2004-08-31
Last Wednesday was D's original birth date. Sometimes I look at the size of his head, cross my legs and say a Thank You prayer.I'll recall his birth because I've been going through pictures and thinking alot about that
day. Sometimes I cry a little, only because I can still remember how scared I was, but I
always smile. It surely was one of the best days of my life.
(Little Baby Hand)
After being on bed rest at home for 5 weeks, a specialist admited me to the hospital
straight from his office. I was my cervix was completely gone and I was dialated 1 cm. He
said that he could feel my bag of waters bulging slightly and I needed to be looked after. Thankfully, my mom took me to the dr that day and the next day brought me a goody basket full of pretty smelling body wash and lotion, a new poufy, nail polish and even a zit sucker (!) "in case I get bored!" (Mind you, I do not have zits!! :) ) This was on a Wednesday.
My regular OB/GYN came in every day to check me (Yeah ew, every day!!) and kept telling me
that I was just the same as ever. She'd sit and we'd chat and then she'd be on her way with no concerns.
A week into hospital bed rest, the specialist came in, checked me and informed me that I was
indeed 3 cm. What!! I thought I was the same. "Well," he said "you're progressing very slow and you're not having any contractions, so there isn't anything to worry about. Try to only shower every other day and see if that helps baby stay in longer."
I agreed to do what he said. By this time I was kind of having fun. Nurses waiting on me,
getting me water, order food service (ok, only cafeteria food, but still fun). The nurses
were coming in during their breaks just to talk, telling me I was the best patient, not a
bother at all and totally fun to hang out with. Maybe it's because I work in the health
care industry and know that if you ring your buzzer a lot it gets really anoying, no matter
how much patience you have.
Friday I was 4 cm dialated.
On Saturday, May 29 at about 12:30 am, I felt rather crampy, kind of like really bad menstrual cramps, so I did like the nurses and doctor told me to do: Drink a big glass of
water and lay on my left side. It worked, the cramps went away. But then at 4:30 am they
were back. When I went to the bathroom I had some slight pink on my tissue, so again with
the water and I laid on my left side and again it worked, no more cramps. About 8 in the
morning I started to feel like I had the flu, just achy and tired and all around yucky. I
ordered breakfast thinking that it would help (of course, food is the answer!) then took a
shower. The pink on my tissue kept getting a little more red every time I went to the
bathroom. At about 11:00 I fell asleep.
I woke up at 1:00 to the worst cramps ever. They were very irratic-never steady, so I never thought I was in labor. I did think something was up. I called Eric and told him not to bring his parents by that day, I just wasn't up to company. He seemed to get a little irritated by this, but I was feeling so weird, that I didn't care. I called the nurse and asked her to put me on the monitor. She seemed to take forever to come in, so I went to the bathroom again, and when I layed back down I felt a squishy feeling that comes when I'm having my period. I really didn't think anything about it, I just let the nurse know when she came in.
Finally she came in and put the monitor on me. She said that she couldn't really see anything happening, and the whole time I'm having these strong cramps that keep coming and going--sometimes they seemed to last forever, sometimes they were strong and quick. She put the belt lower and all of a sudden she says: "Can you feel that?"
Ouch, yes I could!!
She called for the dr on call, but he was in the middle of a c-section and said it would be just a little while. Almost 2 hours later he came in and I could here him talking to the nurse:
Nurse: "I'm sure she's in labor."
Dr: "I'll check her, how far along is she?"
Nurse: "27 3/7 weeks."
Dr: "We'll stop it. Give her XXX amount of ______." (I can't remember what they gave me)
He checked me, and when I took off my undies they were soaked with blood. He said that it was just bloody show, but it seemed way to much to me. I was dialated to 5 cm. The nurse came in, put in an IV and gave me the medication. Right after that she checked me again and I was dialated to 6 cm. The nurse ran to talk to the dr again, and came back with another dose of something --Magnesium. "This will make you really hot" she said and she wasn't lying. OMG, I wanted to rip off the gown I had on. It felt like the hottest hot-flash in the world. Like the sun came in and landed on my head. It's hard to believe that this is a common way to stop labor, some women are on Mag for weeks!
I called E and told him he should get to the hospital--something was happening. He came running in, practically yelling "Is the baby coming?" snapping pictures. I wanted to grab the camera and smash it into bits, but after 2 pictures, I said as calmly as I could "Put that away, their trying to stop the labor."
(I'll Kill Him)
I understood that the hospital I was at only took babies that were 30 weeks or older gestation. I had also joked to a nurse earlier in my stay that the only way they would transfer me was if they used lights and sirens. Ha, if only I knew then...
They tried to find out how Dominic was positioned and couldn't tell (he was indeed breach)and they informed me that they couldn't seem to stop the labor, so they were going to call "the Boys" in and have me transfered to Portland-about 35 minutes away, and that I need to have an emergency c-section. E was frantically trying to pack all my stuff up and got a chance to meet the paramedics that were going to transfer me. (The driver looked and acted like one of our dear friends and E told me later it made him feel so much better.)
We had a full truck: 3 paramedics, a labor and delivery nurse and Tiny-a huge teddy bear of a guy who was a neonatal respitory therapist, just in case I delivered on the way. We made it there in 12 minutes, and the medics were proud that they set some personal records. E told me later that he watched us take off, and wanted to take a picture, but the camera was in the trunk (he cracks me up!!) and he didn't know what to do, so he went home for a few minutes then decided he better get to the hospital. (!) What was he thinking?
Here's where it gets blurry--I get to the hospital and they hand me a bunch of forms to fill out and sign. Everyone is talking at the same time and explaining stuff to me. Then the anesthesiologest came in and explained the epidural to me. He was so young and cute and I kept thinking how much money he probably made for being so young. (I'm a dork) E finally got there and gowned down. He looked so cute and scared and strong all at the same time.
They wheeled me into the OR and put in the epi. Man that hurt. I felt sharp pains running down my right leg and at one point I think I screamed a little, Dr. Young Guy was using too short of a needle. I wanted to ask him if he noticed how fat my back was. Finally he got it in and E was allowed to come in and be with me. He sat next to me and held my hand and rubbed my head and told me how great I was doing. I was shaking so bad and I felt so drugged, but I felt so protected having him by my side. I'd see him peek over the screen every once in a while and finally I heard a nurse yell "Three" and E said "He's out." (D was born at 8:03 pm. He was 2 lbs and 12 oz, 14 1/2 inches long.) I didn't hear a sound and I was so scared. Was D ok? They called for 'Dad' to come in and see the baby while the drs stitched me up. I asked the drs if they did a tummy tuck while they were down there and they just laughed and told me that that's their most popular request.
I was in recovery and E came in and told me that Dominic was beautiful. Very tiny, but bigger than he thought he'd be. It felt like I was in the recovery for only 15 minutes but found out later it was more like 2 hours--enough time for my family to take E for a steak dinner!!
I got to see D on the way to my room. He was so little and scary, but at the same time my
heart never felt such joy and love. Now when I see him I can barely remember how tiny he
was but I'll never forget how big my heart felt.
(The Next Day)
(1 Week Old)