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Emergency C/S at 39 weeks
It's amazing how much
being pregnant can suck at times and then when you meet your baby it all
becomes worth it.
My blood pressure spiked when I went in for a regular check up on Monday (it's normally 118/70 and at this appointment I was 138/90. The doctor said that I should just relax and he would see me for my scheduled c-section on Thursday. Well on Tuesday I got a phone call from his office wanting me to come back in to get rechecked. When I went in, my BP was still high (133/88), so he wanted me to go to L&D to get monitored.
When I got to L&D, they hooked me up to the monitors and had me lay on my left side. The machine took my BP every 10 minutes, and they were all low (around 124/82). After an hour of laying on my left side, I asked my nurse if I could sit up because I was really uncomfortable. So when I sat up and had my BP taken, it spiked to 144/98. We took a look at the monitor, and apparently my contractions were between 2-3 minutes apart (they were not that intense, but uncomfortable). Also, my baby was still breech.
The doctor walked in and said since my BP suddenly got higher and I was having contractions, there was no sense in waiting 2 days. Since I had lunch around 1, they wanted to wait until 8:30 to take him out. Then the doctor took another look at the monitor and noticed that the baby's heart rate dropped when I sat up and it took about 5 minutes to rise to where it should be. That changed his mind immediately and he said to say goodbye to my family and he was taking him out immediately. He couldn't even get a 2nd doctor from my practice to come take him out, so he used some guy from another practice.
At that point everything happened really quickly. I wasn't really scared until they walked me down to the operating room. I sat on the table for them to give me my spinal block (which really wasn't that bad...the worst part was the burning sensation). I was alone in the room with the nurses and the anesthesiologist, and my DH and my doctor were outside the door. The room was cold and I was nervous so I was shaking a little.
Once the spinal set in, they laid me down on the table and put in the catheter. They didn't strap my hands down, but made me lay with them at my sides. They made sure I couldn't feel anything, and then my DH came in. He looked REALLY nervous, which is really out of character for him because he is the most level headed guy I've ever met. All of a sudden I smelled burning. Apparently it was them cauterizing me. Let me tell you - smelling your own flesh burning is absolutely awful.
The surgery went a lot slower than I thought it would. Once they got to the baby, I felt like a sandbox that people were digging through...there was a ton of pulling. When I heard Jackson Parker take his first cry, I cried also. It was the sweetest sound I have ever heard in my entire life. I told my DH and the nurses that I was in love. The nurses brought my DH over to have him see his son and take pictures while they weighed and measured him (8 lbs, 1 oz and 21 inches long). He scored a 9 on the Apgar scale both times as well. Then they brought Jackson over to see me, and I couldn't get over the amount of hair he had! He has such a sweet face that I can't stop staring at him.
Once they stitched me up they sent us to recovery. They continued to take my BP (still way high) and oxygen (apparently I was only at 90%). They gave Jackson a bath and let me nurse him. Altogether the surgery and recovery took 2 1/2 hours. Needless to say, my parents were in the waiting room freaking out because it took so long. my DH went out to show them pictures and tell them that Jackson and I were doing well.
I ended up staying in the hospital for 4 nights. The first night was rough because the medicine made me really itchy and I couldn't bend to scratch my legs (which had those circulation pumps on them).
The next day was rough because I was in a lot of pain and apparently you bleed (like you have your period) after a c-section (which I didn't know). I was bleeding a ton. The doctor came in to see Jackson. He has a couple of issues that will eventually work themselves out. He's "tongue tied" (not much though and we expect him to grow into it), and the plates in his head are at 2 different levels because he was breech. They are starting to get better though.
The next day was getting better, but I was having trouble with nursing. Jackson lost weight (he went from 8 lbs 1 oz to 7 lbs 5 oz) and my doctor told us that if he gets to 7 lbs 4 oz that I would have to pump and supplement the breastfeeding with a bottle. He also won't latch without a nipple shield, which may have something to do with being tongue tied. I was really upset when he told me this because I felt like it was my fault and I was hurting my baby, so I went to my room and cried hysterically (it was guilt mixed with hormones and the lack of sleep).
The next day was good because my milk came in, so he gained weight (he went up to 7 lbs 9 oz). He is really weird with his feedings though. He'll latch to one side for about 10 minutes, fall asleep, and then refuse to latch to the other side. I've tried everything to fix this - undressing him, changing him, and even putting a couple of drops of cold water on his face. It's getting better now that we're getting more used to each other, but it's still tough.
All I have to say is that my little man is the most important, wonderful, amazing, beautiful, unbelievable thing to ever happen to me. I just can't describe the love I feel for him. I don't mind waking up to feed him because I can just stare at him for hours. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful baby.
My blood pressure spiked when I went in for a regular check up on Monday (it's normally 118/70 and at this appointment I was 138/90. The doctor said that I should just relax and he would see me for my scheduled c-section on Thursday. Well on Tuesday I got a phone call from his office wanting me to come back in to get rechecked. When I went in, my BP was still high (133/88), so he wanted me to go to L&D to get monitored.
When I got to L&D, they hooked me up to the monitors and had me lay on my left side. The machine took my BP every 10 minutes, and they were all low (around 124/82). After an hour of laying on my left side, I asked my nurse if I could sit up because I was really uncomfortable. So when I sat up and had my BP taken, it spiked to 144/98. We took a look at the monitor, and apparently my contractions were between 2-3 minutes apart (they were not that intense, but uncomfortable). Also, my baby was still breech.
The doctor walked in and said since my BP suddenly got higher and I was having contractions, there was no sense in waiting 2 days. Since I had lunch around 1, they wanted to wait until 8:30 to take him out. Then the doctor took another look at the monitor and noticed that the baby's heart rate dropped when I sat up and it took about 5 minutes to rise to where it should be. That changed his mind immediately and he said to say goodbye to my family and he was taking him out immediately. He couldn't even get a 2nd doctor from my practice to come take him out, so he used some guy from another practice.
At that point everything happened really quickly. I wasn't really scared until they walked me down to the operating room. I sat on the table for them to give me my spinal block (which really wasn't that bad...the worst part was the burning sensation). I was alone in the room with the nurses and the anesthesiologist, and my DH and my doctor were outside the door. The room was cold and I was nervous so I was shaking a little.
Once the spinal set in, they laid me down on the table and put in the catheter. They didn't strap my hands down, but made me lay with them at my sides. They made sure I couldn't feel anything, and then my DH came in. He looked REALLY nervous, which is really out of character for him because he is the most level headed guy I've ever met. All of a sudden I smelled burning. Apparently it was them cauterizing me. Let me tell you - smelling your own flesh burning is absolutely awful.
The surgery went a lot slower than I thought it would. Once they got to the baby, I felt like a sandbox that people were digging through...there was a ton of pulling. When I heard Jackson Parker take his first cry, I cried also. It was the sweetest sound I have ever heard in my entire life. I told my DH and the nurses that I was in love. The nurses brought my DH over to have him see his son and take pictures while they weighed and measured him (8 lbs, 1 oz and 21 inches long). He scored a 9 on the Apgar scale both times as well. Then they brought Jackson over to see me, and I couldn't get over the amount of hair he had! He has such a sweet face that I can't stop staring at him.
Once they stitched me up they sent us to recovery. They continued to take my BP (still way high) and oxygen (apparently I was only at 90%). They gave Jackson a bath and let me nurse him. Altogether the surgery and recovery took 2 1/2 hours. Needless to say, my parents were in the waiting room freaking out because it took so long. my DH went out to show them pictures and tell them that Jackson and I were doing well.
I ended up staying in the hospital for 4 nights. The first night was rough because the medicine made me really itchy and I couldn't bend to scratch my legs (which had those circulation pumps on them).
The next day was rough because I was in a lot of pain and apparently you bleed (like you have your period) after a c-section (which I didn't know). I was bleeding a ton. The doctor came in to see Jackson. He has a couple of issues that will eventually work themselves out. He's "tongue tied" (not much though and we expect him to grow into it), and the plates in his head are at 2 different levels because he was breech. They are starting to get better though.
The next day was getting better, but I was having trouble with nursing. Jackson lost weight (he went from 8 lbs 1 oz to 7 lbs 5 oz) and my doctor told us that if he gets to 7 lbs 4 oz that I would have to pump and supplement the breastfeeding with a bottle. He also won't latch without a nipple shield, which may have something to do with being tongue tied. I was really upset when he told me this because I felt like it was my fault and I was hurting my baby, so I went to my room and cried hysterically (it was guilt mixed with hormones and the lack of sleep).
The next day was good because my milk came in, so he gained weight (he went up to 7 lbs 9 oz). He is really weird with his feedings though. He'll latch to one side for about 10 minutes, fall asleep, and then refuse to latch to the other side. I've tried everything to fix this - undressing him, changing him, and even putting a couple of drops of cold water on his face. It's getting better now that we're getting more used to each other, but it's still tough.
All I have to say is that my little man is the most important, wonderful, amazing, beautiful, unbelievable thing to ever happen to me. I just can't describe the love I feel for him. I don't mind waking up to feed him because I can just stare at him for hours. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful baby.
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