What we thought was going to be a usual Thursday fast became our favourite day of our entire life.
Parker 24hrs old
Continued on from PREGNANCY WEEKS 40-41 blog...
'I woke up at 7am and went to the toilet. When I wiped I noticed a bright green discharge. It was a green colour that I had never seen before. A lime colour. 'What is this? Surely green isn't good' I thought. It was a fair bit of it, enough to cover the full length of the toilet paper. Sure enough I was straight on Google. What does this mean? I scrolled through pregnancy forums and every single response was saying 'meconium'. I knew that was bad and could put the baby's and my health at very high risk. I knew the baby was moving far too much on the Monday night, abnormally so, which was now making sense if it was in distress and had now pooed in utero. I went straight into the kitchen and called the emergency womens & childrens ward at our local hospital. I let them know I had a lot of bright lime green discharge, and that I thought the baby was in distress and had now pooed. They told me to urgently come in and be placed on the monitors. I woke Alex up and said 'we've got to go'. We both just threw on clothes and head out the door with our phones, a water bottle, my lip balm wallet and my maternity folder.
And that's where my birth story begins.....'
It was Thursday morning and I was exactly 41 weeks on the dot with an impending bstetrician appointment that afternoon. After my emergency call through to the womens & children's ward I figured we would just head into the hospital, get checked out by the midwife, come home and have breakfast and then head in for my next stretch and sweep
that afternoon.
We arrived at the hospital at about 7:45am and because it was out of hours we had to enter via the emergency department and head up to the Women's & Children's ward. Once there we were taken into an empty hospital room with one bed and I was then hooked up for fetal monitoring. "Can you feel those contractions? They are very regular." Said the midwife. "No, I think they are just braxton hicks. I get them quite frequently." Which is true. Between weeks 39-41 I was getting very regular braxton hicks. Painless, but they were becoming more frequent for a few hours each night before eventually fading away to nothing. This particular morning felt no different. "I'll leave you hooked up and come back in 20 minutes to check on you." Alex sat on the couch in the room & we turned on the TV and watched Sunrise while we waited. The midwife came back in to check the graph. "Your blood pressure is a bit high." It was about 92/145. Every appointment my blood pressure had been perfect and sitting mid range - no where near the high end of a normal range, let alone beyond it. My last blood pressure reading had been one week prior at my 40 week appointment and all was normal. The midwife kept analysing the graph. "You are still getting regular contractions, and the baby is asleep so we will need to monitor you for a further 20 minutes when it wakes up. Babies patterns are 20mins awake, and then 20mins asleep, so we've caught it while its asleep. We need to monitor the baby when it is awake to check its active heart rate but so far all looks well. It's just your blood pressure.. try relax and I'll come back and check it in half an hour."
Me at exactly 41 weeks on the monitor at hospital at approx 8am after noticing green discharge at 7am that morning
Half an hour had passed and the midwife came back to check on me. "Your blood pressure is still high.. The baby's heart rate is okay. Stay here - I'm just going to go chat with the doctor." She then came back in with the doctor who ordered blood tests and a urine test on myself. The midwife took my bloods and urine sample and popped them into an 'Urgent' bag. "Make sure we get these back asap." The doctor said to the midwife. The doctor then turned to me. "I'm going to check your discharge." 'Oh yeah' I thought, 'that's why I came in here in the first place.' I had forgotten all about the bright green discharge I just saw that morning at home. The doctor then got out the same plastic cervical instrument they use for pap smears. He took a swab of the cervical mucus and put it in another 'Urgent' bag and sent it out of the room. The doctor then left.
I can't remember how many minutes past but the doctor soon returned. "We can't let you leave the hospital, you have pre-eclampsia. It's very lucky you came in. Your liver is not going well and you have protein in your urine. Normal liver levels are between 7-56. Your liver is 700+, it's really not good." The doctor then went on to explain more about pre-eclampsia. Something about the placenta rejecting the fathers DNA and shutting down all my organs. Cool! "You can have liver failure, or a seizure. We need to have an urgent meeting to see what we will do with you." And out the doctor and midwife went.
By this stage is was 10am. What the hell was that pain? Oh no, contractions! They had really started now! I couldn't believe it. Everywhere on the internet said 'you'll know when they start, you won't have to second guess it!' and it was true, this was real life contractions. So I think I was in early labour when the midwife could see my contractions were regular, and the cervical exam may have just tipped me over the edge into full blown labour. I couldn't lay in the hospital bed any longer. Alex and I swapped positions. I sat upright on the couch and Alex laid on the hospital bed. They were manageable, and coming every 20mins or so. When the midwife poked her head back in the door I let her know I had started getting contractions. "Oh good!" She said. "That's a good thing." By this stage Alex and I were starving. "Can we go to the canteen to get food?" I asked the midwife. "There's cereal packets and milk just across from your room, and there's tea, coffee and juice. Help yourself." I ended up having rice bubbles and an orange juice and Alex settled for a packet of tea biscuits. Those two biscuits would end up being the only food Alex ate for that entire day LOL.
The doctor and his entourage came back in around 11am. "We have 3 cesarean's booked in today and 2 people are already in the labour ward. We may need to keep you in overnight and deliver you tomorrow. We are just worried about seizures due to your pre eclampsia and now that you are have started contractions it does change things. We have a doctor change over at 12pm so we will have a meeting with the new doctor then and come and discuss with you." And out they went.
The contractions were getting pretty painful. I found squatting as low as I could get was the most bearable position I could be in. My labour bag was at home and Alex wasn't allowed to leave to get it (due to hospital covid protocols at the time). I had hired a tens machine and had lots of pain management props sitting at home in my labour bag. I couldn't believe it! (HOT TIP: keep your labour bag in the car at all times once you have it packed!) "Massage my back please oh my god." I asked Alex. It did help. One of my contractions lasted 6 whole minutes! They were coming about 5-10mins apart now but no definite pattern. The doctor came back in the room. "You'll be having a c section at 4pm today." And out he went. OMG.. Alex and I looked at each other. Was this really happening.
Me at approx 11am in hospital scolding at Alex waiting for my next contraction. I put on 30kg+ this pregnancy!
The midwife then came back in and asked if we had heard from the doctor. We told her that he said I was delivering at 4pm today. She said to not take that as gospel because it wasn't his call to make, and it was to be the call of the new doctor changing over with him at 12pm. She said the doctor will show the new doctor all my results and put forward his plan, and it was up to the new doctor to accept that plan of attack or create a totally new one. And so we waited for the new doctor to come in and discuss what her thoughts were.
The new doctor post change over came in and introduced herself and bought in an ultrasound machine. "I'm just going to get an ultrasound of your baby to check its position. Can you come lie on the bed." Oh god... I was mid contraction and had to get up and lie on the bed. I told her I'll just be a moment as I froze through another contraction. I could feel it starting to subside so I quickly jumped onto the bed before the next contraction arrived. "Your baby does not fit in your hips. It is sitting up and to the left of your pelvis. It should be right down low in your pelvis by now, so its not going to come out. You need a c section. You can't wait until tomorrow. The cord is also around your baby's neck. If we leave you overnight while you are already contracting you could have a cord prolapse because the baby won't fit out and the only thing your body can birth is the cord. You will be a priority delivery today." And out she went.
By this stage it was approx 1pm. Not even moments later the head of surgery, nurses and midwives piled into my room and a student doctor. "Ok lets get you ready for surgery." Said the head of surgery. "Your next to deliver, we need to take you now." Off came my clothes and on went the beautiful hospital compression ted socks while bungs were being placed in my hands for surgery. My contractions were not slowing down. I was wheeled off to surgery sitting upright on my hospital bed looking like I was driving a car because I could not lie down during contractions. My next contraction lasted the whole trip down to the theatre! Half way to the theatre Alex was pulled away by the nurses to go get changed into his scrubs. Once I arrived to theatre I had to jump off the bed and put on red sole grippy socks and then walk into the theatre and set myself up on the operating table. As I walked in, the doctor and nurses were starting to set up. I knew a nurse in there so that was good to see a familiar face and speak with her. The doctor came over and spoke to me. She saw that my birthday was the day before and told me we both share the same birthday. What are the odds! The anaesthetist then came in and introduced himself and I remembered him from my gallbladder surgery. "I'm going to insert your spinal block. Just a small sting beforehand which will be the local going into your back." It didn't hurt at all, and I definitely didn't feel the spinal going in. "Ok you are right to lie down now. In a few moments you should feel your legs getting heavy." I don't think even a minute had passed before I could feel my legs starting to get warm and heavy. Then they were numb. Not completely numb, but my legs felt heavy but hollow. I couldn't feel my contractions any more thank the lord! The spinal block felt claustrophobic, like I knew my legs were very much there but I couldn't move them. It was a really weird sensation. "I've just inserted a morphine drip into your arm". Said the anaesthetist. "OK starting in 3, 2, 1.." Said the doctor, but where was Alex? He wasn't even in the room yet?
"Suction! I need more suction! The suction is not working!" yelled the doctor. Off to a great start already and Alex wasn't even in the room! The sheet they hung in front of me to block my view of the operation was also feeling very claustrophobic. It was hung literally in line with my ears, so the sheet was sitting on my neck. I had my arms out holding the pole on either side of my head that was supporting the sheet, as my arms were pushing the sheet back off my face and making me feel like I could breath a bit better. "Ok bring him in." And then Alex entered. "You can sit here and hold her hand." The midwife said to Alex. He held my hand for about 10 seconds before the sheet fell back on top of my neck and the claustrophobia kicked in again, so I had to let go and resume my previous position of holding onto the pole to keep the sheet away from my neck.
"More compression! More compression!" The doctor was yelling. I didn't know that they have to do manual contractions on your stomach to birth the baby through the c section incision. I thought they just cut you open and pull the baby out, but thanks to all this yelling from the medical team I now knew it was a bit more complicated than that. Someone was on my chest pressing down like they were trying to resuscitate me. The compression presses were so hard, but due to the spinal all I could feel was emmense pressure. Like my ribs were about to break. "Jeez, are you alright? Can you feel that?" Asked Alex as I was literally being rocked from side to side on the operating table from the compressions. "Nope, I can't feel it." I replied as I could see and feel that I was being violently rocked. "The cut needs to be bigger!" yelled the doctor. It was all a bit full on. But then we heard it, a baby cry. It was loud and strong. I was morphined up and just stared in disbelief towards the sound. OMG. A baby cry. "14:49." said the doctor. "Wow! That is a big baby!" said a nurse from behind the sheet.
Me holding my sheet off my face in theatre. I had already felt claustrophobic from the spinal, and then to have a heavy sheet sitting on my neck and in my face just topped it off! I had to hold it out out of my face
I could see just to the right of me was where our baby was laying on a table with the midwife and Alex. Alex ran back over with tears "it's a boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "PARKER!" I yelled. "Parker's here!" The best feeling in the world was not knowing the gender of our baby until that very moment.
Alex cut the cord and brought Parker over to me. He scored perfect 9's on his APGAR. His skin was perfect - no blood, no vernix, no wrinkles, nothing! I thought I would cry the first time I saw our baby, but I think I was too morphined up to be emotional. I just stared and smiled at him in disbelief. "Do you want to hold him?" Alex asked me. I still had the sheet up over my face and still felt too claustrophobic, so I told him I would hold him once the sheet was down. The head of theatre then said they usually wheel the mum off to the recovery room and leave the baby with the dad for half an hour, but he said I didn't need the recovery room as I was doing very well. He said I could just have 15 minutes skin to skin with Parker while still in the theatre. They moved me onto a hospital bed and Alex put Parker on my chest. Alex then took some photos and was texting our families and before we knew it we were being wheeled back to my new hospital room, room 22. I arrived back on ward around 4pm-ish, and facetimed my family. Parker had to be dressed in hospital clothing as Alex and I had come to the hospital with literally nothing. It wasn't until later that night Alex was allowed to leave to go home to get my hospital bag. All the organising and prepping of my labour bag and Parker's first outfit and I didn't have any of it with me! Alex then stayed until about 10pm that night, and by that time I was exhausted from the emotional, crazy, and chaotic day we had just had.
The midwives looked after Parker that night so I could sleep. In the morning they told me Parker had drank all of the colostrum I had taken in, which was a fair bit! (In future pregnancies I will definitely start expressing colostrum with an electric pump from as early as I can. If I had of known how much Parker would drink on that first night I would have started a couple of weeks earlier (I started pretty late) and I would have expressed twice a day instead of once).
Moral of our birth story - you can never be too organised with your hospital bag and always read the c section information in your pregnancy research. You just never know what is going to happen.
HOB x
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