Jacob Bryan Eldreth

Jacob Bryan Eldreth
February 10, 2009
8 lbs. 9 oz.
20 3/4 inches

Wow, what a way to come into the world. It was another hard delivery just like Gabi's. They call it "Dystocia". It's when the baby gets stuck. Ok, here's the story...About 5am I felt some pain and didn't know if was just false labor. By 7am I woke my mom up and told her I thought this was it. We called the hospital and they said to get my butt in there. The pain was there but not so bad that I was in tears...yet. We dropped Gabi at my friend, Meggan's house (my godsend here. She and Mark are one of the only things we like about where we live and great friends). It started off bad. My mom took out the camera to take a before pic and the camera shut off...no more battery life, and where was the charger? AT HOME! No birth pictures?! Bryan had no idea I was even in labor because I couldn't use my cell phone AND my doctor wasn't on duty! So, his associate, who I like, talked to me about Cesarean and Vaginal and the risks. Well, as you know, I had a scheduled c-section for the following Monday. My doctor and I never discussed anything different! After listening and feeling afraid of major surgery, which I was always afraid of, and thinking new doctor (not the nazi from Gabi's birth, who by the way said my second child would fall right out!), new nurse, new everything, maybe a vaginal would be smoother than last time. Little did we know...


So, they admitted me and I was only 2 cm. Boy it felt like more.(I am kinda wimpy.) They put me in my room and we decided the doctor would come back in about and hour, break my water and give m potocin to speed up the process. So, she did. I got my epidural because by now I was in tears and sent my mom home to get the charger for the camera. We got a hold of Bryan and now I could talk to him in my room. It was all going to be ok. HMMMMM....So, my mom was gone and the nurse decided to check me and withing 45 min. I was 10cm, fully effaced and the baby's head was right there. We called me mom but she had just pulled into my garage. So, without the charger, she backed it up and sped to the hospital. Well, It turns out, Jacob is rather stubborn, just like Gabi. I had to push for a little under 2 hours. The last hour was without drugs. The nurse had turned off the epidural so I would be able to feel the pushing or else he never would have dropped and a c-section would've been necessary. My doctor told me she wouldn't let me push for more than 2 hours and we were about there. Sweat was pouring, I was freaking out a bit, although my mom says I handled the situation beautifully, and the pain was at a 10+++++...


So...my doctor was assisting in a c-section but on her way to me, when Jacob's head popped out! The only people in the room were the nurse and my mom!!! The nurse yelled for help and they called for my doctor. She was there instantly along with another person who was dressing her another nurse that was there to help and then I had to push. No Jacob and no crying! The doctor was calling for anyone in the hall to come help. Even, the tech guy who moved my bags for me was there. There were a couple of people pushing on my belly, some pulling my legs back and the NICU doctor and nurse waiting for him to come out. The doctor really handled it well. She stayed calm and knew exactly where to tell them to push on my to get his shoulder to pop out, which after 3 minutes, it did! He had the cord around his neck and the doctors took him. They let me hold him for a quick minute but I was pretty out of it and worried because I still hadn't heard a peep out of him. The epidural was then turned back on and the stitching began. The tear was much better than Gabi's and I am really healing much better than I did with Gabi. The tailbone isn't half as bad, thank god! So, on to the NICU...

We didn't even know how much he weighed until over an hour later. We didn't know ANYTHING until over an hour later! I wasn't very happy. He had to stay in the NICU for 8 days. He had some respiratory problems, needed oxygen and had a possible infection. They did a spinal tap which came back positive and did another one to make sure it wasn't a false positive, which it was. He finished a week of antibiotics and on day 8 he came home!!!


Bryan was able to come in for the weekend but Jacob was still in the NICU. Gabi was such a good girl throughout all of this, travelling back and forth, hanging out in a little room while we gave so much attention to Jacob. She is such big girl and is so infatuated with her little brother. She wants him to sleep in her room like he is one of her stuffed animals or baby dolls. There are hard times when she wants to send him back but for the most part it is great!!!

Thanks everyone for all your well wishes, prayers and wonderful emails. More to come...