Annie's Arrival: Part 2 (Delivery)
Continuing on from our last post.
The doctor orders an ultrasound because he has a suspicion of what may be happening. After a while of looking around and then some consults... the rad tech finds what could be a bleed in the uterus. There is also an area or two where it looks like the placenta may be detaching from the uterus. She isnt sure about these areas, though they do raise some concern.
After a review from our doctor, from the radiologist, and because of the fact that my contractions are pretty heavy (and still no pain), they conclude that I am at a high risk for placenta abruption. There does indeed appear to be a bleed and they are not ok with this. In the last few weeks our doctor had a scenario like this and by the time the lady came to the hospital and they were able to get her into surgery... it was too late and they lost the baby - so he was on extra high alert.
He recommends that we go ahead and deliver her via emergency c-section.
Let me stop right there and insert my thoughts and feelings into the situation.
Uh...what? i was supposed to go home hours ago. Annie is a month away from being due. I have 4 more weeks to prepare...only, not anymore. We're having a home birth. We have a plan. I'm going to be a mom within the hour? I dont even have a clean set of underwear here with me. I'm having a baby today? And lastly - a C-what? My pregnancy has been perfect up until this point...The big C was never even on our radar - and now I'm having one on the fly. Gulp. Tremble. Panic.
I do have to say that the Lord blessed us with THE most amazing nurse of all time. Celly. She could see my panic and reassured me over and over that it would be ok, this was for the best, and that she would do everything in her power to make sure things went the way we wanted them to. Being able to see her when she gets delivered, being able to hold her almost immediately, nursing, etc..
At one point I was shaking so badly that I couldnt control it. She got in front of me, grabbed my face, and said "sweetie, its ok. You're doing the right thing."
We call our midwife and have our doctor talk to her to make sure this is absolutely neccessary - and she agrees that it is what needs to be done. The risk of not doing it is too high and one that none of us are willing to take. We also phone our doula and she comes immediately to provide some support.
Within minutes of Nayomi's arrival they take me back to prep me for.. gulp... surgery. I'm shaking so badly from nerves and fear and everything else that I have to apologize to the anesthesiologist 1000 times while he's trying to do my spinal. Again, my nurse is in front of me holding my hands to try to keep me calm and to keep me from jerking. They have me lie back and then take my gown off for all the world to see... Soon I go numb so I really care less about the fact that a room full of 10 people are seeing me in all of my glory. People say all the time that when you deliver a baby you stop caring about who sees you naked. I confirm, this is true.
Once they have me all prepped they go and grab Steven. It's time.
The procedure is very quick. Within minutes they have me opened up. Steven is holding my hands reassuring me that everything is ok and that we're doing the right thing.. All of a sudden, I feel them pull her out of me and I tell him "she's here!!!!" Not even a second after that came out of my mouth the doctor yells "Ok Daddy look over here!" Steven stands up to peer over the curtain and sure enough..there she is.. not only her, but also me, opened up, bloody, etc... So he sits down shortly afterwards because that was too much sight to bear. They hold her around the curtain so i can get a peek out of her. She's big. She's bloody, but she's perfect.
We just had a 6lb 10oz baby girl who is 4.5 weeks premature. She was born at 12:55pm and is 18.5 inches long.
They take her over to the little baby station which is within Steven's line of site and start suctioning, cleaning, and all of that. She's screaming! The staff in the room are cracking up because her crying is so powerful. Steven and I both look at each other with a glance of "she's going to be ok."
Meanwhile, the team is putting me back together. They have Steven peek over the curtain again to show him my uterus, which is completely hanging out of me. There was a huge bruise on it and there was indeed a bleed. He confirms that we made the right decision. Waiting could have ended badly. Steven is again freaked out by this... it's not everyday your husband literally gets to see your insides...twice.
They have Annie all wrapped up and need to take her to the NICU for further assessment, but first our nurse demands that Steven get to hold her - and so he does. Never in my life have I seen a more precious sight. The first time a daddy gets to hold his baby daughter. I could have melted right then. He holds her close to me, i give her a kiss - and they whisk her away.
By this point I'm feeling a TON of pressure in my tummy. And then a lot of pain. I feel like they are literally beating the stuffing out of me. My anesthesiologist is near my head and tells me play by play what they are doing to me. They are putting me back together, stuffing my insides back in - not beating it out of me. This continues to the point that I'm in tears because it hurts so badly. I look up at Steven and I'm balling my eyes out and he looks at me with so much sympathy - knowing there's nothing he can do. The anesthesiologist notices that I'm in distress and asks me what I'm feeling. (the doctor later told me he was trying to put my uterus back into the wrong spot... and apologized for being rough and missing the spot.). It hurts so bad I feel like I could throw up. The doc injects some pain meds and nausea meds into my IV to try to help me. One of the two make me insanely itchy. i want to claw my skin off. So he gives me benadryl to help counteract. Now I want to fall asleep.
Somehow we have gone from wanting a natural, drug free, home birth - to almost every intervention possible. What tha.
I'm not super sure what happens beyond this point.
I know that they took me to my room and told me to rest. Only, I can't. I have yet to get my hands on my daughter.. and then Steven is called away to the nursery. Annie is having trouble breathing.
To be continued...
The doctor orders an ultrasound because he has a suspicion of what may be happening. After a while of looking around and then some consults... the rad tech finds what could be a bleed in the uterus. There is also an area or two where it looks like the placenta may be detaching from the uterus. She isnt sure about these areas, though they do raise some concern.
After a review from our doctor, from the radiologist, and because of the fact that my contractions are pretty heavy (and still no pain), they conclude that I am at a high risk for placenta abruption. There does indeed appear to be a bleed and they are not ok with this. In the last few weeks our doctor had a scenario like this and by the time the lady came to the hospital and they were able to get her into surgery... it was too late and they lost the baby - so he was on extra high alert.
He recommends that we go ahead and deliver her via emergency c-section.
Let me stop right there and insert my thoughts and feelings into the situation.
Uh...what? i was supposed to go home hours ago. Annie is a month away from being due. I have 4 more weeks to prepare...only, not anymore. We're having a home birth. We have a plan. I'm going to be a mom within the hour? I dont even have a clean set of underwear here with me. I'm having a baby today? And lastly - a C-what? My pregnancy has been perfect up until this point...The big C was never even on our radar - and now I'm having one on the fly. Gulp. Tremble. Panic.
I do have to say that the Lord blessed us with THE most amazing nurse of all time. Celly. She could see my panic and reassured me over and over that it would be ok, this was for the best, and that she would do everything in her power to make sure things went the way we wanted them to. Being able to see her when she gets delivered, being able to hold her almost immediately, nursing, etc..
At one point I was shaking so badly that I couldnt control it. She got in front of me, grabbed my face, and said "sweetie, its ok. You're doing the right thing."
We call our midwife and have our doctor talk to her to make sure this is absolutely neccessary - and she agrees that it is what needs to be done. The risk of not doing it is too high and one that none of us are willing to take. We also phone our doula and she comes immediately to provide some support.
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| Here we go... |
Once they have me all prepped they go and grab Steven. It's time.
The procedure is very quick. Within minutes they have me opened up. Steven is holding my hands reassuring me that everything is ok and that we're doing the right thing.. All of a sudden, I feel them pull her out of me and I tell him "she's here!!!!" Not even a second after that came out of my mouth the doctor yells "Ok Daddy look over here!" Steven stands up to peer over the curtain and sure enough..there she is.. not only her, but also me, opened up, bloody, etc... So he sits down shortly afterwards because that was too much sight to bear. They hold her around the curtain so i can get a peek out of her. She's big. She's bloody, but she's perfect.
We just had a 6lb 10oz baby girl who is 4.5 weeks premature. She was born at 12:55pm and is 18.5 inches long.
They take her over to the little baby station which is within Steven's line of site and start suctioning, cleaning, and all of that. She's screaming! The staff in the room are cracking up because her crying is so powerful. Steven and I both look at each other with a glance of "she's going to be ok."
Meanwhile, the team is putting me back together. They have Steven peek over the curtain again to show him my uterus, which is completely hanging out of me. There was a huge bruise on it and there was indeed a bleed. He confirms that we made the right decision. Waiting could have ended badly. Steven is again freaked out by this... it's not everyday your husband literally gets to see your insides...twice.
They have Annie all wrapped up and need to take her to the NICU for further assessment, but first our nurse demands that Steven get to hold her - and so he does. Never in my life have I seen a more precious sight. The first time a daddy gets to hold his baby daughter. I could have melted right then. He holds her close to me, i give her a kiss - and they whisk her away.
By this point I'm feeling a TON of pressure in my tummy. And then a lot of pain. I feel like they are literally beating the stuffing out of me. My anesthesiologist is near my head and tells me play by play what they are doing to me. They are putting me back together, stuffing my insides back in - not beating it out of me. This continues to the point that I'm in tears because it hurts so badly. I look up at Steven and I'm balling my eyes out and he looks at me with so much sympathy - knowing there's nothing he can do. The anesthesiologist notices that I'm in distress and asks me what I'm feeling. (the doctor later told me he was trying to put my uterus back into the wrong spot... and apologized for being rough and missing the spot.). It hurts so bad I feel like I could throw up. The doc injects some pain meds and nausea meds into my IV to try to help me. One of the two make me insanely itchy. i want to claw my skin off. So he gives me benadryl to help counteract. Now I want to fall asleep.
Somehow we have gone from wanting a natural, drug free, home birth - to almost every intervention possible. What tha.
I'm not super sure what happens beyond this point.
I know that they took me to my room and told me to rest. Only, I can't. I have yet to get my hands on my daughter.. and then Steven is called away to the nursery. Annie is having trouble breathing.
To be continued...
We appreciate this update. Although you are new to our church family, please know that you are in our prayers. We are rejoicing in the birth of your daughter!
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