wow.
today, i am a MOM.
may 16th, 8PM - contractions began while having dinner. i didn't have an appetite all day that day. was too tired to eat.
8pm - 10pm: as contractions started to come on a regular pattern, we called the OB. she advised we time it, and when it becomes 2minutes apart, head for the hospital. tim and i didn't have a stopwatch nor any watch with a second hand, we used his MP3 player. every time i had a contraction, we were rocking out to 3 Doors Down. heh, 21st century is funny sometimes.
11pm: i was wiped out. contractions like.. really hurt and stuff. told tim to sleep a bit. i slept a bit too, with one eye squinched and my body in a fetal position, crying for mommy.
2am: contractions were now 2minutes apart. woke up tim. contemplated on putting some make up on and fixing my hair when my water broke. that freaked me out so we headed out the door. but not before i had tim throw away the trash.
2am - 12pm (july 17th) : was in labor. received antibiotics for my group strep b and had my epidural. was dilated 9cm. no pain but started a fever and violent shakes. nurse gave me tylenol.
12pm - 2pm: my shakes were uncontrollably violent, i passed out. my OB came in and when i came to, my fever was at 103.5 . Dr. said, i wasn't quite 10cm, the baby's head couldn't be turned, and due to my high high fever, we had to do an emergency C-section. tim and i looked at each other puzzled. we tried to talk the doctor out of having to give a c-sexn but of course, these things arent' exactly up to us.
2:15pm (may 17th): Riley is born.
2:45pm: i'm in recovery. nurse pokes and prods. tim is feeding me ice. nurse notices something wrong, my blood pressure drops very very fast. all of a sudden, i notice a group of doctors around my bed, my arms are being strapped in. tim is asked to move aside, he goes to the back of the room, not knowing what is going on. i black out.
from now until 24 hours later: i am sedated. in between the hours, they take me back into surgery for internal bleeding. they re-open my c-section incision, find nothing. they cut me vertically for what is called an exploratory of the abdomen surgery. they find that my body has gone into Septic Shock. my heart and lungs start to fail. i lose 6pints of blood and receive a blood transfusion. a serious infection takes over my body and they pump me with gallons of IV to keep my veins open.
my husband timothy has to go from the exilaration of seeing his first born to watching his wife barely hang on to her life. later he told me the walk from my operating room to where they took riley was the farthest walk he's ever made in his life. no one could tell him whether his wife nor his son would be okay.
Ma y19th: i wake up in the ICU. apparently i was asleep for 24 hours. my body was bloated 10x my normal size due to the IVs. i find out i have a T scar on my belly. i'm slowly trying to understand what happened in the last 2 days. the nurses bring in riley and i see him for the first time. i'm observed and poked and prodded for two days.
May 21: i am taken to the Woman's hospital. I'm in unbelievable pain. i can't move an inch while lying down. getting out of bed requires 2-3 people to help me up. for 2-3 days, getting out of bed and standing is the most painful thing i've ever endured. at times, i'd sit and cry because it hurt so much. i'm observed and poked and prodded 24/7.
May 29: i'm released out of the hospital.
i tested positive for the GBS test during my exam while i was pregnant. i was the unfortunate one in a million case where the GBS virus entered my bloodstream during labor and wreaked havoc and made my blood stop working. thank god i made it.
the road to recovery has been physically and emotionally trying. i was so healthy prior to delivery. now, i have 6 doctors looking after me, 4-5 medicines to take, and i'm just weak and tired. being a first time mom is trying as it is, being a first time mom after 3 major surgeries in 24hours and a long recovery to look forward to is to say the least, tough.
but then i look at Riley. and i see how my husband looks at riley. how he holds him, and soothes him. it doesn't make my surgeries and pain go away but it makes me forget about the painful experience. even just for that moment. and that is what makes it at least o.k.
i love my baby boy. and my husband.
