First sign I am a new mom? I wanted to get this out days ago but was only able to finish it up now!
Baby
girl is now 9 days old and we are all doing well, for the most part.
Details to come once I get around to writing the postpartum stuff… give
me a week, or so!
Friday November 20:
We
were scheduled to be induced this day and I jumped every time the phone
would ring, but due to lack of beds they never called. It was a very
long day but a good practice run for my nerves.
Saturday Nov 21:
Just
sitting down to lunch at 12:02pm and we get the call we were waiting
for! We have never moved so quickly, especially at 39 weeks pregnant!
Then, the phone rings again. My doctor wasn’t convinced and wanted
another stress test first. I agreed because, once again, fetal movements
were low and I probably would have gone in for this anyhow had they not
found a bed. After the test my doctor examined me and agreed to admit
me and get things started. Yay! Excited and terrified, but more than
ready!
They broke my water at about 5pm and started
Pitocin simultaneously. And, WOW, did I ever have a lot of amniotic
fluid! I got up to pee and it gushed all over the place! I told DH to
call for housekeeping but he decided to clean it up himself – ew, gross.
And the socks I was wearing? In the garbage! It was actually a huge
relief though; I felt lighter already and a lot less pressure. My BFF
strongly recommended adult diapers to me for postpartum care, but they
ended up coming in really handy when dealing with the fluids too… and
no, I am not ashamed to admit it like I thought I would be; best
purchase for this whole birthing ordeal to this day!
Contractions
at this point were good and close together. The pain level was bearable
for a few hours, but then it hurt so much I started vomiting so I asked
for Fentanyl to take the edge off in an attempt to delay the inevitable
epidural. It helped, a little, but it wasn’t long before I was begging
for the epidural; maybe an hour? Seriously, at that point there is no
need to be a hero! I promised myself I would feel what labor felt like
and I did, and it was enough!
I was a little afraid of
the thought of a needle going into my spine but I couldn’t sign the
paperwork fast enough. The anesthesiologist was great and I barely felt a
thing! It worked its magic very quickly, but part of the tubing came
loose at some point and they decided rather than fix it and risk
infection they would redo it since I wouldn’t feel anything. And, I’m
actually glad they did because it worked even better the second time
around!
Sunday Nov 22:
I was able to sleep most of the night but kept feeling a heavy pelvic
pressure, almost like constipation times 100. Not knowing any better, I
thought it was contraction related so I kept pressing the epidural
button every 15 minutes (which in retrospect is probably why I slept so
well). I found out the next morning that it was not actually related to
contractions specifically. When they examined me, her head was turned in
a way that made it difficult for her to pass through the canal so she
kept banging into it and not going anywhere, slowing contractions and
labor down to make things worse. Around 10am they consulted the doctor
and he suggested some additional pain medication to help with that
discomfort (and I use that word very mildly) and to increase Pitocin to
try and get things started again for a natural birth.
Around
11am the pain medication had worn off and, after another consult, the
decision was made that I would be going in for a C-section.
DH is not good with needles, surgery, blood, etc… so they left him
outside while they prepared me for my C-section. The first thing I was
told was that if I were to become nauseous they could give me something
for that if I wanted but they prefer to wait until the baby was out. I
told the anesthesiologist I already was nauseous from the pain and he
handed me something to throw up in immediately. After looking at me for a
minute and checking my vitals he made the call to give me the
anti-nausea medication immediately. It worked quickly and he followed it
up with more pain meds on top of the already effective epidural so I
felt pretty good at this point aside from shivering uncontrollably,
which they gave me heated blankets for.
At some point I
noticed the amount of blood in the urine bag attached to my catheter
(which you get once you have the epidural) and asked if it was normal.
The doctor heard me and responded that seeing it himself made him
confident that a C-section was inevitable for me because the baby was
damaging me internally. It would have been nice for him to have seen it
or someone to have told him a couple of hours prior! He then came over
to talk to me and eventually asked me to remove any metallic piercings
that I have (eyebrow and nose). The funniest part about this is that he
cringed while I removed my eyebrow ring! I started right at him and just
said “Really? And YOU’RE about to cut me open and give me a C-section?”
laughing. He cringed again, smiled and walked away leaving the nurses
laughing.
They finally brought DH in right before cutting
me open and most of what happened from there is a blur. I know that I
stopped breathing properly, again, and DH had to keep stimulating me to
breathe deeply but I was so drugged up that the rest is foggy. Because
it was a C-section, the doctor cut the cord and once baby was out they
let DH go over and see her before bringing her over to me. They were
very nice and took our first family picture for us.
After
this hey started to close me up and that’s when I got a little mouthy
it seems. I had said from the start that I did not want students
involved in my birthing process because I was tired of being a lab rat.
But, one student did politely ask if she could observe my C-section and I
agreed – I blame the drugs. Anyhow, as I was lying on the table being
stitched up, I could hear the doctor instructing the student on how to
close me properly! Doing is not observing! I remember saying something
like “can’t HE do this himself? It’s taking so much longer this way,
teaching her…” and just as the words came out of my mouth, DH saw
another syringe filled with meds get pumped into me and my eyes just
closed.
When I opened my eyes, everything was done, DH
was gone and they were ready to transfer me to recovery. And then, the
scariest thing happened… they put the baby on top of me for the ride,
skin-to-skin! I was still shivering and completely drugged so I asked if
that was really a good idea and they said it would be fine, not to
worry and that I wouldn’t drop her. They sort of wrapped a blanket
around her and me together to keep her from falling off and I am glad
they did because I don’t even remember traveling the halls to recovery
very well. DH met me there and I think even he was surprised to see our
daughter strapped to my chest! A few more diagnostics, vitals, and some
morphine and we were shipped off to postpartum care!
