Jude Robert Kilgore

7:55am, September 28, 2010
6lbs, 5oz, 19.75 inches



More photos click HERE.

The Story:

It's 6am. I am up with my mom and Liam. I have just given Liam some soy yogurt and blueberries (this is his pre-breakfast appetizer) when I have a strong contraction. So I go lay down on the couch for a few minutes to relax. Then I have another. It is stronger. It hurts. A lot.

At 6:25 I tell my mom to go upstairs and wake up Ryan and tell him we need to go to the hospital, and that if she wants a shower, now is the time. I have more strong contractions. I try to take a shower and fail because...well, because I am in too much pain.

It is now almost 7am. We get in the car to drive 40 minutes to Memorial Hospital, where I plan to deliver. We arrive at 7:30 because Ryan drives like crazy to get there (fast). We pull into the parking garage and park next to the door. I collapse on all fours and proceed to pant in the entry way. Someone walks by me, I ignore him. Ryan gets a wheel chair and wheels  me in.

There is no one at the front desk. Ryan calls the emergency number, and a nurse comes right away. She takes me to triage and asks me to get in a gown. I can't. I take off the clothes that I have to and get into the bed.

It is now 7:33am. They wheel me into a delivery room that's not quite ready because Jude is ready to come even if we are not ready for him to arrive. I beg for drugs. I am told no. I beg several more times. Finally the doctor looks me in the eyes and says, "your baby is coming in 3-5 minutes, there is not time, I'm sorry". The nurse says I can try a shot, but it probably won't work. I can't decide because I can't think. So I don't get that either. Probably better that I didn't because it makes the baby sleepy.

I feel a lot of pain. My water has still not broken. I am all the way dilated so the doctor breaks my water. Jude starts to crown immediately. The bed is not prepared for delivery. The doctor tells me to wait. Yeah, right.  Jude is born on the bed mattress at 7:55am--22 minutes after I was admitted. WHEW!

He is healthy, strong and sweet. And we are thankful he waited until the hospital to be born. :)

Liam and Ryan at the park

For photos click here.

Good things about bed rest, and photos of Liam...of course

Good things about being put on bed rest:
1. My finger nails have never looked better--no changing diapers, no washing dishes, pretty much no doing anything useful means great-looking hands.
2. The chance to see how much people love me.
3. Books and computers and lots of time to use them.
4. Watching Liam play with other people--seeing a new side of him.
5. Not having a baby as early as I would otherwise.

And here are some photos of Liam to brighten your day. Click Here. 

Liam doing what he does

More photos of the little man. Click here.

Liam is surviving just fine

My bed rest doesn't seem to be harming Liam at all. Here are some photos of him in the puddles outside our apartment with "Grandma" Judy and "Grandpa" Bruce.

I'm HOME!

Got to come home today, but now comes the challenge of not being able to clean up the house. Ryan is the enforcer though, he even made me recline in the car.

Fun no matter what, even in the hosptial

OK, so Wednesday was not very fun. I admit it, I had a brief time of panic during which time the family mantra slipped my mind completely. I was scared and not having any fun.

After a few days of contractions that were 30-60 minutes apart, my contractions started to get closer together and stronger. On Sunday night I had five in row that were 10 minutes apart, but then slowed again. Same happened on Monday and Tuesday. By Wednesday, Ryan convinced me that I should call my doctor to get checked. I didn't want to. I was afraid to hear the dreaded words "bed rest". I have a life, and a job, and did I mention a TODDLER?

But acquiescing to Ryan's more rational decision-making processes, I called the nurse, who of course, told me to come right in. They monitored me at my doctor's office (for contractions and the baby's heart beat) for 30 minutes. I was  having contractions every five minutes at this point...but only feeling about one out of four. :/

After a quick check, the doctor also determined that I had dilated to 3cm. Not good.

So despite the fact that this was supposed to be a visit to "make sure everything was fine" so that we could go on with life...I was sent across the street to the hospital for more monitoring. This was around 2:30pm. Ryan and Liam were with me. We were not planning to go to the hospital. It was Liam's nap time. You can imagine that this was not a very fun time.

(This is where I am http://www.qualityoflife.org/childbirth/special-care-obstetrics, which is better than where I could be http://www.qualityoflife.org/childrenshospital/nicu/?keywords=NICU&tag=&searchSectionID=)

After more monitoring at the hospital, the doctor and nurses came up with a plan of action for me.
1. Steroid shots for Jude's lungs called corticosteroids (in case they couldn't stop labor).
2. Antibiotics for me--in case I am Strep B positive, since they don't do this test until 35 weeks usually and while I would have no signs of infection, it could cause serious health risks to Jude. (IV administered).
3. A shot of a drug called Terbutaline to stop contractions.
4. Magnesium Sulfate, if the first drug to stop contractions doesn't, um, stop them. (also IV drip).
5. Saline and electrolytes to help push all this stuff through my system and prevent dehydration. (also IV drip).

The Terbutaline worked, my contractions stopped...for an hour. There was talk of discharging me. But then, they came back, stronger. So we moved on to the Magnesium Sulfate. A word about the Magnesium, YUCK.
Although it did it's job, it also made me look like I had a sunburn and have a terrible headache for 12 hours afterward. I just felt yucky all day yesterday.

Today is Friday. I am hoping, hoping, hoping that they let me go home today. I don't care that I have to have bed rest. I don't care that everything is crazy there. I just want to be in my own space where I can sleep for more than two hours without someone waking me up to check on me. I miss my family.

The best part of all of this is seeing how much people are willing to help you out when things go badly. My mom is wonderful and is coming out next weekend to help with everything and in the meantime friends and church members are bringing us meals and helping to watch Liam. So thanks everyone. You're making it easier for me to say "fun no matter what" again.

And please pray that Jude will still make it to full term. I've only got 4 1/2 weeks left until he's not premature.