First of all, during the last week of pregnancy I kept going into and out of labor, which I thought was odd, but figured was just braxton hicks (false labor) so I waited for my doctor appointment on Friday. Also this past week I had been itching real bad and started getting nausea and headaches. Well I get to the doc on Fri, and my blood pressure at the office is 140/90, and I had terrible swelling in my ankles and for the first time, my hands and face were swollen. Also my urine culture came back with protein in it and ketones. Basically that showed that something was wrong with my liver and kidneys and heart. So, the doctor sent me over to the hospital to have blood work drawn and a ultrasound. Oh also I was effaced and dialated to a 2 and George was engaged in the birth canal soooo doc wanted to get a better look. He told us we would probably be having a baby today.
So, Jamie and I leave for the hospital, on the way we grabbed our bags "just in case". So I get to the hospital and they again check my urine which still had protein and ketones. Then they pulled blood from me, while waiting for the lab to come back they monitored George on the fetal monitor and his heartrate was great, and it turns out I was contracting every 10 minutes. So I finally get the blood work back and it turns out that my liver and kidneys were starting to have trouble. That explained the itching. The toxins from my liver werent getting cleaned out, so it was making a rash all over. And overall my labs showed that I had gotten fully preeclamptic. Then at the hospital, laying on my left side my blood pressure skyrocketed to 168/110. So off to ultrasound I went to have baby's weight checked and make sure he was healthy. In ultrasound George was estamated to weigh 9.7 lbs!! This was give or take a pound. Thankfully though he was healthy and passed all his in utero tests. But poor little guy was quite squashed into my pelvis. Healthy but very cramped.
So at this point the docs advised me on getting a c-section or I could go on and try a vaginal delivery if I wanted. Well this was actually a terribly tough choice for me. See I had never had more than a cavity filled at the dentist. So to me, the idea of surgery with a spinal block was terrifying. I completely hyperventilated and paniced. Also I was so sick from the preeclampsia and the high blood pressure I could hardly think at all. But between my mother and my husband and the doc’s advice, I made the choice for a c-section. Also doc told me that currently the baby was healthy but on a baby that large chances of him not being injured in birth were slim. Oh and by the way the reason I kept going into and out of labor for the last week was George was so huge my uterus was not contracting right. So between his large size, my high blood pressure and preeclampsia, and that my uterus being just to stretched, I decided on a c section. It was schedualed for 10pm.
So while waiting for the c-section I completely freaked out. I basically had a panic attack, but thankfully I had the kindest nurses and doctors in the world who calmed me down. So at 10pm they wheeled me off for the spinal block and surgery. Now a spinal is a weird thing, the nastiest part is I could hear a "pop" when the needle went through my spine.. Can you say EWWW? Anyway they then give me the spinal and before I could really lay down, my legs were going numb. Then to see if I was numbed enough the anesthetist had me wiggle my toes which I still could, then he asked me to move my legs, and I found out I could not move from the armpits down. Well I knew that would happen, but when it actually did it was unnerving. I was basically paralyzed from the arms down... So what did I do? I flipped out! (Jamie is still scrubbing up and changing to surgery scrubs at this point) . And when I say flipped, I mean, I went freaking hysterical, but I was blessed with a wonderful doctor and nurse and anesthetist and they some how got me calmed down. Then Jamie came in and I calmed down even more. Bless those people's hearts for taking such great care of me, I know I was a tough patient to have!! But now I was settled down and they started the csection.
. Well at 1031 they pulled out George into this world. It was almost scary cause he was so purple and I didnt hear a cry, I was scared for a minute. But then they got him cleared out and WAA little George let his presense be heard. However he was breathing too hard and uneven, so after cleaning him up and letting me and Jamie see him, they took him to NICU. Then they sewed me up. At this point Jamie and I were on cloud 9... our little baby was here
Well they took me to recovery and Jamie and the rest of the family busied about seeing George and talking about the baby. Around 1 am everyone went home and slept. George was still in NICU on oxygen cause his respiration was to fast, and he had to have a feeding tube cause his blood sugar was to low. But he was stable and Jamie and I went to sleep.
Next day George was taken off the oxygen and his breathing had stabalized. Also he got taken off the stomach tube but they left him on an IV and continued to observe him in NICU. But he was stable and doing good. Turns out George was 9.1 pounds and 22 inches at 39 weeks! The doctor said it was a good thing I opted for a c-section cause his wide shoulders were not going to fit through my hips. She said they even had trouble getting him out of my pelvis during the csection cause he was so large. So god blessed us all and got George safely here. They said the breathing problems happen a lot when a baby is that large and delivered c-section cause the lungs dont clear out right like they do vaginally.
He is a big ol boy and so precious. He has the thickest mass of black hair and he has Jamie’s chin dimple and little toes, and he has my chubby little cheeks. So George Allen Taylor is here, we had a bit of a rocky start but now he and I are just fine and he is the most precious angel I have ever seen! And we are all hear safe and sound, cant wait to take George home Tuesday, I dont think he will ever learn to walk cause neither Jamie nor I will ever set him down LOL
While George has been off the oxygen since this morning, he still is having episodes of rapid breathing. They had to put his feeding tube back in, and he is going to need a bili light for yellow jaundice. This afternoon I got to hold George but when I returned to the nursery at night, he was under all the lights and hooked back up to the tubes. While I know that all this is not to uncommon it was very upsetting to see my little boy all hooked up to IV's and such, and to not be able to hold him. Sunday night from all this I really got depressed. Also my blodd pressure is still bouncing around, and I am soooo swollen from my IV and the csection, my feet are like twice there size. So between being upset over George and my hormones Sunday didnt do to well. Also, having lept out of bed Saturday and running around the hospital I just wore myself out physically. So, Sunday was a bad day for all of us involved
The rest of today went so well. I got to feed George 4 times today. He is guzzling like a little pro now. I never thought baby spit up would be precious, weird how being a mom changes you. He is off his IV and his stomach tube and eating great. All thats left is the bili light. Tonight they are doing to do a biliruben test Im praying it comes out ok. Looks like George is going strong, now I just need to catch up to him. It was so great to hold him, he fell asleep after I fed him, there is no greater feeling in this world than to rock your little baby to sleep! Well he's doing good, hope I do well soon so we can all go home
Well by this time Im in terrible shape, and my blood pressure was through the rough even on the procardia. So they of course admitted me. Great back in the hospital I go. So for 3 days they ran me full of IV antibiotics 24 hours a day. And they cleaned the incision. Luckily they did not decide to open it back up, I was cringing at the thought of another surgery!! But after all the medication and cleaning the incision got better. My temperture returned to normal and so did my blood pressure. On Wednesday they released me, and took me off the heart meds. Also they removed those nasty staples.
