Scariest Day of my Life--1 Year Ago Today

One year ago today was when all the drama happened.  I'm so glad that I wrote it all down when it occurred, since some things are starting to get a little fuzzy.  It's amazing that it's been a year already, but also how much has changed in a year!  Our little girl is our pride and joy, but I remember how scary that day was.  Although her birthday is technically February 4th, since she was born at 12:17am, her birth story actually starts on February 3rd. 

Happy Birthday!

Adalyn's Birth Story

Well, Friday at 1pm I started spotting.  I haven't had ANY spotting this entire pregnancy.  I told the nurse, and she said that we would watch it.  It was very light and faint, kind of like when you are just about to get your period. 

When my OB visited me around 4pm, I had just gone to the bathroom and when I wiped, the spotting was there once again.  She told me that it could be normal, or it could be the beginning of labor.  She said that we would keep watching it, and to let them know if it turned bright red, had contractions, etc.

At around 6pm, I went to the bathroom, and when I went to wipe it was bright red and there was a big clump of blood in the toilet.  Kind of like when you are on the heaviest part of your period.  Around 6:30,  the nurse put me on the monitor, and sure enough, I started having contractions.  Some of them I felt, others I didn't.  However, I had over 6 in 1 hour. I went down to L&D at around 8:30pm.  (We first had to pack up my room).  My dad happened to be visiting me, and thankfully he got all our stuff together.  I called Rodney at work at 8 and they found someone to cover for him and he arrived at L&D.  At 9pm, they checked my temp (I had been afebrile all afternoon and the entire time I was in the hospital) and the temperature was 99.6.  They ordered bloodwork and put me on the monitor, where I was having contractions every 4 minutes.  At 10pm, my temperature was 100.1 and my CBC showed elevated WBC.  I also had a lot more bright red vaginal bleeding.  I wasn't dilated and my OB couldn't feel her head.  She did a ultrasound and our little girl was lying transverse. She said that we couldn't stop the contractions and labor because of the infection.

So,  into the OR we went.  It was completely overwhelming and surreal.  It is amazing how quickly things can change.  The baby was looking great on the monitor, but they didn't want to wait until the infection got worse, where it could kill the baby, have me lose my uterus, and/or kill me as well.
The spinal block/epidural didn't really hurt, but it was beyond surreal.  They couldn't quite get me numb (not feeling the pricks, but still feeling the pressure) from the nipples down, and after moving the table around and have me lying on my side and upside down, they anesthesiologist told me that she was going to have to give me ketamine.  She told me that I may see things and that it was best to close my eyes. 

The last thing I remember in the OR is the anesthesiologist telling me this.Well, let me tell you something.  I went on some sort of psychedelic journey, where I felt like I was in some old-school video game, with weird lights and shapes continuously coming at me.  I woke up in recovery, completely feeling hungover with the room spinning, and asking if my daughter was alive or if she was stillborn. They told me that she was alive and in the NICU.

Rodney was there--not sure if he was there the whole time or only when I started to not feel so loopy.  I asked him if he saw her, and he said that he only caught a glimpse of her dark hair.  He told me that she was 1 pound 12 ounces and was 12 inches long. He told me that he hadn't yet been to the NICU to see her.  Apparently, as soon as they got her out, I started saying "Ow, ow, ow" They asked me if I was in pain, and I just responded with "Ow" and winced.  DH said that I was completely out of it.  So, they had him leave, they intubated me, and I guess gave me general anesthesia for the rest of the procedure.

We went up to our post-partum room, and my dad, Shannon, Patrick, Billy, Tom, and LeeAndra came to visit me.  My dad told me that my OB told him that the placenta looked infected (and that she had also sent it to pathology) and that my membranes looked gunky.  She feels pretty safe to say that I did have pre-term premature rupture of the membranes, perhaps a tear that did, in fact, heal itself, but not before becoming infected.  She thinks that the placenta being infected may have contributed to the reduced urine output of the baby, which is why after the tear would've healed itself without any infection my level wasn't back to normal.   She said that it probably ruptured around 20-21 weeks for me, and that it is amazing that we were able to make it to just over 26 weeks.
After they left, around 3:30 am or so, I told my nurse that I wanted to pump.  She got me the pump, with the double set, and I had my first experience with the pump.  Relatively easy to use, I quickly figured out some tricks that worked best for me.  I fell asleep around 4 or so, and at 6, the nurse had me sit up on the side of the bed for a while.  Figured that I might as well pump again to see what I got.  I wasn't able to get as much colostrom that 2nd time as the first (the first, one bottle had like 5ml in it), but every precious drop counts.  I asked when I could go visit my daughter, and they told me that at 8am I would be able to go. 

So, FINALLY, at around 8:30 am, after the shift-change nurse's assessment, we got a wheelchair and I went down to the NICU to meet my daughter.  As Rodney was wheeling me down the hall, the neonatologist from the night before told us that our daughter can't read.  He said that she is doing too well for a baby her age per all the textbooks! 

He did warn us that there is this thing called "The Honeymoon Period" where some premies have great 1st and/or 2nd days,  but that then the honeymoon is over and many more interventions are  required.  However, he told us that our LO, although intubated, didn't need extra oxygen (was on room air) and that the machine was only breathing between 10 and 20 breaths per minute for her, and that the rest of the time she was breathing on her own.  She hadn't yet urinated yet, but by the time we saw her again around 2pm, she had.  Her blood gasses and BP have been great, especially for a baby her gestational age.  And, the way I see it, I'm glad that she is having a better than great honeymoon period.  If anything, it means that she has a lot more room for interventions than those who start off rocky or average.

She is in a hard-core isolet incubator, and has about a million wires and tubes around her.  She has an IV, another line through her umbilical cord, probes measuring her temperature, heart rate, and an oxygen probe around her feet.  I got to touch her for a brief moment, and her little hand wrapped around my finger! It was the most tender and amazing thing!! I also touched her leg/knee.  DH got to do the same thing too.  We haven't done it since, and probably won't until she is older, because too much interaction right now at this stage will be too stressful for her. 

Next critical points are whether her ductus closed in her heart  (I think the neonatologist said 3rd or 4th day of life they check this) and at 1 week they check to see if she has any brain bleeding.  She is strong like mommy, so I'm sure that she will be a fighter and be able to get through the many obstacles that she will face. 

I can't believe that my daughter, who was due in MAY, is alive a few floors down from me and that I had major surgery a little over 24 hours ago.  It is amazing how quickly things can change, and you have absolutely no control over it.   


 

Here is her first picture that Rodney got around 3am

And this is when I first met her