It's been a couple of weeks, but things have been so busy with our new bundle of joy and family coming in to visit. Things are amazing and we couldn't be happier. First and foremost, we want to thank everyone for their prayers and support - THANK YOU!
I'll start with Tuesday morning, January 10th, 2012:
We arrived at the hospital at 4 AM as planned. They put me on the monitor and I was having regular contractions 4 minutes apart, which was not unusual for me. Dr. B came in and checked my cervix and said I was still 4 cm dilated and 80% effaced, but that my bag of water was bulging. He said if we hadn't already planned for C-section today, we would've had to have one later that afternoon for sure. LOL. Guess baby Sydney thought that January 10th was a great day to be born :) They got me settled into my room, started my IV, began fluids, and I had time to try to relax before they came to get me for surgery.
Just before 9 Am they came in to get me and they took me into the pre-op area. They had my husband get dressed in scrubs and his adorable hat, and they even let our older daughter (17 year old) wait in the pre-op area with us. When it was time to go, they showed Anna to a room just outside of the OR doors so that she could go with my husband and baby Sydney to the nursery after birth, and then escorted me and Scott into the OR. They gave me some meds to help me relax (ummm... yes, very necessary), and started my spinal. It was nothing like I had expected. No pain that I could tell. They had me to lean forward, and with my huge belly, made me feel like I was going to tilt right off the bed, so the nurse secured herself right in front of me and helped to support me so I wouldn't feel like I was going to hit the floor. It all went very smooth and painless... and the meds to relax were amazing! I could feel them moving me around and pulling on me, but none of it was painful. In fact, at the beginning, I could smell something that alarmed me because I thought something was burning. So you know me, I asked about it! LOL. I said, "Dr. B, what's that burning smell"? He said, "That's you!" Yep - I'm not asking any more questions.
Sydney was born at 9:59 AM in a scream of glory. It was the best sound ever! They did a quick clean up and took some pictures. I was able to see her, and my husband held her, but then the took them both to the nursery. Dr. B and Dr. F were talking about Roy, the fibroid. Dr. B actually said at first that he didn't think they'd be able to remove him. But a few minutes later, he said "I think we may be able to remove him after all. We're going to try anyway". They ended up removing a small fibroid that rested hidden under one side of Roy and placed it in a container similar in size to that of a 35mm camera film roll (if you are old enough to remember those). Then they removed Roy. Dr. B said that there would have been NO WAY to have Sydney vaginally due to Roy's size and location. Roy was placed in a bucket that was about the size of a 2.5 or 3 gallon bucket. It was insane! The only regret I have is that I didn't ask for a picture of Roy. Trying to describe what it looked like is so hard... I can't seem to put words to it that make sense. I'll try to find a picture of something similar online to compare it to - in looks anyway, not necessarily in size.
They closed me back up and I was just SO ready to go hold my baby girl, but they took me to what I'm assuming was a post-op like area. I was there for 2 hours! In the last 30 minutes in post-op, they did show my husband and older daughter into my room. I was so thankful to see them because I had a million questions about my baby girl. They told me about how big she was, 8 pounds even, just as the ultrasound estimated, and 20 inches long. They told me about her bath and how she screamed through the whole thing until they placed the top of her head in the warm water and she quieted right down. She must love to have her head/hair washed - silly girl. They also told me that the nursery gave her a bottle. I was startled because we had told them I was planning to nurse her. My anxiety instantly rose.
Finally, they carried me to my room where our family was gathered, and the nursery finally delivered my beautiful baby girl to me. I got to hold her for all of about 15 minutes before the nursery returned and asked my family to wait in the hallway. I was sure they wanted me to attempt to nurse or something, but they instead explained that they had to give Sydney a bottle after birth because her blood sugar was low. They said it came up a little after the bottle, but that it was dropping again and they needed to take her back to the nursery as her pediatrician had just arrived. My heart shattered into a million pieces. All I wanted was a healthy baby and I wanted to do nothing but hold and love on her. Instead, my gestational diabetes, even though it was controlled throughout pregnancy, was causing my precious little one to have problems. Dr. B, not my OB, but Sydney's pediatrician, came to see us a short time later. He explained that Sydney's sugar continued to drop, so he was having them to start an IV on her and she was going to be on glucose until her body started to regulate her own. He said that they would be keeping Sydney in the nursery because he wanted me to be a mom and not a nurse, but that I could go into the nursery consult room to be with her. If I thought my heart had shattered into a million pieces earlier, then it plain fell out of me at this point. I couldn't control my emotions and just cried. Of course the staff was very supportive and sweet. They reminded me that Dr. B (pediatrician) is a phenomenal physician and Sydney would be just fine. They also reminded me that my hormones were on a roller coaster ride after delivery and my emotional state was to be expected and very normal. Although it was very nice and sweet that they were so supportive, it really didn't make me feel better.
You know how they encourage you to rest the day of the C-section, mainly due to the spinal, but they encourage walking the halls after that as it helps you recover faster? Well, that was not a problem. I spent my time in the nursery with Sydney. They wouldn't let me stay in there 24/7, I'm sure they were looking after me as well, but if they'd let me in, I was there. The day of surgery I was climbing into a wheelchair and being wheeled over (they wouldn't let me walk since I had the spinal), but that night and the rest of our stay, I walked non-stop and was in the nursery as soon as they'd let me. Meanwhile, I was emotionally struggling with the fact the my gestational diabetes caused my baby girl to get stuck 3 times before they were able to get the IV started, and had to get hourly glucose checks. I felt so responsible for this. She did very well and responded better than the pediatrician had anticipated, but it was truly torture for me.
Finally, after what felt like eternity but was actually right at 24 hours, Sydney was weaned off of the glucose and she was able to stay in the room with me and my husband. They wouldn't let us keep her overnight, they said they wanted to continue to monitor her, but I was so thankful to have her back in our room during the day. I thank God that she's not had any sugar related issues since then.
Since I didn't get to breastfeed right after birth, it took a few days for my milk to come in. Since it was so important to keep Sydney's blood sugar stable, we had to supplement with formula. Now we're entirely on breast milk and she's doing great! They let us go home Thursday afternoon. It was an entirely new feeling to place my baby girl in her car seat and drive away from the hospital. It actually felt real. Like she was ours and nobody could take her away into a nursery where we'd have to be without her. I know that sounds crazy, but it was so real. Sydney weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces when we were discharged home.
We got home and Sydney had her days and nights all mixed up from living in the nursery for her first few days. That first night was terrifying. She screamed and screamed and screamed. I couldn't figure out how to sooth her and was not only nervous, but probably near a panic. I was worried she wasn't getting enough milk and was starving, I was worried her sugar was dropping and she was irritable from it, and I was worried that I was just really sucking as a new mommy. We ended up calling back up to the nursery and thankfully the same nurse was there that had looked after Sydney the previous night. She was very kind and encouraged us to wrap Sydney snugly in a blanket and place her in the swing. She said she suspected Sydney may have some colic and the swinging motion helped to settle her into a sleep. First off, I wish she would've passed that on to us before we left, then maybe I wouldn't have spent half the night with a screaming infant feeling like a complete failure. But we tried it and it worked. It hasn't always worked, but we were grateful when it did :)
We had her follow up with Dr. B (the pediatrician) on Friday the 13th. She weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces and they said everything looked great! Her sugar was still stable and her weight loss was expected.
We couldn't be happier!!!!
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