The Delivery Details

Every mother has a birthing story. One for each child, in fact. Each story (per child, not just per mother) is different, and they are swapped and shared any time one of a group of mothers is pregnant (and sometimes when they are just in the mood to talk about birthing stories).

I don't know how dads or husbands feel about these stories. I know that my husband remembers things more vividly, and from a different perspective. I imagine he does NOT enjoy reliving the experience through the sharing of the story with others. He seems to remember the pain more than the joys...

Since I've had c-sections, my birthing stories seem to leave me out of the excited discussion of lengths of labor, how women dealt with issues of pain, transition, back labor, etc. Still, I've had some labor, and so I can join in on a few discussions...

With this delivery, I'd had contractions off/on for a few weeks. They got to 10 min apart but were not painful, and after spending 45 min being evaluated in the hospital on the 13th of August I was sent home (one of the worst "safe" things that can happen to a pregnant woman close to term!)

I didn't bother calling my doctor when they would get down even to 8 min apart, and just tried to ignore them during the next week. (see my post Waiting for the Next One)

The Saturday before my scheduled c-section, I took the girls to their swim lessons. They had a GREAT time (as always!), and they played hard in the water. When we got back from the second lesson, I didn't feel like eating much and just had some ramen noodles. Yup, that's what I wanted for lunch. I sat down to work on the computer and noticed that I was having some contractions, and they were starting to get uncomfortable. I started puttering around, getting last minute things together for the trip on Monday morning to the hospital, running a load of laundry, putting away some clothes. My mom left the house super clean, so I really didn't have much to work on.

Megan and I painted our fingernails together (we both chose sparkles). I then decided that I needed to rest some, cuz the contractions were starting to hurt a little more. I put in a movie, grabbed a book, a pen and paper to record when I was having contractions, and Megan and I sat in the living room together. They were 10 minutes, approaching 9 minutes apart. Hmmmm.

Over the next few hours, I asked Travis to make dinner (I was NOT hungry, and I didn't feel great- I had a steamed milk for dinner after the girls were in bed). The two older girls went to a neighbor's house to play for a while and Travis and I took Miranda for a short walk. I got the girls home, and then they took a bath and we put them in bed, still having contractions. I grabbed my book and tried to read, noticing that the contractions were not necessarily closer together, but were getting rather strong- enough that it was distracting me from reading.

My awesome husband looked at me and asked, "What can I get you?" I answered, "A sitter?" with a half smile.

I promised myself that if I was still having contractions that night when my mother-in-law arrived (she was currently on a bus from the Chicago airport headed for Notre Dame), I'd head to the hospital, unless the contractions got down to 5 min apart, or if my water broke and then I would have to leave right away. I explained this (at least in some form, one way or another) to Travis.

He started playing a video game, and I continued reading until about 9pm. I was ready to go. They were still only 8-9 min apart, but they were really starting to hurt- enough that I had to stop whatever I was doing and breath slowly, clench my fists, and try to visualize a sandy beach with warm water lapping at my feet.

To try and distract myself, I asked Travis if he would like to play Legoland (we got the PS2 games for our anniversary this year: StarWars and Indiana Jones). I warned him I might be pushing the pause button every 10 min or so...

I was about ready to throw in the towel when Travis stood up and said he was going to wait for his mom at the bus depot on ND campus. I waited almost 45 minutes, and by the time she arrived, the contractions were 6 min apart. Um, yeah, I was definitely headed for the hospital.

Travis took Grandma's bag up to her room, brought the car around front, and grabbed my bag to take out. We gave Grandma a hug and headed to the hospital.

They hooked me up to the monitor. The resident came in and asked a few routine questions (you ladies know the ones), and then said she'd check me. I told her that I would be high, thick, tight, and probably less than 1 cm. Yup, exactly. Even after almost 12 hours of labor, NO CHANGE. Yeah, uh, that's why I have c-sections.

The resident talked with the on-call physician, Dr. Blickensderfor (or Dr. Blick for short), and they decided to monitor my contractions and the baby for an hour and then decide what to do. I was secretly hoping my water would break so there was NO CHANCE of them sending me home. I was afraid they might just do that because the contractions were more than five min apart, and my cervix hadn't changed. Well, after the exam, my contractions were consistently five minutes apart, and still painful. I was glad they didn't make me wait any more than an hour! The resident came in and said, "How'd you like to have a baby tonight?"

YEAH!

So, at 2:39, after getting my spinal block, after the doctors were scrubbed in, after I had stupid nasal canula blowing oxygen in my nose, they brought Travis in (who was exhausted and not feeling well), and they performed a routine c-section without complications. Our daughter was born at 2:39, and she was GREAT! Good cry, APGARs of 9 & 9. There was a lot of scar tissue from the previous sections, and my bladder had adhesions tacking it to the uterus (no wonder I had to pee so much!). Dr. Blick said that the lower uterine segment was thin as well. Still, no indication that said I couldn't have another pregnancy...

They took us into recovery, and our little girl showed some interest in nursing, but we were both pretty tired. It was 5am before we got to the hospital room. I sent Travis home to get at least an hour's worth of sleep, and I tried to sleep as well while they cleaned up the baby and assessed her. She weighed 8 lbs and 3 oz and was 21 inches long.

The girls came to visit before going to church. (See previous post for pictures and more information). After they left, I thought I'd better try to get some sleep since I'd only had one hour of 'rest' in the last 36. As I was trying to get comfortable, I noticed that my left glute/hip was hurting. My spinal had worn off around 9am, and I'd already been out of bed and walking, had my foley out and my IV stopped. I was feeling GREAT- until I woke up from my nap.

My glute was KILLING me, and when I stood up to go to the bathroom, I noticed my foot was numb. Then I realized it was also not working right-- my leg muscles were weak.

I freaked. This was NOT GOOD! (In all honesty, I think part of my freaking out was due to the fact I hadn't slept more than an hour in the last 36- but it was still a bad sign)

They called in the anesthesiologist, who ordered a CT scan to make sure that there wasn't a complication from the spinal block he'd placed for the surgery. Then, they called in a neurologist because the CT didn't show anything (which was actually good- it meant there likely wasn't a problem from the spinal block, i.e. no bleeding or "scary" problems). The neurologist examined me, and then sent me for an MRI. I came back to my room from that exam by 5:30pm, still hurting, still numb, and still a little worried-

The anesthesiologist came in and explained that I had a herniation pressing on S1, one of the nerves that goes to the left side of my leg, causing the pain, numbness and weakness. He said the Neurologist would probably make recommendations.

She decided to refer me to a neurosurgeon. UGH! That freaked me out! I knew that in most cases, herniations can be treated "conservatively" meaning they just watch and wait and treat symptoms. Frequently they will resolve (improve) on their own. Surgery is not usually been shown to be any more helpful.

Of course, the neurosurgeon came in during the 30 min Travis was gone to go get the girls for their afternoon visit. He was (thankfully!) still here when Travis came back, and Grandma took the girls to go look at Veronica in the nursery and play with some toys that are somewhere in the hospital.

The doc said basically I have an 80% chance of recovering, but it will take SIX WEEKS to improve, and the numbness could be there up to a year. UGH! He said that surgery is not generally recommended, and the hardest part is not getting frustrated with the pain, and being patient (ha ha!) and not overdoing anything in the meantime.

Uh, yeah, I've got a NEWBORN and FOUR DAUGHTERS!

He said he would see me in 2 weeks to see how things are going, and if there's any new developments to give him a call earlier. He said I need to move as I can, avoid anything that makes the pain worse, and do what I can to keep comfortable. If I am doing something that hurts, I should've already stopped. Hummm. He also gave me some tips on how to walk (I kinda have to relearn), and I have been told I am to go barefoot or wear sneakers/boots so I don't slip.

I was really glad Travis was there to hear. For one, it reassures him that what I have is real, that neither he nor I did anything to cause this (including having a baby), and that I will have to take it easy for the next six weeks. It'll be good to have him telling me to slow down, as I know it will be really hard to keep myself from doing too much. BUT, I want to get better, and I reallly don't want to make things worse (i.e. permanent nerve damage), and I don't want surgery! So, I will be good (and) patient.

I am SO GRATEFUL that, since this seems to have been inevitable, it happened when I have the most help I could possibly ask for: my mother-in-law and my aunt will be here helping me for the next 20 days, and it might just be enough to get me through and really help me get better, not only from the c-section, but from this herniated disc.

I got a blessing a few weeks back, for the baby and for my back pain. In it I was told that Veronica would come "when she should" and that I would recover "as I followed the prescribed treatment". At the time I thought that was some strange wording- what "prescribed treatment" was there for recovery from a c-section??? Uh, well, I guess that was more directed for the herniation.

I am so grateful for the Power of the Priesthood. I am so grateful for my awesome husband- who has been so supportive (despite the fact he hates seeing me in pain and has been VERY worried about this whole thing). I am grateful that Veronica is healthy, beautiful, eats well, sleeps well, and is just the perfect little baby. I am grateful that my mother-in-law is here so I know my other daughters are well cared for and having fun. I am so thankful that we have wonderful modern medicine to give me answers and relief.

So, that's what is going on with my and what Travis meant in the email when he said, "Nadine had a scare with her left leg going numb and we had CAT scans and MRI done, which showed her to have a minor tweak of the back and should be fine." I do believe I will be fine, so long as I listen to my body and take it easy.

So, that's my birthing story for this fourth delivery. Like I said- each one is different.

Oh, and I think the best way to have a c-section is without any labor at all (Miranda's). But it was really nice to know that both Veronica and I were READY to have her out!