I guess I need to start from the beginning. Gentry wasn't due until June 23. I was scheduled for a repeat C-section on June 18. On June 4, however, I had a regular OB appointment and had just been feeling awful for a couple of weeks really. It was a suffocating feeling. I didn't know what was going on, I just knew I was swelling much worse than just normal pregnancy swelling. My blood pressure had remained pretty good, though. They weighed me and I had gained 8 pounds since my last visit on May 31. Then when I returned on June 7, I had gained an additional 13 pounds since my last visit. I was so swollen with fluid that if you touched me my flesh would just sink in. Even though my BP was still okay, they decided to do some blood work. My doctor told me to stop working since I had continued to work up until this point. Even wrote specific orders to not go to work. However, I had to go to work the following day and decided I would work shorter days up until delivery. They told me they would call me the following day with the results.
The following day (while at work) around 10:30 A.M., a nurse from my doctors office called me and told me I needed to go to the Women's Pavillion as soon as possible. I asked what was going on & why, and she told me that the blood work had shown that I had developed Preeclampsia. She told me that they would at least have to monitor me for 24 hours and would determine once I arrived if we would have a baby that day or not. THAT DAY?!??! I asked her if I could have a couple of hours to try and get things squared away. I felt overwhelmed. I needed to get in touch with Larson who was also working, Jubal was in daycare and I needed to figure out what to do with him above everything else. She told me that would be okay, but that I needed to be a quick as possible.
Larson called me on his lunch break at 11:45 and I told him he needed to go ahead and leave work. He asked why & I told him what was going on. We decided that we would just not panic and go on over to the hospital and pretty much hoped that it was just for observation. I went by the house, took a shower, grabbed an extra outfit of clothes for the next day, and we went to pick Jubal up from school. Larson didn't pack anything for him or Jubal because we knew they would be coming home to sleep and would return the next day. So, now here is my happy little family of three about to be four on the way to the hospital. Once we were there, they took me into a small room and hooked me up to all kind of machines. They couldn't even find the baby's heartbeat with the regular monitors because of the fluid and everywhere they touched me, I was pitting. Deeply pitting. The nurses called Dr. Rogers since my doctor, Dr. Sullivan, was still in France. She came in and took one look at me and immediately told me we were about to have a baby. She just didn't feel comfortable letting the pregnancy go any further. She went over a few things with me while the nurses started me on Magnesium, and prepped me for my C-section. Within an hour, I was on my way into the operating room.
My C-section with Jubal was so easy. I felt absolutely NO pain, and hardly any pressure at all. I assumed this one would be the same. NOT! The spinal they gave me just did not work. The anesthesiologist kept telling me that this was a different type of medicine than I had been given my first time. He kept saying it was just going to take a little longer to make me numb. I kept telling them I could still move my toes. I kept telling them I could feel the burning sensation each time they sliced into my flesh. No one was listening, so I pulled my knees up. At that point the doctor knew it wasn't going normally. She had him put a mask over my face to give me some type of gas to put me out. All I know is that in that moment, I literally thought I was dying. Whatever that medicine was, made me feel like I was dying. I just looked up at Larson and begged him to please just help me. HELP ME!!! I don't remember anything after this point until I came to slightly when they were finishing sewing me up and getting me ready to go to Recovery.
When I woke up in Recovery, I felt okay. I was talking with the nurse about people that we both knew from my hometown. Everything seemed to be going like it should. The next thing I remember was telling her something wasn't right. I felt like I was about to vomit. Then I blacked out again.
When I finally came to again, it was somewhere around 8 P.M. I don't know exactly how long I had been in Recovery or "out of it". I do know that Gentry was born at 5:23 and time had passed without my knowledge. My family had been waiting for me in my private room, but was asked to leave as they brought me in. All I remember as I was waking up is Dr. Rogers telling me not to scare her like that again. From my understanding, I lost a lot of blood during surgery due to Gentry's size and a lot of scar tissue from my previous C-section. They ended up giving me 3 units of blood throughout the night. My family was allowed to visit for a little while, but then I had to rest. I still don't remember seeing my sweet baby yet. I do know that he was born healthy, thank God.
The next day, I felt a little better. I still don't feel like I was 100% "present", however. I can't remember who came & went that morning. I remember seeing my little guy for the first time. I love his little soul. I wish I could have been with him as soon as he was born and remember it. He was a big ol' boy! He weighed 9 lbs. 7 ozs. and was 20 1/2 inches long. He was absolutely beautiful, and I could not have been happier. I was so happy to finally get to meet this little person that had been growing in my belly. :)
He had a gorgeous head full of hair, beautiful eyes, a perfect little nose, and pouty little lips. He was perfect AND perfectly healthy, what more could you ask for? The nurses didn't let me spend a lot of time with him, though. My BP was staying elevated and even when they did allow me to have company, it was two at a time, because I wasn't handling the stimulation well and they didn't want me to seize again. It got better on the second day, but I still don't remember it much, though.
On Monday, I wanted to see Jubal because the nurses had not let him come into my room before then. He had a bad cough and they just didn't feel like it was safe for him to be around me or the baby. Larson brought him over to see me. I was so happy to see my big boy. I didn't want him to think I had abandoned him. He was very cautious while he was there. He hates hospitals & nurses. Bless his heart. They didn't get to stay long before my BP started rising and I started (for those that know what drains are post C-section) "draining" profusely. Awful day. AWFUL! I had to spend that day pretty much alone, except for nurses, and I didn't get to see Gentry but for maybe an hour. Bad day. :(
Finally, by Tuesday I was feeling better. They allowed me to finally get up and get a shower. It was amazing! I felt so much better and decided it was time for me to be in some pics. :)
Wow! This post has turned out to be long. I'll pick up with the day we got to take him home in my next post. I just want to say that no matter what I had to go through to get my sweet, precious baby boy here, I'm so extremely happy to have him in our lives. He was born healthy and I could not ask for more. As long as he was okay, that was all that mattered to me. Jubal & Gentry are my heart & soul. I would do it all again for both of them. I love them so much!!!!
Gentry's birthday will forever be just like Jubal's birthday...one of the two very best days of my life!
