At my OB appointment one day shy of 38 weeks, the nurse took my blood pressure and immediately made me lie down on the table. My blood pressure had never been a problem but I had read plenty and knew she was concerned about pre eclampsia. The Dr. sent me to the hospital to get monitored but once everything stabilized, they sent me home, still pregnant.
Monday night, March 9th, one day shy of week 39 I went back to the OB for a check-up. The nurse was once again concerned about my blood pressure and sent the Dr. in. After checking me and still finding no signs of labor, he sent me back to the hospital to be monitored. On the way out he mentioned that he would be stopping by or checking in with the hospital in a bit but he was leaving for vacation the next day so if anything happened, his partner would take over. I’d never even met his partner Dr and didn’t know him/her at all. I wanted to get this pregnancy over with so I didn’t put up too much of a fuss (like it would have done any good anyway), but I was definitely annoyed.
So for the second week in a row, we trotted back to the hospital where I was hooked back up to the monitors and waited. Finally, my new Dr called in to check on me. She ordered an ultrasound so she could check the position of the babies. Since I knew from my bi-weekly NST’s (and the way the girls were moving and kicking) that they were both head down, I wasn’t concerned. Finally the ultrasound tech (who will from now on be referred to as the boy) came in to do my scan. I should have known to ask for someone else. Boy started scanning my belly and I could tell he had no clue what he was doing or was very nervous or something. He was all over the place and up real high then down real low and side to side and I thought, how in the world can he keep track of which baby he is looking at. Finally after a long time when I would have thought he was finished, the boy said ok I found one baby let’s find the other. I remember looking at Kevin like seriously, who is this kid? I should have spoken up but I didn’t. Finally he decided he had gotten whatever he needed and left (he would not tell me what he found). The nurse came in and told me Baby A was head down and Baby B was breech. I was shocked! The nurse even commented that she was surprised because of where she found Baby B’s heartbeat. Neither of us questioned it more than that though. I was so ready to be done and meet my girls that I didn’t want to question it.
They put me on the schedule for a c-section the next day at noon and said I could either stay the night or go home. I wanted one more night in my own bed, to get the last few things ready and know that tomorrow our lives would change forever (plus I was hungry and didn’t want hospital food). We checked out a couple hours later after going over my pre-op instructions and headed to Denny’s. I would have chosen any other restaurant except it was 1am by the time we got out of there and I could only eat until 2am. I think I will always remember that night. We were excited, nervous, scared and happy all at the same time. We ate, laughed, joked and worried about what tomorrow held for us. We wondered how big the girls would be, what they would look like and on and on. We got home and though I was exhausted, I didn’t sleep very well.
The next morning was brutal. I was so hungry and thirsty but could have nothing. We got to the hospital at 10am, our assigned time and were told to wait in the waiting room. Finally they came and got us only to scramble around for a bit longer before finally breaking the news to us that they could not find a Dr to assist with the surgery until 6pm so I would have to wait in a pre-op room until then. The worst part since it was so late when they told us I still could not eat or drink anything. It was the longest day of my life. I was nervous, didn’t know what to expect, hungry and thirsty. Thank goodness for all the visitors I had or I would have gone nuts! The hours seemed to crawl by and I wanted to sleep, but couldn’t and there was nothing on tv.
Monday night, March 9th, one day shy of week 39 I went back to the OB for a check-up. The nurse was once again concerned about my blood pressure and sent the Dr. in. After checking me and still finding no signs of labor, he sent me back to the hospital to be monitored. On the way out he mentioned that he would be stopping by or checking in with the hospital in a bit but he was leaving for vacation the next day so if anything happened, his partner would take over. I’d never even met his partner Dr and didn’t know him/her at all. I wanted to get this pregnancy over with so I didn’t put up too much of a fuss (like it would have done any good anyway), but I was definitely annoyed.
So for the second week in a row, we trotted back to the hospital where I was hooked back up to the monitors and waited. Finally, my new Dr called in to check on me. She ordered an ultrasound so she could check the position of the babies. Since I knew from my bi-weekly NST’s (and the way the girls were moving and kicking) that they were both head down, I wasn’t concerned. Finally the ultrasound tech (who will from now on be referred to as the boy) came in to do my scan. I should have known to ask for someone else. Boy started scanning my belly and I could tell he had no clue what he was doing or was very nervous or something. He was all over the place and up real high then down real low and side to side and I thought, how in the world can he keep track of which baby he is looking at. Finally after a long time when I would have thought he was finished, the boy said ok I found one baby let’s find the other. I remember looking at Kevin like seriously, who is this kid? I should have spoken up but I didn’t. Finally he decided he had gotten whatever he needed and left (he would not tell me what he found). The nurse came in and told me Baby A was head down and Baby B was breech. I was shocked! The nurse even commented that she was surprised because of where she found Baby B’s heartbeat. Neither of us questioned it more than that though. I was so ready to be done and meet my girls that I didn’t want to question it.
They put me on the schedule for a c-section the next day at noon and said I could either stay the night or go home. I wanted one more night in my own bed, to get the last few things ready and know that tomorrow our lives would change forever (plus I was hungry and didn’t want hospital food). We checked out a couple hours later after going over my pre-op instructions and headed to Denny’s. I would have chosen any other restaurant except it was 1am by the time we got out of there and I could only eat until 2am. I think I will always remember that night. We were excited, nervous, scared and happy all at the same time. We ate, laughed, joked and worried about what tomorrow held for us. We wondered how big the girls would be, what they would look like and on and on. We got home and though I was exhausted, I didn’t sleep very well.
The next morning was brutal. I was so hungry and thirsty but could have nothing. We got to the hospital at 10am, our assigned time and were told to wait in the waiting room. Finally they came and got us only to scramble around for a bit longer before finally breaking the news to us that they could not find a Dr to assist with the surgery until 6pm so I would have to wait in a pre-op room until then. The worst part since it was so late when they told us I still could not eat or drink anything. It was the longest day of my life. I was nervous, didn’t know what to expect, hungry and thirsty. Thank goodness for all the visitors I had or I would have gone nuts! The hours seemed to crawl by and I wanted to sleep, but couldn’t and there was nothing on tv.
This was about probably hour 12 of my no-eating or drinking and I was grumpy!
Finally, it was time. Everything happened so fast once it started that it’s kind of a blur. I remember being wheeled into the OR, watching Kevin put on his suit and just being nervous. It felt like forever from when they took me in and when they let Kevin in. Once the surgery started it went so fast. I remember those last anxious moments when they told me they were close to Baby A and just wanting to hear her cry so bad. It was the most glorious sound ever and I immediately started to cry. Baby B shortly followed and soon they were both crying up a storm! As soon as I knew the girls were out and ok, the first question I asked was if Lucy was breech. As I knew all along, she was not. Both girls were head down. But at that point, I didn't even care.
They let Kevin walk over and see them while they finished up with me and I was so anxious to get a look at the girls. Kevin got to bring me Olivia and the nurse brought over Lucy. They were perfect. I wanted to hold them so bad but my arms were tied down still and I was way too shaky from all the medicine. Once I got to see them it all hit me. All my worries were gone, the surgery was over, my girls were finally here and healthy and I was exhausted. I was asleep before I made it to recovery.
Everything went smoothly with my surgery and recovery and I spent 3 days in the hospital. My pain was minimal and overall the experience wasn’t bad at all. I felt 100% a week after surgery.
The girls spent no time in the NICU. We truly were blessed. Olivia was 6 lbs 3 oz and Lucy was 5 lbs 13 oz. They were perfectly healthy, great nursers from the start and such sweet little tiny babies. It was the most amazing March 10th ever and one we will surely never forget.
Thanks for sharing, Sarah! I always hear horror stories about being pregnant and delivery. It's nice to read about a mom's expierence and not walk away thinking "hmm, maybe I'll remain childess for the rest of my life. Pop out a kid? No thanks!" You definitely didn't sugar coat your pregnancy but it didn't sound like a death sentance!
ReplyDeleteOddly...it makes me even more exicted to have children.