Raegan's long birth story
I got up that morning like it was no other day - Monday, had to go to work. I didn't feel great but I didn't feel sick either. I felt 37 weeks pregnant and run down.
I can recall feeling a pinch down below that I hadn't felt before but that is nothing unusual with pregnancy so I didn't stress over it. I was extremely tired but once I got to work I was excited about getting things done during my last week so I didn't leave my desk a mess. I had gotten some work done on a case that was long overdue and was very excited about that, especially. I got up from my desk at abou 12:20 p.m. and went to the copier to make copies. As is typical in pregnancy I felt a couple drips and didn't think much of it. One of the other girls in the office had sent some docs from her computer to the printer/copier so I had to wait for her docs to print before I could make my copies. So I decided to go to the bathroom to see what was going on with the "drips" and by the time I made the short walk down the hallway to the bathroom my underwear and pad were soaked with blood. So I ran back to my office, emailed Chris to tell him I was going to the hospital and I'd call him and shut down my computer and ran to the car.
I called Chris and my mom and my dad and told them what was going on and that I thought they should all meet me there. Crazy me, yes I drove myself. I wanted to get to my hospital where they had my records and my OB. Little did I know it was going to be a bumpy ride from there. I made it to the hospital where Chris met me in record time and was able to check myself in. The nurses immediately got me to an L&D room for monitoring to see what was going on. We had a short scare where Raegan had grabbed her cord and her heartbeat dropped and the nurse freaked and got oxygen for me and a portable ultrasound for Raegan. Things calmed down and the rush was off for a little while. Mom and Dad showed up just to sit with us and wait. After lots of sporadic ups and downs with the monitoring and an ultrasound that was considered normal the docs considered sending me home. Just then Raegan grabbed her cord AGAIN and that made the docs decide I should stay over night just for monitoring - still no talk of c-section although I really wanted it to just be over. About an hour after all of this discussion Raegan decided to grab her cord one more time and that sent the OB staff into a frenzy and they decided at 8:00 p.m. that night to go ahead and take her via c-section. None of this was a big deal because I had a c-section planned for 2 weeks later so it didn't seem like a big deal.
We made our phone calls and told everyone we were delivering and we got cleaned up and prepped for surgery. The race was on. Surgery was a piece of cake and they had already cut me open before I knew it. The worst part of it all was the spinal and my anesthesiologist was GREAT! They showed me little Raegan and whisked her away for her cleanup and stats. She cried and it was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. I was so pleased at that point with how things were going. Little did we know it was all just beginning......
Raegan was born with a 2 vessel cord which was immediately cause for concern because there were supposed to be 3. This raised a flag for renal problems and testing began. They gave us the baby and got me into recovery where I got to hold my baby, try to nurse for the first time and see my husband and parents. I wasn't feeling so hot though so I didn't want to hold her long and really just wanted a cool wash cloth.
We were finally put in our post partum room and we thought all was great. There was so much more to unfold and we were none the wiser. During the night the nurses came in to see if I wanted to try nursing Raegan (who had been in the room with us all night) a total of 3 times. I threw up a couple times from the medicine so I was not focused on feeding. None of the attempts was successful because her mouth was too small for my breast and I was also too sluggish to be focused. Rather than taking her away to give her any kind of nourishment she went 12 hours without any kind of nursing or feeding. Chris made mention to one of the nurses that Raegan looked jaundiced and the nurse's remark was no, it's the lights. However, the next a.m. when the nurse came to take Raegan for her check ups we had no clue that it would be the last time we would see her out of the NICU. We had no idea that they had taken her there until a doctor came in to tell me that my little baby, 12 hours old, was very ill and in the NICU. She was jaundiced and very much to our surprise had a blood incompatibility to my blood and it was attacking her white blood cells. So they had to get her under intensive light therapy and start an IV to flush out my blood. The race was on. The week was hellish and horrifying and I hope to never go through that part of it again. I'd have a million c-sections if I knew I'd never have to see my baby hooked up to wires and tubes and not be able to touch her, smell her, kiss her, change her. Each day did get better and we literally hung on each report and lab result. The anxiety was so high and thick you could have cut it with a knife.
I pumped like a mad woman and took my milk to Raegan to supplement her formula feedings. It started with gathering droplets in a syringe and taking it to the NICU like it was the finest, most precious liquid on the planet and finally I was pumping enough for all of her daily feedings and she only got formula at night.
Finally, Friday night at 10:30 p.m. I checked out of my room and went to the NICU to feed Raegan one last time before leaving her. We made the long drive home from the hospital WITHOUT our baby. I took a percocet to get me through the night and slept pretty well considering. The next day we got up and got dressed and went to the hospital to pump and spend the day with Raegan. We went to Olive Garden Saturday night for "date night" hoping it would be our last for a while and that she'd come home Sunday. We got up Sunday and went to the hospital again to spend the day pumping and visiting Raegan. Again we went home without our little girl. Monday we made the same trip, with the car seat and a coming home outfit with reservations that we may still not be able to bring her home. We got there and we were given the best news since her birth - our little girl was finally well enough to come home. So at one week old, Baby Raegan came into our world at home and has been such a blessing ever since. She is truly a miracle and I love her more every day. I am more proud of her than she'll ever know - she is such a fighter and she shows it in many ways and I know that she will be able to overcome future obsticals just like the NICU stay. She has brought so much joy to our lives and we are very blessed
Re: Raegan's long birth story