On May 26th the hubs and I got up early to go to the hospital - we had to be there at 5:30 am for the 8:30 am surgery. You see I had to get a c-section due to a low lying placenta. It was partially covering my cervix so my doctor said it would be very dangerous to let me go into labor naturally let alone deliver. If I started dilating then the placenta would start separating and Faye wouldn't get the nutrients she needed from me and there was also the risk of me bleeding out while trying to deliver. For those reasons we opted to schedule a c-section at 37 weeks for both of our safety.
So we get checked in at 5:30 and they start getting me ready. They have me take a quick shower to thoroughly wash the area where the surgeon will cut into me and then have me change into a gown. Next they give me two IVs - the first IV they put in me was for fluids first and then to use for my pain meds afterwards. The second IV they inserted was precautionary so that if they needed to give me blood they'd be able to do so quickly. They asked me a bunch of questions and hooked me up to a fetal monitor and the last thing they did to prep me was to insert a catheter. After that it was just waiting to be wheeled in for the surgery.
I was oddly calm about it. Leading up to this day I had been scared because I had never had surgery and didn't really know what to expect. I was afraid that something would go horribly wrong and I would die on the table. I knew it was irrational and that my doctors would take care of me but I couldn't get those thoughts out of my head. The day of though I was able to be calm about it and was just ready to meet our little girl. Having my husband there with me through the whole process made it okay because I knew that no matter what he would be by my side through everything.
So at about 8:00 am they come and wheel me into the OR where the anesthetist first gave me a shot of a numbing agent before giving me the spinal block. They have me lay down and I start to feel the block working. First my feet started getting tingly and numb and within a few minutes I was numb from just under my lungs all the way down. Once they were sure I was numb my doctor got to work and started cutting into me. It was surprisingly quick - they made the first incision at 8:31 am and she was born at 8:35 am. 4 minutes - that's all it took to bring our little girl into the world. I heard her cry and I let out a huge sigh of relief - she was here and she was breathing. They briefly brought her up to the head of the bed so I could see her and she was beautiful and perfect. They had to whisk her away quickly to the nursery though and at this point I didn't know why - I just assumed they had to do tests and make sure she was really okay and then she'd be brought into the room. So I waited as patiently as I could while they sewed me up and wheeled me back into my room.
Once I was back in the room and settled Mark went to the nursery to see Faye. I was so hopped up on meds at that point that I barely noticed. I also was experiencing some pain in my right shoulder and the nurses were getting my pain meds administered and wrapping my legs in these cuffs to keep my blood circulating to prevent clots. They also wrapped my shoulder with a heating pad to help relieve that pain. Mark came back at this point and told me that she was beautiful and that they were giving her some tests. He said that the pediatrician was going to come in a talk to us soon. I didn't really understand why she wasn't being brought in but I figured they needed to check her out first and finish the tests. So I relaxed and waited until they could tell us something.
This is the part where the story starts to get scary.
The pediatrician comes in and tells us the good news that her lungs were fully developed. The bad news was that she didn't have enough surfactant on her lungs so they had to give her a treatment for that but she was breathing well now with the help of a CPAP. The lack of surfactant meant her little alveoli were collapsing and she was having trouble breathing. This is where I start to realize that something might be really wrong. This is also where I learned why she had to be whisked away so quickly to the nursery.
She had stopped breathing in the delivery room.
With some stimulation they were able to get her breathing again but she needed to be taken right away to be treated and hooked up to the CPAP to be sure she was getting enough oxygen. The one thing that kept me together was that he told us that she was going to be okay - she would need to be on this machine for awhile but she was responding well to the treatment. I was still scared that we might lose her but I kept telling myself 'She's going to be okay. She's going to be okay.'
About 30 minutes after we talked to the pediatrician the nurses offered to wheel my bed to the nursery window so I could at least see her since I was still numb and couldn't walk. So the nurses get me wheeled over to the window and seeing her there sleeping did so much to alleviate my fears. This is how she looked the first time I saw her
It was hard seeing her hooked up to all those things but actually seeing her helped to reassure me that she really was going to be okay. I was still scared though and it wasn't until several hours later when I was able to actually hold her that that fear started going away.
They were able to take her off the CPAP late that evening (or early morning - I can't remember when exactly) but they still had a nasal cannula on her and they needed to monitor her in the nursery to make sure everything was still going well. We were able to go into the nursery whenever we wanted to and I was able to feed her there as well starting on Friday morning after they removed all of the breathing equipment. We went to the nursery every 2-3 hours to feed and hold her. She was getting stronger and able to breathe completely on her own.
I have to really thank the doctors and nurses at our hospital for all the care and attention they gave our daughter. They were really wonderful and I am glad we had such an attentive nursing staff to care for Faye while she had to stay in the nursery.
Faye was born on Thursday morning and it wasn't until Saturday afternoon that she was able to room in with us. It was hard not having her in the room with us but I knew she was in good hands which is the only thing that made sleeping and actually resting a possibility for me. She was discharged on Sunday and we were able to take our precious baby girl home.
Faye is doing really well despite the problems she faced. The outcome could have been a lot worse and I am so happy that she has recovered well. I don't know what I would have done if we had lost her after waiting so long for her to arrive. I do know that I will never take her for granted and I can't help but love her with all my heart.
There isn't really anything else to tell about her arrival into our lives so I'll leave you all with another picture.
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| Doesn't she have the most precious smile? |
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