The unexpected

We had all been waiting anxiously for my sister's baby to arrive. Crew Everett. We just recently attended her baby shower and ooohhed and aaahhhed over all sorts of adorable clothes. It had been a completely normal pregnancy. Only a few contraction scares here or there. But nothing could have prepared us for his birthday.

Last Friday, with babysitter all arranged, I woke up early and excited to drive to Mercy Hospital in Rogers for my sister's induction. I wasn't thrilled about her choice to induce, but super excited I could be there for her when the baby came. I got to the hospital about 10:30 am. Her pitocin was at 8 and she had recently got her epidural. She was only about 2 1/2 to 3cm. Baby was high and her cervix still 60% effaced. I prayed the epidural relaxed her enough to dilate quickly but that didn't seem to be the case. Instead, I saw a baby in distress. His heart rate kept decelerating and nurses kept popping in and out. I was beating most of them to the punch, turning my sister to her side, putting an oxygen mask on her. But I didn't control the pitocin. It really needed to be turned down. Thankfully, the dr. agreed that the baby wasn't tolerating this at all. Her pitocin continued to be turned down until finally it was turned off completely to give the baby a break. We found that if Marie stayed on her left side the baby's heart rate would get better. Her water had been broken a long time before and it seemed to be contributing to the baby's distress, so by the time late afternoon came the dr. decided it was time for an amnio infusion. The amnio infusion helped so much they were able to start the pitocin again. At 8:30pm, after a very long labor, Marie was able to start pushing. I was so relieved and excited for her to be at this point. The pushing began, and immediately it wasn't going well. The baby's heartbeat started dropping again and the pushing didn't seem to be doing anything. Marie was pushing with all her might, position changes were made and after 2 hours of pushing the dr. declared, arrested descent and ordered an emergency c-section.

Clennton and Marie asked if I would go back with Marie to her c-section. I gowned up, camera ready and headed back when they came to get me. The surgery had begun when I arrived and the OR was fully staffed with 2 OB's, a pediatrician, 1 nursery nurse, 1 respiratory therapist, an anesthesiologist, 2 scrub tech's, and the OB nurse. It was a houseful. I reassured Marie. Held her hand, stroked her head, and told her what was going on. The OB finally got to the baby and had to use a stool to stand on. The baby's head was lodged down in the pelvis. He got his head unstuck and pulled him out. I quickly saw him hand the baby over to the nursery nurse and they began their duties to the baby. The baby was surrounded so I only caught a glimpse of his face here and there. He was crying and pink. That was the good news. Finally, the pediatrician took a step to the side and I caught a glimpse of his face. It didn't look good. And then I saw it. Something was wrong with Crew. The pediatrician kept looking near his leg and I couldn't figure out what it could be. I finally asked if I could come see the baby. The room grew very quiet and the staff all looked concerned. I said, "I'm a NICU nurse. I can handle it." The dr then nodded that I could come over. He whispered his thoughts to me. This looked like bladder exstrophy and the penis was underdeveloped. My heart fell. My poor sister. This was not going to be an easy fix and he most definitely was not going to be staying with her. I turned to her and told her how beautiful and cute he was. I then told the dr that he had to tell her. She would know that I know something is wrong and I wanted him to be the one to tell her. I told him I could digest the information for her. He walked over and spoke very quietly to her. I went around to the other side and the nursery nurse brought us the baby. We laid Crew next to her face and Marie cried and kissed him. I reassured her that everything was going to be ok. He was pink and breathing and his heart sounded wonderful. All the important things were working. He was alive. Marie asked me to follow the baby back to the NICU. Crew weighed 7lbs. The dr spoke to the team at Children's Hospital in Little Rock and now I had the unfortunate task of telling Clennton and all the family that was waiting.

I can't even really describe what that was like, other than to say, it was very painful and very hard. I tried to stay upbeat and informative. Put on my nurse's hat, as I had done so many times before. It was painful when the people on the receiving end are related to you and their hurt is your hurt.

It was a long weekend. Crew was airlifted to Children's. Clennton drove. My parents drove and I stayed at the hospital with Marie helping her recover until Monday when she was reunited with Crew at home. He is at home awaiting surgery. Eating and sleeping and looking so cute.