4 weeks 4 days
Monday, March 22, 2010
Only 2.5 months have gone by since my last post...
Well, she's here! Our second daughter arrived on February 17, 2010 by a scheduled, repeat c-section. I thought I'd share her birth story. I'll try not to be too graphic but as the saying going "There's no modesty in childbirth" and I have to assume that if you're reading this blog, you want to know about my life!
After months of anticipation, the big day arrived just like any other. We got up entirely too early (4:45am) in my opinion but we had to be at the hospital by 6:00am. DD#1 woke up to send us off
(secretly I was thrilled to get to give her a hug & kiss before departing) and Grandmomma wrangled her back into bed so we could leave without incident. I vaguely recall the drive to the hospital (a 20-30 minute affair). It was dark, it was February, and winter was very much still upon us. It was an uneventful morning until we arrived to the Women's Center parking lot at Lake Forest Hospital. We were in a hyper-aware state at this point. On the other side of those sliding glass doors was a medical team waiting to cut a human life out of me. We were feeling the anxiety and nerves start to creep in on us. Husband pulled around the drive. The parking lot was basically empty but for 3 or 4 vehicles sprinkled here and there. I prepared myself to exit the vehicle as I saw that we'd be able to park right near the entrance. I unbuckled my belt, grabbed my bag, and impatiently waited for Husband to pull into a parking spot. But he didn't. He just kept driving. Away from the door. The one that we needed to go into. I broke into the screaming silence with "What are you doing?!" At this point a few things happened: 1) He slammed on the brakes. SLAMMED. 2) My body was crushed up against the dash and my head hit the windshield. 3) We dazedly started yelling at each other. After we stopped bickering long enough for him to actually park and for me to furiously exit the vehicle, he timidly said to me, "Are you ok?" to which I replied, "No I'm not fucking ok!" and then the comedy of the situation overcame all of our anxieties and we immediately burst into laughter. This is typical behavior for us (and for many, I think). When Husband gets sent off for his job, the week directly prior is usually hellish between us. We get so wound-up being stressed about being apart that we pick fights. The pain of being separated is too great, so we replace it with anger at one another. Anger will get you through a lot. Anger hurts less than lovingly missing someone. It is a dysfunctional coping mechanism. Anyway, by the time we got up to the check-in desk our little tiff was forgotten. The nurses were waiting on us to arrive and happy to have customers to serve (the maternity unity wasn't really a poppin' place that day). We were ushered into a triage room where I was gowned and promptly put onto monitors and then asked a series of questions. Andrew decided he'd step out to use the bathroom at which time the nurse asked me "Is there any history of physical or mental abuse [from your husband]?" Now, I think that is serious stuff, but I almost laughed out loud at the question because I wondered if she'd consider him trying to eject me through the windshield of our vehicle, abuse? After some blood work, an IV(which they put in my wrist and I loved vs. the back of the hand) a few phone calls to family, and after Husband got decked out in his real scrubs (he was tickled by this, I think) it was time for the anesthesiologist and my doctor to come in and brief me on what was going to happen once they took me to the OR. Dr. Anesthesiologist (as I called him because I promptly forgot his name, oops) was extremely informative and reassuring. I was to have a spinal block which differs from an epidural in a couple of ways. The spinal block is an injection of aesthetic into the fluid around the spinal cord. It is a pre-measured amount of medication and once it's in, it's in. There is no adjusting the amount or the effect, however, the effect is a deeper numbness and it will wear off within a few hours of the section. An epidural places a catheter into the epidural space for the duration of labor (or will be left in during an emergency c-section and medication will continually be fed into it such as with the birth of DD#1). The spinal block takes effect almost immediately (i.e. you better turn and swing your legs up onto that table or you're going to suddenly feel like you're falling over and that your lower half is gone!). The epidural takes 10-15 minutes to take effect. So anyway, I was to have a spinal for this birth and in hindsight I'd choose it again in an instant. I had far fewer sensations with it than I had with DD#1 though I felt no pain with either. I warned Dr. A that I had promptly vomited after DD#1 was born. I wasn't sure if it was the pressure from the large man pushing on my abdomen to shoot the baby out or if it was anesthesia related. He felt it was unlikely to happen again but took note. At this point, Dr. Gandhi poked her head in, said she was going to change her clothes, and then we'd get started. They took me into the operating room and this is when the fun started! I was instructed to sit on the side of the table and tuck my chin to my chest, drop my shoulders, cross my arms in front of me and hunch forward into a ball. Miguel (a big teddy bear sort of man who was the first surgical assistant) kept me from falling off the table and helped me to stay hunched by sort of hugging me against him. I was given injections of a local anesthetic into my back so that I wouldn't feel Dr. A digging around with his giant needle to place the block. They stung. I won't lie, makes you suck in a little air. Soon as they took effect he began the 15 MINUTE LONG procedure of digging around in my back, scraping my vertebra with his needle and doing this in a couple different spots a couple of different times. Now, I don't blame him at all, he was an excellent doctor but man was it hard to stay still and hunched and BREATHE! with a giant baby in me while someone uncomfortable jammed around in my spinal column. Eventually he did get it placed, I could sit up momentarily to breathe again before they had me swinging around to lie down. Then my second favorite part of the whole experience happened. My blood pressure dropped, I started seeing spots, and you got it, I started dry-heaving. Ever tried to puke lying on your back when you can't feel the muscles that expel the matter in your stomach? It's fun, you should try it some time. Basically all you can do is turn your head to the side and wait for it to pass. This went on for 3-5 minutes before my blood pressure stabilized. Uh, told you so, Dr. A. By this time everything was getting super numb. They hung the curtain up and finally Husband was allowed to join me again. He came in rarin' to go, I think. He stood by my head and looked and looked at whatever they were doing. I asked him 3 times to sit down. He was making me nervous for him. I was fine with what they were doing, and maybe by some miracle he could have watched, but I know him. He can't handle it. It doesn't make you less of a man honey, but seeing your wife's insides isn't really something you're supposed to be able to stomach. Don't bother trying. Dr. A had him sit down and from then on Husband was really attentive to me though I have to be honest, I was starting to zone out at that point. I could see a clock from where I was lying, but I couldn't tell you even time was even passing by then. In the foggy crevices of my mind I knew it must be but I just couldn't feel it passing and I sort of let myself drift off, not asleep, just to Elsewhere. I think I was still talking to Husband. No idea really, we'd have to ask him. Dr. A told me that Dr. Gandhi is quick, she gets in, gets the baby out, gets me put back together, and is off like a flash. She was, too. In triage prior to the section Husband was doing a little dance for me to lighten things up. He had taken on the persona of a Hibachi chef imitating one as if the chef were the doctor and then did a motion with his hands indicating that he was flipping the newly born babe up into his hat. Maybe you had to be there, but it was hilarious. Anyway, after some yanking and tugging, I heard a gurgling cry and Husband was pulled away from my side to attend to her. I could hear her and could understand that she was ok though I really couldn't tell what was happening anymore. Husband says that he saw her and exclaimed about how little she was to one of the nurses who promptly rebuffed that! At 8:37am little dear daughter was born weighing 8lbs 12oz and was 20.5 inches long. Finally after ages (or minutes, it was hard to tell) she was brought to me all bundled. Husband showed me her head of dark hair already an inch long! They both left my side then to go get Baby checked out and the last few things I recall were the sound of them stapling my incision closed and then being told to cross my arms on my chest and not to move while they put me in a hospital bed. The recovery room was the best. She was there with me. Not in some nursery I'd never seen. They had her bed and a pediatric nurse there right next to my bed checking her out. I was alert and getting quite loopy by this time - the duramorph had really kicked in). It was just me, Husband, Baby, and our nurses. It was fantastic. I got to watch her first little bath in the sink, I got to hold her, nurse her, everything. It was amazing and so very different from DD#1's birth. I realized in those moments what I had missed out on (not by choice, by hospital policy) in Chesapeake. I was on cloud 9 experiencing the excitement of just having had a baby and loving every little moment with her. When we got to our room (which was amazing, btw) we got all settled in and started making the familial phone calls. I have no idea who I talked to or what I said. I apparently told my dad "I am feeling a little loopy. You might be used to it, but I'm not." Cracked him up, I imagine I was being completely serious when I said it though, haha! The nurse put on some kind of circulation socks that are hooked up to a machine that fills them with air and keeps the blood in my legs moving around to prevent DVT. Those were itchy and hot. Late that evening after the spinal had worn off, catheter had come out, and I had a good dose of pain medicine, I was allowed to walk. It hurts like hell. But, it wasn't the sobbing experience I had had the first time. I was prepared this time and knew what to expect. I made it to the bathroom with a nurse and Husband on either side of me. It felt good to move again. The next few days were a blur of visitors (I loved having visitors, it was wonderful) nurses visits (the BEST nursing staff - I will forever compare all hospital interactions with this one and these nurses were AMAZING), and rest. This hospital had the best food. We had a menu, called a number, and they brought anything you wanted on the menu. Husband and I frequently shared. He had a twin size fold out bed too. He was really taken care of and we never felt like he didn't matter (Chesapeake General basically talked to him like he was a sperm donor). Baby was healthy and nursing well though she was experiencing jaundice do to our incompatible blood types. That issue ended up being a bit of a roller coaster ride because she was take on the bili lights too soon and ended up needing one at home for a couple days. No big deal but a pain. Our check out day was slightly stressful because of finding out her bilirubin levels had doubled and I was having some pretty extreme swelling (that only got worse) in both legs. After an ultrasound to determine that I didn't have a blood clot (deep vein thrombosis) and the run around trying to get Baby a bili blanket we finally left at 5:00pm, six hours after we thought we would. All in all I think it was the best possible birth experience I could have with a c-section. The first one I was sent home with a Rx for Percocet and Motrin and needed an extra refill. This one I was sent home with Lortab and even had a few left over. Says a lot about how well taken care of I was. DD#2 will be 5 weeks old on Wednesday. I can't believe how the time has flown by and I'm trying to soak up every moment with her and make a memory out of it. This little family of four is blessed beyond measure and so happy : )
(secretly I was thrilled to get to give her a hug & kiss before departing) and Grandmomma wrangled her back into bed so we could leave without incident. I vaguely recall the drive to the hospital (a 20-30 minute affair). It was dark, it was February, and winter was very much still upon us. It was an uneventful morning until we arrived to the Women's Center parking lot at Lake Forest Hospital. We were in a hyper-aware state at this point. On the other side of those sliding glass doors was a medical team waiting to cut a human life out of me. We were feeling the anxiety and nerves start to creep in on us. Husband pulled around the drive. The parking lot was basically empty but for 3 or 4 vehicles sprinkled here and there. I prepared myself to exit the vehicle as I saw that we'd be able to park right near the entrance. I unbuckled my belt, grabbed my bag, and impatiently waited for Husband to pull into a parking spot. But he didn't. He just kept driving. Away from the door. The one that we needed to go into. I broke into the screaming silence with "What are you doing?!" At this point a few things happened: 1) He slammed on the brakes. SLAMMED. 2) My body was crushed up against the dash and my head hit the windshield. 3) We dazedly started yelling at each other. After we stopped bickering long enough for him to actually park and for me to furiously exit the vehicle, he timidly said to me, "Are you ok?" to which I replied, "No I'm not fucking ok!" and then the comedy of the situation overcame all of our anxieties and we immediately burst into laughter. This is typical behavior for us (and for many, I think). When Husband gets sent off for his job, the week directly prior is usually hellish between us. We get so wound-up being stressed about being apart that we pick fights. The pain of being separated is too great, so we replace it with anger at one another. Anger will get you through a lot. Anger hurts less than lovingly missing someone. It is a dysfunctional coping mechanism. Anyway, by the time we got up to the check-in desk our little tiff was forgotten. The nurses were waiting on us to arrive and happy to have customers to serve (the maternity unity wasn't really a poppin' place that day). We were ushered into a triage room where I was gowned and promptly put onto monitors and then asked a series of questions. Andrew decided he'd step out to use the bathroom at which time the nurse asked me "Is there any history of physical or mental abuse [from your husband]?" Now, I think that is serious stuff, but I almost laughed out loud at the question because I wondered if she'd consider him trying to eject me through the windshield of our vehicle, abuse? After some blood work, an IV(which they put in my wrist and I loved vs. the back of the hand) a few phone calls to family, and after Husband got decked out in his real scrubs (he was tickled by this, I think) it was time for the anesthesiologist and my doctor to come in and brief me on what was going to happen once they took me to the OR. Dr. Anesthesiologist (as I called him because I promptly forgot his name, oops) was extremely informative and reassuring. I was to have a spinal block which differs from an epidural in a couple of ways. The spinal block is an injection of aesthetic into the fluid around the spinal cord. It is a pre-measured amount of medication and once it's in, it's in. There is no adjusting the amount or the effect, however, the effect is a deeper numbness and it will wear off within a few hours of the section. An epidural places a catheter into the epidural space for the duration of labor (or will be left in during an emergency c-section and medication will continually be fed into it such as with the birth of DD#1). The spinal block takes effect almost immediately (i.e. you better turn and swing your legs up onto that table or you're going to suddenly feel like you're falling over and that your lower half is gone!). The epidural takes 10-15 minutes to take effect. So anyway, I was to have a spinal for this birth and in hindsight I'd choose it again in an instant. I had far fewer sensations with it than I had with DD#1 though I felt no pain with either. I warned Dr. A that I had promptly vomited after DD#1 was born. I wasn't sure if it was the pressure from the large man pushing on my abdomen to shoot the baby out or if it was anesthesia related. He felt it was unlikely to happen again but took note. At this point, Dr. Gandhi poked her head in, said she was going to change her clothes, and then we'd get started. They took me into the operating room and this is when the fun started! I was instructed to sit on the side of the table and tuck my chin to my chest, drop my shoulders, cross my arms in front of me and hunch forward into a ball. Miguel (a big teddy bear sort of man who was the first surgical assistant) kept me from falling off the table and helped me to stay hunched by sort of hugging me against him. I was given injections of a local anesthetic into my back so that I wouldn't feel Dr. A digging around with his giant needle to place the block. They stung. I won't lie, makes you suck in a little air. Soon as they took effect he began the 15 MINUTE LONG procedure of digging around in my back, scraping my vertebra with his needle and doing this in a couple different spots a couple of different times. Now, I don't blame him at all, he was an excellent doctor but man was it hard to stay still and hunched and BREATHE! with a giant baby in me while someone uncomfortable jammed around in my spinal column. Eventually he did get it placed, I could sit up momentarily to breathe again before they had me swinging around to lie down. Then my second favorite part of the whole experience happened. My blood pressure dropped, I started seeing spots, and you got it, I started dry-heaving. Ever tried to puke lying on your back when you can't feel the muscles that expel the matter in your stomach? It's fun, you should try it some time. Basically all you can do is turn your head to the side and wait for it to pass. This went on for 3-5 minutes before my blood pressure stabilized. Uh, told you so, Dr. A. By this time everything was getting super numb. They hung the curtain up and finally Husband was allowed to join me again. He came in rarin' to go, I think. He stood by my head and looked and looked at whatever they were doing. I asked him 3 times to sit down. He was making me nervous for him. I was fine with what they were doing, and maybe by some miracle he could have watched, but I know him. He can't handle it. It doesn't make you less of a man honey, but seeing your wife's insides isn't really something you're supposed to be able to stomach. Don't bother trying. Dr. A had him sit down and from then on Husband was really attentive to me though I have to be honest, I was starting to zone out at that point. I could see a clock from where I was lying, but I couldn't tell you even time was even passing by then. In the foggy crevices of my mind I knew it must be but I just couldn't feel it passing and I sort of let myself drift off, not asleep, just to Elsewhere. I think I was still talking to Husband. No idea really, we'd have to ask him. Dr. A told me that Dr. Gandhi is quick, she gets in, gets the baby out, gets me put back together, and is off like a flash. She was, too. In triage prior to the section Husband was doing a little dance for me to lighten things up. He had taken on the persona of a Hibachi chef imitating one as if the chef were the doctor and then did a motion with his hands indicating that he was flipping the newly born babe up into his hat. Maybe you had to be there, but it was hilarious. Anyway, after some yanking and tugging, I heard a gurgling cry and Husband was pulled away from my side to attend to her. I could hear her and could understand that she was ok though I really couldn't tell what was happening anymore. Husband says that he saw her and exclaimed about how little she was to one of the nurses who promptly rebuffed that! At 8:37am little dear daughter was born weighing 8lbs 12oz and was 20.5 inches long. Finally after ages (or minutes, it was hard to tell) she was brought to me all bundled. Husband showed me her head of dark hair already an inch long! They both left my side then to go get Baby checked out and the last few things I recall were the sound of them stapling my incision closed and then being told to cross my arms on my chest and not to move while they put me in a hospital bed. The recovery room was the best. She was there with me. Not in some nursery I'd never seen. They had her bed and a pediatric nurse there right next to my bed checking her out. I was alert and getting quite loopy by this time - the duramorph had really kicked in). It was just me, Husband, Baby, and our nurses. It was fantastic. I got to watch her first little bath in the sink, I got to hold her, nurse her, everything. It was amazing and so very different from DD#1's birth. I realized in those moments what I had missed out on (not by choice, by hospital policy) in Chesapeake. I was on cloud 9 experiencing the excitement of just having had a baby and loving every little moment with her. When we got to our room (which was amazing, btw) we got all settled in and started making the familial phone calls. I have no idea who I talked to or what I said. I apparently told my dad "I am feeling a little loopy. You might be used to it, but I'm not." Cracked him up, I imagine I was being completely serious when I said it though, haha! The nurse put on some kind of circulation socks that are hooked up to a machine that fills them with air and keeps the blood in my legs moving around to prevent DVT. Those were itchy and hot. Late that evening after the spinal had worn off, catheter had come out, and I had a good dose of pain medicine, I was allowed to walk. It hurts like hell. But, it wasn't the sobbing experience I had had the first time. I was prepared this time and knew what to expect. I made it to the bathroom with a nurse and Husband on either side of me. It felt good to move again. The next few days were a blur of visitors (I loved having visitors, it was wonderful) nurses visits (the BEST nursing staff - I will forever compare all hospital interactions with this one and these nurses were AMAZING), and rest. This hospital had the best food. We had a menu, called a number, and they brought anything you wanted on the menu. Husband and I frequently shared. He had a twin size fold out bed too. He was really taken care of and we never felt like he didn't matter (Chesapeake General basically talked to him like he was a sperm donor). Baby was healthy and nursing well though she was experiencing jaundice do to our incompatible blood types. That issue ended up being a bit of a roller coaster ride because she was take on the bili lights too soon and ended up needing one at home for a couple days. No big deal but a pain. Our check out day was slightly stressful because of finding out her bilirubin levels had doubled and I was having some pretty extreme swelling (that only got worse) in both legs. After an ultrasound to determine that I didn't have a blood clot (deep vein thrombosis) and the run around trying to get Baby a bili blanket we finally left at 5:00pm, six hours after we thought we would. All in all I think it was the best possible birth experience I could have with a c-section. The first one I was sent home with a Rx for Percocet and Motrin and needed an extra refill. This one I was sent home with Lortab and even had a few left over. Says a lot about how well taken care of I was. DD#2 will be 5 weeks old on Wednesday. I can't believe how the time has flown by and I'm trying to soak up every moment with her and make a memory out of it. This little family of four is blessed beyond measure and so happy : )
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