Baby Sam

Here is a link to pictures of our new addition - Samuel Benjaman Conkey.

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Yes, Benjaman is spelled with a "man" rather than a "min".  Don's middle name is Benjaman and it was misspelled on his birth certificate, which he didn't discover 'til he was 16. He has been a very proud manly Benjaman, so we decided to pass it on.

Baby Sam was born on Saturday, May 16th (5/16) at 5:16 am and weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces and was 21" in length. While it was fun that I had the baby on my mom's birthday, the 16th was the one day in May that the baby could absolutely not be born.

 Don was supposed to take his preliminary exam for his PhD that day.  This huge 6 hour test determines whether he could stay in the program or not and has a reputation among all the engineering programs as the "worst prelim ever."  One professor told me there is a 60% pass and 40% fail rate each year. 

Don had put in over a hundred hours of prep for the test during the last two weeks and really didn't want to have to wait 'til next year to take it. The department had actually rescheduled the exam from the end of May to the middle of May since I was due at the end of May. When I was dilated to a 4 during the week and had been having regular contractions, we were really concerned I was going to have the baby during the exam.  When Friday came around and I still hadn't had the baby, Don sent an email to the professor who was proctoring the exam and told him that I could have the baby any moment. Friday evening, the professor wrote Don back and told him there was no way he was going to take the test if it could mean he would miss being there for the birth of his son. The professor told Don that he would allow him to take the test after the baby was born. While this was a huge relief, it was stressful at the same time. We were concerned that I would go another week without having the baby and could cause all kinds of problems. Don was going to have to be quarantined from the other students who had taken the exam until he had taken it. This means he couldn't go to campus and work on his research. Also, he couldn't wait too long as they needed to get the tests graded and get the results out to the other students.

So, we decided we should do everything we could to get me into labor.  We went on a 3 or 4 mile walk and as soon as we got home, I sat down and my water broke (9:55 pm)!  I called my doctor who told me to wait 'til I had contractions 5 minutes apart for a minute each that lasted an hour before coming in to the hospital. Then, I took a really nice long shower. I didn't have the first contraction for an hour and then they were coming 4 minutes apart for a minute each and they were painful.  Don was scrambling around trying to get the house cleaned up and everything packed up for the hospital. We then went to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital (11:55 pm), we walked to the main entrance only to find that it was locked. I was having really painful contractions at this point, so I would hunch over and have the contraction, and then walk a little further.  When we got to the door and found that it was locked, we had to walk quite a bit further to the emergency room entrance. I can imagine that it would have looked pretty funny watching me walk about 10 steps and stop and have a contraction before waddling a little further.  It wasn't funny at the time, but it is now.

Once we got inside, a nurse saw me have a contraction and brought me a wheelchair.  When we made it up to labor and delivery, I was in some serious pain.  Then, my nurse came and I must say, I was a little surprised to have a male nurse. I just wasn't anticipating that that was a possibility, so it kind of upset me. Luckily, he was absolutely wonderful and very compassionate, so it worked out just fine. I was the only person there in labor and delivery at that point, so I got a lot of attention and help.

I was still only dilated to a 4 when they checked me, but I was 90% effaced. They didn't want to give me an epidural until I made some progress so they could be sure it wouldn't slow down my labor. So, I started laboring and screaming my head off when I had contractions. The pain was truly amazing! I sat on an exercise ball for awhile then got in the jacuzzi tub, which was fabulous. My nurse put some peppermint oil in the tub which was really nice. I labored there for about an hour and then got on the yoga mat and labored there for a bit.  Finally, I told the nurse I was ready to get checked again and that I wanted an epidural as soon as possible. 

He checked me and I was at a 5 so he brought the anesthesiologist in and he started prepping for my epidural. It took him about 25 minutes to get everything ready and by the time he gave me the epidural, I was dilated to an 8.  No wonder I was in so much pain!

Once I got the epidural, the baby dropped down to a +3 almost immediately which made his heart rate drop. My heart rate had dropped as well with the epidural, so they tried to get the baby's heart rate back up by trying to move him back up through making me get on my hands and knees and move from side to side.  With numb legs, it was quite a challenge.  Finally, they just gave me some ephedrine and got my heart rate back up which in turn, raised the baby's heart rate. 

After about 45 minutes, the nurse told me he could see the baby's head and told me I was ready to push. I told him I was hungry, so he gave me some jello, and then I started pushing.  My doctor came in and after about 50 minutes of pushing, baby Sam was here! I probably could have pushed more quickly, but I had a mirror so I was able to see what was going on and carefully push so I wouldn't tear as much.  I had minimal tearing (I think they said first degree), so I was really lucky! All in all, my labor was 6 hours and 23 minutes from start to finish. If I had gone into labor while Don was taking his prelim, he may have missed the birth!  

When they brought the baby up to my chest, Don was crying and was so happy and I was just so tired, I could barely keep my eyes open or hold the baby.  Sam wasn't wanting to feed and was very sleepy, so they took him to weigh him and put the eye ointment in and give him the Vit. K shot.  

Then, I got pretty sick.  I threw up a couple times and was passing in and out of consciousness. I think it was a combination of low blood sugar and the shock on my body from the baby coming so quickly that made me really ill.  I finally was able to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and we went to our recovery room. 

Sam was able to latch on and has been doing really well with feeding. He had a bilirubin count that was a little high on the day that we were supposed to be discharged. Our pediatrician wanted to keep him under the bili lights for another 24 hours to try to prevent his level from continuing to go up.  We were able to stay another day and his levels went down so we were discharged on Tuesday.

Since we've been home, Sam has been doing great and is eager to meet all of his family and friends. He had his first check up today at the pediatrician and has gained 7 oz in the last three days. He is now 6 pounds 15 ounces which is one more ounce than he weighed at birth.  I am relieved that I no longer have to breastfeed him and then pump and feed him.  They wanted me to do everything I could to wash the bilirubin out of his system.  I was happy to do everything possible to get him better, but I won't miss pumping at 2 am. 

Don was able to take his prelim on Wednesday and is glad to have that behind him.  He says he felt like he failed miserably, but everyone feels that way, so we just have to wait and see and pray he passed!