Ok, so we left off with Gianluca's birth. Everything was looking fine and dandy with him. After getting me all situated, I sat up in bed to hold him and my ears promptly began ringing and I got a very disconnected feeling in my head. Just as I voiced this to Amanda, my nurse, the machine taking my blood pressure started to alarm. Yeah, my blood pressure was 70's/30's. I don't remember the exact numbers, but it was low enough that she immediately laid me flat again and opened my IV wide to get extra fluid in me. Slowly my BP came up and my symptoms went away, buuuut I was having some major bleeding. Normally after delivering a baby, the top of the uterus can be felt around the belly button. The last time the doctor had felt mine this was about where it was, however after laying me back down and feeling it again it was over to the right and nearly up to my ribs. I was having some major bleeding and, having been a VBAC, the first thought was that my uterus was rupturing. This is nothing to screw around with and the doctor made it clear to me she was not keen on waiting to see if the bleeding slowed down. In the mean time, the room filled up with several other nurses who came in to help. About 5 minutes later ( or less maybe) the doctor told me she felt that we should get to the operating room. I just nodded and said okay, whatever you think is best. That sent everyone into a flurry. As in, emergency-stat-get-moving-now mode. Sarah snapped a quick pic of me halfway holding the baby. All I kept thinking about was another coworker (and friend) of mine who had had a baby a little more than a year before and was sent to the OR emergently afterward. But, I never had a sense of "impending doom" or like I wasn't going to make it out. Except just before we went through the OR doors I thought about my life insurance policy. Yeah, I know that sounds dumb. I didn't even remember that I had this thought until a week or so later and I totally started laughing at myself.
The last thing I saw before leaving my L&D room was Sarah crying and saying she was so sorry. That was when I kinda lost it too. As they wheeled me out of the room, I squeezed my eyes closed so I wouldn't have to look at any sad eyes as I went by.
I really lost it once I was in the OR. I had nurses on either side of me telling me everything was going to be ok. Keep in mind these are girls that I work with and know well. It was comforting, but sort of scary to see the worried looks on their faces. And then a CRNA (certified registered nurse anesthetist) was at my head telling me to breathe easy and I would be going to sleep. I calmed down and I remember thinking, "What is going to be my last thought before I go to sleep?" I think that question was also the answer.
Fast forward an hour or two (not sure how long I was out) and I woke up to being wheeled out of the OR and down to the surgical intensive care (SICU.) So, turns out what we thought was my uterus rupturing was actually a piece of retained placenta. That and the lower part of my uterus wasn't contracting down like it should have. Both of which were the cause of my bleeding. In hind sight I really didn't need to have the surgery to see where the bleeding was coming from. But, that's just it. We only knew that in hind sight. My doctor didn't want to waste any time just in case my life was in serious danger. Yes, it made my recovery a little more rocky. I spent 5 days in the hospital instead of one like I had planned. I had to recover from a vaginal delivery and abdominal surgery. Incidentally, I also ended up with superficial phlebitis in a varicose vein in my right leg and had to have some testing done before I could be discharged from the hospital. My hemoglobin level took a couple days to stabilize from having a blood loss. But, ultimately I was fine.
My poor husband, on the other hand, was pretty shook up. I pretty much viewed the whole ordeal with my nurses mind. He, however, saw me being rushed to the OR, saw nurses and doctors with worried looks on their faces, and had to sit and wait to find out whether I was going to make it out of surgery. Though I don't believe my life was every truly in danger, he didn't know that at the time. The next several days after the surgery he sat by my hospital bed and just watched me with a look on his face like he never wanted to leave my side again. I just kept asking him what he was staring at. Did I have something in my teeth?
I hope I never know exactly how he felt while he waited for me to come out of surgery.
God put me in very capable, reliable hands that day. Having the knowledge that I have as a nurse, I can imagine many different outcomes to my situation. I'm thankful I got the one I did.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
And the story continues.The Laaaaaabor and Delivery!
So, I left off with saying I had let the excited/nervous/anxious parents-to-be know that the show was on the road.
I made it back up to the hospital just fine, but was definitely feeling me some painful contractions. I had caught Joe in just enough time that he was able to leave work and actually follow me back up to the hospital and make sure I made it ok. We let the valet guys at the hospital park the car and the poor kid who was taking my keys looked pretty scared when I couldn't talk to him because I was having a contraction. Like I was gonna deliver a baby in his lap or something. Or maybe that was just my perception of it. : )
I made my way back up to L&D with a very surreal feeling...and very wet pants that I was hoped no one was noticing. I actually passed the husband of the last patient I had taken care of in the hallway and smiled and told him it was my turn too! He just laughed in disbelief and so did I!
When I made it through the doors of my department my friend Amanda was the only nurse around. She looked at me like "shouldn't you have gone home like an hour ago?" All I could say was, "My pants are soaked." LOL
So, by the time I got in my room and was admitted I was starting to have some serious pain. Like,"Um, I need that epidural sooner rather than later" pain. Which was taken care of very nicely and quickly, thank you very much! By that time Sarah and Brian had made it there...and the clock started ticking...and ticking...and ticking.
Of course, since his parents had made haste and gotten to Toledo as fast as they could, baby boy decided to take his time. At one point I actually started to think it was my labor with Grace repeated all over again and was going to have to have a c-section. I made it to 9cm fairly quickly, but then putzed around for.ev.er.
But, finally I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing.
I only had to push for about a half hour, thankfully. Despite a few quirks in the delivery, he came out and pinked up and started crying pretty quickly, much to his mother's relief.
Though most of you probably saw it on Facebook awhile ago, here are his official stats:
Gianluca Anthony born at 4:21 p.m. on
Wednesday, September 21st, 2011.
8 pounds 1 ounce and 19 1/2 inches long.
And then, for me, the real fun began...
I made it back up to the hospital just fine, but was definitely feeling me some painful contractions. I had caught Joe in just enough time that he was able to leave work and actually follow me back up to the hospital and make sure I made it ok. We let the valet guys at the hospital park the car and the poor kid who was taking my keys looked pretty scared when I couldn't talk to him because I was having a contraction. Like I was gonna deliver a baby in his lap or something. Or maybe that was just my perception of it. : )
I made my way back up to L&D with a very surreal feeling...and very wet pants that I was hoped no one was noticing. I actually passed the husband of the last patient I had taken care of in the hallway and smiled and told him it was my turn too! He just laughed in disbelief and so did I!
When I made it through the doors of my department my friend Amanda was the only nurse around. She looked at me like "shouldn't you have gone home like an hour ago?" All I could say was, "My pants are soaked." LOL
So, by the time I got in my room and was admitted I was starting to have some serious pain. Like,"Um, I need that epidural sooner rather than later" pain. Which was taken care of very nicely and quickly, thank you very much! By that time Sarah and Brian had made it there...and the clock started ticking...and ticking...and ticking.
Of course, since his parents had made haste and gotten to Toledo as fast as they could, baby boy decided to take his time. At one point I actually started to think it was my labor with Grace repeated all over again and was going to have to have a c-section. I made it to 9cm fairly quickly, but then putzed around for.ev.er.
But, finally I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing.
I only had to push for about a half hour, thankfully. Despite a few quirks in the delivery, he came out and pinked up and started crying pretty quickly, much to his mother's relief.
Though most of you probably saw it on Facebook awhile ago, here are his official stats:
Gianluca Anthony born at 4:21 p.m. on
Wednesday, September 21st, 2011.
8 pounds 1 ounce and 19 1/2 inches long.
And then, for me, the real fun began...
Alright, I guess it's time to share...
I've been wanting to share my birth story for well, um, almost a month now. The whole thing is going to be long, so I'm going to break it up into smaller posts, otherwise you might be here awhile...
So, here's how it started. I must begin with the day before. Tuesday, September 20th I went into work at 7pm and worked my normal 12 hour shift in labor and delivery. It was a fairly busy night and it seemed like every patient came in with her water broke. We joked several times that all we needed was for my water to break...Ha. Well, the little baby boy in my belly must have been listening. After my shift was over at 7am I was in our locker room changing back into my normal clothes (out of the hospital-issued scrubs we wear.) I had just gotten my pants on when suddenly they were soaked. My first thought was I had just lost control of my bladder...but... I had just gone to the bathroom less than 5 minutes before. I kept telling myself, "Noooo, my water didn't break. That would just be too crazy with the way we had been joking around earlier." I told a few of my co-workers what happened, but I insisted on at least trying to go home and pack a bag just in case. I was in total denial and I didn't want to look stupid in case it really wasn't broken. (I don't know what the percentage might be, but many women who come in thinking their water is broke end up going home shaking their head in confusion wondering how they could have wet themselves and not known it was pee...or other things, but we won't go there.) Anyways, I walked out with my friends and headed home, but didn't make it very far. I started having very noticeable contractions right away...along with more leaking. Wow, I really couldn't believe it was happening, but alas, it was.
I called Joe and told him what was going on. He immediately asked why I was leaving the hospital. Duh! But I was still insisting on trying to make it home real quick to get my things together, that is until I had to stop talking to him to breathe through a contraction. That's when my L&D nurse side kicked in and reminded me that this was my 4th baby, I was a VBAC, and I was still leaking like a bad faucet. So, I gave Sarah and Brian a quick call to give them the scoop. I made sure to tell them not to freak out and drive too fast, but that their baby boy was deciding to make his debut a little earlier than we thought. (Prior to this, we had been planning on having my labor induced exactly one week later.) I was exactly 38 weeks that day, Wednesday September 21st. Let the fun begin!
So, here's how it started. I must begin with the day before. Tuesday, September 20th I went into work at 7pm and worked my normal 12 hour shift in labor and delivery. It was a fairly busy night and it seemed like every patient came in with her water broke. We joked several times that all we needed was for my water to break...Ha. Well, the little baby boy in my belly must have been listening. After my shift was over at 7am I was in our locker room changing back into my normal clothes (out of the hospital-issued scrubs we wear.) I had just gotten my pants on when suddenly they were soaked. My first thought was I had just lost control of my bladder...but... I had just gone to the bathroom less than 5 minutes before. I kept telling myself, "Noooo, my water didn't break. That would just be too crazy with the way we had been joking around earlier." I told a few of my co-workers what happened, but I insisted on at least trying to go home and pack a bag just in case. I was in total denial and I didn't want to look stupid in case it really wasn't broken. (I don't know what the percentage might be, but many women who come in thinking their water is broke end up going home shaking their head in confusion wondering how they could have wet themselves and not known it was pee...or other things, but we won't go there.) Anyways, I walked out with my friends and headed home, but didn't make it very far. I started having very noticeable contractions right away...along with more leaking. Wow, I really couldn't believe it was happening, but alas, it was.
I called Joe and told him what was going on. He immediately asked why I was leaving the hospital. Duh! But I was still insisting on trying to make it home real quick to get my things together, that is until I had to stop talking to him to breathe through a contraction. That's when my L&D nurse side kicked in and reminded me that this was my 4th baby, I was a VBAC, and I was still leaking like a bad faucet. So, I gave Sarah and Brian a quick call to give them the scoop. I made sure to tell them not to freak out and drive too fast, but that their baby boy was deciding to make his debut a little earlier than we thought. (Prior to this, we had been planning on having my labor induced exactly one week later.) I was exactly 38 weeks that day, Wednesday September 21st. Let the fun begin!
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