The doctor asked if everyone was ready. There was no reply. She asked again, still no reply. There was no time left. With no answer and everyone still running around it was time to get started. The nurse grabbed one of my legs and my fiance the other. My mom and fiance got their cameras ready to get the first pictures of the new baby, and the doctor told me how to start breathing. Because everything was so early we never had time to take the routine pregnancy classes normal first time families take. Needless to say I really had no clue what was supposed to happen. We were taking everything right as it came.
I started the paced breathing and the doctor told me to push. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Breath out. "Take a breath," but I was ready to keep going. The doctor said we should see the head with the next push. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Breath out. One more time. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10. Breath out. And there she was. My beautiful baby girl. The doctor held her up for me to get a peek.For a moment everything was silent until we all layed eyes on her. They joy poured out of my body and I instantly started crying.
Before I even had time to say hello she was whisked away to the scurry of nurses in the corner. The nurses began looking and prodding her. One nurse began looking down her throat, but there was a problem. The device she was using had a faulty light bulb. She needed this to check her breathing. But the light bulb was out. She quickly fixed it and performed the routine to make sure she was ok. No one spoke this whole time. The only noise was the nurses during their routines. I had no idea how she was doing. I couldn't tell if she was breathing, and she didn't have the typical crying normal babies do when they are born.
After what seemed an eternity they finally wheeled her over. The nurse tilted her slightly for me to see her, then the mass of people began to file out. The nurse wheeled her away and my fiance followed. My mom left to tell everyone she had been born, and the doctor followed behind her. The nurse stayed to help me clean up and get me situated to rest. After she helped me get comfortable my mom came back into the room to soothe me. We talked for a little while then I started getting extremely sleepy.
As the epidural started to wear off, the horrible side pain began to return. As it did so did the dry heaving because of the intensity. The nurse came back in and the doctor was quickly called. You could see the wheels turning in his head. He truly had no idea what it was. Because he didn't have the answers he found someone who may. He called a General Surgeon. I told him my symptoms and he ordered a few tests be performed. To top it off it was thunder storming outside and I had visitors in and out of my room all day. Visitors are nice, but when you are constantly dry heaving and you haven't had anything to eat for two days, people trying to be in your space is the last thing you want.
Between the visitors I went to the tests the surgeon had ordered. A few of the tests were repeats from the first time, but there were a couple I hadn't had before. One test required me to fill six different shaped and sized vials for blood tests. One required a special fluid be injected through an IV, and another had me inhale a certain gas. Having all of these tests forced me to be unable to do the one thing I had been lookinf for since I knew I was pregnant. I couldn't pump to provide the essential nutrients for my baby. The days leading up to the birth that was all every nurse and doctor had said could be the biggest contribution I could give to my daughter. Now I couldn't.
Thankfully after all of this hell they had found the problem. It took the help of six different doctors and a medical book to find it out, but they had the answer. Over the weekend my adrenal gland was hemoraging. Your adrenal gland is located right above your kidneys. Because of my enlarged uterous all of my organs were pushed up leaving a slightly different looking anatomy. This could be one reason it was difficult for the to diagnose. Another could be the extreme rarity of this problem. The doctors had to look in a medical book to find this diagnosis.
The next step was to find out how to fix it. An endocrynologist was called and she came with all of the answers. She said that it would heal on its own. This was unasuring. To me this curious thing that was causing me the most exrusiating pain I have ever felt in my life was just supposed to go away all by itself. But it did and with the help of pain medicine to help me the few days it took I felt extremely better.
Now, because of the rarity of all of this, I will be in a medical journal. Every doctor that had seen me had no idea what it was. Hopefully with the posting in a medical journal it can help the unique individual it gets next.
Showing posts with label baby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baby. Show all posts
Monday, October 12, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Taking it from the top
My fiance and I had just finished a great winter break and we were geared up for the up coming semester. A few weeks in to the semester things began to slow down very quickly. My days began to feel long and sleepy. There were days when I didn't want to get out of bed. After a week or so of this extreme slow down curiosity began to creep into my fiance's head. He promptly one night proposed the possibility of pregnancy. Unable to get this out of my head we made a midnight trip to the local Wal-mart. Three positive tests later, we were on our way through an extravagant journey.
Next there came the joys of telling the grandparents, finding a doctor, and figuring out how the next few years were going to pan out. Luckily both my parents and my fiance's took it extremely well. The town we were in didn't have much selection when it came to doctors, but we found one that we came to love. Little did we know that later on in the pregnancy our baby's life would be in his hands.
Our first ultrasound was scheduled and things went extremely well. Or so we thought. We found out we were having a baby girl despite our assumption of a boy and we got to walk out with more than a handful of pictures. All seemed well. A few days later the nurse called with a seemingly innocent request for a follow up visit. The next Monday we went and received some horrible news. In the ultrasound the doctor could see that my cervix was shorter than usual. To fix this problem he wanted to do a common procedure called a cervical cerclage. This procedure involves placing a stitch in the cervix to keep it closed.
This surgery was to take place the next day. My emotions were going crazy. I had never had surgery before, and now, while I am pregnant with my first child, I had to have my first time. That night I did the surgery ritual of no food or drink and the next morning I had the pleasure of bathing in the packet of hospital issued soap and shampoo. Then bright and early we made our way to the hospital. I dressed myself in the hospital gown and watched nervously as the nurse placed the IV in my arm. A slew of nurses and doctors came in to tell me what was to happen next. Then before I knew it I was being wheeled down a freezing corridor to the surgery room with only a kiss from my fiance to comfort me.
As I was rolled into the room people were busselling all around me to prepare. I received the spinal block and things began. I was probably 10 minutes into the supposed 25 minute procedure when the doctor said the most horrifying words I have ever heard in my life. He uttered " Oh no, this is not good. This is not good at all." My legs in the air and nurses stroking my hair, my heart dropped so low in my chest I don't remember if I was breathing. He poceeded to explain after what seemed a century that I had dialated 1 1/2 inches further over night. Now that I was over 2 inches dialated I had something refered to as hour-glass membranes. This is when the embrionic sack begins to fall out of the uterous and it forms the shape of an hour-glass. This is extremely extrodinary, and from the facts I have heard it is very rare to have a baby survive when this occurs. Luckily my doctor was able to gingerly push the membranes back into my ueterous and get the stitch in.
The surgery was over, but the hospital stay was not. Over the next week we had some ups and downs. Underlying all of this stress was the worry of semester finals. Finally, I was able to go home but under strict orders to stay on bedrest. In the beginning this sounds amazing to people. To most it seems like a leisurely vacation from the world with the ability to stay in the comfort of your bed. This couldn't be farther from reality. Imagine laying in bed and only being able to get out of that bed to use the restroom or take a shower every other day. Now imagine having to repeat this for the next 5 months. At times I felt like I would go crazy if I spent another minute in that room. When this happend I delibrately rebelled against my doctor's orders and went for a drive around the city just to maintain my sanity.
Nearly two months later our lease on our apartment was coming to an end. Instead of staying in the small town we decided to move back home where we had the help and support of many family members and friends. Little did we know we were leaving our freedom behind and entering a world we thought we had left forever.
To Be Continued.....
Next there came the joys of telling the grandparents, finding a doctor, and figuring out how the next few years were going to pan out. Luckily both my parents and my fiance's took it extremely well. The town we were in didn't have much selection when it came to doctors, but we found one that we came to love. Little did we know that later on in the pregnancy our baby's life would be in his hands.
Our first ultrasound was scheduled and things went extremely well. Or so we thought. We found out we were having a baby girl despite our assumption of a boy and we got to walk out with more than a handful of pictures. All seemed well. A few days later the nurse called with a seemingly innocent request for a follow up visit. The next Monday we went and received some horrible news. In the ultrasound the doctor could see that my cervix was shorter than usual. To fix this problem he wanted to do a common procedure called a cervical cerclage. This procedure involves placing a stitch in the cervix to keep it closed.
This surgery was to take place the next day. My emotions were going crazy. I had never had surgery before, and now, while I am pregnant with my first child, I had to have my first time. That night I did the surgery ritual of no food or drink and the next morning I had the pleasure of bathing in the packet of hospital issued soap and shampoo. Then bright and early we made our way to the hospital. I dressed myself in the hospital gown and watched nervously as the nurse placed the IV in my arm. A slew of nurses and doctors came in to tell me what was to happen next. Then before I knew it I was being wheeled down a freezing corridor to the surgery room with only a kiss from my fiance to comfort me.
As I was rolled into the room people were busselling all around me to prepare. I received the spinal block and things began. I was probably 10 minutes into the supposed 25 minute procedure when the doctor said the most horrifying words I have ever heard in my life. He uttered " Oh no, this is not good. This is not good at all." My legs in the air and nurses stroking my hair, my heart dropped so low in my chest I don't remember if I was breathing. He poceeded to explain after what seemed a century that I had dialated 1 1/2 inches further over night. Now that I was over 2 inches dialated I had something refered to as hour-glass membranes. This is when the embrionic sack begins to fall out of the uterous and it forms the shape of an hour-glass. This is extremely extrodinary, and from the facts I have heard it is very rare to have a baby survive when this occurs. Luckily my doctor was able to gingerly push the membranes back into my ueterous and get the stitch in.
The surgery was over, but the hospital stay was not. Over the next week we had some ups and downs. Underlying all of this stress was the worry of semester finals. Finally, I was able to go home but under strict orders to stay on bedrest. In the beginning this sounds amazing to people. To most it seems like a leisurely vacation from the world with the ability to stay in the comfort of your bed. This couldn't be farther from reality. Imagine laying in bed and only being able to get out of that bed to use the restroom or take a shower every other day. Now imagine having to repeat this for the next 5 months. At times I felt like I would go crazy if I spent another minute in that room. When this happend I delibrately rebelled against my doctor's orders and went for a drive around the city just to maintain my sanity.
Nearly two months later our lease on our apartment was coming to an end. Instead of staying in the small town we decided to move back home where we had the help and support of many family members and friends. Little did we know we were leaving our freedom behind and entering a world we thought we had left forever.
To Be Continued.....
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