Play By Play

Okay, here it is, 10:15 the night before we induce labor. Jana just took a sleeping pill and is watching my type this post from her hospital bed. We came in tonight to have Cervadil (sp?) applied which is a medicine used to "ripen" the cervix. There is a small chance that it will send her into labor, but the plan is to start Petosin (sp?) at 7 in the morning.

My plan, and mind you what happens when you make plans, is to update this blog throughout the day tomorrow to let those who cannot be here for the blessed event, keep up to date with the goings on.

So far, there is not much to tell, and that is a good thing. Check back periodically to hear the latest. We love you all, and appreciate your prayers.

7:00 AM - July 3rd
The Petosin was administered at 7 on the dot.. much to the chigrin of the sleepy husband. Jana slept well, but is a little more uncomfortable with each contraction. The number of chords and wires she has hooked to her makes trips to the bathroom quite the ordeal too.


9:00 AM
Mimi showed up with breakfast, much to the chigrin of the hungry mom to be. We were in the middle of a rousing game of Yahtzee when the doc came in to check up on her. After a quick check of the cervix, he announced that she had dialated some, and the cervix had grown soft... all good things. He decided to break her water!

That went well, the fluid was clear so all good signs that the cervadil and petosin were working correctly. We're getting ready for the ride, and will try to keep you all posted.

10:30 AM
Things are progressing nicely. The contractions are coming very regularly, every minute and a half or so, and they are staying pretty intense. Jana is saying her pain scale is at a 2 on a scale of 0 to 10 where 5 is crying. She is such a trooper!

A few of my favorite moments so far:

• Last night Jana was talking in her sleep and woke me up when she blurted out "Food.... foooood".
• Jana has been eating ice chips and with each bite saying "Honey nut Cheerios, chocolate doughnut, etc as she pretends she's eating something more pleasant than plain ice.
• Here is a picture of Jana during one of her contractions... notice the spoon!
  

More to come as things progress!










12:30 PM
Mom and I just got back from a lunch run. Jana apparently slept for most of the time that we were gone. Her contractions have fizzled a little so they are upping her dose of Petosin. They are going to gradually increase the dosage to get her contractions into a regular rhythm before they check her progress.

We're all sitting around eating our sandwiches, and feeling sorry for Jana. She is SO hungry. They added glucose to her IV drip to help regulate her blood sugar.

Jana just announced "I smell a pickle!" poor baby.

Here we are trying to relax... we're hoping Jana can get some more sleep through these early stages.

2:00 PM
The nurse just checked her, and we are at 4cm dilated 80% effaced. So things are moving right along. Jana's spirits are high, although she's starting to give me the evil eye more and more often. I just knew this was going to end up being my fault.

Her breathing is doing well, and I am soooooo proud of how she is handling this. She is managing to stay relaxed in a situation Lord knows I would be the biggest weenie ever in.

The nurse says that we've had excellent progress, so we are all getting excited for the arrival of the little one.

Thank you all for your prayers and comments. Jana has appreciated them as I read them aloud to her, although I have censored the ones about 16 hour labors! ;)

Stay tuned...

4:00 PM
Well the doc checked her again, and we are STILL at 4cm. They are upping her dosage of Pitocin once again. We're really trying to kick this girl into gear, but as we all know this is quite the process, so it will happen when it happens.

The good note is that when the doc walked in this last time he said "well we need to check you since this epideral is working so well..." then we informed him that she has not had one! That's right, my baby is so calm and collected, and not one drop of pain medication has been administered. I am more proud of her than words can express, not because I have anything against the drugs, but because she has just been so strong through this whole process. I am amazed by her, even more now than I had been before, and that is saying ALOT!

6:00PM
Awaiting the epideral. The nurse checked her at 5:20 and she was still at 4, but the pitocin was not allowing the contractions to stop. She was going for 5 minutes at a stretch with 10 to 15 seconds between. Such hard work, and killing em to sit here and watch. We opted for the epideral because of the lack of progress, and the extreme exhaustion of 11 hours of labor so far.

Just a minute ago Jana had the urge to push, and so the nurse checked again and she was at 6cm. 2cm in half an hour! We're not sure where this leaves us, we are still waiting on the doc to administer the drugs.

7:00PM
The last 40 minutes were some of the hardest I have ever experienced, and I wasnt even doing any of the work. After agreeing that she wanted the epideral, Jana had a contraction that lasted 12 minutes... non-stop.

She was soooo strong through it, but it was so hard to watch. The "happy" doc finally showed and we got the epideral in, but here's the kicker. In the 40 minutes it took to get him in here Jana went from 4cm to 7.

Thank you all so much for your prayers, and please keep them coming. I feel like we are in the home stretch. Jana is much happier at this moment, and back to talking about food, and how hungry she is. Funny how her mind goes right back to food when she's not so distracted.

7:43 PM
The doc just stopped by to check on the much happier Jana, and guess what... she is almost totally dilated, and the expect her to start pushing in 10 - 20 minutes... that's 8 on the nose for starting... PLEASE PRAY FOR US!!!! Jayden is almost here, and we are getting ramped up for the last push! (litterally).

Thanks for hanging in there all day with us... the next post I assume will be welcoming our daughter to the wonderful adventure that is life.

9:10 PM
Jayden Bridgwater McHam entered the world, in a very eventful delivery. Her shoulder got stuck during the delivery and the doc had to do some very quick manuvering to get her out. It was very scary, and thank God Jana did not pick up on the tension in the room because she was so busy pushing. Jayden eventually broke free, as the doc says, 30 seconds before drastic measures were to be taken.

Everything is perfectly fine now, and Jana is feeding her now, and so we proudly present to you... Jayden



The blue face is bruising from the exciting delivery, she has a nice pink hue everywhere else, and a small little birthmark on her hip. She has a FULL head of long black hair!

Needless to say we are all exhausted... it looks like we will be here in the hospital until Sunday. Visitors are, of course, welcome during visiting hours from 8:30am till 9 pm.

A huge thanks to all of you who have prayed for this day, and this event. We ask that you continue to pray for Jayden and our family.

Good night, and God Bless!