Kynic

Kynic

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Monday, December 7, 2009

The OR/birth experience

Needless to say- When I woke up that morning for what I thought would be a routine visit and ultrasound, I could have never imagined the events that would transpire over the next 24 hours! My mom had spent the night (she was spending a lot of time with me anyway as I was on bed rest) but she planned on going to the growth scan with us that day to see if the baby had grown. Travis had worked the night before so as soon as he got home at 9:30 am and changed clothes, we left for the appt. After the appt. we headed back to the women's center for evaluation.

When I got to the room they hooked me up to all the monitors, they came in to draw labs and it was a waiting game, hoping my pressures would go down. Travis, my mom and I really didn't think too much of this as we'd done this whole ordeal about five times in that same week. Every time the machine took my blood pressure I could see that it wasn't going down so we were getting a little worried but trying to relax. I called my mother in law to let her know what was going on but assured her that she should stay at work because everything would be fine ;)

As I laid in the bed, I could feel the contractions getting more intense but I still wasn't in pain. Poor Travis was laying on the "window seat" praying we could go home soon because he'd been up all night! My mom was pacing the floors and obsessively checking the monitor readings! A few minutes later, my nurse came in. It was actually the same nurse who we'd taken the child birth classes with! She asked me if I was feeling the contractions and I said yes. She told me they were getting stronger and closer together (I already knew this ;) ) She also told me that they were starting an IV and admitting me. I knew that something was going on because this wasn't a standard procedure.

A few minutes later, my doctor arrives and says, "I think we're going to go ahead with the c-section TODAY.. Your pressures are getting worse and now you're contracting". Wait a minute... WHAT!!!!! Travis popped up off of the window seat and wiped his eyes, I picked my jaw up off of the hospital bed and my mom's pacing turned to panic! When she left we all started to freak a little but I was surprisingly much calmer than I'd imagined I would be. We started to call and text our family members and within a few minutes my dr. was back to say that we'd be going in the next thirty minutes.

Within five minutes anesthesia was in to talk to ask me questions and the nurse started handing out our OR garb. Travis put on his dr. suit, I put on my hat and within 15 minutes they were back to get me. No one evenhad time to make it to the hospital before I was taken back. The walk to the OR felt like the longest walk of my life. I was pretty much in shock so I really didn't have time to panic. I kissed Travis and my mom goodbye and off I went.

The OR was absolutely freezing. When I got in there I sat up on a table and had to lean over in the arms of the OR tech while the anesthesiologist prepped my back for the spinal. I was shaking uncontrollably. I think part was nerves and part was the ice cold bed. They put warm blankets on me and the dr. started the spinal. It really was painless and far easier than I thought it would be. As soon as it was in I immediately laid back on the table. The nurse inserted the catheter and they started cleaning my stomach. It was really weird to be naked on this table in front of all of these people! The nurses put up the screen so I wouldn't be able to see anything and eventually they let Travis back in. I remember asking for him.. I was so afraid they would start without him! He finally came back and he looked so scared for me! He held my hand and the dr. started testing me to make sure I was completely numb. Once she confirmed, they started the surgery.

I really couldn't feel the "pressure" that everyone talks about. I could definitely feel pulling and tugging which was kind of gross but not much pressure. I had tons of pain in my chest which they said was from them pressing on my uterus. Travis just help my hand and kept asking me if I was ok. I surprisingly had a pretty great attitude and didn't really get emotional. I was just SO anxious for the baby to come out because we were SO scared that something was terribly wrong with him causing him to be so small and not grow. I could hear my dr. making comments about the size of my uterus (that it barely looked bigger than a non-pregnant uterus).

It wasn't long before she told Travis and I that we'd be hearing a "little cry". We were so anxious. Finally, we heard the most BEAUTIFUL sound ever! Our little boy was screaming away! The nurses shouted out the time (15:06) and I started to get really emotional. I just knew he was going to be ok! I asked the dr if he was tiny and she said yes, "he's a little fella!". I was so excited to see him and kind of sad that I couldn't see anything. Travis jumped up and headed over to the cleaning station with the nursery nurse and was able to cut the cord stump and take pictures. The little fella was 4 lbs 9 oz and 18 inches! He FINALLY came back over to me (it felt like hours later) with our beautiful baby boy! He was perfect. We knew after looking at him that he was going to be ok! Travis brought him over and I examined him and gave both he and Travis a kiss.

It was about that time that I started to get extremely nauseous. I was dry heaving as best I could considering I couldn't feel ANYTHING! I could see the sadness in Travis's eyes! He had to go to the nursery with Kylar and felt so helpless for me. As much as he wanted to go I know he felt so bad to leave me there. Luckily the awesome anesthesiologist was able to give me an alcohol swab under the nose and help with the nausea. They finished stitching me up and the surgery was over. My dr. told me while she was stitching me back up that my placenta looked "crummy" and that it was definitely pre-eclamptic. She sent it off to pathology to be examined. She also told me that she was so glad we did the surgery that day and that she would definitely sleep better that night knowing that Kylar had been delivered and she didn't wait any longer. I had an overwhelming peace with everything that had just taken place. As much as I had dreaded a c-section and as traumatic as the days events were, I knew GOD had his hand on us and had given our dr. wisdom. It was absolutely the right decision. Even though sometimes we don't know why things are happening or can't forsee the end result, he is in control. I am so very thankful.

Anyway- after being stitched up, I was wheeled back to my room where I got to see a few visitors. They gave me a little something for pain and it was at least an hour before I was finally able to see Kylar. He wasn't interested in nursing right away but eventually caught on later in the night. He was absolutely perfect and I was COMPLETELY in love!

A lot of the rest of the day is sort of a haze because I was put on Magnesium Sulfate (HORRIBLE stuff!) to prevent seizures from the pre-eclampsia. The effects were pretty crappy! It made me see double, very dizzy and extremely hot. Luckily I was only on it for 24 hours. I was bed ridden until I came off of it the next day but I was able to see some visitors that night. Even though the experience was a little traumatic and unexpected, I wouldn't change a thing. God certainly had his hand upon our family and we are so very blessed!

During the surgery

After getting the shocking news that we'd be having a baby in 15 minutes!!!

Mom and I before I headed out

No turning back now!

During one of the contractions!

If you made it all the way through this, bless you ;) I'll post more later about the next ten days we spent in the hospital!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

A delayed update!!

I'm sorry it's taken us so long to update! I hope to update more with pictures and stories of the past month's happenings in the next several days. As you can imagine, things have been a bit hectic!

For starters- After a routine appt. and growth ultrasound on Friday October 30th, it was revealed that the baby was still not doing much growing and had fallen below the 10th percentile in growth. This was very alarming. That was coupled with record high blood pressure for me. It was somewhere around 165/105. I was immediately sent up to the Women's Center for the 5th time that week to be monitored.

After about an hour, my blood pressure continued to increase and my labs eventually came back. The lab work revealed changes in my platlet levels. The pre-eclampsia was pretty much confirmed at that point. During this same time, I was hooked up to an NST monitor for the baby and a contraction monitor. I started having contractions about 4-5 minutes apart and they were getting stronger. We won't know for sure, but the dr. was pretty sure I was actually going in to labor on my own! My dr. came in to visit about an hr after we'd been at the Women's Center and told my mom, Travis and I to prepare for a c-section that day. She came back in about five minutes later and said we'd be heading to the OR in about 20 minutes! We were beyond shocked to say the least!!!

About an hour later, God blessed us with the most amazing gift we'd ever layed eyes on. I will post a full story later of my experience in the OR and the days events along with pictures....

But Kylar Nicholas Holland was born at 36 weeks at 3:06 pm on October 30, 2009. I've never been so scared in my life- but after one look at him, I knew he was absolutely perfect. He was 4 lbs, 9 oz and 18 inches long. My placenta confirmed atypical severe pre-eclampsia which caused pretty significant fetal growth restriction. My poor guy wasn't getting any nourishment. I couldn't be more thankful for my amazing dr. for making such a great call and getting my precious boy here safely.

The next two weeks weren't without challenges, as we spent 12 days in the hospital for various issues (I'll post more info later!) but the good news is... we're all HAPPY, HEALTHY AND INCREDIBLY BLESSED!!! God is good and we're so in love with our new family! Thank you to ll of our friends and family for the unconditional love and amazing support we've received over the past few months. You guys are irreplaceable :)

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

36w bump

36 week baby progress

Here's what baby H should be up to this week ;)

By this week of pregnancy your baby's crown-to-rump length reaches about 13.5 inches and the total length is approximately 20.7 inches. Your baby weighs about 6 pounds now. The top of your uterus has moved further up under your ribs and is about 5.5 inches above your bellybutton. Your uterus has grown a lot in the past few weeks as your baby has gained weight. You may have gained about 30 pounds by now and it is common for your weight to stay about the same from this point onwards.

Almost full-grown baby at about 36 weeks pregnancyBecause the top of the uterus is high as it will be, breathing may be getting very uncomfortable at times. You might notice jabbing pains from your baby's kicks. However, within the next few weeks, your baby will drop into the birth canal and this will make breathing easier again. Most doctors like to see their patients weekly from now on to check for labor progression. Your prenatal classes are probably coming to an end and you should have already made a birth plan and discussed available options for pain control during pregnancy.

Your baby's face has filled out significantly and looks smooth and plump. Because your baby has powerful sucking muscles and has had layers of fat forming for quite some time now, the cheeks have filled out like a newborn's. Your baby's skull is firm, but not hard. Every baby's head has the ability to give slightly so that there is room for her to fit down the birth canal during delivery. Some babies are born with cone shaped heads from the pressure of delivery, but this will go away after delivery. The amount of amniotic fluid is at its maximum amount now and your baby may not be moving as much as she had been. As long as you still feel her movements every day, there should be no cause for concern.

The placenta is now one-sixth of the fetal weight.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Quick update

After we got back from the NST on Thursday, we ended up back at the women's center on Saturday night because I was so swollen and my blood pressure was back up. I was in triage for a few hours and they were able to get my BP back down. All of my labs and urine still look good, so they are not suspecting pre-eclampsia just yet.

I was hoping that'd be the end of the blood pressure debacle! I had a follow up appt. this morning to re-check my urine and blood pressure. Well- it was through the roof again, so back to the women's center I went! They were able to get it to come down again and I was able to go home! I have to repeat my labs and 24 urine when we go to our big appt. on Friday (This is the appt. where we'll find out about the baby's growth as well as the c-section).

The dr seems to think at this point it is just pregnancy induced hypertension- which often happens for no apparent reason towards the end of pregnancy. So long as it doesn't start to show changes in blood or urine, we should be ok! I, unfortunately, have to remain on pretty strict bed rest for now, but our little blessing will be here in a few weeks and it will all be worth it! Thanks again for all of the continued thoughts and prayers!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

NST and a few pics!

Last night we had to head back to the hospital to drop off my 24 hour urine bucket. Good times ;) I also had to do a non stress test to make sure the baby was doing fine. My blood pressure was pretty good and the baby was doing wonderfully! I have to go back to the dr. on Tuesday to re-check blood pressure and urine and then we're set for our growth scan on next Friday. We're VERY anxious to see what our little guy has been up to in the past 3 weeks! We can't wait to meet him!!!

Here are a few maternity pics-- Enjoy ;)











Wednesday, October 21, 2009

35 week appt.

Yesterday we had our 35 week appt. We met with the dr. for the first time and I really liked her! She was pleased with my food diary and that I had gained a few lbs since being on bed rest. I've really got the hang of eating everything in sight Whatever my little guy needs

She did my group b strep swab and asked if I wanted to be checked. Of course, I said YES! Boy did I NOT know what I was getting myself into! Needless to say I was only 1 cm dilated and 60 % effaced.

Now onto the bad news--- My blood pressure was through the roof both times they checked it, so they sent Travis and I over to L&D where we had to stay for the next 5 hours while they monitored my BP, contractions and the baby. My BP eventually went down, I was having quite a few contractions, but the baby was doing great. They sent me home with the pee container to collect for 24 hours. I have to take it back tonight and then stay for a Non stress Test to be sure the baby isn't under any sort of distress. This makes me feel a little better because his movements have slowed some recently. The dr. anticipates that all will be fine with both my BP and the NST.

I also got a short 15 sec. u/s in the hospital to make sure he was still head down because the dr said when she examined me she couldn't tell. Luckily- he's still in the right position! Woohoo!! We go for our next growth scan next Friday to determine if he has fattened up any and hopefully I will get off of bed rest if he has! I'm hoping for good news