A Baby Story...(Part Four)

It has been a long while to the finish of our story, I've been busy but I hope that I'm back.  To catch up on the first part of Roo’s birth, please read Part One, Part Two and Part Three.

Around 11am, the attending OB came into my room and said that one of the doctors would be coming in at noon to check and see how far I had progressed.  Another one of the doctors came in shortly after and offered to check me right then.  So he did.  And guess what?!  I was fully dilated to 10 cm and I was 100% effaced.  I was ready to go!  However, they decided to allow the baby to descend further down the birth canal (called laboring down) for another hour.  They would get me ready to push at noon.

Mark went to get lunch because we knew that once the baby was born, he would be heading directly to the NICU and what was to come was completely unknown to us.  At 11:45am, the doctor who would deliver Roo arrived and decided to check me once more.  She said that it was time – we couldn’t wait until noon.  Once more, our room turned into a flurry of organized chaos.  The labor room was transformed into a delivery room.  Within 15 minutes time, the doctors and nurses were in their delivery gown outfits, my bed had been transformed into a completely different bed without me even having to get out of it (!), and I was ready to push.

I had no idea what I was doing – having not been through the classes – so my labor nurse (who was amazing) walked me through exactly what I needed to do.  Oddly, I was starting to feel some of the contractions through my epidural.  They were getting that strong.  They weren’t painful but I could feel the pressure of them.  With each contraction, I was told to take a deep breath and push to the count of 8 or ten.  I would do three pushes per contraction.  Exactly at noon I started to push.  

Because of the epidural I could not feel if my body was responding to the pushes and I was relying on the doctors and my nurse to tell that I was doing it correctly.  I apparently was pushing really well!

About half way through pushing the doctor asked if I wanted to feel the baby’s head.  I said yes and I reached down and touched Roo’s head for the first time!  It was DISGUSTING!  Her head was squishy and very strange feeling!  I didn’t like it but I was so happy to have actually felt Roo!!

Only a few more pushes and all of a sudden Roo was born!  It was surreal.  I saw her and heard her give a cry.  I was surprised as the doctors warned me repeatedly that she might not cry and she might need various interventions to help her breath.  We were both so happy that she didn’t require any of those interventions.

Madeleine Luciana was born at 12:31pm on June 21 and weighed 3 pounds 14 ounces and was 16 inches long.

She was immediately taken by the NICU team for assessment and before she was whisked up to the NICU, she was brought over to me for a quick kiss.  It was the first time I saw my Roo and she was adorable!

Mark went with Roo to the NICU, where they did various tests, inserted her IV and several other tubes and leads into and onto her body.  Mark was with her for a couple of hours.  I, on the other hand, was being sewn up.  I also ordered lunch and chatted with my labor and delivery nurse.

Before I was allowed to go to the NICU and meet my baby officially, I had to be able to walk.  I proved myself and was able to see her.  It was so very hard to not be able to hold her.  I was allowed to touch her and hold her hand.  She was so tiny but bigger than I thought.  She also looked more like a a baby than I thought she would and I was relieved.  I thought she would look like an alien baby like many preemies that I had seen on TV or in photos.

Again, the whole day had been so far a flash of surrealism.  It happened too fast.  I’m not sure that I emotionally was able to register that I had a baby.  Luckily later in the evening we were both able to hold Roo in our arms, which made it all much more real and the story of Roo and us really began!

A Baby Story...(Part Three)

If you missed the beginning of this story, check out Part One and Part Two!

On Wednesday, June 20, one of the high risk OB’s came into my room and told me that the doctors were impressed that I was doing so well and that they were going to let me choose which date for my induction.  They gave me the option of Friday, June 29 or Monday, July 2.  He told me to choose our date and tell him by the weekend.  Mark and I talked it over that night and choose July 2.  We went to bed excited knowing that I could hold out for another week and a few days and that we would be seeing our baby!

On Monday and Tuesday before I spent my days shopping online ordering all of the items that I needed but didn’t receive from our shower or from friends already.  I spent a lot of money but it was needed and I was happy to have done so since we knew that we would have a baby in our arms on July 2!  I went to sleep very excited!

On Thursday, June 21, I woke up around 5am to go to the bathroom.  I climbed back into bed and noticed that I was having some contractions – ones that I could actually feel.  I lay in bed quietly waiting to see how frequently they were coming and if I could still feel them.  By the time 6am rolled around, the night nurse did her last rounds with me.  I told her that I was feeling contractions and she put me on the monitors.  I laid there quietly pushing the indicator button each time I felt a contraction start.  In the past, the contractions that I weren’t feeling but could see on the monitor appeared as a bell curve shape.  This time for some reason, the contractions were appearing as an inverse on the screen.  It was very bizarre.  I told the nurse that I didn’t understand what was happening but the contractions I was feeling were coming more frequently and were more and more painful.

She kept asking me to rate them on the pain scale of one through 10.  I had a hard time doing it because I wasn’t sure what the worst pain I’d ever felt was and my pain tolerance is pretty high.

By 7:30am, the nursing shift had changed and I had a new nurse, one I had never had before and I can’t to this day recall who she was or what she looks like.  But I do remember that the number of medical staff coming into check on me had increased.  I was told that they would do a sterile speculum check to see if I was dilating.  Before it happened, I went to the bathroom once more.  (Sorry TMI)!  There was a lot of blood.  I knew that something was going on and I got nervous.

The sterile speculum check confirmed that I was indeed in active labor and that I was already 3cm dilated.  Immediately, the team jumped into action and I was moved quickly to labor and delivery.  We didn’t have time to pack any of our things in the room that had become our home over the past two weeks.

Once I was settled into our new room (around 8:30am), Mark headed back to our room in the antepartum wing.  I told him to take his time because I could manage my contractions on my own.  Somehow even without having attended a birthing class, my body knew how to breathe through each contraction.  I just did it.  My nurse, who was awesome, helped me through them.  Suddenly, as if a light switch was flipped my contractions became extremely painful and came on top of each other without hardly any pause between them.  I wanted Mark.  He needed to come back immediately!

When I first was getting settled into our labor and delivery room, the nurse asked me if I was going to want an epidural.  I told her that I was concerned about epidurals and that I wanted to wait for as long as possible before getting one and that I might want to forgo one, if I could.  She said that was no problem but to be aware that if I wanted one that I would need to be aware that it would take 30 minutes by the time I requested it to when it would start to work.  She kept repeating that to me.

At some point, probably 9am or so, I started talking to the nurse about the epidural.  She answered my questions and in my head I decided that I needed to think it over and talk to Mark about it.  But, my mouth had other plans.  I told her to call the anesthesiologist and that I wanted the epidural as soon as possible.  I couldn’t handle it anymore.  As each contraction took over my body the pain I felt was greater each time and the intensity was insane!

Mark still hadn’t come back from our other room and I was getting crazy!  I was having trouble breathing through the contractions and I was starting to moan through them.  It was the only way I could handle the pain.  I had never heard myself sound like that before.  Finally the anesthesiologist showed up.  The epidural itself wasn’t painful.  The steroid shots I was given when I was first admitted were more painful.  It was hard though to sit still during the contractions but the doctor was great and held off when I was contracting and waited to do his procedure in the minute or so that I wasn’t contracting.

Mark made it back to our room shortly before the epidural was done and held my hand through three or four of them.  It took a few minutes for the epidural to kick in and when it did it was very strange.  They had me shift my body from left to right to make sure the epidural took evenly.  Within 15 minutes, the sweet relief of the epidural was in full effect and I settled in for a nap and Mark ordered himself some breakfast.

I napped lightly for a while and woke up to one of the doctors who came in to tell me that she would be back at noon to check to see how far I was coming along – they were still limiting how often they were checking me to prevent infection.  It was 10:30am.  Our nurse told me that she wouldn’t be surprised if I wasn’t almost fully dilated by the looks of my contractions, which were still coming on as frequently as they had been before the epidural.  I still couldn’t feel them but looking at the monitor at how fast and furious they were appearing I was really happy that I got the epidural.  I would have been a very unhappy camper.

To be continued…

A Baby Story...(Part Two)

Two hours later we got word that there were no signs of infection. However, one test came back borderline and so I would be monitored very closely. We would need to settle in for the long haul as I would not be leaving the hospital until the baby arrived.

The high risk OB came back and told us their goals:
1. Get through the next 24 hours without me having a baby or showing signs of an infection, if those developed I would be induced immediately or they would take me for a "crash" c-section
2. Get through one week without having a baby
3. Reach 34 weeks and then decide a course of action

Our primary goal for the day was to make it through that first 24 hours without going into active labor or showing any further signs of infection.

Mark went to work for a couple of hours and to get his computer. He also went home and brought back a bag of things for me. While he was gone, the head of neonatology came by my room and walked me through the various stats based on my current gestational age of 31 weeks and 5 days. The survival stats were hopeful and very positive at nearly 100%! He explained what would happen at delivery, what the different possible procedures could happen at the birth depending in the baby's vital signs and what to expect once she was in the NICU, where he said for us not to expect her to leave until around her estimated due date, August 4. He warned that it could be a long journey for us but he was confident that given her age that she would do just fine.

And so we held our breath that night and every night the next seven days. I was monitored continuously each day three times a day or more as needed. I had multiple ultrasounds to make sure her head continued to face down and to measure the remaining amniotic fluid, which fluctuated throughout my stay until the last u/s that I had which showed me closer to zero than ever before.

During the time I was in the hospital the staff was amazing. My doctors were super nice and would stop by even if I wasn't on their rotation just to see how I was doing. The nurses with the exception of one were terrific!

Even though we moved to Seattle not that long ago, the few friends that we have here were amazing - stopping by to bring snacks and magazines and to keep me company. One friend even had a baby while I was there and I got wheel chair privileges to visit them!

Overall, after the exciting and scary start to my hospital stay, the time was uneventful and really boring. Well, boring for the time being...

To be continued...

A Baby Story...(Part One)

It's been a while since I've posted and so I think it is time to share a story with you...

Early on Thursday, June 7, I woke up and thought that I had wet the bed. I went to the toilet and crawled back into bed to go back to sleep but quickly realized that I was still “peeing” myself. Duh! I wasn’t peeing myself. I phoned the doctor on call who said to put on a pad and if I soaked through it within one hour to meet her at the hospital.

I put on a pad and lay down on the sofa. Within 10 minutes it was soaked through the pad, my underwear and my nightgown. I called my brother, the doctor, and told him what was happening. He said that I should wake up Mark and go to the hospital right away.

I woke Mark, who was dead asleep, and told him what had happened and he went straight into business mode. He packed himself a bag so he could go to work that morning and we got into the car. I remember talking with him about this being a good practice run for the real deal and that we were lucky that we didn’t have to deal with traffic as it was so early!

Once we arrived at the hospital, I had Mark park the car while I asked the front desk where we should go. For some reason, I declined the wheel chair ride to the maternity ward. Looking back, I should have accepted it but I was in denial and walked the long walk.

As soon as we got to maternity, we checked in and they were waiting for us. They took us to a birthing suite and asked me to change into a gown. I had to use the restroom and in doing so I realized that I was also bleeding. As soon as I told the nurse, she said something like “oh your water definitely broke” and I promptly burst into tears.

As soon as I climbed into the bed, they did some sort of litmus test to confirm the fluid exiting my body was amniotic fluid, which it was. Almost immediately, I was asked to sign a number of papers, told we would need to transfer to the hospital that handled high risk pregnancies and had the level 3 NICU and that they were going to do several procedures to me.

The first procedure was to give me an ultrasound to check the position of the baby – she was head down. The second was to hook me up to an IV, where I would be given magnesium sulfate, which would slow any labor down as well as provide the baby with a boost to her brain if I were to deliver her early. The third was to give me a sterile forceps check, which confirmed that I was leaking amniotic fluid (again) and that I was potentially 1 cm dilated. And the fourth and final step was to give me the first of two steroid shots to help the baby’s lungs mature rapidly.

There is a side effect of magnesium sulfate that gives one hot flashes and makes you feel a little loopy in the head. I was given a push of four bags of magnesium, which means they rapidly pushed the four bags through the IV. I felt and acted a little drunk while this was happening, again, I was in denial and was dealing by being silly.

As soon as the IV push was finished, the ambulance arrived to transport me to the hospital. The nurses wished me good luck and off I went with Mark left to fend for himself to find his way to this other hospital.

Once we arrived at the other hospital, I was taken immediately to labor and delivery. Some of the same exams and tests were taken there. A very nice doctor examined me and confirmed that I was one cm dilated and that by all sounds, I could potentially deliver that day. I was hooked up to a machine that I came to know intimately by the time I left. The machine monitored both the baby’s heart rate as well as any contractions that I might be having. At the time, I was contracting every 3-5 minutes but I wasn’t feeling any of them.

The doctor told me that I needed to have an amniocentesis test done immediately to determine if I had an infection. As soon as she said those words, I got scared. She told me though that the risks for the amnio that hold true at 20 weeks also hold true for them except the largest risk is that the needle accidentally breaks the bag of waters, which causes death at 20 weeks, but since my water had already broken on its own that risk was already removed. I consented to the exam and held onto Mark’s hand tight. Within three minutes of me consenting to the exam, it was over. I didn’t want to see the needle going in so I have no idea how large or small it was and in fact the “pain” that I felt from the steroid shot was worse than the amnio needle going in.

We were told it would take 2 hours for the results to come back and in the meantime we should eat breakfast and try to relax. Right?! If the results found I had an infection they would induce me immediately and if not then we would talk about what options were relevant. My head was spinning. I was terrified and confused.

I might be having a baby that day? I was 31 weeks and 5 days pregnant. I wasn’t ready emotionally, physically or literally! We had just moved into our new house and nothing was ready.

To be continued…

Happy Mother's Day

This will be the last time that I will celebrate Mother's Day without a baby or a child in my arms.  I can't believe it!

For my entire life, I've wanted to be a mom and my dream is finally coming true.  In about two and a half months, Mark and I will welcome a baby girl into our life and we cannot wait to hold her in our arms!

In the meantime, I wish my mom a very Happy Mother's Day!  You are the best mommy model one can have and I hope that I'm half the mom you were and are for me.

Love,

 

If I was...

I am having a hard time focusing on much else than being pregnant and house hunting - both pretty boring topics to write about for most people.

However, I came across this writing exercise that I can't point you to because it is a private blog but I thought that I'd share and complete.  If you want to do this too, I'd love for you to join.  Please include a link in the comments, so I can read your answers!

If I was a month, I’d be November.
If I was a day of the week, I’d be Saturday.
If I was a time of day, I’d be early evening.
If I was a planet, I’d be Venus.

If I was a sea animal, I’d be an eagle.
If I was a direction, I'd be UP!
If I was a piece of furniture, I'd be a grandfather clock.
If I was a liquid, I’d be fresh lemonade.
If I was a gemstone, I’d be a sapphire.
If I was a tree, I’d be a weeping willow.
If I was a tool, I’d be a hammer.
If I was a flower, I’d be a rose.

If I was a type of weather, I’d be a crisp Fall day.
If I was a musical instrument, I’d be a piano.
If I was a color, I’d be fiery red.
If I was an emotion, I’d be joyful.
If I was a fruit, I’d be a strawberry.
If I was a sound, I’d be laughter.

If I was an element, I’d be fire.
If I was a car, I’d be a classic and sophisticated vintage Cadillac.
If I was a food I would be comfort food.
If I was a place, I’d be a beach house right on the ocean.

If I was a material, I'd be silk.
If I was a taste, I'd be sweet and sour.
If I was a scent, I’d be soap.

Not Downtown Abbey

So, as usual, I was late to the Downton Abbey fad but at least I found it!  I clearly heard about it from friends and the media but never really was interested in it until about a month ago.

I started to suffer from pregnancy insomnia.  If you've ever suffered from insomnia, pregnant or otherwise, you know that there is very little on TV in the middle of the night.  Only the worst reality TV and infomercials are on at 3 and 4 in the morning.

I decided that instead of heading to the living room and turning on the TV, I would do some reading and/or interneting in the guest room.  While creating a baby registry list on Amazon in the middle of an insomniac episode, I learned that as an Amazon Prime member, I have instant TV/Video access on my computer!  Even more exciting was that Downton Abbey season 1 was instant access for FREE!

I watched the first episode out of curiosity and learned two things.  1) The proper name is actually DownTON Abbey and NOT DownTOWN Abbey, which I totally thought it was called.  How sill of me!  2) I LOVED it!!

Loving it was not a surprise though as I have always been drawn to historical fiction.  I also am fascinated with that era.

I finished the first season in about two weeks.  I have yet to start the second season but will probably soon.  I might download it onto my computer to start watching on my cross country flight next week.  We'll see though...

It might be worth waiting a little longer since I know the third season is still a ways off!  In the meantime, Mark and I have been catching up on Game of Thrones by watching it On Demand.  It is a totally different genre of TV but is also fascinating - though I have to cover my eyes a lot due to some of the very graphic violence.  Still...such a good story and intriguing characters!

What are your favorite TV shows right now?  Do you watch them On Demand to catch up or do you stay current?