(Side note: People have asked what's going on in this picture. Unfortunately, I have no idea.)
Before the surgery I had to have an IV of fluids and one of antibiotics so my nurse got those started. Labor and Delivery was super busy that day (and stayed that way through our entire hospital stay) so the nurse that had started getting me ready for the surgery didn't end up being my nurse for the rest of the day. My new nurse was named Analisa and she was amazing. She had a personality that I immediately clicked with and she kept me calm and smiling and laughing up until we went to the OR and even through into recovery.
Dr. Reich came in about ten minutes before go time and talked a little more about the procedure. I had been curious about what she would do about my placenta. Did she cut through it or have to do a higher incision since my placenta was in front and low lying? She said that they always tried to cut low enough to miss the placenta but that they could safely go through it if they needed to.
We finished up some last minute details and then it was time to head to the OR. Brian followed my wheelchair down the hall but he had to sit outside of the actual OR while they got my anesthesia started and prepped me for surgery. As I've mentioned before, I've never actually had surgery so my only experience with ORs is from TV and the movies. And it seems to me that in those mediums the OR is always a dimly lit room which I guess looks good on TV but is pretty impractical (I mean, you want the doctor to be able to actually see what they are cutting, right?). But, anyway, that's what I knew of ORs so I was surprised to be wheeled into a screaming bright, freezing room.
There were eight to ten people already in the room getting ready and they immediately started introducing themselves to me and asking me a billion questions. Within minutes of being helped on to the table, four or five people were coming at me from all angles, attaching wires, checking IVs, telling me how to curve my back for the spinal, etc. and I was instantly overwhelmed. I was sitting up on the table, facing a bright white wall and my L&D nurse, Analisa, and I was scared. I couldn't curve my back the right way, I couldn't understand what they were asking me to do with my arms. I was just overwhelmed. Dr. Reich had come in by that point and instantly recognized that I was feeling anxious and scared. She came around to my side of the table, stood in front of me, and started asking me about my tattoos. I told her about each one and we talked a little about my studies in South Asia. Just the act of talking about something calmed me down and the spinal was in and I was lying down on the table in no time.
They finished prepping me, set up a drape at my chest level, and then someone called for Brian to come in. I was still so nervous and had the chills so they covered up my chest with a warm blanket. Brian came in and sat down by my head. When he sat down, someone popped over the drape and introduced herself as Dr. Grady, the pediatrician who would be attending Henry's birth. I immediately recognized her as a friend of Kelly's and said: "You're Leigh!" She looked surprised and I explained that we were really good friends with Dauphin and Kelly. She said: "Y'all are Oliver's parents? I've heard so much about that kid!" It felt so good to know that I was in Dr. Reich's hands and Henry was in Dr. Grady's. These are the exact people we would have chosen to attend his birth if we'd had the option.
Then it was time for the procedure to start. I told Brian: "Talk to me." He said: "About what?" And I said: "Anything." I needed to concentrate on something other than what was happening behind the drape. Dr. Reich had started the surgery and I could catch small pieces of her speaking to the person assisting her with the procedure and I didn't want to hear about the cutting, or going through layers of muscles, or the "uterine incision." I just wanted Brian to distract me until Henry was out. So, Brian talked. And talked. And talked. And kept my mind off of the tugging and pressure I was feeling while Dr. Reich worked her way down to Henry.
Brian talked the whole time but the thing I remember most is him asking me to help him with the lyrics to the Herman's Hermits song, "I'm Henry the VIII." So, while our son was being delivered Brian and I were reciting (almost as a chant): I'm Henry the eighth, I am. Henry the eighth, I am, I am. I got married to the widow next door. She'd been married seven times before. And everyone was a Henry (Henry!). She wouldn't have a Willie or a Sam. I'm her eighth old man, I'm Henry. I'm Henry the eighth, I am." I'm sure Dr. Reich thought we were crazy if she could hear us.
The surgery up until the time they got Henry out seemed to take forever but Brian ensures me it was really quick. I couldn't feel any pain but I could feel lots of pulling and tugging. Finally they got to the part where they were going to take Henry out of my uterus (is it obvious that I'm really struggling with the vocabulary of this whole thing? It's hard for me to describe his birth as something that I did and not something that was done to me and to him). There was a ton of pressure and then there was a loud cry. I remember staring into Brian's eyes and we both immediately teared up. He was out and he was screaming!
They held him up so I could seem him and then he and Brian went over to the warmer and scale to check him over. He gave a few strong cries but then got relatively quiet. They weighed him, dried him off and swaddled him and then brought him over to me so I could see him again. I spent a few minutes gazing at him (it's a really weird angle to see your child from) and then it was time for him to go to the transition nursery.
I don't remember at that point if I was told (or if they even knew) that he was having trouble breathing. The whole timeline of the rest of the day is a little hazy for me. But Brian went with him to the nursery and Dr. Reich set about stitching me back up. I remember very little about that part except her saying that my abs were really difficult to get through and that she could tell that I was an athlete. I also asked her what happened with my placenta and she said they ended up having to go through it because it was so low they couldn't get low enough to cut around it. So, it seems my low lying placenta was, in fact, a previa and I wasn't going to have a vaginal birth either way.
When they were done with me they wheeled me to recovery where I was started on a pitocin drip (that would last for the next 24 hours) and where my L&D nurse massaged my stomach every fifteen minutes to get my uterus to contract. Even with the spinal that HURT. I kept telling her that she used to be my favorite person but that we weren't friends anymore. Everyone (the crowd included Ann, Richard, Liz, and Gianna at this point) was out at the transition nursery watching Henry get checked out and I think that I was still ignorant at this point that he was having problems.
Brian had my phone so I was pretty cut off from what was happening. After awhile Ann came in and checked in on me. And then Richard. And then Liz. And then Brian. I'm sure by this point I had been told that he was struggling but I honestly have no idea when I was told or who told me. I do remember Dr. Grady coming in at some point late in my time in recovery and explaining to me that Henry was "grunting"and breathing really quickly. She told me that when babies are born vaginally, the act of pushing them through the birth canal clears the amniotic fluid out of their lungs. Because Henry didn't experience that (and didn't even experience the contractions of active labor) he had a bunch of fluid in his lungs and that was causing him to struggle to breathe. They had him on an oxygen hood to see if they could regulate his breathing but at this point he needed to stay in the transition nursery so they could keep an eye on him. (Usually the baby is brought to the mother in recovery so they can start to bond, nurse, etc. There was another couple in recovery at the same time as me and I remember how my heart broke when I heard the sound of their baby crying as the mother finally got a chance to hold her daughter. A chance I still hadn't had).
She also told me that babies only get six hours in the transition nursery and then they have to be discharged either to the mother's postpartum room or to the NICU. I do remember this was the first time anyone had said "NICU" to me. She told me she would give him every minute of those six hours to see if he would improve but she wanted me to be prepared in case he did need a stay in the NICU. I immediately broke down - I was so tired and so upset. I mean, we were twelve hours shy of full term, how could we be talking about the NICU? And I hadn't even held him yet. Dr. Grady listened to be bawl and then made me a promise. She promised me he wouldn't go to the NICU before I could get a chance to hold him. She looked me straight in the eye and said: "You will hold him before he goes to the NICU if he has to go. I will bring him to you myself." That put me more at ease although I was still really upset.
She also told me that babies only get six hours in the transition nursery and then they have to be discharged either to the mother's postpartum room or to the NICU. I do remember this was the first time anyone had said "NICU" to me. She told me she would give him every minute of those six hours to see if he would improve but she wanted me to be prepared in case he did need a stay in the NICU. I immediately broke down - I was so tired and so upset. I mean, we were twelve hours shy of full term, how could we be talking about the NICU? And I hadn't even held him yet. Dr. Grady listened to be bawl and then made me a promise. She promised me he wouldn't go to the NICU before I could get a chance to hold him. She looked me straight in the eye and said: "You will hold him before he goes to the NICU if he has to go. I will bring him to you myself." That put me more at ease although I was still really upset.
To be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment