Thursday, May 28, 2009

Be Prepared!

Hi everyone! A lot has happened in the last few days......our precious little Max is HERE in our arms, and now that we're home from the hospital I want to tell you all about the story of how he arrived. There's lots to share, so bear with me as we go back in time to last Thursday (you'll see this entry is dated Thursday 5/28, but I'm writing this part right now...on June 3rd). I'll probably write a bit more every day, until I've caught everyone up.


So here's what I was preparing to post last Thursday night at 8:20 pm.....








As Sean has been putting our entire house together, I have slowly but surely been getting the baby's room ready. Here are a few pictures of how things are looking...
Oh, and by the way.....I think I may be having contractions. I'm having pain that starts in my back and goes low in my belly. It's not up high like the doctor said it would be, but it sure hurts. They've been off and on all day, and we went to the doctor this afternoon just to be safe. According to him, my cervix isn't dilating, blood pressure is fine, and he thinks I'm just dehydrated and stressed out. He told me to go home and put my feet up, drink lots of water, and that he'd see me in the morning.
So that's what I was about to post, when suddenly the act of blogging to take my mind off the pain didn't seem to work anymore. When I woke up on Thursday, I felt TERRIBLE. I had back pain and cramps and just felt all-around shitty. I told Sean that everything felt "off", and that it was the worst pain I had felt my whole pregnancy. My stomach was upset throughout the day, and I just couldn't get comfortable. My mom was scheduled to fly in at 1:30, but for some reason, I did NOT want Sean to leave me to go get her. I didn't think that I was going to go into labor RIGHT THEN, but I was starting to feel really anxious that SOMETHING WAS DIFFERENT. Thankfully, Matt saved the day and went to pick my mom up. I went to the doctor that afternoon to pick up my lab slips for pre-op, and asked Dr. N to check me to see if anything was different (that thrilling exchange is noted above). One thing I didn't mention, was that Dr. N also threw in a condescending comment about how "If you're really anxious, we can do the C-section right now Kim. I mean, is that what you're asking me? hah hah". Then, after realizing that he had been kind of a jerk, he told me that I didn't have to go get my labs done that day if I promised to arrive for my C-Section on-time Friday morning so that they could do the pre-op labs right away. This may sound like a minor concession, but considering my needle aversion, it felt like one less thing to be afraid of.


So we went home.


Around 8 pm, I started to have more severe "cramping" through my lower back and the lower part of my abdomen. And then it got worse. When we started timing them, it looked like they were about 8 minutes, and really regular. How does your body know when 8 minutes is up??? Oh trust me, it knows down to the second. So I called Labor and Delivery, and gave them the rehearsed speech. "I'm a patient of Dr. N's, my baby is breech, I have a c-section scheduled for 9:30 am tomorrow morning, and I think I'm having contractions."


They told me to come on in.


So we went in, thinking full well that this COULD mean I was in labor, or it COULD mean I'd be right back home.


Checked in at the ER. Went through a full registration process (even though I had already pre-registered...WHY, I'm not sure?) Went up to Labor and Delivery, got hooked up to the monitors, and sure enough.....I was having contractions, because there they were on the monitor. Contractions!!!! The night before my scheduled C-Section! And let me tell you.....they hurt LIKE HELL. As in, writhe around on the bed, don't talk to me, oh my god I think I'm going to die kind of pain. I was perversely excited that they were REAL contractions, showing up on the monitor at regular intervals, and I was IN LABOR. If anything, it was keeping my mind off of my upcoming MAJOR SURGERY. At this point, Charge Nurse Jenny checked my cervix. I was 1.5 to 2 cm dilated and 75% effaced.


NO SHIT?!


I asked Charge Nurse Jenny if it was possible that at my 4 pm Dr's appointment my cervix could have been "long and closed" like Dr. N said, and now suddenly I was nearing 2 cm dilated and 75% effaced. She looked at me like either I was a little bit nuts, OR Dr. N was....a little bit wrong :) We loved Charge Nurse Jenny. The next step was for me to spend some time hanging out in L&D to see if anything progressed. If it did, I would stay and have a C-Section (either early, or the next morning). If it didn't, they'd send me home to wait for tomorrow.

Home??? I was NOT going to let them send me home. At this point, my contractions were so strong that I was pretty doubled over when they hit. Sean and I walked around a bit together, stopping when contractions hit so that we could do some of the breathing techniques that we had learned. On what ended up being the last lap, I felt a TINY trickle of water run down my leg. Ummmm....Charge Nurse Jenny.....could my water be breaking???

Went back into our room, and Charge Nurse Jenny checked me. I hadn't progressed any, and it looked like I hadn't broken my water either. She called the doctor's office to let them know, and they suggested that I head home. Bastards. But at least Charge Nurse Jenny felt bad about it.

Of course they did. By this point, it was 11:30 pm the night before my scheduled C-Section. I was having regular contractions, though they were anywhere from about 6-8 minutes apart. I knew that I needed to be back at the hospital at 7:30 am the next day. Really people.....is HOME the best place for me right now? Then Charge Nurse Jenny pointed out that after midnight I wouldn't be able to eat or drink anything, so it might make sense to have a chance to be home resting and having a quick snack before my deadline. Big day ahead of me tomorrow, and so on. Loved Charge Nurse Jenny, but was really bummed to be going home. ESPECIALLY since my contractions were getting worse.

Changed out of stylin' L&D gown, back into my regular clothes, and left with the following advice from the nurse.....

"If your contractions are 3 to 5 minutes apart for an hour, or if your water breaks, then come back in immediately. And make sure to eat something before midnight".

At 11:45 pm, we headed home.......

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