Not Your Typical Birth Story

Saturday April 7th at 12:45 am is when it all began. I woke up to what I could only believe were contractions. After having no contractions throughout the pregnancy I thought for sure this had to be it (not to mention we were 5 days past our due date). After timing the contractions and waiting it out awhile we decided to call the doctor around 6 am. She advised us to head over to the hospital, so we did. Upon arrival we were admitted and found out that I was only 1.5 cm dilated. So, they sent us to walk around the hospital for 2 hours! After a long 2 hours of walking I was rechecked only to find no progress had been made. Ultimately the doctor was not ready to induce so we were discharged.

Once arriving home the contractions became worse and worse (of course, right) and more regular. We waited it out until about 8 pm when we decided to call the doctor again. We told her what was going on and that I was in terrible pain and she told us to head back to the hospital. Upon being admitted (again) I was still 1.5 cm dilated so they gave me some pain medicine to relax and "help me sleep" through the night. I can say that it definitely helped me relax and to begin making progress but it surely did not help me to sleep! Once the "morning" came I decided I had had enough and got the epidural. Once that kicked in things began to pick up and my comfort level significantly increased. I did however begin to develop a fever so they put me on some antibiotics. Finally, after several more hours of laboring we were ready to go.

The exact timing of the events has become a blur but I believe it was somewhere around 5:00 pm that I began pushing. After several minutes of pushing things in the delivery room started getting intense and both my heart rate and Jade's heart rate began to elevate significantly. I was scared. My doctor started to express concern and said that they needed to get the baby out quickly. They decided it would be best to use the vacuum suction to get her into better position. This saved me about 30 minutes of pushing. Finally she was out and the beautiful moment I had dreamed about was here. The relief/joy lasted only seconds as I heard my doctor shouting that there was meconium (the baby had had a bowel movement on the way out), that there was a full knot in the cord and that part of the cord was wrapped around one of her ankles. Once Nate cut the umbilical cord the doctor realized that it was detached from the placenta (meaning the placenta had to be removed manually by the doctor). So many things were running through my mind as they whisked Jade away to get her cleaned off and checked. All I could do was lay there helpless, praying both she and I were going to be okay.  Finally, the madness had dissipated and she was brought over to me. I was relieved.

What I thought was the end was really just the beginning! While recovering I began to feel light headed, like I was going to pass out. Nate says that my face turned very white and my blood pressure dropped super low. My doctor was called back to assess the situation. Without going into too much detail she had to remove numerous blood clots from my uterus along with some pieces of membrane that were left behind. Once this had been done things appeared to be on the upswing. Around 11 pm I once again began to feel light headed and I could sense that something was not okay based on the amount of bleeding I was still experiencing. The hospital's Internal Medicine doctor was called up to keep me stable while a plan was devised. I'm so thankful that both Nate and my Mom were still there at this point. As we waited for my doctor to arrive my condition worsened and they decided to take me to the ICU immediately. I totally felt like I was on an episode of ER and was so nervous because Nate and mom could not come with me.

The initial diagnosis was that I needed a D&C procedure. I was put under for this as it cleans out the lining of the uterus to ensure there is no damage or infection (probably would not have been very fun to be awake for). Upon completion of the procedure, and me beginning to wake up from the anesthesia, I hear the doctor's discussing what they are going to do next. I'm thinking to myself...what do you mean what are you going to do next??? I'm still pretty out of it at this point but I am attempting to talk to my doctor about what is going on. I found out that a special team of doctors (Interventional Radiology) were being called in to perform a uterine artery embolization to stop the bleeding in an artery leading to the uterus. I later found out this procedure is very new and has only been performed since about 2007. I was awake for this procedure but kept my eyes closed the whole time and tried not to listen to what the doctors were saying. I didn't realize how severe the bleeding had gotten and came to find out that I had needed 4 bags of blood! Mom and Nate stayed the whole night in the waiting room and were there when I was brought into my room for recovery! At last, my bleeding had subsided. PRAISE GOD!

We were able to go see Jade whenever we wanted and we did our best to be there for as many feedings as possible since we couldn't have her in our room with us. Jade began making progress and was downing bottles in no time. The doctor's initial concern with a narrow spot in her small intestine turned out to not be an issue! After a few days of monitoring both of us, I was discharged on Thursday, but got to stay an extra night at the hospital as Jade was not discharged until Friday. Going home together as a family of three was the greatest feeling in the world.

Although this was not the ideal situation I know I have come through it with a stronger faith and an even greater appreciation for the blessings and miracles in my life. God is truly amazing and I could not be more thankful for my sweet baby girl and the team of doctors and nurses who got us through this. We appreciate the thoughts and prayers of our family and friends through this all. We truly are blessed.