reading this, thinking about doing it all in a couple months, and that picture of Violet just pushed me over the edge! She is SO cute.
Thank you so so much for sharing! This makes me feel great about our decision to deliver there and with the drs we chose as well.
Congratulations again! I'm so glad everything went well for you! How surreal is it that you're a mom now?
Guacamole! LOL
Thanks for sharing
Seriously, it's so weird. You know when your pregnant there's a baby coming, but it doesn't really click until she's up on your chest and all of the sudden your whole life revolves around hers. And I knew I'd love her because she's my baby, but I can't believe how instantly I was just so so so full of overwhelming love for her. It's so lame, but she makes me want to be a better person, do the best I can, etc. And the weirdest part is so looking down at her and seeing a mini-me... it's like hmm, I've seen that look before, and I know that facial expression... oh wait, it's me!