I spent nearly 6.5 years dreaming about getting pregnant, being pregnant, labour & delivery, and being a mum! Getting pregnant was amazing! Scary and amazing :) I loved being preggo - LOVED IT! I had no morning sickness, just a mild case of nausea that went away after the first trimester, some back pain, and swelling at the end.
I went in for my weekly appointment at 36 weeks and was measuring ahead so my doc booked me an u/s. My 37 week appointment was the day before my u/s and my blood pressure was high, so I got to do a 24 urine collection! Seriously.. 37 weeks preggo and having to collect ALL my urine for 24 hours PLUS have an u/s? Egads! Well, baby was great during the u/s : ) even saw her hair waving in the fluid. She was measuring a lil big but fluid levels were good!
My doc wanted me to get checked again at the hospital on the weekend, and blood pressure was still high so the on call doctor admitted me : ( I was hooked up to a non stress test (NST) to check on baby - who was perfect! -, did labs to check for pre-eclampsia (never did have protein in my urine, never had headaches, no blurry vision...just blew up like a balloon!)
-my first hospital stay! watching Strikeforce & Netflix-
DW was with me all weekend, and got the time off during the week too! (thank you Dave!) Which was good because I was induced at 7pm Sunday (19th) night with cervidil, which gave me some lovely contractions : p They were 45 seconds long, every 2-3 minutes until they took out the cervidil out at 1 am. They slowed down to every 5-6 minutes. We tried more cervidil at 10am on the 20th til 1pm, when we switched to pitocin!
-last preggo picture 37w6d-
Pitocin is administered via I.V. and they have a specific amount you can have. All I know is that the highest level is 20, and I made it to 20 without to much pain. Loads of contractions, the NST graph was off the charts! My nurse (whom I have known since childhood!) was constantly asking me if I was sure I was okay haha. Yay for a high pain tolerance : )
-my first iv!-
At about 6pm, my Dr. checked me, and there was still no progress. Still high and firm. So we stopped the pitocin, and he called an obgyn in Red Deer to consult. I sent my mum and DW to eat supper (my parents live very close to the hospital) because we were told that induction would be tried again the next day, so they might as well eat! Well, not even 10 minutes later my doctor comes in and tells me that he is prepping me to go to Red Deer for a c-section! I was given magnesium sulfate (which is HORRIBLE! it was like fire in my veins) and told the ambulance would be there in an hour. I am beyond grateful that my nurse was a friend because I was an emotional wreck! Mum and DW returned right as the ambulance arrived -about 45 minutes ahead of schedule!- and I was off to Red Deer. The tears had barely dried on my cheeks and already I was loaded and on the road.
-my first ambulance ride!-
-Sorry for the blur! Mum barely got her phone out in time-
Once in Red Deer, I was taken to L&D, catheterized, given another I.V., hooked up to the NST and having my blood pressure taken every 15 minutes. Oh and given more magnesium sulfate : ( I got checked by the obgyn, and ready for this?? Given another round of cervidil!! 12 hours of contractions, stuck in a delivery bed, I.V.'s in both hands, catheter, and NST on my belly! I was a very hungry (no food allowed from Tuesday at 3 pm onward because of possible c-section), very swollen, tired, contracting, 38 week pregnant lady! Oh, fun story: while in a tired stupor, I was trying to sleep but my hand was cold and felt wet. I moved the sheet and tada! A huge pool of blood! My I.V. wasn't done right and every time my blood pressure was taken - gush!
-doesn't this look like a cozy way to sleep, while also having contractions?-
Fast forward through an awful night, Dr. checked me at 10 am on Wednesday the 22nd, and still no change! The furthest I dilated was 2cm, but was still high and not progressing : ( That meant a c-section was the only option. I was prepped at about 2:45 pm and rushed down. Thankfully I got an awesome doctor and not Red Deer's worst obgyn! (He was on call for that day!)
Kyra Elizabeth was born at 3:34 pm, June 22. She had the cord wrapped around her neck not once, but twice! If induction had worked and she had dropped... the cord would have snapped. My heart aches just thinking about it! She was alert from the moment she was born! She let out one squawk, was checked out, then given to her daddy right next to my head. She was perfection personified! Wide eyed and curious, she just stared at her blubbering mumma with big eyes.
I was then wheeled to recovery, while DW and Kyra were taken upstairs. I hated that I wasn't with her! I, to this day, do NOT understand why she was not with me : ( it was nearly 2 HOURS until I finally got to hold my baby and every moment was agony! My spinal was wearing off fast, by the time I got to recovery I could move my legs. And when they took me upstairs, I could feel every thing (especially when the nurses ran my bed into the elevator door jam!!) I honestly don't understand what took so long. But finally... FINALLY I got to hold her! My beautiful, perfect baby girl!!! She latched on like a pro, and was so alert : ) She was amazing, and I was so incredibly thankful for her safe arrival!
-first time holding my baby girl!-
My stay at the hospital lasted until 8:30 pm on Saturday, the 25th. I was given morphine the first night and it made me a paranoid crazy lady! I do not remember visitors & I was sure the nurses were going to steal Kyra. It was crazy! Once off the morphine, my brain returned to normal. My milk was slow at coming in. I had a horrible nurse try to force formula on me, tell me my baby was going to end up with brain damage because of jaundice. I ended up supplementing with donor breastmilk from my friend. Kyra spent 6 hours on bili-bed, had her foot poked 5-6 times. It was such a crazy hard week! I couldn't wait to get out of there!
Finally I got to take my baby home! We spent 6 weeks at my parents house (all 3 of us!) because I was not in good shape. The swelling took about a week to start going down, blood pressure was starting to go down. Kyra had to go get her Bili levels checked twice. I am so so thankful for my Mumsie! Nana and Kyra had many snuggle sessions while I slept. I have NO idea how I would have been able to handle recovery by myself, at home! (my bathroom and bedroom aren't even on the same level!)
-ready to go home-
My journey through infertility and my crazy delivery were definitely not ideal, and I pray next time around things will go better. But Kyra is amazing and I would go through it all 10 times over for the blessing of being her mumma!
