My pregnancy with XXXX was incredibly complicated. It was riddled with trips to the ER for unexplained bleeding. At 26 weeks, I was diagnosed with preeclampsia. As a result of this, I had to go to the OB twice a week for the final 11 weeks of my pregnancy. One the positive side, at each appointment, I had an ultrasound to look at XXX's health...so I got to see her A LOT!
At 36weeks 6days, I was scheduled for induction. It was no longer safe for me to remain pregnant. I was not only suffering from preeclampsia, I also began falling during the last few weeks of pregnancy, as my legs would go numb. I have since been diagnosed with early MS.
I was induced at 3:30pm on August 30. My labor began immediately. Labor was long and painful. After about 18 hours of labor, I was given my epidural. Life was wonderful. Unfortunately, XXX's heartrate dropped, and so they had me roll on my side. This caused the epidural catheter to come loose, so the epidural quit working. I endured the final 3.5 hours of labor and pushing without pain relief. When it was time to push, XXXX was stuck. I pushed for over 1.5 hours, as my doctor put her hand inside me to work XXXX's head under my pubic bone. When XXX finally emerged, the cord was wrapped around her neck. The doctor removed the cord, and at 3:30pm on August 31, she placed XXXX on my tummy. XXXX was purple and floppy. She did not cry. The nurses removed her immediately, and tried to get her to breathe. I sat there in shock and in tears. XXX never did let out that first cry, though she did pink up and begin to move. I thought we were out of the woods.
When I was reunited with my daughter 30 minutes later, I was in love! I never understood when people talked about the instant bond that was formed...that is until I experienced it. I was a bit concerned at her appearance. She had 2 black eyes. Additionally, she looked like she had a blue stocking cap on...she was so purple. But, she was beautiful!
We were scheduled to be discharged on Thursday morning. That didn't happen. Over night, XXX's bilirubin levels spiked. She needed to remain in the hospital for an additional 36 hours so that she could receive photo therapy. This treatment did bring her levels down enough to be able to be discharged on Friday evening.
In the beginning, XXX was so difficult to wake up. Being a first time mom, I thought this was normal. I frequently had to wake her to feed her. She would generaly fall asleep before the bottle was finished. I also didn't know how abnormal this was. She did not cry for the first 3 weeks of life. I thought that I just had a very good baby. I should have known differently.
No comments:
Post a Comment