WELCOME BABY ELVA JEAN WATTERS

So, I woke up Monday morning (December 3rd 2012) at 3:00 am (I have been in the hospital for the last 2 week)  because I started bleeding again. I was 35 weeks along that day and had spent 6 weeks in the hospital in total. This time, however, the bleeding was really watery blood and there was quite a bit of it leaking out at a constant rate. The resident checked to see if my water had broke, which they have done many times before. I was sure in had not and the test was negative. The watery blood continued and when Dr. Fahey (who is amazing by the way) came in at 7:30 am or so, she said they were going to check again. This time it was positive for amniotic fluid and I was supprised. Dr. Fahey said that if my water broke after 34 weeks they would induce me as the risk of infection with baby staying inside out weighed the risks and set backs of baby being out at that time. It was also mentioned that my water probably broke early because the uterus was so agitated by bleeding throughout the pregnancy and this type of thing happens with chronic bleeds. They had been telling me this all along during my hospital stays but I still thought I would make it to 38 weeks and they would have to break my water like they did with Caeleb. I must admit, I was shocked that this was happening and called Chris right away who then took the day off of work to come and be with me. I got all my stuff packed up and they took me upstairs to the Labour and Delivery unit at around 9:00 am. Chris had arrived at almost precisely this time and brought my stuff with us. They started me on the Oxytocin drip around 10:30 and the contractions started. They were not bad at all at first and there were a few times that they seemed to stall out. My nurse was very nice. Her name was Kristen. She turned up the rate periodically and the contractions started to get stronger and stronger. I got up and walked around the unit with Chris and saw many nurses that I knew from the Antepartum unit (they work in both places). I wasn't in too much pain yet and wanted gravity to work so I tried walking alot. Dr. Birch (head of obstetrics) was on call today and he came and talked to us briefly. By early afternoon the contractions were starting to get stronger and stronger and more regular. I tried different positions to labour. At around 2:00 pm I was 3 cm dialated. Chris helped me to a chair for a while. At around 4:45 pm, I was getting back to the bed from the chair when I started bleeding fairly heavy with big clots.  The charge nurse checked me and I was still at 3-4 cm dialated which was a bit dissapointing because the contractions were painful by then.

Then things started happening fast! Baby's heartrate dropped to 60-90 beats/min and stayed that way. The charge nurse called for Dr. Birch who came in quickly. He put in a probe in baby's scalp that more acurately measured the heartrate (I think). Things were not getting better. I think the heart rate came up for a few seconds and then dropped again. I looked at Dr. Birch and asked, "Emergency c-section?" Then Dr. Birch said, " lets go and get this baby out." The nurse and Dr. Birch hurried me and my bed down the hall to the OR passing people I recognized at the nurses station. Quite the scene really. He said, "where is everyone," and the charge nurse yelled, "clear the break room," and then a whole bunch of people flooded the operating room. I hopped from my bed to the C-section table. I saw Dr. Birch come out of a room having scrubbed up for surgery and I remember wondering how he got there and back so quick. I also remember seeing my Labour nurse and a resident that has seen me alot. I saw a familiar face of a nurse named Myra who I just love so that was a tender mercy. She had predicted that I would deliver 35 or 36 weeks and she has been right before so I should have expected this. She has alot of experience. She started scrubbing my tummy down with antiseptic solution for surgery prep and I started whimpering a bit because this was all happening so fast and I was scared and baby's heartrate was not coming up. I remember praying and telling Chris to call Camellia. He wasn't aloud in the room and had to leave. The anethisiologist showed up fast and I knew that they would have to put me under completely as I have seen this type of surgery before (if you have an epidural in they can freeze the lower half of your body so that you can stay awake for the delivery - I didn't have one in). I asked and he said they were putting me to sleep. I remember him being older and really nice. They put a mask on my face and I asked "are you putting me to sleep now," and he said yes and then I felt something go in my IV and then I don't remember anything else.

I woke up as I was being wheeled into the recovery room and I remember feeling really good and relaxed. The first thing I remember someone saying is "baby is okay." I love that person for saying that first thing before I really knew where I was and who I was for that matter! That was the thing I needed to know right then! Chris was right there dressed up in scrubs with a scrub hat on looking handsome as usual and he said that little Elva had come out screaming and scored really well on her apgar scores - a 9 I think. She weighed 5 lbs even. They took her to the NICU really fast and Chris had followed her there. He tried to show me pictures but everything was so blurry and I could not focus my eyes. I was really calm though and felt good otherwise. My throat did feel funny and I couldn't talk well but I was trying and I remember thinking that I was doing so well becuase I was so calm and asking questions that made sense. They had to stick a tube down my throat in surgery so I couldn't talk well the rest of the night after they took it out. Elva was born at 5:05 pm. Everything happened from problem beginning to baby born in less than 20 minutes. They gave me a morphine drip I could control myself and showed me the placeta. The anethisiologist came in and shook my hand and Dr. Birch came in as well. He said that my placenta had abrupted more during labour and there was a clot forming on top of a clot by-under the placenta. They said I lost about a litre of blood. The nurse in recovery showed me the placeta and told me where the clots were. The placeta could have looked healthier and the umbilical cord was smaller than normal which I find interesting and am not sure as to why.

When I was more awake, they wheeled my bed to the NICU so I could see little girl. She was in an incubator and looked so peaceful. They said she was doing great and really, compared to most of the babies there, she is big and doing very well. Camellia came to see me while Doug and Nathan watched the little boys and Chris took her up to see Elva. I was so drowsy and slept on and off in a deep sleep that night in postpartum. I didn't worry about baby girl as I knew she was in good hands. That was two days ago and yesterday I went to the nursery about 4 times for feeds and cuddles. I was pretty exhausted and sore yesterday as well but feel pretty good today. Elva is doing quite well with bottle feeds and is slowly getting the hang of breastfeeding. Chris took off work the last two days and today is working part of the day. I am going to go up and see little Elva after breakfast and am excited. I will get discharged later this afternoon and Elva is getting moved this morning to the Peter Laugheed hospital as she doesn't need to be in this 3rd level NICU right now. She is doing well - a feeder grower is what we call them. Well, that is our story. What an adventure the last several months have been. I am so grateful that we have had such wonderful care here at the Foothills and that I made it to 35 weeks. I am going to miss my nurses, doctors and support staff. We feel so blessed that things turned out well and that little Elva is here safely. Monday was an interesting day but we were given the strength to get through it and we count our blessings.

[nggallery id=2]