Avery's delivery was definitely not the experience I thought it would be, but I am so glad she finally made it into this world. Thursday, January 13th I had my weekly check-up with the doctor, and after checking my blood pressure I was sent to the hospital to be tested for preeclamsia...for the 2nd time. Again, my blood work came back normal, but my blood pressure would not come down. My doctor decided that since I was 39 weeks and 1 day that it would be a good idea to go ahead and induce me instead of taking the chance of my blood pressure causing more problems...like seizures...which is what causes them during child birth. Brad and I left the hospital to get our bags and get everything together before returning that night to begin the induction process.
We checked into the hospital at 9 PM and the induction process began around 10:30 PM. After being given some pain medicine I was told to try and get as much rest as possible because I would need it the next day. The pain medicine was great, but sleeping was next to impossible. Since we were in a delivery room the bed was nowhere near comfortable and the blood pressure cuff contracted about every 15 minutes, which then sounded a small alarm in our room because my blood pressure was too high. My doctor came in the next morning to check and see how things were progressing and I was relieved to find out the "balloon" instrument had worked and I was at 4 cm. They increased the medicine and my contractions definitely got stronger...to the point where they were consistently 2 minutes apart and I was finally ready for my epidural. The epidural was amazing! After waiting and waiting and checking and checking i became a little discouraged to find out that not much was changing. My doctor decided to break my water to help move things along and it did for a little bit. Unfortunately for me the epidural was beginning to ware off...I didn't even know that could happen.
About an hour after breaking my water my doctor came back to check and nothing had changed. She told me she was a little concerned about my blood pressure and the fact that I wasn't dilating. She said she could feel baby's head and it felt like her head was starting to cone, which wasn't a good sign since I hadn't even began to push and told me that that indicated to her that my pelvis might not be compatible with natural childbirth and that we needed to start talking about a c-section. They gave me another dose of the epidural and we decided that if nothing else had changed in another hour we'd move forward with the c-section. I was also put on oxygen because baby's heart rate was beginning to show signs of distress.The hour came and went and still no change, so everyone began preparing for surgery. At this point it had been 21 hours since I had been induced and I was beyond tired. I was scared, but ready for it to be over.
They took me to the OR and had Brad change into scrubs and get ready as well. I was given another dose of the epidural...this time a stronger dosage for the c-section. I was so glad Brad was allowed in the OR with me. About 5 minutes into surgery I was very uncomfortable and the anesthesiologist made the doctor stop to give me one more dose of medicine. This time it didn't work at all, and all the medicine was causing my body to shake uncontrollably. I could feel this intense, sharp pain and the doctor had to stop again. At this point the anesthesiologist decided that they would need to put me to sleep to finish the surgery. Brad had to leave and the last thing I remember was breathing into this mask.
Next thing I know I'm waking up in another room and Brad is standing right beside my bed. I just asked "is she here?" and he responded with "she's here and she looks just like you." I was so relieved to know that it was over and that she had safely made it into this world. I drifted off again and when I woke up the next time my mom was standing beside me. I drifted in and out and wasn't sure what time it was or when I'd get to see my baby. I finally heard the nurse say I was ready to be moved to my room. I was still a little worried because they were moving me to the High Risk Pregnancy Unit because my blood pressure was higher than ever. I asked on the way up to my room when I'd get to see my baby and the nurse assured me they'd bring her to me as soon as I got upstairs. At this point I had no idea where Brad was, but as soon as they rolled my bed into the room he walked right in behind me...I was so glad to see him and I was so shocked to see that it was 2 AM!
4 1/2 hours after Avery was born I finally got to meet her! I couldn't believe how little she was and that she was the person that had been kicking and wiggling around inside me for so long. I only got to spend about 10 minutes with her before they took her back down to the nursery for the night. She wasn't allowed to stay in my room because they were too concerned about me.
They never figured out what caused my blood pressure to shoot up like it did. They tested everything and I couldn't believe they could get anymore blood out of me! I was put on a blood pressure medicine that I have to take until my 6 week post partum appointment. We finally got to go home Monday afternoon and while I was so ready to be back in my house, I was scared of how I was going to get around without the help of the nurses. Brad was amazing. I'm not sure how I would have done it without him.
It's been 2 weeks since Avery was born and she's the cutest thing ever (I know, all mom's say that about their babies) and she's so good. We've been incredible lucky and I just hope she continues to have her laid back personality. Adjusting to life as a mom hasn't been to difficult. The hardest part is getting up in the middle of the night, but Brad's been a big help with that too. Avery only gets up every 3-4 hours because she's hungry, but for the most part she goes right back to sleep. Below are some pictures of her so far. I hope to keep this more updated now that she's here!
Thanks for everyone's support and well wishes, it's been greatly appreciated :)
Love,
LG
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