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| Just second old being pulled from my belly |
During the day and the night before I had had some pretty bad back and hip pain but I attributed it to the fact that I had cleaned the entire house the day before and just must have really overdone it.
When I arrived at the lab at approx 11:45 I took a number and sat down. Then stood up…then sat down again. I couldn’t seem to get comfortable and my back was killing me. One of the lab technicians walked by me and said, “How far along are you?” And I replied, “I am due tomorrow.” And she responded with, “Are you in labor right now?” And I said, “Umm, I don’t know…I have never been in labor before and don’t know what it should feel like. I don’t really think so…I just have a really bad backache.” Shortly after this I was called to the desk where a gentleman about my fathers age helped me. As I waddled to the desk he looked curiously at me and said, “You look like you are pretty uncomfortable…are you doing ok?” And I said, “Yea, I just have a backache, but I have been in a couple pretty bad car accidents and it really acts up sometimes.” He proceeded to enter my information and told me he would take me right to the back to do my blood work.
After the blood work was done he told me he needed a urine sample as well. He said he realized I had just gone upstairs for my testing so if I couldn’t I could have some water and wait. I said I would give it a shot. He walked me to the bathroom and as I put my hand on the doorknob to enter the washroom my water broke. I look up at him in alarm and shock and say, “My water just broke!” I enter the washroom, close the door and whip off my pants and undergarments to see that there was meconium in the water. I was heartbroken. This meant I would not get my unmonitored birth. There is a knock at the door and the gentleman says, “I have 911 on the phone, they want to speak with you.” Now about every lab tech is in the washroom with me and I am naked from the waist down. I think to myself, “well…and so it begins…everyone has officially seen my most intimate of areas” (lol).
I get on the phone with 911 and they say, “You need to lay down on the floor right now!” And I pause and say, “….reeeaaallly???” And they say, “Why. Where are you?” And I respond…”A public bathroom…”. One of the lab techs informs me that they have a bed in the back and I am half carried to the bed. Once on the bed 911 says “Whatever you do…do NOT push…the ambulance is one its way.” …at this point I think to myself…Am I having this baby right here?!! The phone is handed to one of the lab techs and they come back with some equipment and say, “911 says to clamp the cord with this!!!” And out of my mouth comes. “AM I HAVING THIS BABY HERE!?!?!!?!!?” The paramedics have now shown up and I am transported by stretcher downstairs to the ambulance and to the hospital.
I get to the hospital where my parents and doula are waiting for me. I called your daddy when my water broke but he was about an hour away at work. At the hospital I am admitted to triage where they start an IV (booo) and strap me to monitor your heart rate (double boo). At this point I am off the bed., then on the bed just trying to get comfortable. When I showed up to the hospital I am told my contractions were just under 2 mins apart lasting for about a min. They moved me pretty quickly into my room where I went into the shower to labor with the doula. A half hour after this my husband showed up and I spent the next 4 hours in hell…in the shower with major back labor and no break from contractions. They pulled me out to examine figuring how close and how intense my contractions were that I must be ready to push. Nope…I had no change at all. I was angry and exhausted and asked for an epidural.
Immediately after the epidural I felt the baby drop and told the nurses but they said they had called the doctor to take a look at my charting because they were concerned. The doctor came in and said he could not allow me to labor anymore because every time I had a contraction your heart rate dropped and because there was no break between contractions there was no opportunity for it to come back up. They were concerned at this point that the cord might have been wrapped around your neck. The doctor told me of course it was ultimately up to me but if it were only his decision he would end it right there and get me into the OR.
Despite what the doctor, nurses and your daddy were telling me I guess I wasn’t hearing it. Probably because I was so upset that none of this was going to plan. My doula finally steps in and says “Kyla…what are you thinking right now.” And I say, “I wont get to hold her.” And she says, “What do you mean?” And I say, “If I have a c-section, I wont get to hold her…they will just take her away.” And she says, “Honey, you wouldn’t get to hold her anyway…you have so much meconium in your water if you delivered her naturally right this moment they would take her away too.” That sort of sealed the deal. Your dadddy and I signed the paperwork and what felt like seconds later we were being wheeled into the OR.
-Sidebar- What I learned after the fact is my condition was so serious they actually pulled someone who was already in the OR to do my c-section. I was impressed because they never let this on to me…and that would have really freaked me out!
The c-section went great, we heard you cry at 7:12PM and your daddy got to cut the cord and they left the room together.
After they left the room however I had a bad reaction to the spinal and started to convulse and vomit on the table and people were holding me down. What felt like minutes was apparently hours and I was wheeled into recovery still shaking with pain shooting down the right side of my neck and shoulder (which apparently happens to a very small percentage of people…of course…right?) Your daddy was immediately concerned and asked why I was still shaking and I just kept telling him he needed to rub my shoulder…like RIGHT NOW. He told me after that he was really concerned because I never asked for or looked at you …at that moment though I had other concerns of the shakes and pain down the right side of my body.
About an hour later I was back to my old self and was handed you and was wheeled back to my room where family and friends were waiting.
Later that day I did learn from your daddy that I had an intrauterine infection and that was why your heart rate kept dropping. You were born with a fever but it was borderline and they didn’t need to admit you into the NICU (thank god).
By early morning her fever was gone. I was in the hospital for four days where I was treated for the infection and we were both monitored every two hours. You breastfed great and was an awesome baby and pretty much just slept except for the last day you had to be formula fed because I wasn’t sleeping (our room was right by the entrance door and I am an extremely light sleeper) or eating (ew, hospital food) and stopped producing…so you would breastfeed for like an hour and then scream bloody murder after because you was so hungry because you wasn’t getting anything.
On our way home we stopped for some items that the hospital had recommended and when we got back to the car it wouldn’t start. My dad had to come jump start us so we could make the drive home…what drama!
The night we went home my milk came in. The next day because I was so engorged you refused to latch and we ended up back in the hospital with her because you hadn’t eaten all day. Thankfully we had a great nurse that was super understanding and helpful. We went home that night feeling more confident and ready to take on whatever was handed to us…and you handed us a lot.
Here is a link to some of the images taken by the birth photographer and a slideshow set to music of the day. Every time I watch it I cry. I still cannot believe what an incredible gift from God you are. We have saved hard copies of these for you to see and watch when you wish to view them.
http://www.cradledcreations.com/1/post/2013/03/baby-arielle-abbotsford-doula-and-birth-photographer.html
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