the surprise entrance of B!

Heather | Our #1,Pregnancy | Sunday, 28 September 2008

this is our story – it is a must read for any pregnant women also!

side glance

we’ve had quite a weekend here! we were thinking we still had a couple weeks or more until meeting our little one but were proved wrong friday.

it was a good day – i was feeling energetic and walked 1 hour in the morning then did 1 hour of yoga in the afternoon. isseki had a show that night so we were enjoying dinner together before the show when suddenly i had some flashing lights/blurred vision only in the right corner of my right eye. i felt fine otherwise but get nervous as usual so we called the clinic and were told that without any other symptoms it was probably nothing related to the pregnancy and headed to the show.

after the first band i thought i wanted to sit down but all of a sudden my pants felt so tight and uncomfortable and i started feeling a lot of pressure low in my abdomen/pelvis. at first i thought i just needed to go to the toilet but started feeling worse so decided to leave (around 9pm) before isseki’s band and head home. there i tried going to the bathroom again, sitting in a hot bath, and lying down but nothing relieved the constant pressure/pain. i had been waiting for her to move all this time also to reassure me that everything was okay but no such luck.

isseki called when he finished and rushed home when i said i wasn’t better and was worried. we called the clinic for the 2nd time (me feeling totally like i worry too much and am being a pain but also knowing that this constant pain didn’t feel like contractions should and that something wasn’t right.

they told us to come in so we headed there (11pm) and they put me on a fetal monitor. her heart rate was a bit weak and showed a couple signs of what looked like contractions but i couldn’t feel the change in pressure/pain – it all felt pretty constant to me. like menstrual cramps accompanied by a backache. so they checked me internally but there was no bleeding and they couldn’t find anything amiss. finally they took a look at the baby on the ultrasound and after searching all around the uterus the doctor kept looking concerned at one spot.

there was a protrusion in the uterine wall that no one had seen even at my exam a few days before. he explained that this could be a benign tumor but they should have seen it before now. otherwise, it usually means that the placenta is separating from the uterine wall which, once happens, is fatal to the baby and could be also to the mother. usually this kind of thing is accompanied by bleeding but due to the blood clot’s placement, it was concealed – pretty rare. he said we should do an emergency cesearan as soon as he could call in staff to do it – in about 1 hour!

as you can imagine, this isn’t at all what we planned. we wanted a natural birth, we wanted to come in and just be told everything is okay and go home in an hour or so. we wanted to have more of a warning before the baby came. time to pack my hospital bag, etc, to shower…isseki was exhausted after a day of work and a show and still smelled of tobacco and alcohol. this wasn’t how it was supposed to be. i started crying and he phoned his mom (who had been up all the previous night with his sister while she was in labor).

of course we really didn’t have a choice but we had to sign papers “concenting” and i was brought away to begin preparations. by a little after 1pm i was given an epidural and soon was cut open.

i was mortified. i hate operations and i hate anesthetics. isseki was next to my head and i tried to not pay attention to the nurses calling my vital stats and the sound of my heart monitor (some of you know i have an irregular heartbeat and that makes it even more nerve wracking) and keep the conversation light. soon she was pulled out but the silent wait for that first cry felt like ages. they sucked all the fluid out of her mouth, etc. and we heard her voice for the first time! i cried…i was so exhausted.

then they started sewing me back up – i started to feel sick and like i couldn’t breathe. i tried hard to take breaths and relax but just started dry heaving – god how i wanted that to be over. eventually it was and i was hoisted like a big hunk of naked dead flesh onto another bed, out of the operation room and into the “delivery room” – all rooms were taken that evening so that is where i stayed, half conscious while a machine massaged my legs and i tried to be excited about my baby but just wanted to sleep. i remember someone putting her to my breast for a bit but i could hardly keep my eyes open. isseki held her for a few hours and finally tried to sleep too.

now i’m recovering slowly – i finally was able to walk and use the bathroom this afternoon. we are struggling with feeding – my nipples are raw & she wants to feed for 15 mins, sleep for 15 and feed again for hours at a time. it’s exhausting but i am just SO HAPPY she is here with us – that we didn’t wait to come to the clinic and that the dr. found the blood clot. a high school friend had the exact same problem but with no bleeding the dr. sent her home without an ultrasound and the placenta separated. she lost her darling child and almost died herself from post-op complications.

so – if you are pregnant and feel something is wrong, PLEASE do not hesitate to check it out. if you have bad cramps/pressure that don’t seem to subside – request an ultrasound and have them check for a blood clot – it could save your baby and you.

on a lighter note – she is VERY cute! and very tiny. they guessed her weight at 2,900 grams (about 6.5 lbs) on wednesday but she was much smaller.

so, welcome to our sweet B

Weight: 2,392 grams (5.3 lbs)
Height: 48.5cm (19 inches)

hello!

BIG LOVE and THANK YOUS to everyone who has sent congratulatory emails, etc. – sorry i am not able to respond to everyone individually but we are so happy to have your love and support – stealing minutes all day to compose this for everyone πŸ™‚

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