http://www.jarusa.com/daysuntil.htm
It makes me feel better to see the number get smaller every day. Then I use it to update my facebook page. I know it's pathetic. And I can almost guarantee you that you'd do the same thing if you were here!!!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Hello World!
Well well well... it sure has been a long time since I have blogged. I have been a little busy with childbirth and a newborn and all. There have been several things I have thought to myself since last time, "Make sure to put that in your next blog!" but now there are so many that I would be on here all night blogging.
In a nutshell, Isabella Maria was born on July 13, 2010 at 4:27 AM emergency c-section. Before I go any further, let me paint a picture. The night before the induction I couldn't sleep. I was too excited. And I couldn't sleep all that day because I kept having visitors, plus I was excited, plus the cramps made me uncomfortable. So by the time all this excitement starting happening, I was spent! They induced me with Cytotec pills to ripen my cervix, which worked somewhat. They started at about 8:30AM and by 3:00AM the next morning (after having some pitocin too) I was dilated ALL THE WAY to 1.5 centimeters. Fun. Contractions suck, but I was lucky. Mine never got worse than period cramps. But it was period cramps that I had essentially all day, which never let up and it became extremely irritating. That and sleep deprivation made for a bitter Andrea.
Around 9:00PM they started the pitocin and Izzie almost immediately started acting different. Her heart rate went way high, in the 170-180 range. She is usually 130-150. It was like that for hours. They had my laying on my right side and gave me fluid resuscitation and 100% oxygen to try to make it better. The nurses assured me that sometimes babies react like this to pitocin and that it was OK. I was terrified. All I kept thinking was I went through so much work to get here, I am AT the finish line, you better not kill her now!! At about 11:00PM they gave me my epidural. When I say "they", I actually mean my co-worker Brady. lol. He was great. Great bedside manner. I felt very comfortable with him. Shortly after the epidural was when I had to lay on my right side, which may have contributed to future problems that I'll get into later.
The epidural went into a vein before it went into the right place, so I wonder if some of the meds (one of which was fentanyl, a potent narcotic) got in my blood stream. I am sure if that happened it was a minute amount. But if you add epidural plus the aforementioned sleep deprivation I felt loopy. Like, dreaming while awake, hallucination loopy. I kept waking Aaron up because I felt like I was dying whenever I started to fall asleep. I remember one of the "images" I had in my mind (my awake dreams, for lack of a better expression) was a combination of Will Ferrell and a teddy bear. Really? WTF!
My doctor came in later to check me and I told him I was scared that I did something wrong to cause this. Then I confessed that I had eaten feta cheese during my pregnancy (LMAO, looking back now he probably thought I was INSANE) and that I briefly had a tick on my neck (EEEWWW) over the weekend. I distinctly remember asking him if I could have gotten a "freaky tick disease" or a "feta cheese disease". Then I laughed because feta cheese disease rhymed. He laughed too. He probably wanted to smother me with my pillow. And I don't blame him. LOL. He assured me that the feta cheese in the US is pasteurized so it was OK, and he thinks the brief tick encounter was OK and in no way contributory to my situation.
He then checked me and saw that after all the meds I was only dilated to 1.5 cm, and with the way Izzie was acting he didn't think it was safe to try to go vaginally. I agreed, and we went ahead and did the c-section. By this point I was exhausted. To put it into perspective, they had to prep shave me (yes down there) and I slept through it. Then my manager wheeled me into the OR (did I ever mention that the hospital where I had Izzie is also the hospital where I work, and I work in Day Surgery? So the people in the OR are my co-workers? Yeah. Fun, huh? My boss and other co-workers saw my junk. Sigh...) I was half awake through a lot of the OR preparation but I remember telling them I could feel my legs and move them, despite being given a spinal dose of meds through my epidural. They said it was OK and that I would kick in soon. I said OK. I also remember being able to feel being prepped with the cold iodine solution.
Next thing I know Aaron is next to me, the blue sterile sheets are up and we're starting the c-section. I said "Ooh, I can feel that". They told me "Yes, you will feel a lot of pressure." But after a few seconds I was like, "Ow, ow ow, it hurts." I kept grimacing and complaining. I felt a hot burn at the same time that I heard the cautery machine go off and knew something was up. I told them I felt burning. They also used utensils like shoe horns to keep the incision open, and I felt it stretch my skin and click into place, complaining while it was going on. I was told if I kept having sensation that I would have to be put under general anesthesia. I told them to keep going because I wanted to be awake, and I wanted Aaron to see his daughter be born. Then I felt pain on my left side and said OUCH!. One of the doctors asked me what I felt, and I told him that he pinched me. No one said anything for a couple seconds, and then I was told again I might have to go under. I told them if they were almost done to just go ahead and do it. It wasn't painful as if I had no medicine at all, it felt like what I imagine it would feel like if I had been operated on my leg or hand after it fell asleep from being laid on wrong. The pain was not as bad as if I was just cut without warning, but it still was not fun. They told me they had only made the skin incision, nothing else had been done yet. So there was no way I was going to be able to make it without being put under, unless I was into severe pain (which I am NOT). I remember telling my boss I was scared, and I think she held my hand. They put the mask on me, pushed on my throat so I didn't vomit and get it in my lungs, and I was out shortly thereafter.
Next thing I know, I wake up to "You have a beautiful baby girl!" from Brady. I try to talk but have an oral airway in my mouth in case I needed to be reintubated. I later learned that I am just FULL of surprises. I was difficult to intubate. They gave me the propofol to knock me out and then couldn't get the ET tube in. They had to use 2 types of blades before they could get my airway in. The prolonged time to intubate me made it so that Izzie was exposed to my medicine, and she was sleepy when she was born. That made her Apgar scores 6 at 1 minute and then 9 at 5 minutes. Turns out she also had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck twice, which was why I wasn't dilating. She was otherwise fine. Poor baby!
After surgery I needed oxygen for longer than was expected, but I was OK. Turns out I was a difficult intubation because, for lack of better explanation. I am fat and more so because of the pregnancy, have a short neck and a big fat tongue. Now am I or am I not the EPITOME of sex appeal? LMAO. (I would like to use this opportunity to say now that I gained a total of 10 pounds during the pregnancy and now am 25 pounds less than I was when I got pregnant so HA! I wasn't that fat, just unfortunately shaped. Not sure if that makes it better...)
I woke up in the PACU to my manager being my nurse and my coworkers seeing me. It was nice to see friendly faces, even though I was stoned. It must have been weird for them to see a coworker in the place where usually strangers are. But everyone was great. After I was extubated I sounded all hoarse and had to cough, which sucked because I felt like if I coughed I was gonna shoot my uterus out. I remember telling my coworkers that I sounded like a sorority girl that drank and smoked too much. LOL. I shouldn't have been allowed to talk after all those meds!
Then FINALLY I got to see my baby. She was so little and cute. Aaron was holding her. She was all wrapped up in a blanket with a little hat. She looked just like her daddy! Now she looks more like me, but not in the beginning! :)
OK so much for not blogging much. Izzie has been asleep for the last hour and I am going to quit being a fool and go lie down until it's time for her next feed.
In short, Isabella is wonderful, healthy, beautiful and a joy to have. She was worth every poke, prod and tear. I would do it for her all over again without hesitation. I suppose I will do it one more time so I can have a second child. But two is my max, unless I get a multiple pregnancy. Pregnancy does not like my body, although I loved being pregnant.
OK seriously, lying down now!
In a nutshell, Isabella Maria was born on July 13, 2010 at 4:27 AM emergency c-section. Before I go any further, let me paint a picture. The night before the induction I couldn't sleep. I was too excited. And I couldn't sleep all that day because I kept having visitors, plus I was excited, plus the cramps made me uncomfortable. So by the time all this excitement starting happening, I was spent! They induced me with Cytotec pills to ripen my cervix, which worked somewhat. They started at about 8:30AM and by 3:00AM the next morning (after having some pitocin too) I was dilated ALL THE WAY to 1.5 centimeters. Fun. Contractions suck, but I was lucky. Mine never got worse than period cramps. But it was period cramps that I had essentially all day, which never let up and it became extremely irritating. That and sleep deprivation made for a bitter Andrea.
Around 9:00PM they started the pitocin and Izzie almost immediately started acting different. Her heart rate went way high, in the 170-180 range. She is usually 130-150. It was like that for hours. They had my laying on my right side and gave me fluid resuscitation and 100% oxygen to try to make it better. The nurses assured me that sometimes babies react like this to pitocin and that it was OK. I was terrified. All I kept thinking was I went through so much work to get here, I am AT the finish line, you better not kill her now!! At about 11:00PM they gave me my epidural. When I say "they", I actually mean my co-worker Brady. lol. He was great. Great bedside manner. I felt very comfortable with him. Shortly after the epidural was when I had to lay on my right side, which may have contributed to future problems that I'll get into later.
The epidural went into a vein before it went into the right place, so I wonder if some of the meds (one of which was fentanyl, a potent narcotic) got in my blood stream. I am sure if that happened it was a minute amount. But if you add epidural plus the aforementioned sleep deprivation I felt loopy. Like, dreaming while awake, hallucination loopy. I kept waking Aaron up because I felt like I was dying whenever I started to fall asleep. I remember one of the "images" I had in my mind (my awake dreams, for lack of a better expression) was a combination of Will Ferrell and a teddy bear. Really? WTF!
My doctor came in later to check me and I told him I was scared that I did something wrong to cause this. Then I confessed that I had eaten feta cheese during my pregnancy (LMAO, looking back now he probably thought I was INSANE) and that I briefly had a tick on my neck (EEEWWW) over the weekend. I distinctly remember asking him if I could have gotten a "freaky tick disease" or a "feta cheese disease". Then I laughed because feta cheese disease rhymed. He laughed too. He probably wanted to smother me with my pillow. And I don't blame him. LOL. He assured me that the feta cheese in the US is pasteurized so it was OK, and he thinks the brief tick encounter was OK and in no way contributory to my situation.
He then checked me and saw that after all the meds I was only dilated to 1.5 cm, and with the way Izzie was acting he didn't think it was safe to try to go vaginally. I agreed, and we went ahead and did the c-section. By this point I was exhausted. To put it into perspective, they had to prep shave me (yes down there) and I slept through it. Then my manager wheeled me into the OR (did I ever mention that the hospital where I had Izzie is also the hospital where I work, and I work in Day Surgery? So the people in the OR are my co-workers? Yeah. Fun, huh? My boss and other co-workers saw my junk. Sigh...) I was half awake through a lot of the OR preparation but I remember telling them I could feel my legs and move them, despite being given a spinal dose of meds through my epidural. They said it was OK and that I would kick in soon. I said OK. I also remember being able to feel being prepped with the cold iodine solution.
Next thing I know Aaron is next to me, the blue sterile sheets are up and we're starting the c-section. I said "Ooh, I can feel that". They told me "Yes, you will feel a lot of pressure." But after a few seconds I was like, "Ow, ow ow, it hurts." I kept grimacing and complaining. I felt a hot burn at the same time that I heard the cautery machine go off and knew something was up. I told them I felt burning. They also used utensils like shoe horns to keep the incision open, and I felt it stretch my skin and click into place, complaining while it was going on. I was told if I kept having sensation that I would have to be put under general anesthesia. I told them to keep going because I wanted to be awake, and I wanted Aaron to see his daughter be born. Then I felt pain on my left side and said OUCH!. One of the doctors asked me what I felt, and I told him that he pinched me. No one said anything for a couple seconds, and then I was told again I might have to go under. I told them if they were almost done to just go ahead and do it. It wasn't painful as if I had no medicine at all, it felt like what I imagine it would feel like if I had been operated on my leg or hand after it fell asleep from being laid on wrong. The pain was not as bad as if I was just cut without warning, but it still was not fun. They told me they had only made the skin incision, nothing else had been done yet. So there was no way I was going to be able to make it without being put under, unless I was into severe pain (which I am NOT). I remember telling my boss I was scared, and I think she held my hand. They put the mask on me, pushed on my throat so I didn't vomit and get it in my lungs, and I was out shortly thereafter.
Next thing I know, I wake up to "You have a beautiful baby girl!" from Brady. I try to talk but have an oral airway in my mouth in case I needed to be reintubated. I later learned that I am just FULL of surprises. I was difficult to intubate. They gave me the propofol to knock me out and then couldn't get the ET tube in. They had to use 2 types of blades before they could get my airway in. The prolonged time to intubate me made it so that Izzie was exposed to my medicine, and she was sleepy when she was born. That made her Apgar scores 6 at 1 minute and then 9 at 5 minutes. Turns out she also had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck twice, which was why I wasn't dilating. She was otherwise fine. Poor baby!
After surgery I needed oxygen for longer than was expected, but I was OK. Turns out I was a difficult intubation because, for lack of better explanation. I am fat and more so because of the pregnancy, have a short neck and a big fat tongue. Now am I or am I not the EPITOME of sex appeal? LMAO. (I would like to use this opportunity to say now that I gained a total of 10 pounds during the pregnancy and now am 25 pounds less than I was when I got pregnant so HA! I wasn't that fat, just unfortunately shaped. Not sure if that makes it better...)
I woke up in the PACU to my manager being my nurse and my coworkers seeing me. It was nice to see friendly faces, even though I was stoned. It must have been weird for them to see a coworker in the place where usually strangers are. But everyone was great. After I was extubated I sounded all hoarse and had to cough, which sucked because I felt like if I coughed I was gonna shoot my uterus out. I remember telling my coworkers that I sounded like a sorority girl that drank and smoked too much. LOL. I shouldn't have been allowed to talk after all those meds!
Then FINALLY I got to see my baby. She was so little and cute. Aaron was holding her. She was all wrapped up in a blanket with a little hat. She looked just like her daddy! Now she looks more like me, but not in the beginning! :)
OK so much for not blogging much. Izzie has been asleep for the last hour and I am going to quit being a fool and go lie down until it's time for her next feed.
In short, Isabella is wonderful, healthy, beautiful and a joy to have. She was worth every poke, prod and tear. I would do it for her all over again without hesitation. I suppose I will do it one more time so I can have a second child. But two is my max, unless I get a multiple pregnancy. Pregnancy does not like my body, although I loved being pregnant.
OK seriously, lying down now!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
