It might get lengthy, so be prepared.
At about 34 weeks of pregnancy I noticed my feet started to swell, and one Sunday night my vision was so blurry that I couldn't read my phone. I remember staring at Reese across the room, and not being able to see him. When he asked what I was looking at- I began to cry (remember- preggo hormones) - and told him I couldn't see anything. I called my dad that night and he brought over his blood pressure cuff and my blood pressure was a lot higher than normal. I called my doctor and he told me they would watch it carefully for the next couple weeks.
The high blood pressure went down for a couple weeks and then came back with vengeance at 36 weeks. My legs were tree stumps, and my feet were balloons. I felt terrible. I was never miserable with Ruby's pregnancy but this time I was so over being pregnant. High blood pressure can make you feel terrible. And at the end... I couldn't even get my pants over my fat feet.
At my 36 week appointment they told me I had preeclampsia and to be prepared to have a baby early. So I cleaned and stocked up on the essentials, and soaked in the alone time with Ruby.
When we went to the doctor on the 30th (I was 37 weeks) - and he took my blood pressure and made me pee in a cup to check my protein levels, and as soon as he got the results- he called the hospital and we had one hour to get to the hospital because they were going to induce us. I told Reese I wanted to hurry and eat so we had a gourmet Mcdonald's breakfast, texted our families to update them and headed over to Mountain View Hospital. It was my father-in -laws birthday so he was extra excited to get a birthday buddy! And I was excited I didn't have to find him a gift.
Within minutes of arriving-I was in a hospital gown and being hooked up to monitors and IVs.
With Ruby- I had a c-section, so this time we were going to try a VBAC. My doctor really doesn't love to induce with VBACs because it increases the risks, and can go wrong easier- resulting in an emergency c-section. But he knew how it important it was to Reese and I and so he still let me try to do a VBAC, while monitoring me very close.
When inducing with a VBAC, they have to do it carefully- They use little tiny doses of pitocin, and a lovely balloon like device to help me dilate. (TMI? well you are reading a birth story lol)
They started me on pitocin at about 11 and then I got my epidural around 1. They did the epidural so soon because the ballon device is extra painful, and dilated me to a 6 rather quickly.
6:00pm - After the ballon did its job, my doctor broke my water. And that's when things started to go wrong. My blood pressure got into the 180s, and the baby was in distress. They started me on magnesium, put me on oxygen, and added water back in to me for the baby. At this point they were worried about me and the baby and I could tell that they were about ready to throw in the towel and take me back for c-section. It was a stressful few hours, but my doctor never left the hospital and kept a close eye on me and the baby.
Luckily with the magnesium my BP started to get a little lower, and the fluids were helping the baby's heart rate to stay steady.
Magnesium isn't something I would wish on my worst enemy. I had to be hooked up to it for 24 hours after she was born. It was miserable. I had the worst migraine of my life, and things are pretty cloudy during that 24 hours. I had double vision, and I could't see what Hazel looked like- or remember what we named her for the life of me for that 24 hrs.
At about 10:30 the dr checked me and I was ready to push. I hadn't ever done this type of birth before- and I was scared out of my mind. But my doctor was awesome, he coached me and encouraged me throughout the whole thing. Along with the support of the sweet nurse and Reese everything went as planned, and at exactly midnight on the dot, our sweet baby was born. They handed her straight to me.
That moment was indescribable. With Ruby they whisked her away to the NICU and I didn't meet her until 6 hours later. This time I was able to hold Hazel seconds after she was born while Reese cut the umbilical cord. I bawled, Reese bawled, and we were now a family of 4.
She weighed 5 lbs even, and was 19 inches long.
And she doesn't share a birthday with her grandpa- she was one minute late ;)
Once I saw the weight, I worried they would take her away from me because surely we can't be that lucky to have her stay with us. But we were. There was lots of prayers said during my labor, and she came out perfect. I wouldn't change a thing about the way she came to us- it was such a special day in our lives.
And I feel like a super mom now, because I have given birth 2 different ways!
We love our sweet little Hazel
I was going to tell you how she ended up with the name Hazel, but that will have to happen in a different post. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment