My doctor and I thought for sure EJ would be coming early. I had been having contractions on and off for weeks at the end of my pregnancy. On Thursday I went to see my doctor one last time before he went out of town. I hadn't started to dilate but my contractions were coming very regularly and he hugged me and said I'll see you in the next 48 hours. We quickly stopped in to meet the covering doctor and I was very upset about the possibility of delivering with him. But my contractions were coming so I was hoping that would be a non issue. We called Earl's Mom and had them come up because we were SURE it was happening.
Thursday night the contractions completely stopped. Friday, nothing. Saturday, nothing and now my doctor is officially out of town. I'd eaten 2 whole pineapples, walked, walked, walked and been bouncing on my exercise ball.....nothing. Sunday (11/10), my actual due date, we get up and go to the farmers market and grocery shopping. Around 2pm, I start having contractions again but this time by 5pm, they were getting stronger and stronger. We finally head to the hospital around 7:30pm and are admitted at 8:30pm even though I was only dilated 2cm. The L&D floor was having a slow night and since it was my 2nd baby things should move quickly. Around 10:30/11pm the nurse came in and had me lay on my side and put me on oxygen. She kept saying, "We need your baby to wake up." Around 12:00am the covering doctor walked in to give me an update...."not seeing what we need to see and we need to rush you in for an emergency c-section." I remember looking at Earl and rolling my eyes. He we go...."you just don't want to come back at 4am and deliver me." I said. He states I have 20 minutes to decide what I want to do and walks out of the room. The nurse comes back in and I start yelling and getting very frustrated with the though of having a c-section. This wasn't my doctor. What was his motive. Was there really a problem or was I just going to be another unnecessary c-section victim?
They left us alone to discuss our choices. Basically what my choice came down to was I am not a doctor with a medical degree. I had a doctor and the nurse telling me that I had to deliver now or risk loosing my baby or having a brain dead baby. As they were wheeling me into the OR, I still was struggling with my choice...yelling at the anesthesiologist about the number of unnecessary c-section they force woman into and was I going to be another one. He stopped our movement and looked at me and said, "They paged me to get up here immediately. I am only told to drop what I am doing and run if it is an emergency. I need you to give me consent to administer these drugs in a moment. I will not do anything against your will. But this IS an emergency."
"Fine." I glared at him.
The roll me into the cold OR and the room is filled with doctors and nurses busily getting everything ready. It was so cold and I was scared. Within minutes they had me prepped and suddenly they tipped the table back so my head was down. THIS freaked me out and I screamed, "Where is EARL???" A nurse ran out to grab him and they were already cutting me open. Within what seemed like seconds, EJ was out. "He's so white and pale." Earl says to me. "Is he OK???"
The doctors were cleaning out his mouth and stomach with tubes because he had swallowed meconium. It felt like an eternity before I heard his first faint cry. As they were still working on me, they gave me a few minutes with him before his trip to the nursery. At this point we felt better about our decision. We made the right choice.....
I was in the recovery room waiting for Earl and EJ to come back from the nursery. When they arrived, Earl tried to hand him to me but my arms still were numb and I was shaking really bad. I just remember gazing at his little face and him looking back at me. He was so quiet and pale and cold.
(Blurred memories)
Once I got moved to my room, I kept doing skin to skin, trying to warm him up. Tried nursing him and he'd suck then give up. The nurse came in and gave him his first bath. Our pediatrician arrives and I can tell he's concerned about something but says everything is fine. At this point it's already 7am and the nurses were switching shifts. My new nurse, Leslie, walks in. Her first order of business, move me to a bigger and quieter room. She grabs another nurse and they wheel me down the hallway. EJ is on my chest, I'm trying to keep him warm. Once in the better room, she starts taking a look at EJ and trying to help me get him to nurse. Moments later, I was hit with mind numb sickness. Nurse Leslie runs into the room and puts EJ down and helps me with a bucket. She takes EJ to the nursery to check on him. I'm sick, so sick.
"We need to rush your baby to the NICU for a blood transfusion." The words you never want to hear after having an emergency c-section........
I frantically started calling Earl. He had gone home to shower. I was beyond sick and could barely speak from the surgery and drugs. I couldn't process what was happening. My eyes couldn't stay open, I couldn't hear what people were saying to me. "He's missing blood. We need to find the bleed. He needs a transfusion. We have to give him formula. Here's a pump, start pumping." The NICU doctor came up to talk to us....I couldn't open my eyes, I was so sick and weak. "He's missing over 70% of his blood, he may not make it." She says. I remember Earl trying to talk to me.....but I couldn't speak, I couldn't open my eyes. This had to be a bad dream. They were checking his brain, heart, stomach, kidney's, liver....looking for a bleed. Then the NICU doctor ordered that my blood be drawn to look for his blood. After his first transfusion, he stabilized. His oxygen levels were still low but increasing. But we needed to know WHERE the blood went.
All I wanted was to hold my baby....see him. But I had to wait until Tuesday evening when I was cleared to move. After doing a 5 minute scrub in, Earl rolled me over to bed 15 where EJ was. So many tubes taped everywhere. I sobbed. I got to touch him but still wasn't allowed to hold him.
But we finally got an answer that evening on what happened. We had suffered a fetal maternal hemorrhage. At some point in the last few days or hours of my pregnancy, EJ's blood started transfusing into my blood stream. His blood was slowly draining from his body into mine. It's so rare, they don't have any information on how or why it happens. But we got lucky, so lucky that I went into labor. Sometimes this happens to woman and she just stops feeling her baby move.
We were so fortunate to be in such a great hospital with an amazing NICU. They acted fast and saved his life. So many factors that played into this happy ending. My doctor was out of town. Would my doctor have moved to quick to do the emergency c-section knowing my stance on them? Every single doctor and nurse, and I saw A LOT of them, stated had the doctor not acted when he did.....EJ would not be here.
Today at 9 months, EJ is a healthy and happy baby.
They left us alone to discuss our choices. Basically what my choice came down to was I am not a doctor with a medical degree. I had a doctor and the nurse telling me that I had to deliver now or risk loosing my baby or having a brain dead baby. As they were wheeling me into the OR, I still was struggling with my choice...yelling at the anesthesiologist about the number of unnecessary c-section they force woman into and was I going to be another one. He stopped our movement and looked at me and said, "They paged me to get up here immediately. I am only told to drop what I am doing and run if it is an emergency. I need you to give me consent to administer these drugs in a moment. I will not do anything against your will. But this IS an emergency."
"Fine." I glared at him.
The roll me into the cold OR and the room is filled with doctors and nurses busily getting everything ready. It was so cold and I was scared. Within minutes they had me prepped and suddenly they tipped the table back so my head was down. THIS freaked me out and I screamed, "Where is EARL???" A nurse ran out to grab him and they were already cutting me open. Within what seemed like seconds, EJ was out. "He's so white and pale." Earl says to me. "Is he OK???"
The doctors were cleaning out his mouth and stomach with tubes because he had swallowed meconium. It felt like an eternity before I heard his first faint cry. As they were still working on me, they gave me a few minutes with him before his trip to the nursery. At this point we felt better about our decision. We made the right choice.....
I was in the recovery room waiting for Earl and EJ to come back from the nursery. When they arrived, Earl tried to hand him to me but my arms still were numb and I was shaking really bad. I just remember gazing at his little face and him looking back at me. He was so quiet and pale and cold.
(Blurred memories)
Once I got moved to my room, I kept doing skin to skin, trying to warm him up. Tried nursing him and he'd suck then give up. The nurse came in and gave him his first bath. Our pediatrician arrives and I can tell he's concerned about something but says everything is fine. At this point it's already 7am and the nurses were switching shifts. My new nurse, Leslie, walks in. Her first order of business, move me to a bigger and quieter room. She grabs another nurse and they wheel me down the hallway. EJ is on my chest, I'm trying to keep him warm. Once in the better room, she starts taking a look at EJ and trying to help me get him to nurse. Moments later, I was hit with mind numb sickness. Nurse Leslie runs into the room and puts EJ down and helps me with a bucket. She takes EJ to the nursery to check on him. I'm sick, so sick.
"We need to rush your baby to the NICU for a blood transfusion." The words you never want to hear after having an emergency c-section........
I frantically started calling Earl. He had gone home to shower. I was beyond sick and could barely speak from the surgery and drugs. I couldn't process what was happening. My eyes couldn't stay open, I couldn't hear what people were saying to me. "He's missing blood. We need to find the bleed. He needs a transfusion. We have to give him formula. Here's a pump, start pumping." The NICU doctor came up to talk to us....I couldn't open my eyes, I was so sick and weak. "He's missing over 70% of his blood, he may not make it." She says. I remember Earl trying to talk to me.....but I couldn't speak, I couldn't open my eyes. This had to be a bad dream. They were checking his brain, heart, stomach, kidney's, liver....looking for a bleed. Then the NICU doctor ordered that my blood be drawn to look for his blood. After his first transfusion, he stabilized. His oxygen levels were still low but increasing. But we needed to know WHERE the blood went.
All I wanted was to hold my baby....see him. But I had to wait until Tuesday evening when I was cleared to move. After doing a 5 minute scrub in, Earl rolled me over to bed 15 where EJ was. So many tubes taped everywhere. I sobbed. I got to touch him but still wasn't allowed to hold him.
But we finally got an answer that evening on what happened. We had suffered a fetal maternal hemorrhage. At some point in the last few days or hours of my pregnancy, EJ's blood started transfusing into my blood stream. His blood was slowly draining from his body into mine. It's so rare, they don't have any information on how or why it happens. But we got lucky, so lucky that I went into labor. Sometimes this happens to woman and she just stops feeling her baby move.
We were so fortunate to be in such a great hospital with an amazing NICU. They acted fast and saved his life. So many factors that played into this happy ending. My doctor was out of town. Would my doctor have moved to quick to do the emergency c-section knowing my stance on them? Every single doctor and nurse, and I saw A LOT of them, stated had the doctor not acted when he did.....EJ would not be here.
Today at 9 months, EJ is a healthy and happy baby.
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