I went to my regularly scheduled OB appointment May 31. Chance actually didn't want to cooperate again; he wouldn't move. He got the buzzer again. We did get 8/8, so all was good.
We went camping over the long weekend. The heat had my kankles the size of softballs...no kidding. Hurt...OMG. Doc wasn't worried about the swelling. Throw back to olden days when women would try to bleed to death; they needed the extra fluid, hence the swelling. He warned me the swelling would be worse for two weeks after the birth. He wasn't kidding, but we will get to that later. I wasn't going to do my 24 hour urine testing while camping, so I started it Monday when we got home. Turned it in Tuesday about 4p. The results weren't back when I went for my appt on Wednesday at 1p.
We decided to go ahead and induce me at 39 weeks, so June 7. Knowing this, I called the Henna lady to come apply my belly Henna, as the color peaks at a week....just in time for the induction June 7. Well, perfectly laid plans change. My 24 hour urine came back while I was having my Henna applied. The proteins in my urine were 329. Normal is 100. 300 is BAD.....329 is VERY BAD. Even though my blood pressure was still normal, I was severely pre-eclamptic. I was on the verge of having a seizure. So I was told to be at the hospital at 7p, no ifs, and, or buts...
So we loaded up all our gear and headed to the hospital Wednesday May 31 for my induction.
We arrived and were ushered into LDR room 2. This is the room they put me in for my last miscarriage. Things came full circle in that room.
I had to make several phone calls to get things in order. The amazing diaper service lady delivered all our cloth diapers to the hospital so we would have them when Chance was born. B is awesome. She's been amazing since we've been home too.
They inserted the misoprostol (cytotec is the brand name) to help start contractions and soften the cervix. They do this before they start the Pitocin......
I got my first dose around 1930. I started having contractions about 30 min later, although I couldn't feel them. They just showed up on the strips. (They strap a fetal heart monitor and a contractions monitor up to your belly).
I got my second dose of miso around midnight. This dose caused me to hyperstim. The contractions came every 1-2 minutes and lasted 1-2 minutes. It was so painful they had to give me fentanyl for the pain. I was texting the DH that if this is what labor is like, I am a wienie and want an epidural for sure! Because I was hyperstimmed, the nurse called the doc to make sure he wanted me to get the third dose at 0400. He did, but he said we could wait till 0500 to get it. So with the third dose, it settled things down. I was contracting every 4-5 minutes for 1-2 minutes, and it wasn't painful at all. Each time I was checked, my cervix hadn't changed at all.
Doc came in around 0730 to check me himself. Of course my cerix hadn't changed at all, and my BP had started to creep up. So the decision was made to go ahead and do an emergent c-section.
Well this messed everything up. My DH was downstairs working, so the doc went and got him. I had to call the doula, my parents, the birth photographer, and anyone else that needed to know. All through the night they tried to get a different IV in me. It didn't work out so well. So when the anesthesiologist came in to prep me for surgery, we decided an EJ (external jugular) would be the best solution for the IV. He tried to get me in the right side, but ended up blowing the vein. So we tried the left. He got the IV in, but it was very positional, so I had to keep my head turned to the right in order for it to work.
Everyone showed up just as I was walking to the c-section room. Whew.
However, on the way to the room I decided I should pee first. While on the toilet I decided to throw up. Always awesome to be sitting on the toilet and puking into the trash can. I got sick from the bolus of Ancef (antibiotic) they had just given me.
We get to the room at 0900 and the spinal goes in. Unfortunately for me, the spinal decided it was going to take it's sweet time to set up. So on my head I went. For 20 minutes. I never lost motor function (as in I could always move my feet), but the warm feeling that slowly made its way up my body, told me the spinal was working. Of course I decide to get sick again during the wait. Cut time was finally 0930, and baby was out at 0933. Doc doesn't mess around.
The DH was so busy playing doctor, helping the anesthesiologist keep me from being sick, he missed the actual birth. While we were waiting the 5 minutes to clamp the cord, he looked over the drapes and got to see Chance pee all over everyone! When they pulled his head out, he let out a little cry. I decided to cry then.....
So baby was handed off and they started to close me up. After he was printed and wiped off, they brought him to me so I could skin to skin. He was so little. He was born 06/01 at 0933. He weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces, and was 21 inches long.
Well, about 5 minutes after we started skin to skin and they started closing, I got sick again. Horrible heaving. They almost didn't get the baby off me before I started retching. It was so violent, I started to push my small intestines out of the incision they were trying to close. I started pulling so hard on the stitches, they had to cut them out and wait for me to calm down. This was accomplished by putting me to sleep for about 10 minutes. When I woke up from my short nap, I wasn't sick anymore and my incision was closed. The anesthesiologist decided to do a TAP block to help with post op pain.
They wheeled me back to my room and everyone was there. We immediately started skin to skin again, and he had his first feeding. Remember, I can not breast feed as I don't have the equipment thanks to breast cancer; so I had donated milk. The coolest thing is my birth photographer had a new baby and she was breast feeding. She was so engorged from the fast action of the morning, she didn't get to feed her little one. She got a pump and pumped fresh breast milk for little Chance. That was so amazing.
They transferred me to my post-op room and we started to get things under control. However, because I pulled so hard on my abdomen when I got sick, my abdominal muscle on the right side started to spasm. It hurt so badly I was crying. They were alternating dilauded and 10 mg Oxycodone. It wasn't even touching the pain. Awful.
After several hours, they finally called the anesthesiologist on call to help with the pain control. He gave me a lidocaine patch and fentanyl. I was a new person. We were in the hospital for 4 days. We came home Sunday afternoon.
We are now two months old. We had been supplementing formula at night to help the breast milk last longer. We will be taking a trip to meet our donor next week and pick up the last of the milk avail. We have increased our volume from 2 ounces every 2-3 hours to 4 ounces every 4-5 hours. He seems to be much happier with this arrangement. The only issue is the formula constipates him as it is fortified with iron. He went from pooping every feeding to pooping every 3-4 days. Pediatrician isn't concerned. Said by the 7th day try prune juice. I got Mommy's Bliss Constipation Ease, with has prune juice in it....it seems to help when I remember to give it to him.
So since he isn't pooping regularly, he is trying. Which means he isn't sleeping; which means I am not sleeping. Brutal.
Hopefully we will get back into the groove of things with sleeping. He went from sleeping 6-8 hours pre formula to sleeping 1-3 post formula at night; sometimes less at a time.
A friend suggested yesterday to sleep him on his stomach. I tried it this morning and he slept for 4 hours!!!
He got his first set of shots Tuesday. He took them like a champ. Hardly cried at all. I preloaded him with Tylenol to help. He's been a little cranky the past few days, so the sleep today has really helped.
We had grown since our last appt at 2 weeks old. He is now 11 pounds 12 ounces, and 22.75 inches long. Head circumference is 39.25 inches.
We are well on out way to growing up.
He took his first plane ride on Sat July 29th. We flew to Houston for his Global Entry Interview. He did fantastic. No issues at all.
Just getting ready for Cozumel in Oct!!
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