Yesterday around 3:35am I woke up in a pool of blood. The nurses came immediately and started the process of taking off my bloody clothes, putting me on the monitors, and calling the doctor. Within a few minutes they were taking me (by bed) down to the Labor and Delivery unit. The bleeding was pretty bad this time, and it didn't seem to be stopping. On top of that, I went into labor. The contractions were one on top of each other, and I had that pressure feeling you get when the baby's head is almost ready to come out.
They did a speculum exam. They were trying to see the condition of the cervix, but they couldn't swab the blood and clots up fast enough. They never did visualize the cervix because there was too much blood. I was ever so glad when the speculum came out. I figured out at 3:50 that they were going to deliver Oliver because they started shaving my belly, putting in a catheter, etc. I called Paul and my mom. Paul arrived at 5:30 when I was in the recovery room, and my mom arrived at 6:00am when I was being wheeled from the recovery room to the maternity unit on the 9th floor.
Because it was an emergency c-section, they gave me general anesthesia, and Dr. Taboada told me she was going to do a vertical incision because she could get the baby out faster that way. I had horizontal incisions with my other two c-sections. I can tell that she did take out the whole placenta this time because after I had Ian I still had heartburn, and last night I ate spaghetti without getting heartburn. I also had a miniature piece of chocolate. It tasted heavenly as I haven't had chocolate in months. Before I went into the operating room they had put in a second iv tube so they could give me a transfusion. I was given blood before they even started the c-section. They drew more blood this morning to see if I might need another transfusion today. When I first started bleeding I had no idea they would be delivering Oliver. I figured it would be the same as the previous times, but it wasn't. With Ian and Nadia I had a belly pic taken after my water broke, but with Oliver my last belly pic was taken 8 days before he was born.
Four days before he was born they estimated he weighed 4lb 2oz, but at birth (4:22am) he weighed 3lb 15.5 oz. He is 16 inches long. We got at least one picture of Nadia and Ian before they were hooked up with wires and tubes, but since he wasn't breathing at all in the delivery room, we don't have any such pictures of Oliver. He was on a ventilator for less than 24 hours as they switched him to a SiPAP machine during the night last night. If he continues to progress, the next step would be a CPAP machine. Ian and Nadia were both on the CPAP machine during their NICU stays. We were wishing he would wait a few more weeks to be born, but we are very grateful for the almost 10 extra weeks he had in the womb. Paul and my mom got to go see him for the first time about 4 hours after he was born. They went back a second time about 3 hours later prior to my mom's departure. Paul stayed here with me for 11.5 hours yesterday. He was in the NICU three times as he also went when I got to meet Oliver for the first time (about 9.5 hours after he was born). I was very pleased with how easily I made the transfer from the bed to the wheelchair as the transfer from the delivery room bed to the bed in my room had been excruciating earlier in the day. I timed my visit to the NICU with a dosage of Toradol that I have been getting every 6 hours. I also have been getting morphene by iv.
He'll probably be in the NICU for about 4-6 weeks. His blood sugar was low at first. They gave him a transfusion yesterday. He might need additional transfusions in the days and weeks to come. They also were contemplating replacing some of his blood, but his bilirubin count didn't go up too much yesterday so they've held off on that. He has the lights above him and also is lying on a wallaby blanket. He has hypospadius (same urological problem that Ian had). Paul didn't have it, but my brother and his brother both did have it. I can't wait to hold him. It feels a bit surreal until you can hold your baby. I won't be able to hold him until his arterial line comes out, which they say will likely happen sometime over the next 2-7 days. One advantage of the arterial line is that his poor little feet are being spared from lots of pricks. I had hoped to avoid the NICU this third time around, but in the grand scheme of life I know it's not a big deal. Just as was true of the 10 weeks (minus one day) of bed rest, this too shall pass. At some point we might ask for him to be transferred to the NICU at Geisinger, which is much closer to our house. I would much rather be nursing than pumping, but I don't have a choice. I started pumping about 8 hours after he was born, and I've done 20 minute pumping sessions every 2-3 hours since then. They haven't started feeding him yet. I'm hoping my milk comes in before it's time for them to start feeding him by tube.
Yesterday around 3:35am I woke up in a pool of blood. The nurses came immediately and started the process of taking off my bloody clothes, putting me on the monitors, and calling the doctor. Within a few minutes they were taking me (by bed) down to the Labor and Delivery unit. The bleeding was pretty bad this time, and it didn't seem to be stopping. On top of that, I went into labor. The contractions were one on top of each other, and I had that pressure feeling you get when the baby's head is almost ready to come out.
They did a speculum exam. They were trying to see the condition of the cervix, but they couldn't swab the blood and clots up fast enough. They never did visualize the cervix because there was too much blood. I was ever so glad when the speculum came out. I figured out at 3:50 that they were going to deliver Oliver because they started shaving my belly, putting in a catheter, etc. I called Paul and my mom. Paul arrived at 5:30 when I was in the recovery room, and my mom arrived at 6:00am when I was being wheeled from the recovery room to the maternity unit on the 9th floor.
Because it was an emergency c-section, they gave me general anesthesia, and Dr. Taboada told me she was going to do a vertical incision because she could get the baby out faster that way. I had horizontal incisions with my other two c-sections. I can tell that she did take out the whole placenta this time because after I had Ian I still had heartburn, and last night I ate spaghetti without getting heartburn. I also had a miniature piece of chocolate. It tasted heavenly as I haven't had chocolate in months. Before I went into the operating room they had put in a second iv tube so they could give me a transfusion. I was given blood before they even started the c-section. They drew more blood this morning to see if I might need another transfusion today. When I first started bleeding I had no idea they would be delivering Oliver. I figured it would be the same as the previous times, but it wasn't. With Ian and Nadia I had a belly pic taken after my water broke, but with Oliver my last belly pic was taken 8 days before he was born.
Four days before he was born they estimated he weighed 4lb 2oz, but at birth (4:22am) he weighed 3lb 15.5 oz. He is 16 inches long. We got at least one picture of Nadia and Ian before they were hooked up with wires and tubes, but since he wasn't breathing at all in the delivery room, we don't have any such pictures of Oliver. He was on a ventilator for less than 24 hours as they switched him to a SiPAP machine during the night last night. If he continues to progress, the next step would be a CPAP machine. Ian and Nadia were both on the CPAP machine during their NICU stays. We were wishing he would wait a few more weeks to be born, but we are very grateful for the almost 10 extra weeks he had in the womb. Paul and my mom got to go see him for the first time about 4 hours after he was born. They went back a second time about 3 hours later prior to my mom's departure. Paul stayed here with me for 11.5 hours yesterday. He was in the NICU three times as he also went when I got to meet Oliver for the first time (about 9.5 hours after he was born). I was very pleased with how easily I made the transfer from the bed to the wheelchair as the transfer from the delivery room bed to the bed in my room had been excruciating earlier in the day. I timed my visit to the NICU with a dosage of Toradol that I have been getting every 6 hours. I also have been getting morphene by iv.
He'll probably be in the NICU for about 4-6 weeks. His blood sugar was low at first. They gave him a transfusion yesterday. He might need additional transfusions in the days and weeks to come. They also were contemplating replacing some of his blood, but his bilirubin count didn't go up too much yesterday so they've held off on that. He has the lights above him and also is lying on a wallaby blanket. He has hypospadius (same urological problem that Ian had). Paul didn't have it, but my brother and his brother both did have it. I can't wait to hold him. It feels a bit surreal until you can hold your baby. I won't be able to hold him until his arterial line comes out, which they say will likely happen sometime over the next 2-7 days. One advantage of the arterial line is that his poor little feet are being spared from lots of pricks. I had hoped to avoid the NICU this third time around, but in the grand scheme of life I know it's not a big deal. Just as was true of the 10 weeks (minus one day) of bed rest, this too shall pass. At some point we might ask for him to be transferred to the NICU at Geisinger, which is much closer to our house. I would much rather be nursing than pumping, but I don't have a choice. I started pumping about 8 hours after he was born, and I've done 20 minute pumping sessions every 2-3 hours since then. They haven't started feeding him yet. I'm hoping my milk comes in before it's time for them to start feeding him by tube.
1 comment:
I am so sorry you are in the roller coaster NICU ride. I don't know how many blood transfusions Wyatt and Bailey had. Goodness it was way too many to count. After a while you begin to tell the nurse "gosh don't you think hwe needs some blood since his bp is low/high." LOL Please don't push to have him move till the risk of a head bleed is gone!! I have thankful that Bailey's move at 2 weeks didn't cause her to have a head bleed. The nurses were worried for her. Those week in the NICU will go fast! You just be sure to get plenty of rest while he is in there. Congrats on your precious miracle.
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