another crazy birth story
But Ellis had a different idea. She wanted to come 6 weeks early. When I think that she's only been with us for 14 days, and that technically she should still be cooking in my belly for another 4 weeks, that blows my mind! It seems so hard to imagine that I should still be pregnant! Yet she is here, and I couldn't be happier. It was a crazy ride to get her here.
The Wednesday before she was born, I thought I might be leaking amniotic fluid. So I called the Dr. and went in for testing. I had had contractions but the dr. did a ph test and said he didn't think that it was amniotic fluid. He said that sometimes contractions can make it feel like it was amniotic fluid leaking when it wasn't. I was unsure, but I figured he was the professional. Thursday continued with much of the same and still I was doubtful. Some more contractions and liquid. Friday AM I woke up and this time it was way worse. I went through 2 pairs of underwear and my pants in an hour. But I still doubted my intuition because a dr already told me once that it was normal fluids. I knew it was getting worse though and called my dr again. I still thought that he would want to schedule an apt so I went to work because it was too late to find a sub. I was freaking out the whole time. I don't know how I got through 1st period. After first period, and before the next class began, I went to the bathroom and noticed I was bleeding. This is when I knew I needed to go straight to the dr. It was the same type of bleeding that I experienced with Luke. I called the dr again and I was sorta panicking, so I started crying right there at work on the phone with the nurse. I went out the hallway though so no students would see me. The nurse told me to go to Labor and Delivery immediately. I walked into my principal's office. I must have looked like a hot mess because all he said was "just go mama. Don't worry about us at all" So I went back to class and told my students to walk across the hallway to the class across the hall, and I left with my stuff. I have the BEST TEAM ever. They didn't even blink even though it was going to require them to do more work. They just wanted me to be ok.
I called Richie and I could hear him getting nervous on the phone. I drove straight home. I called my mom to let her know and Richie's mom know so that she could watch Luke. On the way home, and on the way to Richie's parent's house and on the way to the hospital, I could tell that the bleeding was getting worse, but I still didn't think they would do a C-section. I thought I'd be on bed rest again. As they did the exam, the nurse had to find a heartbeat and had some trouble. That's when she asked if the baby was breech and I said, "yes as a matter of fact she is." I happened to be the only patient in the triage area so the lady went to the phone to call my dr (who happened to be the on call dr that day). I could hear her on the phone with him explaining my symptoms, and I heard her say "yeah it's a no brainer at this point" and then I KNEW. I knew it would be a C-section. He came in and confirmed my fears and I just burst into tears. Because I was in fact leaking amniotic fluid, and had a placenta abruption and she was breech, they didn't want to try a vaginal birth. I was scared that she was so early. I was only 34 weeks and 4 days. I was also fairly terrified of undergoing such a surgery. It all kinda blurs from here. I remember texting my mom to tell her come immediately because they were prepping me for a C-section. And then I vaguely remember them asking a million questions while they prep me. They gave Richie a suit to wear and left us alone for a few minutes.
 |
| Richie all suited up |
 |
| My last belly picture.... ever |
We took one last belly picture of me, and a goofy picture of Richie suited up, and then they wheeled me back to the room. The spinal took 2 times to take correctly and then I sorta started panicking. At some point Richie came in the room, and there was lots of pushing and prodding on my belly, and at some point there was talk of Trump (WHY OH WHY IS THAT ONE OF THE FEW MEMORIES OF THE BIRTH OF MY BABY GIRL???). Then I heard them say "The baby is out!" and someone asked "What is it?" and there was silence and another person said "The Dr's arm is in the way." I swear in that moment I was thinking "Dear God don't play jokes with me now!!!" Then someone said it's a girl and I could hear her crying big healthy cries. The NICU team took her immediately over to assess her. At this point, my dr. also informed me that Ellis had a true knot in her cord and that we were lucky to be doing the C-section now as true knots can be fatal.
 |
| born seconds earlier |
 |
| there were 3 NICU nurses looking at her |
They showed her to me and Richie was able to hold her for a few minutes. Then they whisked her away and Richie went with her.
 |
| hurray for baby girls! |
 |
| first kisses |
I don't really remember much after they took her away. I was in and out. I remember being in recovery and asking for the nurse to get me my mom and both of my parents came in. I remember talking but I don't really remember what was said. I remember going to the post partum room. I know that my parents were able to go to NICU to see her and hold her. But the meds made me feel so sick and I had double vision so badly that I threw up. That was definitely NOT fun. By the time I felt well enough to be wheeled up to see her, it was almost midnight. Almost a full 12 hours after her birth.
Being in the NICU for 6 days was not a fun experience at all. I detested all the wires and alarms. But I knew that they were there to make sure she was safe and healthy. I knew that there were (are) many babies in the NICU who are born later than she was born and had pretty serious complications. She had very few issues and rallied quickly.
All in all, when I think back on her birth, I think that God's timing is miraculous. It really makes me want to weep. I was adamant that I didn't want to do a C-Section. I wanted to try for a natural birth. However, she was breech, my water had already broken, and I had a 25% placenta abruption. Because of all of these 3 things, I wasn't given that choice. I'm thankful that she was still breech because if she wasn't, I would have argued for a vaginal birth. I've done some reading on true knots and they only occur in approximately 1.25% of pregnancies (go figure I have a weird pregnancy thing!) With a true knot in the cord, there is a higher risk of death when doing a vaginal birth. Also, if I hadn't had my water break and the bleeding, I would still be pregnant. With a true knot, the risk of fetal demise jumps up to 4 times higher than a normal pregnancy. It is one of the leading causes of fetal demise in pregnancies that go past 37 weeks. So I am grateful for my water breaking early, for the placenta abruption, and for her being breech. Even though I didn't want a C-section, it might have saved her life. I just can't even think about the possible ramifications if she hadn't survived. I know that my Shadow and my Gram were with me during this pregnancy and especially during this birth to protect me and Ellis.
She's here. She's healthy. She's perfect. She's mine.
Comments
Post a Comment