So things got a bit crazy back in May. The baby was supposed to be due June 11, but at the 36-week appointment with the doc, I was told that the baby was very small for her gestation age. So small, in fact, that if not induced within the next week or so, could potentially result in stillbirth (...!!!).
Imagine our alarm upon being informed that the baby that we were expecting in three weeks turned out to be arriving in three days! My husband and I had to scramble to get some last minute shopping and prepping done for the baby, including calling my mother-in-law to tell her what's going on (she was planning on flying over when the baby arrives to help us out).
As for me, I had to rush to the HR at work to change the start/end dates on my application for maternity leave. After all that's done, I spent the weekend relaxing with my husband and his mother to prep my body for the labor. I checked in at the hospital Sunday evening May 22. They started the induction process that night, which should result in the baby being delivered the next morning.
Well, few hours into it, around midnight, the contraction started. And it hurt. Like a horrible, horrible menstrual cramp. I was planning on going au natural, no pain meds, vaginal childbirth, but the pain was so bad that I finally caved in asked for an epidural...and glad I did in the end. I was fully dilated by 6 AM, at which I point I called my husband (who had gone home for the night) to come back to the hospital ASAP.
A few minutes later, I noticed that the line on the screen monitoring the baby's heart rate suddenly dipped. Immediately, I knew something was wrong, and my worry was confirmed when the nurses started scrambling around, asking where my doctor was (she was apparently still on her way); even with my epidural-fogged mind, I could still sense the panic in the room. That's when one of the nurses said, "We are taking you into the O.R."
...O.R...? The... Operating...Room.??
I asked what was going on. The nurses told me that the baby wasn't tolerating the contractions, which caused her heart rate to drop...which meant that they will have to get the baby out quickly, i.e. emergency C-section. They rushed me to the OR, gave me anesthesia...and my mind quickly drifted off elsewhere. All I remember was the overhead lights swirling into this marbled liquid silver that spanned my whole view...and someone caressing my head (it was my husband). I couldn't see or feel what was going on down there, which was probably a good thing. Unfortunately, my husband arrived just in time to see me on the operating table with my blood all over the floor while the doctors quickly stapled up the gaping incision on my belly...and while other doctors frantically resuscitated the purple, limp baby. She wasn't breathing at first, but after the resuscitation, she started breathing on her own and managed to avoid the NICU.
It was several hours later that I woke up and finally got to see my baby. Yeah, I ended up missing that skin-to-skin immediately after birth 😞 I also couldn't have her with me in my room, since she had to be monitored in the special care unit. But what really broke my heart was when we had to leave her at the hospital due to her prolonged jaundice when I got discharged. To come home to an empty crib... the blankets spread out but no baby to swaddle... I can't even imagine what the parents of babies that died at the hospital have to go through.
After a lot of phototherapy (the "tanning bed") she finally got over her jaundice and slowly but surely, started gaining weight and strength.
We were off to a rocky start, but she is now a healthy, happy baby!
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