Friday, December 14, 2012

Happy 1 Month Birthday, Mara!

Oh my goodness, how things have changed...

The Surprise
Last blog post was November 13th, when I wished the doctor would just tell me, Oh, you can just have this baby now.... be careful what you wish for! While my wish came true, it was because I had developed preeclampsia. I got to my appointment and had to wait 40 minutes in the waiting room. I felt like poo. I was having a hard time breathing, my back hurt, and I felt especially exhausted. When the nurse tested my urine, it was at a +4 for protein (not a good sign)...I told her I'd had a lot of water and I didn't know why my proteins were so high, but she said my H20 intake had nothing to do with it.. then she asked how my blood pressure had been at previous appointments.."Great! Totally normal!" I responded.... only to have her take my blood pressure multiple times before informing me that it was very high. The Bish came in and checked the results of my 24 hour urine sample from the weekend (the ol' pee in the jug deal from the last post) and told me that my protein count was 3,000........and the norm was 200 for a day..... whoa. He walked over to me, smiled (as The Bish always does), and said, "I think we're going to have a baby."

WHAT?!

He told me to just walk over to the hospital (across the side street), go up to labor and delivery, and tell them he sent me. The Bish wanted to first see if my blood pressure would go down with a magnesium drip through an IV...if not, I would get induced and we'd be meeting Mara a little early!

"So, Doc, what are the chances I'm going to go home tonight?" I asked.

"Oh, I'd say about 2 percent," he replied.

"Um, what are the chances I'll have a baby in the next day?"

"About 75 percent."

Holy smokes!! I was shaking. I called Mike as I gathered my things.

"Hey babe, what are you up to?" I asked.

"I'm at the bike store about to buy a helmet," Mike said...

"Oh, that's nice... um, do you want to come to the hospital?"

"Why, what's going on?" he asked, panicked.

"Well, I have preeclampsia and we're probably going to have a baby in the next day or so."

"Are you serious?"

"Yep, I'm walking over now. Meet ya there....."


The Labor & Birth of Miss Mara Louise
I got to the hospital and, still in shock, informed the nurses that... "Doctor Bishop sent me..I have preeclampsia...and I think I'm going to be induced...?" Once in my cozy hospital gown, Mike arrived (whew) and the nurses took turns at finding my veins for the IV. Apparently, they move. Three nurses had a go at it, and after two blown veins and four attempts, they found my vein. Honestly, that may have been the most painful part of my labor experience. I even told one of the nurses in my nicest voice possible that I didn't like her (which I later apologized for, but she understood, given that she blew the two veins)...

The magnesium drip was not a success, as you probably guessed. My blood pressure stayed high. The Bish came in, broke my water (does anyone not giggle the first time this happens? It totally felt like I peed all over myself), and true labor began. At first, the contractions were absolutely bearable; I did the breathing I learned in labor class and felt like a champ....Then they gave me pitocin. The contractions were lasting 90 seconds and 2 minutes apart (that's a 30 second recovery time). Consistent with her positioning during my pregnancy, Mara had her little feet up against my ribs. While I didn't have back labor (which I hear I dodged a bullet on that one!), each contraction came with a pretty intense sensation in my ribs as everything squished down on baby girl. I lasted 2 hours, and then I asked for an epidural.

Side note: During this time, Mike was trying to juggle breathing with me, talking through a presentation with his coworker for the next day, and eating dinner. (He was truly a wonderful coach.) The only problem was...he ate Chinese for dinner...I'm not a huge fan of Chinese food, in general...well, when my sweet loving wonderful thoughtful coach of a husband came over to breathe through those intense 90sec/2min contractions with me, he breathed stinky Chinese food in my face. NOT really what I wanted. I finally said, "You need to go brush your teeth, your breath STINKS!" He laughed. I didn't. Seriously. Word to dads-to-be: If you have to eat while your wife is in labor, please keep a breath mint or gum or a toothbrush nearby. Thanks!

Back to the epidural... I am really not a fan of needles. I mean, who is? But I'm the type that has been working on not passing out while getting poked. I think it'll be a life-long crusade...anyway, I was super nervous about the epidural... oh my gosh! It was nothing! I was so happy that it was nothing, I couldn't even believe the anesthesiologist had already put it in when he announced that he was done! And ahhhhhh the relief after it took effect. I was happy and ready to meet my baby girl. I think it's amazing that women can go without the pain medication... I just am not one of those people. My goal for labor was to be happily present as I welcomed my daughter, and for me, the pain would have not made labor that experience for me.

When I began to push, I made the decision to have a mirror above me so I could watch Mara come into the world. That was the most amazing experience. Honestly, I kind-of liked labor. Now, don't get me wrong, I definitely still felt Mara come out..epidurals don't completely block the pain...but it was such an exciting thing, to watch your body work and literally produce a baby. Wow. Incredible. I didn't think I would want to see anything, but I highly recommend a mirror, for those of you ladies who think you might be interested.



The Aftermath
My stay at the hospital was a bit longer than we had planned. Instead of 2, I was there for 5 days... my preeclampsia developed into the HELP syndrome. I stayed on the magnesium drip because my blood pressure was still startlingly elevated. I was at a high risk for a blood clot that could travel to my heart and kill me. At the same time, my platelets were dropping by the day (which, contrary to the blood clot risk, could cause me to bleed out). So a blood transfusion was on the back-burner. I had to have my blood taken every 4 hours. Then, one evening, that same feeling of not being able to breathe came back (it had begun the Sunday before). It became more acute. I was stuck with another IV needle and rushed downstairs to the radiology room, where I had Xrays taken. In the middle of the night, I was sent down again for a scan of sorts (something like an MRI but it was a donut-shaped deal, not a full-body scanner). They thought I was having a blood clot. Luckily, I wasn't..but I got to wear super special (and supremely uncomfortable) compression socks that went halfway up my thighs as well as compression wraps to help prevent a clot from happening. On the bottom, I looked like a banged-up Little Bo Peep. On the top, I looked like a heroin addict. They were having a hard time finding places in my arms to draw blood because they were all bruised and the veins had been tapped out. Ugh. No fun at all. Not to mention, the magnesium drip made me feel groggy and caused me to lose my appetite. I had an EEG, an EKG, a couple X-rays, and constant monitoring. I knew all of the doctors at that hospital... people checking on my heart, my kidneys, my lungs, my liver..

The good news? My blood pressure began to go down [slightly]. And they gave me a diuretic in my IV to flush out all of the fluids, which made breathing easier because apparently, I had a ton of fluid not only built up in my limbs but around my organs. I lost 8 pounds overnight from all of the fluid leaving my body. What relief I felt! My liver and kidneys started to function normally, my platelet count began to increase...after going in on Tuesday evening, I finally got to leave on Sunday afternoon with pain med and blood pressure prescriptions. Yay!

Happy to be leaving the hospital soon!

Family time :)


The Homecoming and First Four Weeks
When we got home, I sat down with Mara and began to cry. I was SO happy to finally be home! As I cried with relief and Mike bent down to give me a sweet kiss, Mara farted really loudly! We all have our own ways of expressing our happiness, I guess. :)

Mara has completely changed our lives for the better and made us appreciate sleep like never before. She's a noisy little thing, grunting and cooing when she nurses or falls asleep. She also has a temperamental digestive system...even with gas drops, Mara still cries in pain with gas bubbles at times. I've cut out dairy milk and coffee (*tear) because they seem to be triggers... what's really funny, though, is when she does tummy time and toots. She likes to do little combos, like coughing & tooting, crying & tooting, or sneezing & tooting. Makes things more fun.

Ah, but the MOST fun is when she has explosive poops. Once, it was when she was wearing a sleeper sack (nightie) and it was all over the sack. Well, you can't just unbutton it and take it off... you have to go over the head... so she had poopy up her back and in her hair. .... That was her first bath day! Yesterday, I went to change her and said, "Please don't pee all over yourself when mommy reaches for the other diaper" (she's good at this...sometimes she pees 2 or 3 times before I get the next diaper on her...God save me if/when we have a boy!). Well, Mara respected the peepee request, but wet-pooped alllllll over her changing table. Of course, not before she sharted on my hand as I reached to wipe her. Ahh, you just have to laugh. I have been pooped on, peed on, and puked on....and showers aren't always in the cards during the day, so you can imagine how sexy I look when Mike gets home. ;)


Mara Lou is officially one month old today! I can't believe a whole month has gone by. Mike is excited for when she can walk around and play, but I look at her every day and plead with her to stop growing so fast. Time is already flying by and I don't like it! She makes the funniest faces and has the "Blue Steel" and grimace down to a T when she's awake. When she sleeps, she smiles and even laughs once in a while. I am looking forward to the day when she smiles or laughs in reaction to us!



Do your eyes hurt yet? I'll give them a break for now...next post will have some 'first-time mommy' stories about car seats and baths....and I'm sure there will be more to tell by then, too!