WELCOME to Earth BRYCE!!

PLEASE WELCOME...

BRYCE JOHNATHAN BARLOW

Born: November 10, 2009 @ Banner Desert Hospital

Time: 10:38PM

Weight: 7 lbs. 5.5 oz.

Length: 20 3/4 inches

Head circumference (important to the birth story): 14 1/2 inches

Yes, this is a very late post. But when baby is in the NICU for a week. The mom is in the hospital for 27 days with abscesses and massive infections; then gets discharged with home health nursing, a PICC line and a drain in your abdomen all on the brink of the Christmas holidays---life gets put on hold. Not to mention, I could barely walk, much less sit down at a computer and function. And sorry that we don't have the actual day of birth pictures because they were taken on my sisters camera. I'll get them eventually.

So, here is a summary of the labor and birth of our little baby boy.

The pictures you see are a mix of the pre-labor, labor at home and delivery at the hospital. Yes...the hospital. We planned to have a beautiful home birth with a licensed midwife. On Sun. Nov. 8, 2009 we tried a Castor

Oil treatment to try and induce labor. Nothing significant happened. While getting ready for my appointment on Nov. 9, 2009 my water started leaking. I went in and my midwife broke my water (picture- after appt.). I then started labor a little later that same morning. My parents, my aunt and John all came home to my house. My Aunt and I went for a walk to move it along (picture). John and my dad got the bed ready for delivery (picture). My mom and aunt started recording my contractions (picture). I was still able to smile during my early contractions (picture). A few hours later (also when the picture taking stopped...oops) my midwives, my sister Debra, my friends Gina and Christina and even later my sister Mary and two of my nieces all came over too. It was a huge loving and supportive group and boy did I need them all! I labored for 24 hours and my cervix kept opening and closing. I would dilate for example from a 7 to a 5 then an 8 to a 7 or a 6 to a 4. It was awful 'cause I was working so hard without permanent results. A hidden blessing, realized later, though was that I didn't know that this was not normal. I think I would have been even more
discouraged and extremely worried had I known. So anyway, 24 hours later, after meconium(baby doo-doo) came out while attempting to push, my midwife said we are going to the hospital because something isn't right. So, we went to Banner Desert and tried again for another 12 hours to have a vaginal birth. I received an epidural, which wore off while I was on the Pitocin!!!! --that pain is absolutely unimaginable, for every women who has had to endure that, my mom and aunt say that it's gotta be the golden ticket to heaven... Sure hope that is true ;-D So, in the late hours of the night on Nov. 10, 2009 I was finally
dilated to a 10 and had been pushing two hours and the baby's head was beginning to crown, but kept pulling back up between pushes. The OB came in and did an exam and said that my pelvis was too small for the baby's head and if I continued to push I would get his head stuck and we would lose the baby, me or both. He obviously recommended a C-section. It was the worst moment of my life! After 36 hours of labor to come down to this? Well, needless to say we didn't want to risk lives and so off to the Operation Room(OR) we went. Atleast they finally got my epidural going again....phew! In the OR there
were more complications. The baby's head was already stuck in the canal. So they had one Dr. pull from one side and another Dr. pushing from the other side. The baby had also been living in meconium, it was in his lungs, stomach, mouth, ears, everywhere! They cleaned him up, put him on my chest to say hello for a minute and then rushed him off to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) where he stayed for a week (pictures). Another complication was that I had an infection and the baby had positive markers for infection as well. So, we both went on antibiotics. Yet another complication that we were not aware
of until I ended up in the hospital for a second time on Nov. 20, 2009, was that my amniotic fluid was also infected and that spilled out into my abdomen which caused several abscesses, it also spread to my reproductive organs (I'm getting all personal, but you know, it's a real part of life). Oh boy were John and I worn out (picture)! When Bryce was discharged we were home for two days. Bryce was getting better and I was getting worse. My OB sent me to the ER for a CT scan to check for infection. I was admitted and stayed in the hospital for 2.5 weeks. John stayed with me in the hospital at night. The baby was not allowed to stay with me, in fact he couldn't even be in my room. My mom and dad lived at my house and raised the baby. My dad, John, sisters, and aunts all took turns coming to the hospital to help me pump every 3 hours to keep my milk supply up. My parents brought the baby to visit me almost everyday. I was extremely ill, but I was eventually
discharged with home health nursing, IV antibiotics, and an abdominal drain. Oh man, was this set up ever super busy. Good thing I payed attention to my nurses because I had to become my own nurse. My daily schedule was a nightmare. I wasn't allowed to nurse while my medication was going in, or an hour after it finished. I couldn't leave my bed when one medication was going in. I had to manually push my other medication in, but I could walk around if I wanted. And on and on with little things like that. It was so bad that my dad figured out and typed up a schedule for me and here it is:

SARA'S SCHEDULE

12:30 AM------NURSE

1:00 AM “

2:00 AM------CLIND(med)/PREP/FLUSH & DRAIN---SLEEP(1HR)--IB(med)

“ “

3:00 AM-------------“ -----------------------

“

3:30 AM-------------SLEEP (1HR)

4:00 AM “

4:30 AM------------NURSE

5:00 AM “

6:00 AM------------SLEEP (1.5HR)

7:00 AM

7:30 AM FREE

8:00 AM “

8:30 AM-----------NURSE--IB---SHAKE(food)--PROBIOTICS

9:00 AM “

10:00 AM---------CLIND/PREP/FLUSH & DRAIN----SLEEP (1HR)

“ “

11:00 AM “

11:30 AM ---------FREE

12:00 PM “

12:30 PM--------NURSE--------SHAKE

1:00 PM---GET ROCE(med) OUT OF REFRIGERATOR

2:00 PM------------------ROCE

2:30 PM---------IB “

3:00 PM------------------SLEEP (1HR)

“

4:00 PM------------------WALK

4:30 PM----------NURSE

5:00 PM “

6:00 PM----------CLIND/PREP/FLUSH & DRAIN----EAT

7:00 PM “

8:00 PM “

8:30 PM----------NURSE--IB

9:00 PM “

10:00 PM-------------SLEEP (2.5HR)

*READ SCRIPTURES, Dr.s appointments, etc.

...........Hee hee hee, I'm so glad those days are over. They did another CT and pulled the drain out about a week after discharge. Then 2 weeks after discharge Dec. 23, 2009 they pulled my PICC line. That was a nice birthday present for me=D I was free of all my leashes and things coming out of my body just in time to enjoy the holidays. My mom continued to stay with us until my sister had her baby on Dec. 28, 2009. What a blessing to have such self-less and serving family. Wow! I would not have survived this whole experience without their support, love, and sacrifice. They are still serving me on a daily basis. What a miracle that the Lord has blessed us with families. It is so important to stay close to them and to serve each other. So, now you are probably thinking that this was no summary. But alas, this is the short version of the story, but hopefully with all the important details ;-) Happy New Year!