Thought I would post a little bit about what happened yesterday while I
have a quiet moment here in the hospital. As I posted earlier, I went
in on Sunday night thinking my water broke. Although the test for
amniotic fluid came up negative, they now think my water had actually
broken at that time because there wasn't much fluid around the baby
when he was born. They sent me home Sunday night and I slept a little
before waking up and getting my oldest off to his first day of
Kindergarten. Then I had an appointment with my OB and an ultrasound
which showed the baby measuring a lot smaller than he should have, so
my OB told me to go to the hospital yesterday afternoon and get
induced. We got here around 1:30pm and they hooked me up to the fetal
monitor and the contraction monitor to get started. It didn't take
long to realize that everytime I had a contraction (and I have been
having mild contractions like this for two weeks) the baby's heartbeat
would dip down very low. After monitoring us for a few hours and
watching this happen every 15 minutes, they decided there was no way
the baby would tolerate true labor (especially with strong pitocin
induced contractions) and they were afraid it would end in an emergency
C-section anyway. So the decision was made pretty quickly to get me
into the OR and do the C-section. I was really floored by this, after
having 3 normal vaginal labor/deliveries and healthy babies. I always
knew it was a possibility that I could have a C-section but still
wasn't prepared for it yesterday! But I just tried to buck up and stop
being a baby about it all and get it over with! The surgery itself
wasn't so bad (loved having a spinal for anesthesia!) and the baby came
out with the cord wrapped tightly around his head, so it was really the
best decision to have made. His cord was also short, so that may have
been making things worse. But he is healthy and not as small as they
expected, weighing 6 lbs. 7 oz and 19.5 inches long. He is my smallest
baby, all wiry with no baby fat yet and I think he looks a little bit
like an old man! But he is doing great, and nursing really well. I am
recovering okay, but finding this part to be the most difficult of
having a C-section. I hope everything gets back to normal soon for my
body... so strange to have a big scar down there, but it was worth it
for a healthy delivery. My kids have visited a couple of times and
they like their new baby brother. I will have a little bit of help at
home with the kids until next Tuesday morning, so I hope to feel much
better by then. Now I am just hobbling around the maternity ward!
Erin
Erin
