David Gaston: The Untold Story

A lot of people have been asking about the whole labor story...you know, how it all went down. So, Jennie and I decided to make one long post that told the whole story. So, we give you,

"David Gaston: The Untold Story"

On Tuesday afternoon, I get a text message from my wife that says she has been having pretty regular contractions...every 10 to 15 minutes. I am thinking this could be it! I had planned on playing some late afternoon golf and was leaving the office early anyway, so I decided to go ahead and go home to check on her. When I got there, the contractions had slowed and became very irregular (once having a 40 minute break in between). After consulting one of the trusty books she often refers to , she was convinced that until the contractions were 5 minutes apart for one hour, she was not really in labor. You see, she had some fairly regular contractions two nights before and then they started spacing out and eventually went away. So, she sent me on to play golf thinking they were going away.

Later on that afternoon, while I am standing in #16 fairway, 117 shots over par and praying for rain, I get a text from Jennie saying that the contractions were not really back, but she was exhausted and wondering if I could come home in a little while. Well, that was better than rain. I had my excuse to leave. When I arrived though, I found that she started having contractions again, but this time, they were a little more painful. Now, this being our third child (which makes me an expert in some cultures), I thought this was a little strange because she did not have real painful contractions like these previously, until we got to the hospital. So, immediately, I am concerned. However, remember the book says every 5 minutes for 1 hour.

Later on, although her water still had not broken, some other things happen that let us know we are going to the hospital tonight. I will not go into detail about these things, but just trust me. We called Mom and Dad and asked them to come stay with the boys, but to wait a little bit (Jennie's request) because the contractions were still irregular and she wasn't ready yet (showering, cleaning, laundry,etc...). It is also about this time that I notice Jennie is in a fair amount of pain. In fact, at one point, she has to put the phone down because she can't talk through one of the contractions. So, now I know we are going to the hospital because this must be serious if she can't talk on the phone. However, Jennie is still stalling a little bit. By this time, she has showered, gotten all fixed, and is asking me to do all sorts of things before we go. Start the clothes in the wash, unload and load the dishwasher, etc...telling me all this in between contractions that she can't speak through. So, although we told Mom and Dad to wait a little bit, I called back and told them to come on. When they got here, I finally put my foot down and told her we were going and this other stuff could wait. So, about 9:30pm or so, we headed to SAMC for round 3.

On the way, we decided it was about time for us to make a decision on the baby's name. So, we decided to name him David Parks and call him Parks. (Obviously, neither one of us was too sure about that.) When we got there, we got all checked in and to Jennie's great excitement, Sheri, who was Jennie's nurse when Houston was born was working and came down to wheel her up. She was initally taken to Evaluation because she was not due for a couple of days. Sherri checked Jennie and told us she was already 5 to 6 cm dilated and 75% effaced. So, she would be moving to a room soon. This was good news but a little sad because Sheri was working the evaluation room. However, she switched so she could be our nurse. They fast-tracked the epidural as well.

Once we got in the room and Gigi, Papa and Mooma were all settled, Jennie and I took a few minutes to finally decide what we should name him. Stating pros and cons for both names, we finally decided on David Gaston. The overriding reason was because, when we found out it was another boy, this is the first name that came out of my mouth and Jennie liked it. When I asked her about Parks and the decision we made in the car, she said she was in a lot of pain and that didn't count.

Around 12:20 or so, Sheri checked Jennie again and discovered that she was complete. However, the doctor was in the middle of the C section delivery and would be another 20 minutes before he could get in there. We thought about calling the backup doctor, but by the time he got there, the primary would be ready. So, she didn't start pushing until 1:00am. After this, the details get a little too specific, so I will spare you. However, I will say that after pushing for only 16 minutes, out came David. My first words, "he looks just like Houston". He cried well at first, but was really purple. As his color started to improve, the nurse noticed something funny about his breathing. She noticed he was struggling a little bit. All of his tests were fine, but the breathing was a little off. So, she told us she wanted to take him into the SCN (Special Care Nursery or ICU) because she thought his lungs were not opening up all the way. So, off they went. The pediatrician came and ordered some x-rays. When they came back, the radiologist noticed a pneumothorax on one side. The way it was described to us is basically a pocket of air gets between the lung and the chest cavity keeping the lung from expanding all the way. This can grow and cause all kinds of other internal problems (lungs get pushed out of the way, they push other organs into other organs, something eventually gets pushed into the heart which gets squeezed, etc...) that could possibly lead to death. So, it is serious, but David's was really small.

In some cases, a pneumothorax will require a chest tube which would mean a trip to Montgomery. Not so in David's case. Upon a review of the 2nd round of x-rays the next morning, Dr. Head told us that David actually had a double pneumothorax, but still very small and he thought the problem would correct itself. He wanted to leave him in SCN and on oxygen. So, this is what he looked like for about a day.

This looks a little worse than it is. The big white cast looking thing on his right had is all just to hold the i.v. in. He had to have an i.v. because he couldn't feed. As for the Darth Vadar hood, that is pumping warm oxygen all around him. Its called the washing technique which basically means, helps the problem fix itself. How awesome would that be to sit under that warming lamp, while you are so cold and still confused as to why you somehow got pushed out of your house of 9 months, and breathe warm oxygen. I asked if they had one for adults and they said not on that floor, so I passed. The SCN was not that bad. I mean, we couldn't have David in our room or hold him, but he was the only one in there which meant he got their total focus and we could go see him as many times as we wanted to, with as many people as we wanted in tow. And, we could even open the little hatch on the right to get a good shot of his face, or just to talk to him like Momma was doing here.

By Wednesday afternoon, one side had resolved itself and the other side had been reduced by 15%. So, Dr. Adams decided he wanted to keep him in the SCN for another night just to make sure everything got corrected. He reduced his oxygen level and felt pretty sure it would clear up by in the morning. He ordered another x-ray for early in the morning and said he would see us first thing to report.

When he came in Thursday morning, he told us what we were waiting to hear. Both pneumothorax's had resolved themselves and they were going to start weaning him from the oxygen. He said he wanted Jennie to go in and feed him at around 11am. Since he was going to be out from under the oxygen hood, he was able to get his first bath. This also meant that I would get to hold him for the first time.

After his first feeding at 11, he was released to the "well baby nursery" and was able to run and jump and play like a normal kid. Or rather, lie there in the bright lights in his swaddling blanket and not make a sound. Jennie went back in there to feed him around 1 or so (I made a 5 minute cameo and then headed for the couch and the U. S. Open). Then, at around 3:15pm, the moment we were all waiting for...the nurse wheeled him in with no more monitors.

From here, everything was pretty much uneventful. Lots of sleeping, feeding, checking of vitals, etc... We did have to stay an extra night in the hospital, although Jennie was discharged on Friday morning and was free to come and go as she pleased. They gave us what they call a "courtesy room". Although, as we all know, I am sure there was nothing "courtesy" about it. This basically means they let you stay in your room unless they get overrun with labor patients and have to kick you out. I guess that means at any time of night. Thank goodness we didn't have to find that out.

Around 9:30am, David was discharged and we loaded up the old minivan and headed for the house. Gigi and Papa accompanied us to help preserve the moment in pictures. We arrived with little fanfair as Mooma, Pop-I and Annie were keeping The Rock and The Bomb. So, it was a nice time for David to get used to his surroundings...and he seemed to adjust well.

One last thing we would like to add is our ringing endorsement of SAMC and all the nursing staff on teh 4th floor. From the nurses to the housekeepers, every single person was as friendly as they could be. They wait on you hand and foot. No one ever passes you in the hallway without saying hello and/or asking if they can help you in any way. For those of you that visited, you know the facilities are top of the line (at least in Dothan), but the staff is too. From the birthing suites to the waiting areas to the parking lot, we could not have been more pleased with all three of our experiences there. I would highly encourage you to look into "birthing" there if you are expecting or expect to be expecting in the future. It is well worth the extra three minutes it takes to get out there.