On Thursday, August 4th my sister, Stephanie, and her daughter, Jenni, arrived in town to spend Thursday and Friday with me. It was a week before Peanut's due date and I had promised Jenni that we would go to the "beach" in Austin sometime this summer. We hung out, planned our beach day for Friday, and spent the evening working on some last minute craft projects for the baby.
I had wanted to finish my cookie-label craft project prior to the baby's arrival, so with my sister's help we blazed through the project. Literally as I was adhering the LAST label on the cookie bags my water broke! Second to the timing of it all, it was exciting to have my water break... Since only 10% of women have their water break prior to labor, I had thought a few weeks before how cool it would be to have mine break ahead of time... for the unexpected surprise, experience, and because it gives you a heads up that labor is imminent--it leaves no room to wonder if your contractions are real or not. Needless to say, it was pretty special that my sister was with me, we finished the labels just in time, and I had the experience of my water breaking on its own.
At this point it was 8 pm in the evening so I called my doctor and scheduled to go into the hospital once my contractions started and had strong regularity. By midnight my contractions had started and labor progressed well throughout the night and morning and then stopped around 10am. We checked into the hospital and I started a pitocin drip at 11 am. Come 5pm I was ready for an epidural, and come midnight, I was ready to push :)
All during labor my blood pressure was too high, Gavin's heart rate was too fast and I was running a fever. But after 24 hours of labor it became more problematic. We did not know it at the time but I had developed labor-induced pre-eclampsia. Due to the severity of the situation, at 1:28 Saturday morning I had a C-section and Gavin was admitted to the NICU for antibiotics and to monitor his body temperature (which was too low). The sad part of having the C-section was not getting to spend time with our little one after his delivery. (I did have a few minutes with him but I had expected to have an hour or two before he would be taken to the nursery for a bath.) All that to say, I am so THANKFUL to live during a time when C-sections can be administered to safely deliver babies!!!
Something special about Gavin's delivery was getting to hear his first cry! David and I did not find out the gender of our little one ahead of time so we were quite excited about the delivery. After hearing our baby's first cry I knew it had to be a boy--it just sounded like a boy---I'm not sure how else to explain it! I did not find out for sure it was a boy until a few minutes later when David the chance to check him out and announce it to me.
After Gavin's birth my recovery started out well. David was allowed to check-in with Gavin in the NICU but I had to wait until the epidural wore off and I was moved to a postpartum room before I got to see our little one again. So, at 6:30 that evening we were reunited! After 5 minutes we had to leave for a shift change, and then at 7:30 we returned for a longer stay with our little one.
His NICU nurse was a sweet lady who did a great job caring for him. It was difficult having him in the NICU and seeing so many other babies that had a long road ahead of them and families that are in the middle of that turmoil. We were lucky to have a short stay and get him released to room-in with us starting the next evening.
Having Gavin room-in was lots of fun. He is a sweet little guy and is so patient with us. We quickly found he is not a fan or cold wet wipes or being unwrapped from his swaddle. He will cry (sounds like a little lamb) during both but the second the diaper is back on or the blanket is wrapped around him he stops :) We think he is just wonderful!
Tuesday evening we were released to go home. Getting a baby released from the NICU is somewhat of a difficult process--we had planned all day Monday to go home Monday evening and were denied release at the last minute when his temperature dropped a degree too low... So we stayed the extra night and then were granted release Tuesday evening.
It was quite the thrill to get to drive home with a baby and bring him into our home. Tuesday evening was nice; my mom (who was staying for the week) went grocery shopping, David grilled out, and Gavin and I napped.
Wednesday morning I woke up feeling awful---dizzy, short-of-breath, nauseated, tired beyond words--- wondering if it was normal or not to feel so crummy... I called my doctor and she had me come into her office. Upon being checked out they found my blood pressure to be dangerously high and in immediate risk or seizure, stroke, or heart attack. So, I was admitted back into the hospital for a series of tests. THANKFULLY, all of the hard-core issues they had suspected were ruled out by the end of the day (my heart and kidneys were found to be in good condition) and they narrowed it down to labor-induced severe pre-eclampsia. After a blood transfusion, tons of scans, and a cocktail of meds, I expected to be in the hospital for one additional day while they started me on blood pressure medication--- but I ended up having to stay 5 more days (until Sunday night) since finding the winning combination of drugs to stabilize my blood pressure proved challenging. Those 5 days were quite difficult, especially since my time with Gavin was limited. Again though, the good part is that I get to live during a time when they could regulate and stabilize me instead of what could have happened.
So, here we are 2 weeks out from his birth. His first appointment with the pediatrician went great and he is a growing little boy. He is eating and sleeping very well. He has some funny facial expressions and seems to be a calm and relaxed little guy.
I have spent the last week on bed rest and am taking 18 pills each day to regulate my blood pressure. (Crazy, yes! Even the pharmacy triple checked the prescription order with my nurse and doctor before filling it.) Starting tomorrow I will stair-step down from the 18 with the goal that my body with self-regulate within the next 4 weeks. I am SO grateful that the doctors found a combination of drugs to help me in the meantime, and give me the ability to be at home instead of in the hospital. I am also grateful that I can sense a noticeable difference in my health and energy level. Please pray that complete healing comes soon, my energy returns and that my blood pressure will normalize permanently. A bonus prayer would be for pre-eclampsia to not occur in future pregnancies that I may have. Please, Lord-- answer that prayer!
In the meantime we have gotten lots of help to care for our little guy. I am so thankful for our family and friends who have texted/e-mailed/visited/prayed with us and for us/brought meals to us during this time. Also, for my mom was in town and able to care for Gavin around the clock during my extra time in the hospital. Also cool, my mom was able to extend her stay an extra week so she and I got to spend this last week together taking care of Gavin. Tomorrow, David's parents are coming in town to spend lots of great time with our little one too :)
I'm thinking the best is yet to come---although he is pretty awesome just as he is now and I am so grateful to be home!
No comments:
Post a Comment