I woke up, in the hospital, because I was on bed rest, to get ready for out family/maternity photo shoot which was to happen at 11 AM. Now I had envisioned these being at our new house, outside by the pond, but was making the best of the current situation and had agreed to have them taken at the hospital on the grounds. Since I was allowed 1 45 minute wheelchair ride a day, I decided that we could make it work. I mean being in the hospital was part of our "pregnancy story" after all, so why not capture those memories.
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| All ready for Family/Maternity Photos, which turned into delivery photos. |
The Doctor came in for her normal rounds to check on me and see if anything had changed from the night before, meaning was I having any bleeding due to my complete previa. I told her no, everything was great and I was getting ready for our photo shoot. Then the nurse came in to check my vitals, and asked the same questions, to which I responded the same.
I was about done with my makeup and decided to take a bathroom break, as soon as I stood up, I had that "gush" that I had had many times before, yet this time it was much more, much much more. After going to the bathroom and cleaning up a bit, and changing clothes, I decided to just walk to the nurses station. It was just down the hall and to be honest I believe I was in shock. I approached the nurses station and told my nurse Amy, that I was bleeding and I was sorry for interrupting her breakfast, (I knew she was eating because she told me she was going to have breakfast when she left my room.)
She followed me back to my room and after checking the amount of blood, because as gross as it sounds you have to leave your pad out for them to see and sometimes weigh, she decided to get me back on the monitors until the Doctor could come back in so they could monitor Taegan. The whole time I was waiting for the Doctor, which wasnt long, I was trying to keep getting ready and remain calm.
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| Last belly photo before he arrived |
10:00 AM
The Dr came in the room and asked if she could use the speculum and a bright light to check my cervix. When she did this she noticed many large blood clots, to which she said was not a good sign, and then informed me I was 3 cm dilated and very thinned out. This was obviously concerning to me because I was only 35 weeks and 3 days, but I still assumed we would be waiting until Friday to deliver and maybe my bedrest would be more strict (not sure how it could be but I was thinking "no more nurse station walks."and "no more wheelchair rides." She then decided to do a quick ultrasound to "check babies placement." Once this happened I began to realize that Baby T may be coming sooner than I had expected. After showing me on the screen that in fact my cervix was dilated, and thinned, she said we would be having a baby today. I still didnt realize the urgency of the situation and asked her "when she was thinking, like later this afternoon?" She said "No NOW!"
10:13 AM
I kinda went into panic mode because I knew Brian and Everly would be leaving the house soon to come for photos, and I also knew I really wanted to see Everly because I hadnt seen her since she got back from Family Vacation the night before. Not to mention the photographer may have been on her way as well because she lived about 30 mins from the hospital. Thankfully one thing I was not worried about was the nurse who helped deliver Everly and Callen, and had switched her schedule to be there for my scheduled date, was on duty, and was the charge nurse so she was still able to be in the delivery room with me.
I quickly text the photographer to tell her we had to cancel because of an emergency, then called my sister, who lives down the road to tell her to head to our house to get Everly from Brian because baby was coming. She had a million questions but I didnt have time to explain. I then called Brian to tell him to come right after Chelsea got Everly because Baby T was coming.
10:30 AM
The anesthesia Doctor walked in to talk to me about what was going to happen once we got into the operating room. Then the nurses began to wheel my bed to the operating room. I asked if we could wait on Brian and they said yes but we had to wait in the operating room. I was a little nervous but I was so thankful to have my nurse Amy, and Kara with me.
One of the possibilities of a previa is hemorrhaging while on the operating table. This was something I concerned with but also turning it all over to God and his plan, and trusting the nurses and Doctors during the surgery. When I heard the Doctor tell the nurses to be sure to have my blood type in the operating room, this concern became a little more real.
After getting the spinal block, and getting all situated on the operating table, we waited for the block to set in. During this time Kara did a great job of keeping me posted on Brians whereabouts. The NICU team came in and introduced themselves. Once I was numb, Brian came in and then everything went quickly.
11:16 AM
Taegan entered the world screaming! We were so thankful to hear him crying because we were worried about how his lungs would be at birth. The NICU team began working on him right away while the Drs worked on finishing my surgery. The Doctor did a great job of continuing to reassure me that my bleeding was great and that everything was going perfect. They took Taegan out of the room and into the NICU. That was really hard, not knowing if he was ok or not but again I turned it all over to God and had faith in this plan. At the end of the surgery it was the best thing to hear the Doctor tell the nurses to send the blood back down because we didnt need it. I was able to take a sigh of relief. I knew we were not out of the water just yet, but I also knew that was huge because I had not bled too much during the surgery.
Around 12:00 PM
I was wheeled back into my L&D room to recover before they took me to Mother Baby rooms. My Mom & Dad had arrived, and came back into the recovery room to see me. After a couple hours in recovery I went to Mother Baby. On the way there they wheeled me past Taegans NICU room so I could see him. Brian had been in and out of my room and Taegans during my recovery so he had already been able to see him, but it was the first time I saw him in the NICU. Of course it was hard to see your baby hooked up to all kinds of machines and to see his little hand with an IV, but I knew he was in the best place for him at that moment.
I got to my Mother Baby room and my sisters, and cousin Shelby, and Everly were all waiting on me. It was so nice to see Everly, although I think she was a little scared to see me wheeled in in a bed, with an IV pole and lots of nurses. She was still excited and gave me a big hug and kiss. Over the next few hours, Brian took my Mom, Dad, sisters, and his Dad down to meet Taegan in the NICU. They were not able to hold him but they could see him.
I was not able to see Taegan again until 9 PM, when I was able to get up and walk around. This was extremely hard, but I was so happy to be able to go see him and bring him breastmilk, well colostrum, that I was able to pump throughout the afternoon and evening. We did not get to hold him that first night which stunk, but I understood and wanted to do what was best for him.
I was able to hold him the following morning and Brian that afternoon, and the wait was totally worth it. He was perfect in every way, and so adorable, even with his cpap machine, feeding tube, monitors, and IV.
The next few days were a blur. I was recovering from a csection, which was totally different from a vaginal delivery, Taegan was in the NICU, and thankfully Mike, Brian's Dad had come to stay a few days to help with Everly. It was definitely a roller coaster, but also one I knew would be worth the ride.
