so i tried several times today to get video off my camcorder (yes a camcorder) on to my computer because supposedly i have everything that i need but apparently, this is not the case. so unfortunately you cant see any of the hilarious video of michael and i walking into the hospital predelivery.
for those of you who dont know, you can tell by a woman's face how close she is to giving birth. my face was so big and so round. my lips looked like they were about to pop. it was time. yes they took her at 37 weeks and 5 days but she was ready to come out!
we went in and signed our final bits of paperwork and i got into my gown and hooked up to all the monitors etc. i was so worried about getting an IV i had never had one before i was pretty nervous. but to my delight the nurse had lidocaine cream! i never felt a stick...well until later. after all that was done and i asked all my questions about what they were giving me, those of you who know me know i have to be involved in everything. i wanted to know exactly what was going on. so by this point it was about 6:00am, i was already having steady contractions and they were not inducing labor! the goal was for me to not go into labor! i told you she was ready to come out.
so i got two bags of fluid before the csection even started. then i had to waddle my scared pregnant tail down to to operating room. alone. well with a nurse. but alone. i was petrified. for liability purposes, only doctors are allowed to be in the operating room when you receive a spinal. so here come the gory details
back to the main event. he asks me to grab my knees chin down and roll my back out. this is to spread the vertebrae apart. i know this. but try doing this when you are almost 40 inches around and you have bad balance and you are shivering and you have nothing to help keep your balance because your feet are dangling. not to mention the fact that i could barely breath leaning back much less leaning forward. so lets add this up
scared + freezing + dangling feet + out-to-here-pregnant =
too much for one pregnant woman to deal with
so he keeps telling me to be still...so he can stick a huge needle into my spinal cord. no biggie.
**fyi for those of you who have children naturally. epidurals and spinals are totally different. an epidural does not come in direct contact with your spinal cord. the drug simply goes into the spinal cavity which desensitizes the nerves responses making the pain wayyyyyy less. thats why you can still feel pressure because you arent completely numb. the spinal is a one time injection that completely deadens your body. you cannot move AT ALL.
back to my spinal. he gave me two very large injections of lidocaine. the first was to numb the skin but it was a very large dose. ive been introduced to lidocaine due to suspicious moles and it just feels like a bee sting. this was completely different. this was a very intense burning feeling. the second lidocaine shot was to numb everything between my skin and my spinal cord. then came the huge needle. it was a crazy sensation that is going to be hard to describe. all of a sudden my whole body from between my boobs to my toes went cold. it was scary to be honest. i just fell back. glad they knew to catch me and lay me down gently.
keep in mind, all this happened while i was by myself.
they draped me and strapped my arms out on either side. Michael came in and held my hand. well he held the cameras and kept me calm. i kept saying is she out is she out? i was so afraid that she was out and not crying i couldnt calm down. suddenly two doctors yelled simultaneously...
"theres the butt!"
did you read the definition of frank breech last time? HERE is your chance to do it again so you understand why that is what they said. she started crying about 3 seconds later. quite loudly thankfully! she was perfect. covered in gunk but seriously perfect.
it what seemed like milliseconds, cut the cord, took pictures, and michael followed her over the other side of the operating room to get her cleaned up and weighed and measured. we had just been to the doctor the thursday before delivery and they guessed her weight at 4.10 but.....drumroll please.
She weighed 5.9! 19 inches long!! big girl!! =)
about this time i looked up at the doctor and said, "i know you are watching my heart rate so you should know im about to have a panic attack." of course he asked why. i was having EXTREME sharp pains behind my collar bone. his response was unsettling.
oh thats ok. totally normal. it is probably going to move into your chest just try not to panic.
i was terrified. but i made it through. we had the absolute perfect experience at Baptist. we were offered something called "private transition" for after her birth. it was an absolutely amazing bonding experience. i dont know about other hospitals. however at baptist, after you nurse, they take the newborn to the nursery for the first 4 hours to be monitored and temperature regulated and given a bath on and on the list goes. we however booked the private transition in advance so that she never had to leave us. A neonatal nurse stayed with us in our room to do all the necessary tests in our room. i was able to hold her and see her and be with her and all of our family was able to do the same. i will never do it any other way. it was well worth the small fee charged for this service.
as you can see this is very long and there is more to the story. but i got you through the initial part of delivery. we will get to post delivery experiences tomorrow...or today since its after midnight
thanks for hanging in there! more tomorrow!
Congrats on your little munchkin :)
ReplyDeletexo, Megan
indie flower