Well my due date had passed, and that was the 22nd of February 2007. Here I am, going to my appointment for the 26th, hoping for some sort of news of when they could tell me to go into the hospital. My mother thought that I would have to go in for a C-Section, and actually thought I’d be going in that day. My boyfriend Kyle, my 2 sisters Mary and Dawn (Dawn had her baby not too long ago too) and my mother were going to that appointment with me.
That morning, about six, I woke up from some cramping in my stomach. I thought maybe I’d been dehydrated, so I drank some water and the cramps went away for a few minutes but would come back here and there. I kept up with drinking lots of water. Before heading to my appointment, I thought maybe I had felt some sort of trickle while in my dining room, only I wasn’t sure. I told my boyfriend I’d be right back, and went into the bathroom.
Kyle’s mother met me at the Doctor’s with a present already, a girl’s present. Even though I don’t know the sex and told people that I would rather wait until after the birth to get presents. She always thought that she was right with a lot of things. Anyway, they all sat out in the waiting room, while I made my way with one of the nurses to the very top floor to have the appointment and then the ultrasound after. They ended up switching it so I would have the ultrasound first since it would make more sense to see my doctor afterwards.
Going through the ultrasound, I found out that the baby still wasn’t low enough, though she was positioned downward. After the ultrasound I headed back to see my family and was feeling a bit dizzy from laying down too long but the nurse gave me more paperwork to finish. I saw a spot on them that said something about low… something… Kyle knew, and told me that meant I had low amniotic fluid. I just shrugged it off and headed upstairs where I was hooked up to a monitor to check for contractions; none yet. Then I headed to my appointment with my doctor. She checked my cervix, and told me that I still wasn’t dilated. The baby was still up there and not quite low enough. She had also told me that I pretty much had no fluids left, and asked if I remember my water breaking that day at all. I hadn’t so I told her no. She looked at me and said, “So you know what that means, right?” Shaking my head yes, she goes on, “You have to have a C-Section. That baby has to come out because you have no fluids left, and the baby needs those fluids to survive. What we’re going to do is send you into the hospital today, and they’ll hook you up.” My mother and Kyle were the only ones with me in the appointment while everyone else waited in the waiting area. I was really nervous and then, as if it wasn’t bad enough, she told me that since I had eaten something that day at about 8 am, I would have to wait eight hours until the operation could be performed to make sure there was no food in my system, so that nothing would come up during the operation.
We went out and told everyone else. We were all trying to plan on what to do. My mother was going to go back to my house to get my papers and such, and Kyle’s mother was going to bring me to the hospital, and everyone else was going to meet me there after being admitted. I really wish my mother brought me that day. My doctor wanted me to go straight there, but Kyle’s mother decided she wanted a coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts, and wasn’t going to leave the Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot until Kyle would go back inside and have them fix it to be extra light, although that’s not where it ended. She drove to a convenience store to get cigarettes, but had Kyle go in that time too. I wanted to get to the hospital before everyone else. I was eager and nervous at the same time. A whole bunch of mixed things.
FINALLY, I got to the hospital, they admitted me, asked me questions, and I waited for my mother to get there. When she got there, they allowed her, my sister, Kyle, and Kyle’s mother in the room. That made me upset because she had brought in food, and I wasn’t going to be able to have food or anything to drink for the rest of the day. First they had scheduled me to go in the operating room at four because that would have been eight hours after eating. I was keeping in touch with my father by phone as he had a back surgery last month, and couldn’t go many places although he assured me he WOULD be by later with my other sisters.
They re-scheduled me from four to five. The catheter was uncomfortable, but that discomfort had left by four. I just couldn’t take the waiting. They told me since it “wasn’t an emergency” it was “okay to get bumped a couple times.” Even though we HAD to get her out. The doctor that would help deliver my baby came in at some point to check my cervix, and she said I had dilated 1 cm. She told me that I would had a low chance in having a normal delivery, and that I would have had a very hard time since the lack of fluids would cause me to have a dry birth.
We kept checking with the doctors to make sure the times hadn’t changed but it was pushed back again, this time to six fifteen. A couple of the nurses had come in to take me to the operating room, everyone having to leave. I hadn’t gone in to the operating room exactly at that time, but it was around it. The anesthesiologist had described to me the procedure before-hand so I knew what was going to be done to me. It was pretty scary just waiting in the operating room alone, without family and friends. They gave Kyle scrubs to be in there with me, and putting one of those hats on my head too, I knew that it was close. People had cameras ready. Kyle was taking in my mother’s camera.
Sitting me on the table, they had me lean over and hug a pillow, while one of the women held me to the front so I wouldn’t fall, and the anesthesiologist could poke into my back. He told me that I was to expect a stinging for five seconds, only come to find that it wasn’t as bad as he said. Afterwards, he had to poke me over and over with an epidural.
Moving on, when done, they laid me down, and got Kyle into the room. The room was so cold, but it had to stay that way. They had put the curtain over me, and I waited until the numbness completely took over. That is when I got sick and puked a few times. They had to keep switching towels under my head. Kyle had to stay on the left side of me, and my arms were spread to each side. The curtain practically covered up to my neck. Five minutes in, the anesthesiologist asked, “Is it okay if they start?” and I said yes. He said, “That’s okay. They already started five minutes ago.” “Really?!” I said, and he answered with, “Yes. They were poking around to make sure you couldn’t feel anything.” I thought it was funny.
The doctors were great; they made me laugh, and feel better as did Kyle by my side. The operation didn’t take long. Before I knew it, after feeling only my body tugging side to side, the anesthesiologist said to me, “You’ll have a baby here in five minutes or less.” I looked at Kyle and asked him how he was feeling. He told me “Scared as hell.” I just smiled.
They then told me to expect some pressure on my chest, because that would help get the baby out. I did feel a WHOLE lot of pressure, but I wasn’t caring, because I was so nervous and scared. They then told Kyle that there was a head poking up so far, and he could lean over to see it. He got excited and said, “Really?!” And they gave him the go ahead, even though he was already popped up and peeking over. He was amazed, I could tell. So not long after, they said the baby would be out in seconds. Pulling the baby out, the ultra-sound was right, it was a girl! I was all excited and I heard crying here and there. I looked to the side, trying to peek past the curtain as far as I can. They allowed Kyle to take pictures.
The part I hated was that I didn’t get to see her long. They wiped her up, wrapped her up, and brought her to me to give her a kiss on her head, although I got partially her eyelid, and that was mucus-like still. I let it stay on my lips, because I was so happy. Kyle went with the nurse that had to take her to nursery to do further things but I don’t really know what. I was upset because they took her two minutes later, it seemed but that was only because they had to stitch me up. The thing about the nursery is that the waiting room for the Maternity Ward has a window so you can see through into the Nursery, and everyone else was able to see her before me. Because everyone was getting pictures and seeing her more, I was eager for them to finish stitching me up. When they were finally done, they switched me onto the bed, and the nurse asked how I was. I told her that I was a bit upset because I didn’t get to see my daughter much, and everyone else was seeing her longer. She said she didn’t find that fair either. After they switched me to the bed, they brought me back to my room, and gave it a half hour before anyone could see me. Although, my daughter had been brought in to me minutes after I settled in my room. They just had to finish up questions and give me time to recover.
People came in and out, of course my parents came in first. They were wonderful with her and still are. Especially my dad, who was upset about my situation in the first place and wouldn’t talk about it until much later in the pregnancy. I got emotional seeing them and my sisters with my daughter.
I have pictures and all. I got to spend some time with my daughter, and the things I felt, I couldn’t describe. I never stop thinking about that day. Everyday I think about it, and today I think it’s wonderful to be a mom, as tired as I get day after day. I can admit, I’d do it again.