Tim and I headed off to Camp Hill for our normal BioPhysical Ultrasound for little Elise. As always, we packed up all our stuff and took it along "just in case". On the way we got a donut and coffee to get Elise moving.
We got into the US room and the technician began the 1/2 hour test. After just a few minutes, the Tech mentioned that Elise wasn't moving AT ALL. Usually she has at least 1 or 2 small movements. Time continued on...soon her 1/2 hour was up and there were zero movements and zero tones. She needed to get 3 movements and 2 tones to pass the test. Once again, she got a 4 our of possible 8 points.
The Technician said she's be surprised if they didn't send us to the Birth Place immediately.
We got on the phone and of course, they sent us over. Since we'd been there 4 other times, we weren't totally convinced they were going to take the baby.
Our minds went to "maybe we ARE going to have this baby today, even though our c-section has been canceled due to limited room in the Birth Place!!!" "Maybe we'll see Elise today!" "But probably not, they'll send us home again" "But, Dr. Long is HERE and he said he's available today" "But the Birth Place has too many inductions today, no room for us".
Waiting...and more waiting.
Phone calls...and more waiting.
In walks our nurse, Cheryl. "Hi, I'm going to be your nurse, we are going to do the C-section this afternoon!" I was ELATED!! She later recounted how excited my response was. :)
Suddenly, multiple nurses were taking my blood, getting my IV in place, catheter...all those fun things.
Without knowing if I was going to get the C-section or not, my Mom had driven up from Lancaster, so she was there through the whole process. It was a blessing to have her there with us. She and Tim prayed for me as I grew more and more nervous. I remembered very little about the prep for my last c-section and the idea of getting the spinal worried me.
They had me walk into the ER and the Anesthesiologist had me get up on the table. Before I knew it and with just a bit of discomfort, he has me laying on the table, with little to no feeling...absolutely no pain!
Suddenly, we were in the thick of it. Tim was by my side. Dr. Hoover (the anesthesiologist) made sure my BP stayed were it needed to, made sure I was comfortable and feeling well. He was funny and took care of Tim, when he got a bit light headed.
Yeah, the light headedness was for good reason. Just as Dr. Long was getting ready to take Elise out, Dr. Hoover told Tim, "she's coming!" So, Tim got up to peek over the curtain. Unbeknown to Dr. Hoover, there was a slight problem. Elise was stuck. Yes, stuck during a C-section. So, instead of Tim seeing Elise come out, all he saw were legs and a belly...and Dr. Long tugging and pulling very hard. Just a bit too much for Tim. :)
Thankfully, they finally got her out and handed her off to the neonatologist immediately to be checked. They didn't even let me see her, since she had been stuck and needed care.
She was born at 3:27 pm, one hour after her original scheduled time!
They started putting me back together, as Tim watched them take care of Elise. I finally got to see her about 10 minutes after she was born. She was (and is) beautiful!!
Off to recovery, where Cheryl continued to take care of me. Tim, Elise and I got some special time there together. This is when I started telling the nurse that I was very dizzy...and the vomiting started.
We got to my regular room and no lie, within 2 minutes my room was filled with family.
Eventually we had to send everyone away, because the dizziness and vomiting continued.
That night, our favorite nurse, Dixie (we had her with Nora too) came in and took care of me for the next 3 nights. She took Elise to the nursery overnight, so that I could get rest and recuperate. Unfortunately, my mind couldn't stop. I didn't sleep all night long. The dizziness and vomiting continued through the night.
By morning, I was so tired and dizzy. Thankfully the vomiting had stopped. The nurse helped me get out of bed and head to the bathroom to take out my catheter. Unfortunately it was too much movement too soon. I passed out. It was NOT a fun experience. I woke to the nurse and Tim IN MY FACE. All I could think of was, "I FINALLY fell asleep and you are waking me up???" Then I realized, I was in the bathroom, not my bed.
The nurse chalked it up to just too much movement too soon. That day, I continued to feel better, but the dizziness didn't go away. Soon, I started having headache's and I could hear my pulse in my ears. The nurse on duty checked with the Midwife about my symptoms and was told that the pulse was due to congestion and water retention.
Saturday night, Dixie came back on duty. I told her I wanted to take a shower and she made that happen. I asked if my IV could come out and she hesitantly asked the Dr. if it was ok. She told me beforehand, "I'm not sure this is the best thing, you may have to get a new one. I wouldn't be surprised if you needed a blood transfusion"
Sunday went by, I was feeling well. The dizziness had disappeared, but the headaches persisted. We spend the day with Elise and watching TV.
Sunday night, Dixie took care of us again. She spent time sitting on my bed talking about her family, telling stories of her teenage years and taking care of Elise. We had a great time with her!!!
I continued to feel better, the incision was healing well and the pain was manageable. I was READY to go home by Easter Sunday. We go the ok from the Neonatoglogist, Elise was ready to go home. But, they told me, not till Monday.
Monday morning we geared up to go home at 11:00. My headache grew excruciating and I had to ask for more pain meds. Then walks in Mary. A new nurse. One we had with Nora as well. She'd been off all weekend, so this was our first time seeing her.
Evidently, Mary went to my Dr. and questioned my blood counts. She thought that I looked anemic and mentioned my dizziness, headaches and pale coloring.
Sure enough, after blood work was done, we found out that my hemoglobin was 6 (it was 11 before the c-section, normal is 12-17) and my hematocrit was 18 (normal for women is 34-44). I had about 1/2 the red blood cells I was supposed to have. Obviously, I was headed for a blood transfusion. They gave me 2 pints of blood.
This put me over the edge. I had been so ready to go home and the idea of more needles, and someone else's blood sent me into an emotional whirl wind. The whole day it was difficult to keep my emotions in check.
We finally got home around 7:00 that night.
...to be continued