Wednesday, April 15, 2009

2nd Born

We went in for a routine non stress test at 11am on Feb. 18th. I was 41wks pregnant and definitely not in labor. Baby's heart rate was a little high and there were some long decelerations of her heart on a fairly regular basis. My midwife had a "feeling" that something was wrong. She consulted the obstetrician who felt that we could try a pitocin drip to see if the baby could handle stress but it was very unlikely to progress me into labor. I felt there was something wrong and that the drip was a bad idea. We were pink slipped for a c-section that night sometime and I was transferred to a room and kept on the monitor.

Everyone left as it was going to be several hours. Then the baby's heart rate started to drop and kept dropping and took a minute or so to slowly start to pick back up. The obstetrician was phoned and we were heading to the OR in 20 minutes. Chris had been home seeing to the dogs and getting our bags and arrived back at the hospital just in time.

There was something strange with the umbilical cord, the artery was spiralling around the outside. My midwife consulted some colleagues on this as she has never seen it before. She said they told her it always presents in a distressed infant. Looking back she had always had a low heartrate on the doppler that dropped significantly if I wasn't lying on my left side. As for why I didn't go into labor or why the weeks of contractions I was having didn't do anything for my cervix. I believe that it was because the baby knew it was not safe. The baby releases the hormones that start labour and she knew she didn't want labour to start.
Baby came out and cried and apgars were good. No concerns. We went to a room for recovery and after a quick assessment she latched for the first time like a pro. Man she likes to eat. Must be something in the genetics. My son met his baby sister and was very in awe of her. Although confused as to why his baby in his tummy had not come out. I think the difference in the start of our breastfeeding relationship is key to the lack of issues we have had compared to what I went through with my son.

The first night was rough for our little family. The hospital was not the place we ever wanted to be to experience our miracle although we are thankful that it was there to bring us a healthy baby girl. We had a lot of checks and the place was noisy and uncomfortable. I was incredibly itchy which is a side effect of one of the drugs I had after surgery. I got up 2 hrs after surgery when the spinal wore off. The second day was hard with little sleep. I also got this referred shoulder pain from the gas that gets trapped in you when you have abdominal surgery. That was one of the more excruciating pains in my life. I felt like someone was dislocating my shoulder over and over again and I couldn't breathe. I've never been one for pain medication but I was thankful for the morphine that got me through the worst of that.

Now we are home and lounging on the couch and we are back to life as we know it. The dogs are adjusting although they think baby smells funny. Although not how we planned it the outcome was a happy healthy one.

Edited to add: My daughter is now 9 weeks and a happy little girl.