Well, first of all let me apologize for it taking me so long to make a post on here…  I have had little to no energy to keep up with things at home, let alone typing a blog entry.

Let me start from the beginning…

Monday, February 8, 2010 – after having several headaches over the weekend, along with some VERY swollen feet, I called my doctors office.  My doctor was on call at the hospital that day and he wanted me to go over to the hospital and be put on some monitors.  YIKES…  I went over there about 11:00 am and was hooked up to the fetal monitor.  Things looked good there…  the heartbeat was very strong and he was moving around the way he should have been.  However, my blood pressure was elevated.  While I can’t remember the exact numbers, it was something like 155/90.  Enough to tell my doctor that things were not looking good.  He came and told me that I was not going home, and he was trying to decide what to do…  if he just wanted to induce me or wait it out.  They had me lying on my left side and were taking my blood pressure every 10 minutes.  And by lying on my left side, my blood pressure did not go down, it continued to read high.  And I was very swollen…

I was moved to a labor and delivery room about 4:00…  they told me they were going to start by giving me cervadil that night and they would start the pitocin the next morning.  (the cervadil would soften my cervix and the pitocin would induce uterine contractions).  The strange thing is, I had started contracting on my own by this time…  they were not regular – but boy they were painful.  But I was not effaced at all (meaning my cervix was not softened for delivery), nor was I dilated.  The cervadil was to be placed about 6pm and had to run for 12 hours, so it would be taken out at 6am and then they would start the pitocin.  I was then started on a magnesium drip to try to lower my blood pressure.  They actually use magnesium to stop pre-mature labor, therefore, the contractions that I was having had stopped.  Because magnesium causes muscle weakness and because I was so swollen and my blood pressure was still not coming down – back to my left side I went and was put on strict bed rest.  In went a cathedar.  Since my blood pressure was not coming down, I moved from a labor and delivery room into a special care labor and delivery room.

They came to insert the cervadil about 7pm, after they did an ultrasound to verify that the baby was head down, ready to deliver.  That’s when they told me that he was only at -2 pelvic station.  What that means is that he had not even dropped into my pelvic bone.  Let me get this straight – I am not dilated at all, my cervix is not softened and he’s not dropped into my pelvic bone yet and you want to induce labor?  The best thing I can do to get him to drop is use gravity…  but I’m confined to the bed!  Now what?

I had not eaten all day and I was told that I was only allowed a clear liquid diet.  They did bring me some things to eat – a Popsicle, broth, apple juice…  etc.  Nothing of substance.  I tried to sleep, but I was so uncomfortable, that wasn’t happening.  They even gave me a sleeping pill, and I still couldn’t sleep.  And at about 2am, I lost everything that I had eaten several hours earlier.  So I was back to having nothing in my stomach.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010 - They came in about 8am and removed the cervadil and at that point I was told that I was still not dilated…  the doctor told me that she thought given the fact that the cervadil didn’t dilate me that she wasn’t sure the pitocin would induce labor enough, therefore she was going to start the pitocin on a very low dose and see what happens.  They started and I guess I was having contractions, the monitors were telling me I was, but they were not regular and I couldn’t even feel them.  The doctor had been back a few times throughout the day and continued to check to see if I dilated… which I had not.

After all day of this, we decided that a c-section would be my best option.  As much as I knew that’s not what I wanted to do prior to this, I knew there was no way I could handle labor.  I was exhausted and had nothing in my stomach for almost 48 hours and he was not dropped which would have meant more work pushing him out…

It was a busy day at the hospital that day and the doctor already had 3 scheduled c-sections and there were several women there in labor.  It got to be pretty late in the day…  like 7:30 and I was told that it probably wouldn’t happen till morning. Really?  I have to spend another night like this? My mom and sister left to go home…  and about 9:00 the doctor came back in and told me that they were going to take me back at 9:30.  Oh good…  I don’t have to spend another night being so uncomfortable. 

They were there to take me pretty much on time…  and since it was so late and Tom would be the only one allowed in the operating room and the weather was very nasty, my mom and sister decided they would just come back in the morning.

I was taken into the operating room and they wouldn’t let Tom in until they got the spinal put in place…  It was really only about 10 minutes, but it seemed like forever until they went to get Tom.  The spinal was put in place and I was laid back and almost immediately, I was vomiting.  The doctors in the operating room told me that was very normal and it was probably just nerves.  Tom sat up by my head and I continued to vomit pretty much throughout the entire procedure.

My baby boy was born at 9:59pm weighing 7lbs, 12oz and was 19-1/2” long.  I know it was very hard for Tom to leave my side since I continued to vomit, but he did go with the baby while they performed the APGAR scores, which were 8 and 9.  Tom was very good with the camera – he took pictures every step of the way and even recorded a few videos.  Since they were stitching me up at that point, I was unable to actually see any of this taking place, so having the photos and videos were awesome for me to watch later.



The one bad thing about a c-section is the fact that I was unable to hold my little boy right away.  Daddy got to hold him – which was awesome, but my heart hurt that I was not able to hold him right away.  They finished stitching me up and I was taken into recovery.  Once I was in recovery and they got me re-positioned, I was finally able to hold him.  My heart melted.  I was still feeling a little on the queasy side and I was still a little out of it.  Unfortunately, they had tested his blood sugar and it was a little low, so I had to give him a bottle to feed him for the first time instead of being able to breast feed him.


I was in recovery for about an hour and then I was taken back to my room.  We got to enjoy Lucas for a little while and shortly after midnight, the nurses came to get him to take him to the nursery for his nightly assessment.  I was simply exhausted…  trying to get some sleep was easy and a challenge at the same time.  I was told that I would not be moving to a post-partum room until the next day so I remained in special care.  My blood pressure was still elevated but it was slowly starting to come down.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010 – my breakfast arrived – FINALLY…  I was starving.  Unfortunately, I was having trouble keeping my eyes open to even eat it.  I was literally falling asleep trying to eat.  I eventually gave up and just slept.  The magnesium drip was making me sleepier.  I was still confined to the bed and would remain there until the magnesium drip was discontinued.  The doctor came to see me and told me that they were leaving the magnesium drip running today because my blood pressure was still elevated.  They were taking my blood pressure every 15 minutes.

While most of the day is sort of a blur, as I was in and out of it all day long, I do remember finally getting something to eat at lunch time.  The nurses told me that the magnesium drip would remain running for 24 hours after surgery…  which meant well into the night before they stopped it and then at that point they would try getting me up out of bed.  YIKES.  The thought of that scared me!  Lactation came in to help me get started on breast feeding.  That was everything I expected and everything I didn’t.  I don’t know how else to explain it.

About 9pm, they came in and stopped the magnesium drip…  they left the IV running however.  It took quite a bit of time – and energy to get out of bed.  After all, I had been confined to the bed for excess of 48 hours.  But once I got out of bed, I walked to the bathroom and then back to bed.  I then crashed.

Thursday, February 11, 2010 – I was finally moved into a post-partum room about 4:00pm.  My blood pressure had started to go down but then started to go back up once I was allowed out of bed.  I was placed on medication to help lower it…  The doctor told me that he wasn’t sure if I would be going home Friday or Saturday…

Our first night in our new room was a little on the rough side.  About 3:30am, Lucas woke up and was absolutely starving…  I tried to feed him, however, he was having nothing of it.  No matter what I tried, I could not get him to latch on.  After about 30 minutes, we ended up calling the nurse in for assistance.  The nurse stripped him of all his clothes, and I did the same and had to go skin-to-skin.  He finally ended up latching on and boy did he ever!  That child ate and ate and ate.  We never really had anymore issues after that.  They began weighing me every night to be sure I was “disposing” of the excess water weight.  That night I had weighed in for the first time in post-partum, so we would wait and see what I weighed in at the next night.

Friday, February 12, 2010 – I had a very rough morning.  I woke up very queasy.  I was vomiting (which was not fun – that really pulled on my incision!)  The doctor came in and told me that he didn’t believe I was ready to go home…  I was to stay another day.  As much as I wanted to go home, I didn’t argue because I really felt awful.  My blood pressure remained elevated throughout the day.  I got some sleep and that helped me a lot.  I took my first shower since my surgery and that made me feel so much better!  My weigh in that night showed that I had lost close to 5 pounds – in a 24 hour period!  I was definitely urinating out the water and the swelling was slowly going down.

Saturday, February 13, 2010 – I was waiting anxiously for the doctor to come in and tell me that I could go home…  The nurse convinced me to get up and walk the hallway to try to help me loosen up my muscles.  After I walked the halls, my lunch arrived.  I was able to sit in a chair to eat instead of lying in the bed – that felt great.  The nurse took my blood pressure and it was still elevated.  The doctor came in to see me shortly thereafter and she told me that she wanted me to stay another night.  And the reason that she gave me was because it was the weekend and if I had gotten home and something happened, I would have to come back through the ER.  As much as I still wanted to go home, I knew she was right so another night in the hospital! 

Later that evening is when I realized for the first time that my milk had come in!  Lucas was very happy with that and he really began healthy eating.  My mom and my sister came to visit us that night and that was nice – took my mind off of things for a while.  When they weighed me this time, I had lost another close to 7 pounds in a 24 hour period.  Which means that 12 pounds of water weight came off over a 48 hour period!  The swelling was still there, although it had gone down quite a bit… 

Sunday, February 14, 2010 – the big day!  I saw the doctor fairly early that morning and he finally released me.  He told me that I had to call the office and schedule a BP check for the first part of the week and I would have to go every week until my BP was back to normal.  It was still elevated that morning, but the doctor adjusted my medication.

We got to leave about 2:00pm.  We arrived home to find family awaiting our arrival.  It was very nice just to be home.  Our first night was an adjustment.  I just wanted to sleep!  Luckily my sister was here which was nice, because she was an enormous help.  I really don’t know what I would have done without her!

The next few days were quite an adjustment…  not only to having a newborn in the house, but I was also still recovering from major surgery.  I was getting around very slowly, but the more I moved around, the easier it got.

My sister went home on Saturday (February 20) and we are now adjusting to being home by ourselves.  On a selfish note, I am very sad that she is gone because I had gotten used to having her here.  She is planning on coming back the first week of March, but that’s not soon enough for me!

I will try to keep this updated as much as I can…  As those of you mothers know, having a newborn baby in the house takes priority and takes all the energy you have!