On Friday morning, Ma rch 18, 2011I ate breakfast at 9:15 and at 9:45 while watching tv I felt what I thought was discharge. But it kept coming. I got up to go the bathroom to check and felt a lot of fluid between my legs. I went to the bathroom and fluid kept coming. I assumed my water had broken, but didn't want to jump the gun so I went upstairs to put on a pad and the fluid just wouldn't stop! I woke Gary up and then called the doc who said to go ahead and go to L&D. Since I wasn't having regular contractions, she told me not to rush, but that I needed to go in. I took a shower, made sure I had everything I needed and we headed in to L&D.
I was in triage from about 10:45 until around 1:00. They tested right away and knew that it was my water, but we were waiting on the doctor who was in surgery. Unfortunately during this time, my BP kept going up and down. When the doctor finally came up and my BP went up again she said they would have to start magnesium to help it drop and keep me from getting into dangerous levels. Basically they decided I had mild pre-eclampsia. (Magnesium is an evil drug that will make you tired and hot and for some people it will make them sick, but it will keep your BP down)
They took me to L&D and started the magnesium. I was dilated to 3 and starting to have more regular contractions, so I asked if we could hold off on pitocin. The doc agreed, but said she would only wait a few hours. Well....SEVERAL hours passed and my contractions were getting closer together, but I was also starting to bleed a bit more (which I assumed was from my cervical exam). Around 7:30 a new doctor (shift change) came in and did my cervical check. He determined that I was only dilated to a 4 and we decided to start the pitocin. After this cervical check, I went to the bathroom and passed a very large blood clot. This scared me so I spoke to the nurse who spoke to the doctor. He figured we would just watch it. A few hours later, the bleeding had continued and I passed another large clot. The doctor came in shortly thereafter to check me and at this point I was still only at a 4 and the doctor was finding blood clots as he did his exam. The doctor spoke to us about the blood clots and lack of progress. He told us that the blood clots were a good indication of placental abruption (the placenta pulling away from the uterine wall). A full placental abruption would have been bad for Evan and could have caused me to have major hemorrhaging. He said with 6 cm left to dilate, there was too much time for my body to keep bleeding and decided the best option would be a ceserean.
At first I was upset about the c-section and when the doctor left the room I began to cry. The nurse was so sweet and held my hand. She told me everything would be okay. I told her I was scared and she said that she would be worried if I wasn't. When she left the room, Gary just held me and let me cry for a minute and then I got myself together and put myself at peace with having a c-section.
They got me ready, took me back and did my spinal. Then Gary came in all dressed with a cap and special outfit on. I only felt pressure during the surgery. Before I knew it, I could hear my son crying! It was the most amazing sound I had ever heard in my entire life! After a minute or two, they called Gary over to where they were checking Evan. Gary got to cut off the excess cord ( I guess the doc left a lot on when he cut the cord from me). When they brought Evan to see me I couldn't help but cry and kiss him! They told me his APGAR scores were 8 and 9 and I was beyond thrilled to hear he was doing so well.
Gary went with Evan to recovery while the doc stitched me up. He told me while stitching me that there were clots between the placenta and my uterus showing that there was definitely a partial abruption of the placenta. It was definitely a good thing we had the c-section done!
After they sewed me up, I joined Gary and Evan in recovery where they placed Evan on my chest and I got
to hold him for a good hour. They were able to tell me that he was born 7 lbs, 2 oz and 19 and 3/4 inches long. He was born at 1:39 AM on Saturday March 19, 2011! After recovery, they took us up to the maternal special care unit because I needed to be put back on the magnesium to make sure my BP didn't go up.
While in the hospital, Evan was SO tired that he wouldn't even wake to eat. I could barely get him to feed for 2 minutes before he would fall asleep and stay asleep. We tried everything from stripping him naked to wiping him with a wet wash cloth. Nothing was going to wake this child! I think it was the magnesium that made him so sleepy, but the docs aren't sure. Either way, he wasn't eating well. He lost 11.5% of his body weight and they wanted us to supplement with formula. After a little bit of formula, lots of pumping, and nursing, his weight went back up a little to 6 lbs 5.6 oz at discharge. 
Today, Thursday March 24th we had a doctor's appointment and his weight is up to 6 lbs 8 oz!!! YAY EVAN! It was such a relief to hear that he was doing well and gaining weight! :) That's it for now. We are going to go and enjoy our little family! :)
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