Since then it has just been a whirlwind!
Where to start? I was cramping all day long on the 11th but no contractions. I bounced on my ball all day long, then when Joey got home we met his parents for dinner at Chili's. I also had slight spotting, so I was hopeful I'd be in labor soon. After dinner we took a walk around the neighborhood and then settled in for the night. We went to bed around 10pm but I couldnt sleep so I was watching netflix on my iPad- around 11:30 I had my first contraction- caught me totally off guard! Right away they were 5-6 min apart. I waited until 1:30 am to wake up Joey and we called the doctor. The doctor on call told me I could come in but theres a chance they would send me home. by 2:30 we were at the hospital and I was 2cm...20 minutes later I hit 4cm...and we knew it was game time. We called both our moms and they came up right away. The plan was for both of them and Joey to be in the room with me.
I progressed pretty quickly, and easily- once I got my epidural I was feeling AWESOME ;) and then we just waited to hit 10 cm so I could start pushing. We were sure I'd have her by lunch time! Everyone came to the hospital ( our parents, vicky, my niece, our siblings, etc.) and Claire, Aunt Mary & the girls jumped in the car to come from Charlotte. We had a FULL lobby waiting for our sweet girl!
After they broke my water, the doctor said there was meconium in the fluid. This is NOT GOOD. but the Doctor didn't seem worried. She said they would have a respiratory therapist and NICU come in, that they wouldnt let Adelynn cry when she came out until they could clear her lungs. Joey and I were worried because everything we'd read and been told...this was bad. but the Doctor seemed to be fine with it...
Around 11:30 I was stuck at 9 1/2 cm... they said there was the last 1/2 cm, a "lip" of the cervix they called it, that just wasn't budging. but the Doctor wanted to wait it out...I didnt find out until later but around this time is when they turned off my epidural cause they were sure I'd be pushing soon. It didn't take long for me to start having some serious pain. This is when things get fuzzy for me so I'll no doubt be leaving a lot out but I was a bit out of it...
I remember people coming in and out of the room, and my MIL crying in the corner. I remember Joey being really upset and continuously asking the nurses to do something. I remember my mom asking over and over if there was anything they could give me. I remember the doctor coming in and mentioning the word C Section. I don't remember a lot. I was so out of it, and so exhausted. The nurse had tried helping me push around that last 1/2 cm but we had no luck- I never went to bed the night before, and hadn't gotten any sleep since. Between that and the pain I was in and out of it.
After a few hours of THAT awful experience...the doctor called a C Section around 2:30pm. But scheduled it for 5pm....looking back I'm shocked she made me wait- especially since there was meconium in the fluid. They finally gave me back the epidural and I got some relief. Then we waited. This is when it hit me what was about to happen, and I just cried and cried. I was so frustrated- I'd worked so hard, and this was SO not what we wanted. But at this point I just wanted the baby to be okay.
A little before 5pm the nurse told me they were getting me back a.s.a.p...apparently my BP was high, my fever was 104, and the babys heart rate was low. They got me back there quickly, called the doctor in, and had Adelynn out within a couple minutes. They had me SO doped up I kept falling asleep on the table. I remember fighting so hard to stay awake, I wanted that moment- you know...where they bring the baby over, I get to see her, kiss Joey...but I didnt get it. Joey filmed her coming out, and her first few minutes of life- he was so sweet...he cried so hard! then he brought her over to me and I barely remember seeing her- I kept falling asleep. I remember hearing the word "infection" while they were stitching me up, and I remember thinking "me or baby??" and being so worried...but then off baby and Joey went and i was there another 30 minutes getting sewn up. When they wheeled me back in our room Joey and the baby were in the corner- but shortly after NICU took her away. This is when they told me both the baby and me had infections. Which meant no visitors. I told them I wanted to see my mom- and Joey tried to get her back there, but they wouldnt let anyone back.
We stayed in that L&D room till almost 11pm that night before they finally moved us to the Mother/Baby room. but we didnt get to see our baby girl until the next day. It was heartbreaking.
We were in the hospital Thurs-Sun before they finally let us go home. Baby girl was and is doing GREAT. mama not so much! They took my staples out too early (I'm not just saying that, the doctor said it!) and my incision got infected. So for the last three weeks they have had me on 3 different antibiotics trying to fight off this infection. I was having a really hard time eating, and when I did eat it would just come right back up. The meds were making me feel awful and the incision was making it hard to get around. OH YEAH! and my dang milk never came in- so much for breastfeeding. They wouldnt let me try to feed her in the hospital bc of all the antibiotics I was on- but I was pumping in my room to try to stimulate my milk...never got a drop. Even if my milk HAD come in, I wouldnt have been able to feed her cause as I said the last three weeks I've been on antibiotics...so much for that right?
My L&D, and recovery has been a MESS. It was traumatic, frustrating, disappointing- nothing like I thought or wanted it to be....but that baby girl? IS SO WORTH IT. She is beautiful, and has such a personality already. I love all her noises, her facial expressions- she looks just like her daddy. I love her SO much my heart explodes just thinking about it. Shes already sleeping in 5 hour stretches and drinking 5 oz of formula- she is an eater!
To everyone who prayed for us throughout this pregnancy, L&D, and since- THANK YOU. I can never say thank you enough for the prayers, the truly mean the world to us. And to everyone who has wanted to come visit and hasn't yet- I'm sorry we've pushed visitors off for so long-- we had a rough start to this and just needed time for me to heal a bit and get into some kinda routine, we wanted and needed time to be a family.
And to my mom and MIL? THANK YOU. They tag teamed in shifts so one of them was always here that first week- even spent the night a couple nights. They were GOD SENT! I seriously couldnt have made it through without them. I love you both so much.
I'm sure I'm leaving out a MILLION details and things I WANT to say- but this will have to do for now. I have a baby girl who is opening her eyes from a nap and needs her mama :)
