Day Eight.3

Sending this out now instead of last night. Many things happened overnight, I'll update in Day Nine.

Lara discussed her treatment strategy with Margaret the midwife and the her sister-in-law, Amanda Fowler, who is also a midwife with a practice in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Specifically, they discussed the approach to epidural and treatment for nausea. According to the Mayo Clinic, an epidural is a pain-blocking procedure that can be used during labor. An epidural block uses one or more pain medications called anesthetics injected via a catheter into a small space outside the spinal cord in the lower back (epidural space). This allows for repeated or continuous administration of medications. Lara wants to avoid a catastrophic issue that could require that Lara quickly be placed her under general anesthesia. She wants to be present for the birth and a general would prevent this.

Lara was also concerned about if Pitocin would increase her likelihood for pain. She wanted to avoid that concern by preemptive use of an epidural.

She decided use the epidural only if necessary as its use would restrict Lara to her hospital bed. If the pain became too intense, the medical team started that it has two anesthesiologist available at all times. Once the epidural is placed, the medication may take between one and 15 minutes react.

With regard to nausea, the midwife said that Zofran is available intravenously. Lara seemed relieved.

Lara came off the Pitocin at about 6:00p. She felt much better, especially after eating and showering. She bounced on the pregnancy ball and nausea symptoms subsided. We were able to eat, which Lara was ecstatic about. She had pasta primavera and I had a chicken Caesar salad with a loaf of bread. Happy Valentine’s day dinner.

Baby Fife-Myers continues to grow and move. He appears to be moving down the birth canal and doing other things. We don’t know what these other things are, monitor sounds like he is moving boxes or making muffins. He continues to tolerate the labor process and has a strong heart rate with accelerations, just what we like to see.

We said goodbye to Robin, our nurse over the past couple days. She has been like our mother hen, protecting us – overly – and spending time with us. Robin works weekends at the hospital but during the before times, provided prenatal care to at risk women. She said that we are well-liked amongst the staff – possibly because we are straight fire – or because we purchased a dozen gourmet donuts for ward when we arrived. Don’t ever say bribes don’t work. Jokes. Maybe. Either way, Lara and I are thankful for her and look forward to letting her know about Mr. Fife-Myers when he gets here.

She is now back on pit, 2 by 2 per hour. Definitely not likely to enter active labor tonight.

Thanks for the support.