[Note: I had this post half way done when doctors called us down to the hospital on November 12 when Lyric started not doing so well.]
Back up to November 4. Friday night. Jason was out with his friends while I relaxed at home. At about 8pm I realised that I was leaking something, again. This was a fairly common occurance for me. I had leaked before, went to the hospital, and was sent home. They told me 'it was just one of those things.' Tonight was different. Without being too graphic, it was 'whooshing' about every half hour. I texted Jason and told him something was up, and that I was going to call the doctor if it continued. Well, I settled into bed and fell asleep. I did wake up on multiple accounts to 'whooshing' and went back to bed and thought I would call the doctor in the morning.
I woke up and nothing happened all day Saturday. I went to the store and layed in bed almost all day long. But when I finally went to sleep that night, I had the same episodes all night long. At last, I woke up at 3am, or was it 4am? I have no idea because the clocks were all different in the house from daylight-savings changing. I woke up with horrible cramping. Nothing like I had felt before. I thought if I could just fall asleep maybe I can rest until morning. No way was I falling asleep. The pain just intensified.
I called the on-call number and the doctor told me to go to the hospital to get checked out. I woke Jason up and told him to hop in the shower (he hadn't taken on the day before and I am so glad I told him to, because he wouldn't get to for a long time). While he did that I went around the house finding snacks to put in my purse for Jason and drank a ton of water because I knew they would want samples from me when I got there (I had been through this before, remember?). Jason got dressed and I grabbed the phone charger and I drove us to the hospital.
The drive is when my cramping became contracting. They came in waves, every 10 minutes maybe. And they weren't those dumb Braxton-Hicks ones that made my belly tight; these hurt and made it so I couldn't do anything (not ideal when driving).
I got to the hospital and they hooked me up to the contration monitor. They found baby's heartbeat with the dopper, but she was too small to pick up with the monitor. They also gave me a remote button to push when I thought I was hacing a contraction. After about 4 steady contrations the nurse came in and took the button away. They could see every contraction, no need for me to tell them about it at the nurses station every time. They called my doctor in.
I still at this point had no idea what time it was. All of the clocks in the hospital said different times. Also, I didn't even think to let anyone know we were at the hosptial, I didn't want to worry them when I *thought* I would be going home to rest in a few hours.
The doctor arrived and it was one from the practice that I hadn't met. I was okay with that, but I had to give him the run-down on the situation. He told me he was going to do his best to keep me pregnant for at least 24 hours at first and then go from there. He did an ultrasound and saw that baby was transverse (sideways), not breech like she had been a week before. Not that it mattered, I wasn't going to be delivering anytime soon, right? He took some blood and gave me my first round of steriod shots (with the second dose scheduled for 12 hours later, which would have been 7pm). I also got antibiotics in an IV just in case I had an infection. Now, for those of you that don't know me, I HATE NEEDLES. Hate them. With passion. My nurse tried 2 times to get one in. No success. She called IV therapy. She tried 2 more times and then decided to give me a smaller one and be done with it. I already started to bruise.
I was given a shot to relax my muscles (the uterus is a muscle) and slow contractions. I could have one every half hour. I had the first one, and 45 minutes later I was asking for the second one. They couldn't give me anything else because it was suspected that I had already ruptured my membranes.
My doctor told me that since we probably weren't going to be delivering anytime in the near future, that I could have some breakfast. How anyone could eat in a time like that is beyond me, but we did. At this point I thought I would be in the hospital overnight and then sent on my way with strict bedrest and a suggestion that I be admitted for monitoring already. This option was given to us as soon as I hit 24 weeks. Jason and I had decided to wait until about 32 weeks and then see how we felt about it.
At this point, I still didn't want to worry anyone, so I texted my dad and told him where we were, but not to worry and that I would let him know what was going on later.
We were both so tired that we decided to try our best to get some sleep. Now that did not happen for me... I was up and down and peeing and contracting and just being nervous. I called to the nurses station to ask for another muscle relaxer. The nurse never came. I was just about to call again when my doctor reappeared. He told me that my blood counts were back. I was fighting an infection. What? I feel great. He says that normal white blood counts are 1200-1400. Mine was over 24,000. This was not ok apparantly. My uterus was contracting to get the infection out, there was nothing we could do to stop it. If we left it, it would have killed both my baby and I.
Now this is where things get very hazy for me. My room turned into the set of Grey's Anatomy. My doctor says that I am officially admitted and I will be there for the duration of my pregnancy. Apparantly, that was only 15 more minutes. My doctor told me all the risks of an emergency c section, including, but not limited to, a hysterectamy. He also had to explain that he was probably going to have to do a classical inscision on the inside and I would never be able to go into labor again because it could be very dangerous for me. This was something I was very uset about because I wanted so very badly to have my babies vaginally. That will not be happening for me in this lifetime. My anesthesiologist and her assistants came in and gave me the run down on that, including the part where I might go into a coma and/or become a vegetable if they have to put me all the way under. My NICU doctor and her attandants came in and gave me the run down on what would/could happen with the baby (which we still didn't know the gender of) and she told us that the baby could be too small for a ventilator tube and, if that is the case, there was nothing they could do except wrap up the baby and hand her to me to say goodbye. My nurse is calling for IV therapy again for a bigger IV. That lady poked me 4 more times and my anesthesiologist finally got one in after all that.
In this 15 minute span, Jason was just waking up from a nap, we were being told all of this horrifying news, I was being poked all over, and NONE of our family knew this was happening. I was able to squeeze in a vague text to my dad saying something to the effect of 'I am going in for an emergency c section, don't worry, I will call you later'. I was screaming and crying like I had never done before. They brought in some scrubs for Jason and down the hall to the operating room we went.
They had Jason wait outside while they did my spinal. I think that is when Jason texted his mom. That needle was the one I was most afriad of before this all happened, and now I think it was the least scary. All of the doctors and nurses told me everything that was going on the entire time. They were very comforting and calming. I went numb pretty quickly and when Jason came in and they started the surgury, I thought they were yanking me and all of my insides all over the place. When the doctor got to my uterus, he said "Katie, I have to do a classical, is that ok?" I replied with, "I guess, I don't have a choice, do I? Do whatever you need to do." I was shaking fureously the whole time.
The nurse came over and said "your baby is delivered." I didn't even try to think that statement through. After a few minutes the nurse said, "your baby has lungs." What? I was told that wasn't going to be the case. Then she says, "Its a girl, Jason go see her." I looked over and they held up my baby girl. She was supposed to be a boy (but I am not sad she was a girl, we had just thought she was a boy all along). I still didn't react at all. I think I was in too much shock. When they got baby girl stable they took her to the NICU and had Jason follow them.
As my doctor started finishing up my c section he was still talking me through what was going on on the other side of the curtain. He took out my placenta and said, "this thing is horrible. You were severely infected. This thing has pus pockets all over it." This just further confirmed that delivering my baby that day is what needed to be done, both for my safety and the saftey of our baby.
Before I was taken to recovery, the doctors rolled my entire bed to the NICU (which after the fact, I am amazed that was even possible with all of the equipment and stuff in there). I got to put on a glove and touch my baby for the first time. I cried. I couldn't believe she was here, and doing so well.
I was taken to recovery with my nurse while Jason was God-knows-where in the hosptial (he didn't even know where he was going after the NICU team told him to step out while they put in Lyric's IV). Somehow, all of Jason's family had made it to the hospital before I got out of surgery. He walked out the NICU doors and they were all there. Somehow they made it to my room where I was all drugged up and paralyzed still. I had to be there for 2 hours and they all stayed there with me.
After I made it to my room and everyone had gone home, I finally got the chance to call my parents. I called my dad and told him what happened and then I called my mom. I was very weird to tell my parents that I was even in the hospital, let alone that their first grandchild had arrived and was alive and doing ok considering all that had happened and that I was only 25 weeks and 3 days pregnant when she got here.
Then her picture made it to Facebook and the WTE message board. I have never seen anything like the response we got from there. Lyric was the first baby born [after 24 weeks] on the message board. She also was the smallest. At 1 lb 9 oz, 11 3/4 inches. Born at 1:54 pm, on Sunday November 6, 2011. I was 25 weeks and 3 days pregnant.
Back up to November 4. Friday night. Jason was out with his friends while I relaxed at home. At about 8pm I realised that I was leaking something, again. This was a fairly common occurance for me. I had leaked before, went to the hospital, and was sent home. They told me 'it was just one of those things.' Tonight was different. Without being too graphic, it was 'whooshing' about every half hour. I texted Jason and told him something was up, and that I was going to call the doctor if it continued. Well, I settled into bed and fell asleep. I did wake up on multiple accounts to 'whooshing' and went back to bed and thought I would call the doctor in the morning.
I woke up and nothing happened all day Saturday. I went to the store and layed in bed almost all day long. But when I finally went to sleep that night, I had the same episodes all night long. At last, I woke up at 3am, or was it 4am? I have no idea because the clocks were all different in the house from daylight-savings changing. I woke up with horrible cramping. Nothing like I had felt before. I thought if I could just fall asleep maybe I can rest until morning. No way was I falling asleep. The pain just intensified.
I called the on-call number and the doctor told me to go to the hospital to get checked out. I woke Jason up and told him to hop in the shower (he hadn't taken on the day before and I am so glad I told him to, because he wouldn't get to for a long time). While he did that I went around the house finding snacks to put in my purse for Jason and drank a ton of water because I knew they would want samples from me when I got there (I had been through this before, remember?). Jason got dressed and I grabbed the phone charger and I drove us to the hospital.
The drive is when my cramping became contracting. They came in waves, every 10 minutes maybe. And they weren't those dumb Braxton-Hicks ones that made my belly tight; these hurt and made it so I couldn't do anything (not ideal when driving).
I got to the hospital and they hooked me up to the contration monitor. They found baby's heartbeat with the dopper, but she was too small to pick up with the monitor. They also gave me a remote button to push when I thought I was hacing a contraction. After about 4 steady contrations the nurse came in and took the button away. They could see every contraction, no need for me to tell them about it at the nurses station every time. They called my doctor in.
I still at this point had no idea what time it was. All of the clocks in the hospital said different times. Also, I didn't even think to let anyone know we were at the hosptial, I didn't want to worry them when I *thought* I would be going home to rest in a few hours.
The doctor arrived and it was one from the practice that I hadn't met. I was okay with that, but I had to give him the run-down on the situation. He told me he was going to do his best to keep me pregnant for at least 24 hours at first and then go from there. He did an ultrasound and saw that baby was transverse (sideways), not breech like she had been a week before. Not that it mattered, I wasn't going to be delivering anytime soon, right? He took some blood and gave me my first round of steriod shots (with the second dose scheduled for 12 hours later, which would have been 7pm). I also got antibiotics in an IV just in case I had an infection. Now, for those of you that don't know me, I HATE NEEDLES. Hate them. With passion. My nurse tried 2 times to get one in. No success. She called IV therapy. She tried 2 more times and then decided to give me a smaller one and be done with it. I already started to bruise.
I was given a shot to relax my muscles (the uterus is a muscle) and slow contractions. I could have one every half hour. I had the first one, and 45 minutes later I was asking for the second one. They couldn't give me anything else because it was suspected that I had already ruptured my membranes.
My doctor told me that since we probably weren't going to be delivering anytime in the near future, that I could have some breakfast. How anyone could eat in a time like that is beyond me, but we did. At this point I thought I would be in the hospital overnight and then sent on my way with strict bedrest and a suggestion that I be admitted for monitoring already. This option was given to us as soon as I hit 24 weeks. Jason and I had decided to wait until about 32 weeks and then see how we felt about it.
At this point, I still didn't want to worry anyone, so I texted my dad and told him where we were, but not to worry and that I would let him know what was going on later.
We were both so tired that we decided to try our best to get some sleep. Now that did not happen for me... I was up and down and peeing and contracting and just being nervous. I called to the nurses station to ask for another muscle relaxer. The nurse never came. I was just about to call again when my doctor reappeared. He told me that my blood counts were back. I was fighting an infection. What? I feel great. He says that normal white blood counts are 1200-1400. Mine was over 24,000. This was not ok apparantly. My uterus was contracting to get the infection out, there was nothing we could do to stop it. If we left it, it would have killed both my baby and I.
Now this is where things get very hazy for me. My room turned into the set of Grey's Anatomy. My doctor says that I am officially admitted and I will be there for the duration of my pregnancy. Apparantly, that was only 15 more minutes. My doctor told me all the risks of an emergency c section, including, but not limited to, a hysterectamy. He also had to explain that he was probably going to have to do a classical inscision on the inside and I would never be able to go into labor again because it could be very dangerous for me. This was something I was very uset about because I wanted so very badly to have my babies vaginally. That will not be happening for me in this lifetime. My anesthesiologist and her assistants came in and gave me the run down on that, including the part where I might go into a coma and/or become a vegetable if they have to put me all the way under. My NICU doctor and her attandants came in and gave me the run down on what would/could happen with the baby (which we still didn't know the gender of) and she told us that the baby could be too small for a ventilator tube and, if that is the case, there was nothing they could do except wrap up the baby and hand her to me to say goodbye. My nurse is calling for IV therapy again for a bigger IV. That lady poked me 4 more times and my anesthesiologist finally got one in after all that.
In this 15 minute span, Jason was just waking up from a nap, we were being told all of this horrifying news, I was being poked all over, and NONE of our family knew this was happening. I was able to squeeze in a vague text to my dad saying something to the effect of 'I am going in for an emergency c section, don't worry, I will call you later'. I was screaming and crying like I had never done before. They brought in some scrubs for Jason and down the hall to the operating room we went.
They had Jason wait outside while they did my spinal. I think that is when Jason texted his mom. That needle was the one I was most afriad of before this all happened, and now I think it was the least scary. All of the doctors and nurses told me everything that was going on the entire time. They were very comforting and calming. I went numb pretty quickly and when Jason came in and they started the surgury, I thought they were yanking me and all of my insides all over the place. When the doctor got to my uterus, he said "Katie, I have to do a classical, is that ok?" I replied with, "I guess, I don't have a choice, do I? Do whatever you need to do." I was shaking fureously the whole time.
The nurse came over and said "your baby is delivered." I didn't even try to think that statement through. After a few minutes the nurse said, "your baby has lungs." What? I was told that wasn't going to be the case. Then she says, "Its a girl, Jason go see her." I looked over and they held up my baby girl. She was supposed to be a boy (but I am not sad she was a girl, we had just thought she was a boy all along). I still didn't react at all. I think I was in too much shock. When they got baby girl stable they took her to the NICU and had Jason follow them.
As my doctor started finishing up my c section he was still talking me through what was going on on the other side of the curtain. He took out my placenta and said, "this thing is horrible. You were severely infected. This thing has pus pockets all over it." This just further confirmed that delivering my baby that day is what needed to be done, both for my safety and the saftey of our baby.
Before I was taken to recovery, the doctors rolled my entire bed to the NICU (which after the fact, I am amazed that was even possible with all of the equipment and stuff in there). I got to put on a glove and touch my baby for the first time. I cried. I couldn't believe she was here, and doing so well.
I was taken to recovery with my nurse while Jason was God-knows-where in the hosptial (he didn't even know where he was going after the NICU team told him to step out while they put in Lyric's IV). Somehow, all of Jason's family had made it to the hospital before I got out of surgery. He walked out the NICU doors and they were all there. Somehow they made it to my room where I was all drugged up and paralyzed still. I had to be there for 2 hours and they all stayed there with me.
After I made it to my room and everyone had gone home, I finally got the chance to call my parents. I called my dad and told him what happened and then I called my mom. I was very weird to tell my parents that I was even in the hospital, let alone that their first grandchild had arrived and was alive and doing ok considering all that had happened and that I was only 25 weeks and 3 days pregnant when she got here.
Then her picture made it to Facebook and the WTE message board. I have never seen anything like the response we got from there. Lyric was the first baby born [after 24 weeks] on the message board. She also was the smallest. At 1 lb 9 oz, 11 3/4 inches. Born at 1:54 pm, on Sunday November 6, 2011. I was 25 weeks and 3 days pregnant.
