Birth Story!

I guess it's about time I got back on line and filled everyone in on how little Miss came to be so early.  It was Tuesday June 7, 2011 and I had a Non Stress Test booked for 9 am that morning.  I travelled into town and picked JD up from my office and went to the Hospital.  I really hadn't been feeling very well, I was very swollen and uncomfortable.  I was also getting black spots in my vision (but I was staying pretty mum about that).  The NST went well, Lola was moving and her heart beat was great.  At the end of the NST they always take your bp.  Especially as you have been laying down for an hour it should be nice and low.  Well mine was 154/99.  They checked it again and it was slowly increasing.  The nursing staff decided to run some blood work and see what was going on.  It took an hour for the results to come back and when they did my bp was now 175/110!!!  My blood work showed elevated liver enzymes and some other things were a little skewed as well. 

The on call Doctor came in and told me I am not leaving with a baby in my belly today.  They were going to do a cervical check and see if they could break my water, if not we were headed for a Cesarean.  I was admitted to the birthing unit and they checked me.  I was a finger tip dilated and 30-40% effaced.  So my water was broken, antibiotics, magnesium sulfate, and oxy-tocsin were started, a catheter was placed and we were rolling.  This was at about 12:30 pm on Tuesday. 

We immediately called my parents and JD's.  My parents packed up and started their 4 hour drive.  JD's mom came and sat with me while JD ran home for our hospital bags and to let the dogs out.  My contractions started almost right after she broke my water.  JD was gone for almost 3 hours, and in that time my contractions had moved to every 4 minutes.  At 5 I said okay that's enough let's do the epidural.  Oh my what a god send that is.  Because let me tell you it stopped working at around 10 and I almost lost my mind!  We sent our mother's home at around 10 that night and told them we would call them when we reached 7 cm's.  At this point I was only 3 cm's dilated. 

I had my epi upped and fixed at 10 then sucked on a banana Popsicle, and then lost my cookies hard!  The contractions were really picking up, and they were all in my lower back.  I don't know how I did it but I found a quiet dark place in my mind and kept hiding there through the pain.  There was no hand squeezing or swearing going on in my room.  I think I prayed a lot out loud, and I know I said Holy Mother of Pearl quite a bit during the really bad ones.  The nurses found that pretty funny.

At 1:00 I was begging JD to call my mom, as my house it 1/2 hour away and it would take them sometime to wake up and get into the car.  He kept arguing with me, they haven't checked you yet, we don't know where you are...  I said babe, I know where I am call my MOM!!!  Sure enough they checked me and I was 6 cm.  We called and everyone started coming back to the hospital.  At 1:30 they checked me again and I was 9 cm with a rim of cervix left.  I called my mom and yelled at them to please hurry, as Lola is coming fast.  They all arrived just before 2 am.  Right when they arrived my awesome nurse Cheryl got everyone in position and had me start pushing.  4 pushes in and she was calling for the Special care nursery staff and the OB.  I pushed a 5th time and the Dr. told me I needed to get her out now.  So I barred down and out she came at 2:26 am on June 8, 2011 weighing in at 4 lbs 12 ounces, measuring 17 inches.

She was so tiny and her umbilical chord was around her neck.  Special care worked on her for a couple of minutes and then brought her to me for a quick snuggle.  She was then promptly removed to the NICU to be watched for at least 24 hours.  You would think this is where the story ends, but nope not for us.  I ended up in the OR at 4 am.  I wasn't passing the placenta, so I had to have a D&C. 

My bp is slowly on it's way back down.  At last check it was 150/100.  But I am being monitored pretty closely.  Lola is doing wonderful.  She actually is almost growing out of her preemie onsies!  We are breast feeding and supplementing when necessary with formula.

I have a couple of posts rattling around in my head, and I promise I will get them down this week.  I absolutely love being a mom, and I can't tell you how blessed I feel.

Much Love!

ks and LolaBean