*Trigger warning - this post might trigger pregnant women or families who went through a similar story* Read Part 1 here.
After Dr. Lindsay told me I was in labor, I looked over at Chad and he started crying. This day, after that alarming news, is fuzzy for me. I remember thinking this whole thing is unreal. After all we had been through to have a baby, now THIS? UGH. I have a blank space in my memory between hearing the news and the following hour. The next memory I have is being in the operating room and the doctor telling me that Cooper has brown hair.
I was in labor, dilated and Coop was far enough along in the process that they could see his head and his hair color - brown. I was literally almost upside down from head to toe, head towards the floor because they had to push Cooper back into me. The danger at this point was that the water could become infected. It wasn’t yet, which is why they could push him back in and stitch up my cervix so that he couldn’t come out.
I spent the next week on my back only allowed to get up to pee. The night before I am to go home, my water breaks. I pull the emergency handle and the nurse comes in. This part is hard to remember in what order things happened. But one of the funniest (not funny) was when the nurse told me to practice what I learned in birthing class about breathing. Uh, I never even made it that far. I made it to the place where parents never want to be - 4th floor, high risk birth. But this was the really odd thing that night. Our friends from college, Betsy and Don, lived around the block from us. I couldn’t tell you their phone number, then or now, but in that moment when I couldn’t get a hold of Chad I remembered their number instantly. To this day, I am eternally grateful for them.
I couldn’t get a hold of Chad. Baby was coming, water broke, etc…. Around midnight or 2 AM, Don went and got Chad and brought him to the hospital.
While all this was going on, Dr. Toney came into the room to asses the situation, it was around midnight. He needed to get some of the water from my belly to see if it was infected or not. That information would determine next actions. For what felt like an eternity, but was actually only about 20 minutes, they tried to put the needle into my belly and find the little cup of water that was left. I remember Dr. Toney getting really pissed, come to find out the needle was dull, and every pregnant woman knows that you can’t lie on your back for long before you get sick. So I had that to contend with as well. Dull needle and wanting to puke.
They got a new needle and, of course, my water was infected. They scheduled an emergency C-Section. Chad eventually made it to the hospital thanks to Don. Chad’s parents followed a bit after. My mom was on the next flight out and it all felt chaotic. This was all so out of control. I remember telling my in-laws to take care of Chad while they wheeled me into the operating room. Chad came in a bit later. Then I remember the epidural. Then I remember feeling cold and shaky. I very much remember the doctors telling me not to be alarmed if Cooper didn’t cry like most babies would. While I was in the hospital that week, they gave me a ton of steroids to help Coop’s lungs develop faster just in case. Cooper CRIED. I will never in my fucking life forget that moment, he cried like a champ. Later I learned he had to be resuscitated 3 times.
Oh, ugh, all the things that I am remembering out of synch… Dr. Toney asked me before they delivered Coop how much intervention I wanted for him. I said nothing extraordinary. I didn’t want a child to suffer through life. I didn’t know about the 3 interventions until we got home and I read the discharge report. And I am thankful I never knew until then.
More next week, and maybe a bit more organized, but doubtful. Nothing about this was organized, it was all a mess.