The Journey of our Superman, Christian Matthew: Christian Matthew's Big Debut

Waiting to start induction

November 26, 2012, at 9 p.m. we were at Christiana Hospital getting checked in to deliver our little miracle. They used what is called a Foley bulb to induce me. I was not dilated at all. This bulb was to stay in until I was 3 centimeters dilated which then they would proceed with Pitocin to start my contractions. I was to be able to urinate regularly, however, the bulb was not inserted far enough up and fell out shortly after it was put in while I used the restroom. They had to come back in and insert another. It was very uncomfortable as they put it in, so getting it done twice was not fun. I dilated to 3 at some point in the night and they put me on the contraction medicine. The contractions were not bad until around 2 p.m. the following day. They came in and broke my water that I wish I had received my epidural before having done. I had an excess amount of fluid the doctor said. I went ahead and received an epidural around 4 centimeters after my water was broke. The doctor that did it seemed to take a long time to get it in there and poked me several times. This too was very uncomfortable. I was able to sleep 2 hours and woke up to contractions. The epidural was not strong enough so they tried upping the dosage 3 times, to the maximum amount. When I was still in tears from the pain, another anesthesiologist came in to redo the epidural. This doctor put the epi higher up and it took all of 2 minutes. I immediately felt relief and it lasted through the birth process. Around 7:00 p.m. I felt as if I needed to push and the resident came in and I was 6 centimeters. Within an hour I was ready to push Christian out. It took about 5 contractions, 3 pushes each, to get him out. It wasn’t that it was painful, but that it was hard to catch my breath to keep pushing. Little Christian Matthew Pauley made his appearance at 8:13 p.m. on November 27, 2012. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 12 oz and was 21 inches long with a full head of black hair. He was beautiful. The doctors told me he had came out like superman with a fist in the air like he was flying. I got to hold him for a brief minute before he was whisk off to the ICU. Hunter, Terry, and my parents were all able to go visit him while he was in the ICU. I needed stitches so I had to wait “patiently” to be able to see my beautiful miracle. They brought Christian down in a little “container,” Grandpa Rolla called it his Farrari. I was able to reach my hands in and touch my sweet baby, but not hold him or kiss him goodbye before he was transferred to A. I. Dupont Hospital in Wilmington. Not being able to go with him was so hard. How could I miss someone so much I just met?

Terry and Hunter went up with Christian to Dupont and waited to see what the next steps were. He was stable and they were able to get a room to stay in for the night at the hospital. I was transferred to high risk maternity recovery and my mom stayed overnight with me, while my dad went home to tend to the puppies. The next day I was determined to get to my baby. Dad came to get mom so that she could get home and shower and get around before we all went up the see Christian. I talked with my doctor and because I was doing well and I was determined she signed my discharge papers within 20 hours of labor. We all went up to Dupont to see our sweet little boy. It was so hard because I was not able to touch or hold him like a mother should. He was in a little plastic tent to keep his oxygen regulated. I talked to him and just watched him sleep. He was so beautiful on the outside, why Did God allow him to be so broken on the inside. I just kept praying he was ok and that everything would come back normal and that his heart was miraculously healed. Thursday we went home to get cleaned up and grab some things before heading back up to the hospital. We received a phone call the doctor wanted to speak with us about what he saw on the echo. When we got back up to A. I. We met with a doctor that was for the CICU (not Christian’s surgeon). He explained to us that Christian’s heart not only had HLHS, but that it was also not beating the way they wish it was. It had been moderately depressed while I was in the womb, and although it was only mildly depressed now; Dr. Pizzaro (Christian’s surgeon) did not want to risk the Norwood without first fixing the pumping of Christian’s heart. He did not think Christian’s heart would tolerate the bypass machine very well during the Norwood and Christian’s heart needed to be stronger to undergo such an intense surgery. He decided that Friday morning Christian would undergo his first open heart surgery to put bands around the pulmonary arteries to hopefully help with the way Christian’s heart pumped. Thursday night was very long and I barely slept. The news just kept getting worse. All I could do was ask; WHY God WHY?!