On Saturday, April 21st, I had a doctor’s appointment at the hospital where I was planning to birth the baby. It was a regular routine appointment. Hubby and I showed up for our appointment in good spirits. We had been practicing for a Hypnobabies birth and were feeling good about our ability to have a birth the way we wanted. They take us to the back and take my vitals and then hook me up for fetal monitoring. (After 37 weeks you have fetal monitoring at every appointment.) However, at 38 weeks this was the first time I had the procedure done as part of a routine appointment. So I lay down, get hooked up and prepare to relax for 20 minutes. 20 minutes go by and they weren’t getting a good reading. The baby’s heart rate should have been going up and down, but it was staying steady. They unhooked me, rehooked me and ran the test again, still the same. So they told me it’s probably because I hadn’t eaten within the past hour. So hubby and I go get a sandwich and a piece of cake. Surely, that would get little man up and moving. Alas, after another round of fetal monitoring ... nothing. This thoroughly freaked the doctor.
Doctor: I’m admitting you right now. We have to get that baby out now.
Me: HUH? What? He’s fine.
Doctor: No! We have to get the baby out now! He’s suffering from fetal distress.
Me: Um, OK (I'm in shock)
Doctor: We’re sending you up to labor and delivery for an emergency csection.
While in labor and delivery, I was hooked up again, just to be sure, while in there I had one monster contraction, that I didn't feel (I never felt contractions with EM either, though I was having them), the baby's heart rate didn't budge. I lost it at that point. I did not want to have a csection. I wanted to go through labor and birth my baby naturally. My baby, my body, my decision, right? That is what I wanted. I had spent every day for the past 5 months preparing for this moment. Now I felt like it was being taking from me. On the flip side, hubby and I had to make a decision about what to do to based on the information we had been given that would be in the best interest for the baby (not for me and my own agenda). We decided to follow the doctor’s advice.
The csection and the recovery were/are very hard. The anesthesia during the surgery made feel like a couldn’t breath (but I could), made me feel like I couldn’t swallow (I could), made my face itchy. I also felt absolutely nothing that was going on with the surgery. Right as the baby was being born it took several attendant pushing on my belly from the top to get the baby out. But he came out! And then he yelled at every one in the room. :) After the surgery, I got the shakes. I felt like a druggie. The pain after the anesthesia wore off was amazing. AMAZING! The day after the surgery I got a cough! I thought was going to die. The nurses just gave me Ibuprofen, but the doctor gave me some tips on how to hold my incision to reduce the pain when I coughed. It worked well. Everyday the pain gets a little less. After a week, I was able to tackle the stairs. Which meant I could get a real shower in my my own bathroom. It was lovely! I’m now up to two trips on the stairs. :) It still hurts when I do certain things, but I am sure now there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
EM came to visit a couple times while were in the hospital. He is so in love with his brother. If he came by while the baby was out for a procedure, he’d ask, “Where’s my baby.” At home he loves to kiss and love on the baby. He’s constantly doing poopy diaper checks. LOL. He’s being a great help and such a loving big brother.
