On Monday February 7 th I was sitting in the maternal fetal monitoring office with a fetal monitor on my belly and a blood pressure cuff strapped to my arm. It was around 11:15 am and the nurse had just informed me that the levels of amniotic fluid around the baby was looking great which was exactly the news I wanted to hear. I had been coming in for non-stress tests on the baby for the last month, twice a week, due to my high blood pressure. The week before my amniotic fluid reading was down along with elevated blood pressure levels and the nurse informed me that if my fluid dropped below 9 cm that I would be induced sooner than Friday the 11th. I drank tons of water that weekend so my fluid would be normal so when the nurse informed me that my fluid reading was above 14 I felt relieved.... Friday here we come! But then the nurse took my blood pressure... 142/96. GREAT! (sarcastic tone) After having a successful 20 min. test on the baby the nurse took my blood pressure again... 156/98," WHAT, but I've been laying here for 20 min doing nothing". My heart started to sink. "I think I might be having this baby today or tomorrow." 5 min. later the nurse took my blood pressure again.... 178/103. "You're done", she said and with a quick call to my dear Dr. Brown I was ordered to immediately go down to labor and delivery. The nurse even offered to walk me down. I declined, took the elevator and walked straight out to the car and drove home. I hadn't taken a shower that morning, hadn't said goodbye to Awesome or even had him ready with an overnight bag for our neighbors and I wanted Scott to be with me. My first thought as I got in the car, "I better not have a stroke"! and I rushed off for home. I called my Dr's nurse and told her that I had to run home and that I'd be back to the hospital in an hour. She was not happy with me but was she going to do!
I called Scott, told him that our plans for a Friday delivery had be thwarted thanks to my stupid high blood pressure. When I got home I jumped in the shower, lathered my body in sweet smelling lotion and quickly did my hair, Scott met me at home and put all our gear for the hospital in the truck and then with tears streaming down my face I said goodbye to my sweet two year old who had no clue what was going on.
When we arrived at IMC Hospital I thought for sure my blood pressure would be through the roof. After getting in the lovely hospital gown and getting strapped up to equipment they took my blood pressure and the first reading read... 128/78. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!!!! I just busted my butt to get here based off a high blood pressure reading and now it's the lowest it's been in weeks. This body is crazy. Either way, I settled in for the long haul. Dr. Brown came in and explained to me our induction plan. At 3 pm she started me on Misoprostol which is supposed to soften the cervix. Since I was not even close to being dilated or effaced in anyway we were starting from scratch. So for the next 7 hours I was sucking on a small pill to help get things going. It's was around 7:30 pm when I experienced my first significant contraction. I was having my blood pressure taken every 10 min along with different nurses coming in and out to check the progress on my cervix. Things were not progressing but this is how it continued for the remainder of the night and into he next morning plus I was having contractions ever 30-60 seconds. Finally my Dr. came in around 7am that next morning (Feb. 8th) to also check my progress and she mentioned that the cervix finally was softening. She tried to break my water which was unsuccessful and then she decided to have me start the Petocin. After the Petocin was introduced, I started to contract a lot harder and quicker. Scott kept asking me why I hadn't asked for the epidural yet. I figured after having the nurses checking me all night and then having my Dr. try to break my water without any meds how bad could it get, really, I mean, I had endured several evasive vaginal exams during the night; then Dr. Brown came in again two hours later and after practically climbing down the birth canal she finally broke my water. They also tried to insert a fetal heart monitor down there and after feeling like I had given birth the OPPOSITE direction several times I finally requested my epidural.
(sexy labor and delivery photos just don't exist)
The epidural was done quick and painless and the next thing I knew I was kind of regretting the block from pain. I started to feel like a rock with no control. I still had feeling in my left side but it was slowly getting numb. About 15 min after receiving my epidural the nurse called my dr. in. The baby's heart rate was dropping, mostly due to my heavy contractions. So, they gave me medication to stop the contractions to see if that would bring the baby's heart rate back up. It wasn't working. Dr. Brown looked down at me and said, "We are going to plan B, let's get this baby out!" I will never forget how quickly out of the wood work nurses and other doctors came rushing in. I was whisked away to the OR in a matter of minutes for an emergency c-section and I remember the worried look on Scott's face as I was whisked away. He was close behind and he himself was quickly prepped to be in the OR. This was not how I pictured my labor and delivery. I didn't want a C-section but with the risks involved I knew it was inevitable and I thanked my Heavenly Father right then and there for modern medicine and great doctors! In less then 5 min at exactly 12:01 pm I heard the sweet cry of my second miracle baby! Henry Michael Harmon was born into this world at 6 lbs. 3 oz. and 20 inches long! That beautiful cry, through my foggy haze of medication was sweet, real and wonderful. I could hear Scott in his amazement and through tears express his awe as well. What a wonderful experience to have together. I will never forget it!
(This is exactly what Scott looks like when he pulls his crazy
face. Like father like son)
Since this was a C-section delivery my days in the hospital were a lot longer than normal and then to make things worse, my blood pressure wasn't going down it was going up which prolonged my hospital stay. I was in the hospital from Monday to Saturday. I was getting antsy to get out of there and my sleep was next to nothing due to all the nurse interruptions and nightmares of my dying of some blood pressure complication. It was a stressful time. I was so thankful to Scott for staying with me in the hospital the whole time. I don't know what I would have done if he wasn't there. I love that man and thank him for that sacrifice. It was such a comfort to know he was just right there!
On Saturday February 12 Dr. Brown came into my hospital room around 10 am to visit with me. She told me that if my blood pressure was at or below 160/110 that I could finally go home. My first blood pressure reading later that morning was 186/108. FREAK. At 1 pm it was 168/98, still a no go. I was beside myself crying. "Just let me go home and my blood pressure will go down!" Finally around 3 pm it was just barely below the go mark and so I went home, for the love! What a relief that was.
It's been almost a month and I feel we are finally getting back into our new groove. Scott had three weeks off to be with all of us and I cried like a baby when he went back to work but I feel I've adjusted well since then. Of course I've had my emotional times but with some normality mixed in things are going well. I truly love being a mother and appreciate all the sweet moments that come with it!
