Karl and I found out we were expecting our third child at the beginning of 2007. I knew right after Christmas that I was pregnant, but couldn't be sure for another month. I went to meet the nurse practitioner in February and my due date was confirmed as September 14, 2007.
We had an uneventful pregnancy, thankfully. My platelet count started out a little too low, but it was just monitored throughout the pregnancy. I actually began seeing a hematologist, just to be on the safe side. A normal platelet count is between 150,000-400,000. Mine are never that high, but they started out at 110,000. Mine usually hang out in the 120,000 range, so they started out pretty low. The hematologist ran several test and determined that I didn't have any medical problems causing low platelets and that God must have just made me with less platelets then most people.
Moving on to Cole's birth...
I had a doctor's appointment on August 29, to have my membranes stripped. I got there and my doctor was actually out of the office, so I had to see one of the other doctors. Dr. Harpole did contact Dr. Leinenbach though. Dr. Leinenbach put a hold on the membrane striping though. To have an epidural in the hospital your platelet count has to be 100,000 or more, which we couldn't guarantee that mine would be. So..Dr. Leinenbach had contacted one of the anesthesiologist and knew for sure that he would give me an epidural with platelets down to 80,000. Well, the doctor that was on today would NOT give an epidural under 100,000. So, we skipped the whole membrane thing.
On August 30, 2007 I had to report to the hospital at 6:00 a.m. to be induced. Dr. Leinenbach didn't want to wait any longer, because she didn't want my platelets to drop too low (they go lower in the last 2 weeks of pregnancy) and she didn't want me to have a big baby. Surprising I wasn't nervous leading up to the induction. I figured if it came down to induction that I would be a nervous wreck, but I wasn't at all. Karl was nervous the 2 days prior, but today he was doing good.
I got to the hospial and got all checked in and into my room. I got my pretty gown on and the nurse strapped monitors onto my belly. One monitor was to check for contractions and the other monitor was to check the baby's heartbeat. I was actually having contractions when I got there, so that was a good thing (I wasn't feeling the contractions either...so that was a good thing). I was dialeted to about 3 cm and was 75 percent effaced, so things should move along nicely.
I got my blood drawn and the dreaded numbers of the platelets were in....94,000. Yes, that is low!! Thankfully the anethesiologist at the hospital today gives epidurals down to 80,000.
I got all settled and they started my potocin (labor inducing medicine) at about 7:30. They didn't start it out too high, but it wasn't long until they turned it up and the contractions really started. A couple of hours went by and the nurse asked if I was ready for my epidural. I was starting to hurt. When she said I had to have it now or wait another hour for the doctor to get back from surgery, I voted for NOW!! Actually, the doctor had just gone into another room, so it took a little while for him to show up. It wasn't anything too major though, but I was glad to see him when he finally did arrive. The doctor was very nice and everything went smoothly. I got my epidural and I was feeling good. I just laid in bed and watched a little t.v. and took a couple of little naps.
I had gotten checked periodically and was progressing, but not too quickly. Then things started moving all of a sudden though. At about 11:30 I was starting to hurt pretty bad, so the nurse checked me and I was still at 7 cm. The nurse called the anethesiologist back in to give me some more medicine. Right after that I was still hurting and the nurse decided to check me. Well...I was complete and ready to push. I pushed about 4 times and Cole Elliot was layed in my arms. My doctor was actually gone to the other hospital that was across town, so Dr. Reisinger delived Cole Elliot at 12:25 p.m. It didn't really matter who delivered him, what mattered was that HE was here and he was healthy.
Cole had a little bit of junk in his lungs, so they suctioned him out (which he didn't like at all). They then cleaned him off and weighed and measured him.
Cole Elliot weighed in at a tiny 6 pounds 9 ounces and was a long 21 1/2 inches long. I knew from him being inside of me for so long that he was long. He has long arms, legs, fingers, and big feet. We always believe in our family that the big feet are for standing strong on our own ground (okay...he will probably be tall like Daddy, too).
Cole Elliot, we love you so much!!
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