The Labor & Delivery Story

Jan. 5- Admitted to hospital to be monitored for high blood pressure-
 little did I know, I would be induced later on that evening

Well I've been terrified of being pregnant and of labor and delivery long before I was married, and long before having a child was even on my radar. The pregnancy part- not so bad in my experience, aside from some minor annoyances. The labor and delivery however- about a thousand times worse than I ever feared, and my fear was BIG. Looking back on those 6 days in the hospital, I have absolutely no idea how I survived the ordeal. The only explanation I can come up with is that there were many, many people praying for me, because on the day Hannah was born, I was so strangely calm, even though I had every reason to just totally lose it. The other reason I made it through is my rock, Stephen. I love him about a thousand times more than I loved him before all this. He was by my side the entire time, giving me strength and encouragement. He's the best man in the whole world, and I can only pray that Hannah will one day marry a guy as great as her daddy. 

Here's the run-down of our 6-day stay at the hospital:

Tuesday January 5: 

-At my 37 week doctor's appointment I get admitted to the hospital again for high blood pressure

-I get hooked up to a blood pressure cuff, and baby monitors and have to collect my urine for 24 hours...fun times

-At about 9 pm the on-call doctor comes in and tells me there's no reason to prolong the pregnancy with my high blood pressure issues, and suggests we do an induction

-The nurse inserts the first of four IV's into my arm... very painful

-The doctor inserts a balloon catheter to dilate my cervix... hurt like hell and I'll leave it at that 

-Later that night I wake up in a panic because they gave me a lot of Ambien so I could sleep, and I woke up shaking and really scared and confused

Wednesday, January 6:

-They start me on the pitocin drip at 6 am to start contractions- the goal for the day was to get the balloon catheter to fall out

-I labor through the morning, but it was manageable

-The combination of the pain meds I was on plus the Ambien still in my system made me really sick and poor Stephen spent the day catching my throw-up in a bucket

-By the evening the balloon has moved down, but the doctor still has to manually remove it- let me just say, I should have had the epidural BEFORE this procedure... it was terrible

-After a day of laboring, the doctor decides to give me a break from the pitocin, give me a chance to eat a real meal and take a shower. The plan was to start the pitocin again at midnight

-After freshening up we tried to go to sleep for a while, but I end up having a panic attack and just totally freaking out. The nurse, Lauren, was so sweet to me and calmed me down. They change the plan to letting us sleep all night, and starting the induction back up at 6am instead. I feel defeated, but I think it was the best decision. 

Thursday, January 7:

-That morning my doctor breaks my water... (do I even need to specify that it hurt real bad?)

-I labored all morning until about noon, but then I couldn't take the contractions anymore. They were much stronger than the day before

-I get the epidural at noon and felt much better afterwards

-The worst part about the afternoon was that I was no longer allowed to have any ice chips anymore. I have never been so thirsty in my life! 

-The day drags on and I don't make much progress. By 9 pm I am only dilated 6 cm, where I have pretty much been stuck all day

-The doctor comes in and does an ultrasound to check on Hannah. They find out that her brow presentation is not optimal for delivery (This means instead of her little chin tucked into her chest, her head and neck were slightly extended.)

-They also find out that she is a little in distress, so the laborist comes in and explains to us that a c-section is our best option

-They prep me for surgery and I could write pages and pages on this and how terrified I was, but I really just kind of want to forget the horror of this part of the story

-Stephen finally gets to come into the operating room, and sits up by my head and I feel better

-He shows me Hannah once she's out and then goes to the nursery with her

-They put me in a recovery room for an hour and I just remember being in so much pain. It took them a while to get it under control

-They finally take me to our room and I'm joined by Stephen and Hannah. I have no idea what time it was at this point- midnight maybe.

-The nurse helps me breastfeed Hannah... I just remember being more exhausted and tired and just DONE than ever before in my life

Hannah Grace Summers | January 7, 2016 @ 10:17pm
 7 lbs 14 oz | 21 inches

Friday, January 8:

-This day is a blur... I was hooked up to a catheter, an IV, had these annoying vibrating boots on my legs to prevent blood clots, and I threw up a lot. I couldn't keep any food down, and I was dehydrated. 

-Really late Friday night, I finally got unhooked from everything and was able to walk to the bathroom with help

1st family picture

Saturday, January 9:

-Things started looking up a little bit as I continued to recover, and I finally got to take a shower

-Breastfeeding got a little bit easier since I could sit in a chair instead of doing it in bed, and I was able to bend my arm to hold her without a dumb IV in the way

-Out of like 12 nurses we had while we were in the hospital- we had the most wonderful nurse, Angie, today. She was so sweet and patient with us and really took her time teaching me how to feed Hannah

Sunday, January 10:

-My blood pressure spikes again a little bit so they keep a close eye on me

-Hannah also develops jaundice so they had to do several blood tests on her. The jaundice wasn't bad enough to do the light treatment, but they want us to go to the pediatrician the next day.

-We are finally released after 6 long days to go home around 1pm!!!

-I cried in the car leaving the hospital parking lot.... I felt like I had been in prison when I realized that I hadn't been outside in six whole days.

Jan. 10- Leaving the hospital- finally!

Hannah's birth story was just a crazy ordeal and I'm glad I didn't have any idea going into it how painful and scary it would be. I really feel like a survivor and like I can do absolutely anything now. I'm so relieved to be home now with Stephen and our baby girl and getting settled into life as a family of three :)

Hannah's 1st doctor appointment- jaundice levels are down!