Wilson

Well, he made it here! It was not easy or pretty... but, Wilson has officially joined our family. We love him to pieces. Here's the whole story:

I had known for several weeks before I delivered that Wilson was head up, instead of head down. So, my doctor scheduled an External Cephalic Version or ECV (where they try to turn the baby externally) for July 5- nine days before my due date. He scheduled it that early because he didn't want the baby to be too big, because he has a better chance turning smaller babies. However, my doctor thought I would be having a 7-8 pound baby. Boy was he wrong! So, I showed up to the hospital early Friday morning for the ECV. They do this procedure in the room next to the operating room, so that if the procedure is unsuccessful, they can take the baby via c-section- so I had to have an epidural very first thing, so I'd be ready for a c-section if the baby's heart rate dropped during the ECV. The first anesthesiologist came in to place my epidural. She tried many, many times and could not do it. Apparently my back is more messed up than I thought it was. I don't have the space normal people have in their backs for epidurals. So, a second anesthesiologist was called in. He couldn't place one either. I was hunched over, having contractions for more than an hour while they were trying to get an epidural in. My husband and sisters who were in the room with me said that they poked me at least 20-30 times. Just as the second anesthesiologist was about to give up (and they would have had to either do a spinal block, which uses a smaller needle, or do general anesthesia- either way- I would have had to skip the ECV and just go in for the c-section), I told everyone to say a little prayer and asked him to try one more time. I don't know which prayer worked, but he finally got the epidural in. I never knew I'd be so excited about an epidural! 

The doctor came in and tried to turn the baby. The baby's heart rate dropped significantly, making all of us very nervous. The doctor waited a few minutes to see if it would come back up, and it started to- but the doctor couldn't get the baby to stay turned in the head down position... so in we went for the c-section. While we were in the surgery, I asked the first anesthesiologist how many epidurals she had done, she told me over 700. I asked her how many people she had not been able to get an epidural in, and she told me I was her first. That did not make me feel good! You never want to be a medical professional's first anything! 

The c-section seemed to go well. The baby came out screaming and I was shocked when they told me he was only 5 lbs. 4 oz. So much for a 7-8 pounder! After the surgery, they wheeled me into a recovery room for a few minutes, then to the mom/baby floor of the hospital.

I felt very light-headed and extremely tired that day- so much so that I didn't even have the energy to go down to the NICU to see my baby for more than just a minute or two in the wheelchair. I remember holding him and starting to fall asleep. Matt and I thought that was normal since I had just had surgery. We had no idea just how wrong things were going in my body. That night, I asked the nurses to help me get up to brush my teeth. That was when I fainted. I woke up to a bathroom full of nurses surrounding me. It was quite scary. But again, I thought that must be normal. The next morning, my doctor came to see me. He took one look at my face and yelled down to a nurse to get a hematocrit level for me. I didn't have any idea what that meant. Nor did I understand when they told me my levels were at 18. Apparently, that's really low. A normal blood level is around 40. Many of the nurses later told me that they had never had a patient with such a low level. I was a lot of people's firsts, apparently. So, that day, I was given five units of blood. That night, my hematocrit level was up to 27- not as high as they had hoped, but high enough for me to function. On Sunday, the doctor ordered an ultrasound of my entire abdomen because my levels were not where they wanted them to be- that was when they wondered if I was bleeding internally. The ultrasound was torturous- he had to press really hard on my abdomen that was trying to recover from surgery. Plus, I was scared out of my mind. I watched as the ultrasound tech wrote something on the screen about there being a large amount of fluid, but of course he wouldn't explain anything to me.  A little while later, the doctor on call (not my regular doctor) came in and told me that there was a softball sized hematoma next to my uterus, which is where all the blood they had given me had pooled. He explained that it would probably just absorb into my body and that everything would be fine. My regular doctor came in later that night, and told me the same thing the other doctor had told me, but he also told me that I couldn't have anything to eat after midnight that night, just in case they had to open me back up in the morning if I continued to lose blood. I did not sleep well that night. The next morning, they checked my levels again and I was down to 23- so I was still bleeding internally. My doctor, plus several other doctors, were all rushing around, getting me ready for emergency surgery. I was terrified. Luckily, it happened so quickly that I didn't have too much time to totally freak out. I woke up from the surgery and the doctor explained that they removed a ton of blood, including several large blood clots from every layer they cut into. They couldn't believe just how much blood was in there. They never found an active bleed, but cauterized everything they could and wrapped me in a really tight abdomen band that I wore for 3-4 days. That day, they gave me two more units of blood and five units of plasma. That night and the next day, my levels seemed to have stabilized, but I was still terrified that I was bleeding internally. Luckily, I was not. In fact, at my last doctor's appointment, my levels had increased to 36- so that was great news! The hematoma sure did a number on my body, though! I still have significant bruising. It's hard to believe it will ever go away! 

My worries didn't end there, however... Originally, I was supposed to go home that Monday I ended up having the second surgery. Then, after the second surgery- I was supposed to go home on Wednesday. Well, Wednesday came and I started running a fever- which is a sign of infection. The doctor had my blood cultured, to make sure I wasn't septic. Those results took 48 hours. In the meantime, I was hooked up to IV antibiotics (which was a pain, because all my veins were collapsing and my IVs kept failing- so I ended up with four different IVs in my hands and arms). They kept me on the antibiotics for 48 hours, but it still wasn't taking care of my fever. The doctor wanted me to go 24 hours without spiking a fever, and my body was just not cooperating. I honestly thought I'd never get out of the hospital. In the meantime, Wilson was healthy enough to be discharged! (Yay that he's healthy, but um... how is it that he's being discharged BEFORE me?!) He was discharged to Matt on day 6. Luckily, they let us keep him in the room with us, but I wasn't allowed to be alone in the room with the baby since I was still a patient and he was not. I wasn't well enough to take care of him, so I relied on my sisters and husband to help. I am so grateful for them! 

Finally, on Friday night (after being in the hospital for 8 full days), my doctor came to see me and told me that he wanted to discharge me with oral antibiotics to see if my fever would go down better at home. I was scared to death. I didn't want to be in the hospital, but I also didn't want to go home if there was something wrong that they needed to fix! So, coming home was rough. It was not the happy experience I had envisioned. My sister had flown in from Denver when I started having complications and she ended up staying with me for the first several nights I was home. It was a huge blessing to have someone to wake up with the baby at night so that Matt and I could get some sleep. (Although who can sleep when they're worried about internal bleeding and infections?!) 

Wilson is our little miracle. He's tiny- but he's healthy! We took him to his two week appointment last Friday and his pediatrician wanted him to be back up to his birth weight ( 5 lb 4 oz)... well, Wilson showed him! He was up to 5 lb 10 oz! He's even grown out of his preemie outfits! 

As far as my own health- I am still having a rough time recovering from everything. I have a few little things that they are watching- including a constant low-grade fever, high blood pressure (which I've never had a problem with!), some strange hardening in my abdomen, and my body's inability to hold on to any nutrition. I'm hoping all of these things just resolve themselves and I won't have to have any more pokes or prods. I've had my fair share!

Oh, and to top everything off- my biggest complaint right now is my back!! I am having severe sciatic nerve pain. I can't seem to catch a break with my back! I thought my back troubles would go away once the baby was born. I was wrong. Last Wednesday, I attended my grandpa's funeral in Preston, Idaho and it was not fun sitting in the car that long! But, I'm grateful I was feeling well enough to be able to go. He's my mom's father- and I'm sure their reunion was a sweet one. I have been going to the chiropractor and I'm sure hoping he can help get this pain under control. In the meantime, I rely heavily on Matt and my sisters to help me take care of the baby. It's been rough. Mommyhood is a lot harder than I thought it would be! But, we're sure glad Wilson is here and healthy!