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| Cecilia sleeping in the hospital bassinet |
Connie came in with me, had me sit in a
wheel chair, and wheeled me over to the check in area of the ER. She told
them we were the home transfer and we needed labor and delivery. I waited
in the wheel chair with the gentleman from check in while Jeremy and Connie
parked the cars. The gentleman was asking me about the home birth.
He told me I was brave and his hero. He was impressed that I would
have a baby at home with no pain medication. I told him my pain
medication was a tub full of warm water.
Connie, Jeremy, and Cecilia joined us, and
I was wheeled to labor and delivery. I can't remember if they hooked me
up to and IV of pitocin first or if they did the ultrasound first. I
think they hooked me up to the IV. I remember feeling cramps and
thinking, "Oh good. This placenta is coming out." Well,
no. No, it wasn't. Dr. Bell came in and spoke with us about
possible causes for the placenta not detaching. She mentioned placenta
accreta, which is when the placenta attaches too deeply to the uterus. It
is something I know all too well about because my sister Rachel had it and had
to have a hysterctomy because of it. The doctor kept talking about how
the placenta could have attached to my uterine scar from my cesarean, but
Connie and I basically rolled our eyes at this. My placenta was posterior
and nowhere near my scar. We found it hard to believe that my placenta
would have become low and anterior. That being said, placenta accreta was
still a possibility.
The ultrasound tech conducted an
ultrasound, and it was impossible to determine if the placenta was attached
deeply. Shift change brought on a new doctor, Dr. Ghandi. She came
in and told us that it was possible that I would simply need a D & C
(dilation and curetage) to remove the placenta, but if it was a case of placenta
accreta, they would need to also remove my uterus. This was much more
serious and something they were not prepared to do at this hospital. They
would need to transfer me to a hospital another 30 minutes away that has a
larger staff and does these types of procedures every day.
Connie headed home for some much needed
sleep, and I nursed Cecilia before taking my first, and hopefully my last,
ambulance ride, minus the lights and sirens. I took about a 15 minute cat
nap on the way, which was pretty helpful. I was brought up to OB triage, where nurse Shannon was prepared for me.
She had read all of the details of my transfer ahead of time, and her
sense of humor helped put me at ease a bit. She had a badge holder that
read, "OB nurse at your cervix".
I already had an IV from Thunderbird hospital, but she had to give me
another just in case they needed it. A couple other nurses joined us for
some conversation at one point, and upon hearing who my midwife was, said I
couldn't have picked a better midwife. They all knew Connie or knew of Connie
in some way. I couldn't have agreed with them more.
They wheeled me next door for an
ultrasound and told me I could nurse Cecilia during it if necessary. She slept
in Jeremy's arms the entire time though. Dr. Cedars, a high risk OB/GYN
came in and introduced himself. He was a kind, grandfatherly type
gentleman, and he took a few minutes to discuss his plans for me. He said
he was going to do the ultrasound and then possibly an MRI. He conducted
the ultrasound and couldn't find anything significant as to why the placenta
wasn't detaching. He said he thought it would be a straightforward
D&C, but he wouldn't really know until he got in there. He didn't
think an MRI was necessary. He asked me if I was done having children,
and I told him I was. He said, "That makes my job easier."
Then he explained that if he found that this was a case of placenta
accreta, they would need to remove my uterus. I asked him what was involved
in that procdure, and he said they would go in like a c-section. That's
when the tears started flowing, and I said, "One of the points of doing a
VBAC was to avoid major abdominal surgery." I kept thinking about
trying to take care of my girls after having had major surgery, and I knew I
really didn't want that. A bigger concern for me was breastfeeding
Cecilia. I asked him if the anesthetic and other meds would interfere
with me breastfeeding, and he said no, it would be just like having a
c-section. I felt so much relief.
Before going down to pre-op, I asked to
nurse Cecilia. She was so sleepy though and wouldn't wake to nurse.
This was stressing me out because I could be gone for quite some time.
Nurse Shannon had me use the restroom, and as I was walking down the hall
she said, "I hope your placenta falls out on the way. Come on
placenta!" No such luck unfortunately. LOL When I
returned from the restroom, Shannon said,
"If you end up in surgery for 5-6 hours what do you want us to do to feed
the baby?" This killed me. I told her that I didn't want
Cecilia to starve, so they could give her small amounts of formula as
necessary. I had also talked to Connie about the possibility of having
one of my friends bring some expressed breast milk, but we were so far that I
didn't want to trouble anyone.
I had a heavy feeling as they wheeled me
to pre-op. At least Nurse Shannon recommended that Jeremy and Cecilia
stay up in OB triage to wait for me rather
than going to the operating waiting room with the general public. Nurse
Shannon said there was no way she would want an hours old newborn down there,
and we were so grateful to her for speaking up. They would also have
formula , diapers, wipes, and anything else Cecilia would need.
They got me checked in, and the
anethesiologist came to discuss the plan for me. She reminded me of
Karina Smirnoff from Dancing with the Stars, and she asked me if I understood
what was going to happen. I confirmed I did, and she explained her part
in the procedure. I had to sign consent forms to have my uterus removed,
and she was trying to sell me on all of the benefits of not having a uterus
since I was done having children. She was making me quite upset,
especially since it wasn't exactly about losing my uterus. It was more
about the fact that I didn't want to go through major surgery! She was
extremely insensitive and was even trying to make jokes. I asked her if I
would be able to nurse my baby following the procedure, and she told me I would
have to pump and dump for 24 hours. I told her what Dr. Cedars said, and
she double checked one of the medications. She said it should be fine
after 12 hours, but then one of the nurses spoke up and said that the
medication has a half life in the body. I should be fine to nurse after just
6 hours. The anethesiologist agreed, albeit reluctantly. The pump
and dump for 24 hours is just the standard spiel they give.
As I'm lying in bed just waiting, Nurse
Shannon appears with Jeremy and Cecilia. She said that Cecilia started
sqwaking for food not too long after I left. Thank God! I nursed
her until she had her fill, and everyone was excited to come see the brand new
baby. After everyone oohed and ahed over her, Jeremy took her back to OB
Triage, and the anethesiologist began giving me medications through my IV.
They started wheeling me to the OR, and I was already becoming very
sleepy. I prayed the whole way down the hallway "Please don't let
them cut me open. Please don't let them cut me open." The last
thing I remember was entering the OR and being told that they were going to
transfer me to the operating table.
Now in recovery, the first memory I have
was an oxygen mask over my face and me pulling it away to cough up a bunch of
phlegm. The next thing I remember is a faint voice saying, "You still have
a uterus." Relief washed over me, and I just thanked God for guiding
the doctors and nurses and for protecting me from needing a surgery.
It took me awhile to fully wake from the anethesia, but thankfully I felt
good when I finally did, other than having a terrible cough that was a side
effect of being intubated. They wheeled me up to my hospital room where,
standing next to Jeremy and Cecilia, was my friend Meguire holding her nearly 3
month old Johnny. She looked like an angel to me, and I almost burst into
tears in that instant. I knew why she'd come. She brought expressed
breast milk for me to give to Cecilia so I wouldn't have to give her formula.
Let me say that I don't think formula is the devil, but I would much prefer
to give Cecilia something less artificial if I can help it. Meguire
hugged me, and I just knew that things would be okay. My friends are
amazing, and tears are welling up in my eyes as I type this now. She had
been there awhile, so she didn't stay much longer. I was glad I was able
to see her and hug her before she had to go though.
They were able to save my placenta for me, so at one point, Connie's daughter Monica came to pick it up and encapsulate it for me.
When Cecilia awoke, I attempted to feed her the warmed breast milk. Even though the nipple was meant for newborns, the flow was still too fast for her, especially since she was used to the thickness of colostrum. I asked my sweet nurse for a syringe, and she promptly brought me one. I tried just giving Cecilia a drop or two at a time, but she still seemed to gag on it. She was able to eat enough to satisfy her, and she went right back to sleep. By the time she woke up, I was able to nurse her. She showed no ill effects from the anethesia, and again, I had something else to be thankful for. Jeremy told me that the doctor came in to tell him how things went. He said they needed to keep me overnight for observation because they doctor thought he put his thumb through my vaginal wall or my uterus, but when he double checked he could see no sign of having done so. They wanted to make sure my bleeding was under control. My hemoglobin went from 13.5 down to 12, and they wanted to be sure it didn't drop much further.
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| It was a little tricky holding Cecilia with all of this going on. |
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| I managed okay though. |
When Cecilia awoke, I attempted to feed her the warmed breast milk. Even though the nipple was meant for newborns, the flow was still too fast for her, especially since she was used to the thickness of colostrum. I asked my sweet nurse for a syringe, and she promptly brought me one. I tried just giving Cecilia a drop or two at a time, but she still seemed to gag on it. She was able to eat enough to satisfy her, and she went right back to sleep. By the time she woke up, I was able to nurse her. She showed no ill effects from the anethesia, and again, I had something else to be thankful for. Jeremy told me that the doctor came in to tell him how things went. He said they needed to keep me overnight for observation because they doctor thought he put his thumb through my vaginal wall or my uterus, but when he double checked he could see no sign of having done so. They wanted to make sure my bleeding was under control. My hemoglobin went from 13.5 down to 12, and they wanted to be sure it didn't drop much further.
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| View from our hospital room |
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| Jeremy was on diaper duty much of the time. |
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| Snuggling with Daddy in his bed |
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| More Daddy snuggles while waiting to be discharged |
Dr. Cedars came and talked with me about the D&C. He said they could find no reason for my placenta not to have detached, and he said the procedure was simple. He said if my blood count was stable, they would release me at noon. That's exactly what happened, and we were so excited to go home to see Genevieve and have her meet Cecilia. It wasn't how we planned things, but it ended pretty well.
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| Genevieve meeting Cecilia for the first time. She wanted to hold her hand. |
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| G giving C some love |
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