Three weeks before my due date we had a lot going on. We sold our home and were moving into our new home on July 10th. To help things go smoothly we hired movers and had the whole house packed and ready to go. That morning I had my regular weekly check up with my OB scheduled so my plan was to run into town for my check-up and then head to the new house to direct the movers on where our furniture would be going...wrong, wrong, wrong.
My blood pressure was through the roof and my report from Maternal Fetal Medicine was not so good either. Baby Day was weighing in the lower 10 percentile and was not gaining weight like he should be in the womb anymore. The specialist said they usually deliver babies in this condition no later than 38 weeks, but that in some cases, with monitoring, moms could go full term as long as everything stayed the same. Here's what I heard, "Your body is no longer doing it's job and your baby is too small." Say what?! Here I am with gestational diabetes thinking I'm supposed to be worried about my baby getting too big, now you tell me he's too small?!
After that great tidbit of news I went upstairs to my OB's office only to find out my BP was high...150/100! My OB ordered a nonstress test and an ultrasound for Baby Day to make sure my high BP wasn't affect him. I called Drew in tears, I really believed my BP was high due to external events: bad news from MFM, the fact that all of our belongings were either loaded on a truck or in boxes, my Mom's poor recovery from her surgery (more on that later) etc. I was just so overwhelmed, how exactly was I supposed to calm down under these circumstances?! The results of the nonstress test showed that Baby Day was doing fine and my fluid look good on the ultrasound, but my OB was still concerned about my BP. So much so that she gave me two options: 1. Deliver that very day or 2. Go to the hospital for monitoring. Say what?! Deliver today, no thank you I'll go with option #2 please! So off to assessment I went. My OB said that 9 times out of 10 when she sends moms to the hospital for assessment their BP comes down. I started praying that I was one of those 9! The nurses were amazing. Very soothing and calming. They did some blood work and put me on my left side and monitored both Baby Day and myself for about two hours. Thankfully my BP came down and stayed down and my blood work all looked good! I was able to go home with orders to monitor my BP three times a day and to call immediately if my bottom number went above 90.
I made it through the weekend with only a few high BP readings, as long as I stayed on my left side my BP results were good. Poor Drew spent those four days unpacking boxes while I pointed as to where things should go. My friends and sisters came to help us unpack and set up Baby Day's room that weekend. Then on Monday I was headed back to my OB for another check-up. My blood pressure was high once again making my OB frown at me! She was going on vacation to Europe the next week so she suggested we go ahead and deliver that week, on Wednesday to be exact. By that point I was ready, I was exhausted from worrying about Baby Day's health my health and my house of somewhat organized. I was ready to become a Mommy! I was zero centimeters dilated and wasn't very excited about the possibility of being induced and waiting hours upon hours to go into labor only to end up with a c-section anyway. FYI: First time moms who are induced are twice as likely to end up having a c-section! So we opted to go the c-section route from the start. Wednesday, July 17th around noon we would be meeting Baby Day!
Now more on my Mom. Neither of my parents were here for Baby Day's birth. Four weeks previously my Mom had a benign mass the size of a dinner plate removed from her abdomen. These types of masses are very rare and her surgery which was scheduled to last 2-3 hours ended up lasting 6. The mass was being fed from her adrenal gland which had to be removed and had also attached to her spleen which ruptured during surgery and had to be repaired. To repair her spleen her surgeon had to forego the robot approach and open her up, move her stomach, intestines, and her pancreas to get to her spleen. Needless to say this surgery ended up taking more of a toll on my Mom than any of us expected. Her recovery was very slow and she just wasn't herself when I talked to her on the phone, nor was she going to be able to travel any time soon. When the reality of my Mom not being here for my son's birth finally sank in I pretty much had a breakdown. All I could think was that I'm only doing this one time and she's going to miss it. I was so mad about the timing of everything, I just didn't understand what in the world God was thinking! After about a week of talking through it with my sisters and my husband I finally found peace with things that I couldn't control or change. It was what it was and I wasn't going to be bummed about anything on my son's birth day!
One positive note about Baby Day coming early was that Andrew was still home for his arrival! He had been so worried all summer about not being here and not being the first person to find out what Baby Day's name would be. When Drew told him on Monday that Baby Day would be arriving in two days, he was so excited!
Wednesday arrived and I woke up feeling excited and surprisingly not very nervous at all. We were scheduled to be at the hospital at 9am and surgery was schedule for 11am. We took Andrew to his Aunt Erin's so that she could bring him to the hospital closer to 11. During pre-op the nurse got my IV started and fluids going, Dr. Hollier was running a little behind so as our family showed up we were able to have visitors come back and wish us luck. Drew paced the floor the entire time, saying he was cold but I could tell he was really nervous. Finally it was time to go! We ended up knowing our surgery nurse which made
Lincoln James Day arrived at 11:53am!! Weighing in at 5 pounds 15 ounces and 19 inches long. My first thought when I saw Dr. Hollier pull him out was, "Oh no! He's so tiny!" Drew helped the nurse clean him up and Amanda took lots of pictures while Dr. Hollier sewed me up. Once Lincoln was in my arms a flood of overwhelming, incomprehensible love came over me. To me he was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, I now understand what unconditional love truly means. Off to post-op we went, Lincoln nursed great, I was doing great, so Drew went out to get Andrew so he could finally announce Baby Day's name!
About 45 minutes later things started to go south quick. Lincoln's respiratory rate was too fast after nursing which meant he had fluid still in his lungs. So the nurse had to take him to the NICU for monitoring, she assured us that this was common for c-section babies as they don't travel through the birth canal which squeezes all of that fluid out of their lungs in most cases. My blood pressure was still very high so I was kept in post-op for longer than normal and the phlebotomist started pulling blood for blood work. Once we were finally moved to our room and our families were able to come see us, I could see the concern on my sisters' faces. They kept saying how pale I was and how blue my lips were. But I felt fine, I just kept saying my lips are blue from eating ice chips! I was more worried about Lincoln than anything else. He was going to have to stay in NICU overnight on oxygen and was being fed through a feeding tube every three hours. That night was horrible I passed multiple blood clots the size of softballs. At one point there were four nurses pressing on my abdomen trying to help me pass them. Drew was a wreck of concern and worry. He held my hand while they pushed morphine and mashed on my stomach. I just couldn't believe that it hurt as bad as it did! I had made it through my entire delivery experience virtually pain free and now this?!
The next morning Dr. Hollier ordered more blood work and a unit of blood. My blood work came back with elevated liver enzymes and a very low platelet count. As my nurse was setting me up for a blood transfusion Dr. Hollier came by to tell me exactly what was going on. I had HELLP Syndrome, which stands for H (hemolysis which is the breaking down of red blood cells, EL (elevated liver enzymes) and LP (low platelet count.) She also told us that if we would have waited even a day later I would have been very sick and would not have been able to go through surgery. The only cure for HELLP is delivery...say what?! I already delivered! Apparently a small percentage of cases present symptoms after delivery. Yay me! I would be the one to fall into the 8% of HELLP cases. So what now? Blood transfusions and time...I had a total of three blood transfusions that day 6 hours each and unable to go see my baby in NICU.
Drew and my sister Susan were running back and forth between Lincoln's room in NICU and my room and neither were getting much good news. At 11pm that night the nurse let Drew wheel me down to Lincoln's room and the nurse there let us do some Kangaroo Care, skin to skin contact. Lincoln's respiratory rate actually slowed while I held him! I wanted to stay there all night and just hold him. He spent 3 days in NICU before his lungs were finally strong enough to feed by a bottle and come to our room. After my third transfusion my blood work finally improved. Saturday morning the doctor on call in NICU called my room to tell me that she was releasing Lincoln and would be able to come to our room! My sister Stacie had stayed with me that night so Drew could stay with Andrew at home. I was in the shower and heard the phone ring I knew it would be NICU calling with an update. I carefully jumped out of the shower and heard Stacie say "Oh that's great news!" I opened the door as she was hanging up and she said "He's coming!" I finally let it all go. I had been determined not to cry until I knew both Lincoln and I would be okay. I let the stress, worry, pain and the blessings of answered prayers over the last three days leave my body in the form of teardrops.
As I picked my baby boy up that morning, both of us tube and monitor free, I knew that from here on my life would mean so much more. I felt like my life's value had instantly increased because of this little life. I smiled while my heart grew infinitely larger just so it could fit the amount of love only a mother understands.
To the staff at Woman's Hospital,
I can't imagine having better care for Lincoln or myself than that which was provided by the staff at Woman's. Everyone was truly amazing! Thank you go out to our nurses in Labor and Delivery as well as NICU. And to Dr. Hollier and her team (Amber and Leanne), Dr. Aycock, Dr. Brown, and Dr. Bader.
To my family,
I can't thank you enough for being there for us! We couldn't have done it without each of your thoughts, prayers, care, and support. I truly have an amazing family that I am so very blessed to be apart of. I love ya'll!
To my husband,
I thought I knew you. I thought I knew you inside and out, the worst and the best. But I was mistaken, I was wrong. I saw the best of you as you stayed by my side only leaving to carry my love down the hall to our son. As you held my hand through the worst pain I've ever experienced. As you sat up awake through the night making sure I was alright. As you prayed with me over our son in NICU, I saw the best in you. I believe this was God's plan, this was why his timing was such. He brought us even closer together by allowing us to walk through the dark times hand in hand not only as husband and wife but as parents. I am so blessed, so lucky, so relieved to have you by my side in this life to raise our sons together. I love you so very much!
